Dystopian, Futuristic and Speculative Fiction (YA)

Dystopian fiction is interested in imagining what would happen if everything went horribly wrong some time in the future (distant, or not-too distant). The word ‘dystopia’ was conceived to be the opposite of ‘utopia,’ which in turn comes from the Greek roots ou-topos (the not-place) and eu-topos (the good place). So, while a utopia is a perfect society that cannot truly exist, a dystopia is a broken society that is normally based in some way on the real world.

Sometimes it has a bit of a sci-fi feel (like the spaceship setting in Across the Universe), but it’s nearly always a bit bleak (like the list below!). The horrible wrong-ness can be due to social, political (or socio-political) problems (see The Hunger Games, Divergent, 1984 for example). It can also be due to environmental problems (Ship Breaker, The Water Wars, Blood Red Road etc).

Here’s a selection of dystopian/futuristic titles for you to work your way through.

Updated June 19, 2024
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Wellington City LibrariesYouth team at Wellington City Libraries
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Internment
Ahmed, Samira (Fiction writer)
Paper Book
An instant New York Times bestseller!   "Internment sets itself apart...terrifying, thrilling and urgent." -Entertainment Weekly   Rebellions are built on hope.   Set in a...
Feed
Anderson, M. T.
Paper Book
A Time Magazine 100 Best YA Books of All Time Selection The tour de force that set the gold standard for dystopian YA fiction -- in a compelling paperback edition. For Titus and his friends, it started out like any ordinary trip to the moon -- a chance to...
The handmaid's tale
Atwood, Margaret
Paper Book
#1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER * An instant classic and eerily prescient cultural phenomenon, from "the patron saint of feminist dystopian fiction" (The New York Times). Now an award-winning Hulu series starring Elizabeth Moss. Look for The Testaments, the...
Cinderella is dead
Bayron, Kalynn
Paper Book
"Wholly original and captivating." - Brigid Kemmerer, New York Times bestselling author of A Curse So Dark and Lonely Girls team up to overthrow the kingdom in this unique and powerful retelling of Cinderella from a stunning new voice that's perfect for fans of...
Parable of the sower
Butler, Octavia E.
Paper Book
This acclaimed post-apocalyptic novel of hope and terror from an award-winning author "pairs well with 1984 or The Handmaid's Tale" and includes a foreword by LeVar Burton and an afterword by N. K. Jemisin (John Green, New York Times). When...
The ballad of songbirds and snakes
Collins, Suzanne
Paper Book
Ambition will fuel him. Competition will drive him. But power has its price. It is the morning of the reaping that will kick off the tenth annual Hunger Games. In the Capitol, eighteen-year-old Coriolanus Snow is preparing for his one shot at glory as a...
The Hunger Games
Collins, Suzanne
Paper Book
The first novel in the worldwide bestselling series by Suzanne Collins!Winning means fame and fortune. Losing means certain death. The Hunger Games have begun. . . . In the ruins of a place once known as North America lies the nation of Panem, a shining Capitol surrounded by twelve outlying...
Cake eater
Dahlin, Allyson
Paper Book
"With a love story for the ages, this vivid tale takes the history we know and recasts it into an exciting, technicolor, future world that challenges what we know here in the present, and how we know it. I loved it! I couldn't put it down!" --Beth Revis, New York Times bestselling...
The marrow thieves
Dimaline, Cherie
Paper Book
Winner of the 2017 Governor General's Literary Award (Young People's Literature - Text) Winner of the 2017 Kirkus PrizeWinner of the 2018 Sunburst Award Winner of the 2018 Amy Mathers Teen Book Award Winner of the 2018 Burt Award for First Nations, Inuit...
Project Nought
Furedi, Chelsey
Paper Book
For fans of Kiss Number 8 and On a Sunbeam, this debut graphic novel is a fast-paced time travel adventure with a hint of romance that has garnered 1.5 million views as a Tapas webcomic. Ren Mittal's last memory in the year 1996 is getting on a bus to visit his mystery...
The ones we're meant to find
He, Joan
Paper Book
A New York Times Bestseller An Indie Bestseller Perfect for fans of Marie Lu and E. Lockhart, The Ones We're Meant to Find is a gripping and heartfelt YA sci-fi with mind-blowing twists. Set in a climate-ravaged future, Joan He's beautifully written...
Goddess in the machine
Johnson, Lora Beth
Paper Book
Andra wakes up from a cryogenic sleep 1,000 years later than she was supposed to, forcing her to team up with an exiled prince to navigate an unfamiliar planet in this smart, thrilling sci-fi adventure, perfect for fans of Renegades and Aurora Rising. When Andra...
The grace year
Liggett, Kim
Paper Book
The Instant New York Times Bestseller! Kim Liggett's The Grace Year is a speculative thriller in the vein of The Handmaid's Tale and The Power. Survive the year. No one speaks of the grace year. It's forbidden. ...
The giver
Lowry, Lois.
Ebook
The Giver, the 1994 Newbery Medal winner, has become one of the most influential novels of our time. The haunting story centers on twelve-year-old Jonas, who lives in a seemingly ideal, if colorless, world of conformity and contentment. Not until he is given his life assignment as the...
The knife of never letting go
Ness, Patrick
Paper Book
A dystopian thriller follows a boy and girl on the run from a town where all thoughts can be heard — and the passage to manhood embodies a horrible secret. Todd Hewitt is the only boy in a town of men. Ever since the settlers were infected with the Noise germ, Todd can hear...
At the end of everything
Nijkamp, Marieke
Paper Book
From the #1 New York Times bestselling author of This Is Where It Ends comes another heartbreaking, emotional and timely page-turner that will keep you on the edge of your seat. The Hope Juvenile Treatment Center is ironically named. No one has hope for the delinquent teenagers who have...
1984 : a novel
Orwell, George
Paper Book
Written 75 years ago, 1984 was George Orwell's chilling prophecy about the future. And while 1984 has come and gone, his dystopian vision of a government that will do anything to control the narrative is timelier than ever... This 75th Anniversary Edition includes: *...
Greywaren
Stiefvater, Maggie
Paper Book
The majestic conclusion to Maggie Stiefvater's Dreamer Trilogy. This is the story of the Lynch family. Niall and Mór escaped their homeland for a new start, and lost themselves in what they found. Declan has grown up as the responsible son, the responsible brother--only to find...
Spill Zone [1]
Westerfeld, Scott
Paper Book
Do you dare enter the Spill Zone? From science fiction visionary Scott Westerfeld and artist Alex Puvilland comes the first volume of this dystopian graphic novel duology Three years ago an event destroyed the small city of Poughkeepsie, forever changing reality within...
Uglies
Westerfeld, Scott
Paper Book
Now a major motion picture streaming on Netflix! The first installment of Scott Westerfeld's New York Times bestselling and award-winning Uglies series--a global phenomenon that started the dystopian trend. Tally is about to turn sixteen, and she can't...
Hell followed with us
White, Andrew Joseph
Paper Book
INSTANT NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER A furious, queer debut novel about embracing the monster within and unleashing its power against your oppressors. "A long, sustained scream to the various strains of anti-transgender legislation multiplying around the world...
The infinity particle
Xu, Wendy
Paper Book
In this gorgeous graphic novel by Wendy Xu, co-creator of the award-winning Mooncakes, a young inventor falls for a lifelike AI and confronts questions of freedom and autonomy. Clementine Chang moves from Earth to Mars for a new start and is lucky enough to land her dream job with Dr....

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