Science Fiction & Dystopian Fiction

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1Q84 is a novel written by the Japanese author Haruki Murakami. The book was first published in Japanese in three volumes and released in 2009 and 2010, ahead of an English translation published in 2011. Set in 1984 in Tokyo, the story concerns an assassin who stumbles upon an alternate world she refers to as 1Q84. There, she becomes embroiled in a conspiracy involving an abusive religious cult.This study guide refers to the 2011 edition... Read 1Q84 Summary

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Alas, Babylon is a 1959 novel by Pat Frank. Written during the Cold War, it is one of the earliest post-apocalyptic novels to deal with the potential consequences of nuclear war. It examines themes of nationalism, natural selection, deterrent force, and resilience.Plot SummaryAs the novel begins, Mark Bragg sends a telegram to his brother, Randy. The telegram includes the words, “Alas, Babylon,” their code for the onset of a nuclear attack. Mark is an officer... Read Alas, Babylon Summary

Alif the Unseen is the debut novel of G. Willow Wilson, an American-born writer of comics and prose who lived in Egypt for a time and converted to Islam in 2003. Published in 2012, the book won the 2013 World Fantasy Award for Best Novel and was nominated for the 2013 Locus Award for Best First Novel. Blending fantasy and cyberpunk themes, it follows a young man’s journey through the seen world of humans and... Read Alif the Unseen Summary

“All Summer in a Day” is a short story by American speculative fiction writer Ray Bradbury. It first appeared in a 1954 edition of The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction and has since been anthologized numerous times and even adapted as a short television film.Set on a recently colonized Venus, the story begins with a crowd of nine-year-olds peering out their classroom window to see whether the rain is stopping; on Venus, the sun... Read All Summer In A Day Summary

First published in Fantasy and Science Fiction magazine, the classic science fiction short story “All You Zombies—” (1959) explores an unusual paradox involving transsexual time travel: What if you undergo sexual reassignment surgery, go back in time, have an affair with your younger self, and become your own parent? The story became an award-winning 2014 science fiction film, Predestination. The 2012 eBook edition of the original story is the basis for this study guide. The... Read All You Zombies Summary

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American War is a speculative fiction novel published in 2017 by the Canadian-Egyptian author Omar El Akkad. Set is a dystopian near-future in which climate change has displaced millions, the book details a Second American Civil War fought between the federal government and the Southern United States over the use of fossil fuels. Prior to writing American War, El Akkad reported from conflict zones in Afghanistan and Egypt as a journalist for The Globe and... Read American War Summary

Ancillary Justice, published in 2013, is author Ann Leckie’s first novel; Leckie previously published short fiction in various science fiction magazines. Leckie’s first installment of the Imperial Radch trilogy, continued in Ancillary Sword and Ancillary Mercy, won numerous science fiction awards for best novel of the year and became the first book to win the Hugo, Nebula, and Arthur C. Clarke awards. Ancillary Justice was nominated for other awards, including the James Tiptree, Jr. Award... Read Ancillary Justice Summary

Annihilation is a science fiction novel written by Jeff VanderMeer and published in 2014. The first book of VanderMeer’s Southern Reach trilogy, it won the 2014 Shirley Jackson Award for best novel and the 2015 Nebula Award for Best Novel. A film based on the novel was released in 2018. For its incorporation of various literary elements, the novel has also been categorized as thriller, suspense, horror, science fantasy, and “weird fiction.”Plot SummaryThe 12th expedition... Read Annihilation Summary

An Unkindness of Ghosts is a 2017 science fiction novel by Rivers Solomon set on a generation starship called Matilda, the political and labor organization of which resembles the antebellum American South. The ship left the ruins of Earth more than 300 years ago, heading towards a destination now forgotten by its residents. Most of the story is told from the perspective of Aster Grey, a resident of the “lower decks” who, like her neighbors... Read An Unkindness of Ghosts Summary

“A Report to an Academy” is a short story by Bohemian writer Franz Kafka. Kafka wrote and published the story in 1917, and it first appeared in the German magazine Der Jude. In 1919, it appeared in Kafka’s A Country Doctor, a collection of short stories. It has been adapted to the stage numerous times.Red Peter, who was born an ape, but now considers himself to be human, narrates the story. It is a presentation... Read A Report to an Academy Summary

Phillip K. Dick’s A Scanner Darkly, first published in 1977, is a testament to a time—late ‘60s-early ‘70s—when drug experimentation was a viable alternative to the grown-up world of nine-to-five jobs and suburban family life. Set in a future Southern California (1994), the novel is dedicated to many of Dick’s friends who didn’t survive the experiment or were left with permanent brain damage. Dick’s prolific career includes over 40 novels and several short story collections... Read A Scanner Darkly Summary

Ray Bradbury’s short story “A Sound of Thunder” was first published in Collier’s magazine on June 28, 1952 and was later reprinted in his 1953 short story collection A Golden Apple in the Sun. It was adapted into a comic book, 2005 film, and made into a video game. In this science fiction story, the Time Safari time travel agency brings hunters back in time to hunt now-extinct animals for a fee of several thousand dollars.The... Read A Sound Of Thunder Summary

The novel Atlas Shrugged (1957) was written by Russian American author Ayn Rand. Widely considered to be the author’s magnum opus, Atlas Shrugged is a divisive text that has remained popular in the public consciousness despite harsh criticism from academics and philosophers across the political spectrum. Set in a dystopian US wherein the collectivist government bureaucracy has a stranglehold on industry, the narrative follows protagonist Dagny Taggart as she fights to defend her family’s transcontinental... Read Atlas Shrugged Summary

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Beggars in Spain is a science fiction novel published in 1993 by Nancy Kress. It is a continuation of Kress’s 1991 novella of the same name. Set in a future in which genetic modification allows parents to give birth to children with pre-selected traits, the book's plot revolves around the emergence of highly intelligent, highly accomplished "Sleepless" individuals who are bred so that they do not require sleep.Plot SummaryThe novel is divided into four parts... Read Beggars in Spain Summary

Binti: The Complete Trilogy is a series of science fiction novellas written by Nnedi Okorafor, author of the Akata Witch series. First published in 2015, Binti has won multiple prestigious literary awards, including the 2016 Hugo Award, the 2015 Nebula Award, and the 2016 British Fantasy Award for Best Novella. The 2019 omnibus publication includes the three novellas Binti, Binti: Home, and Binti: The Night Masquerade, as well as the bonus inclusion of the debut... Read Binti Summary

Bird Box is a 2014 post-apocalyptic horror novel by Josh Malerman. The story follows a woman’s struggle to protect two children in a world where people are driven to violence by unseen monsters, touching on such themes as paranoia, raising children to deal with an uncertain future, and the dangers of exceptionalism. Bird Box won a Michigan Notable Book Award and was also nominated for the James Herbert Award as well as the Bram Stoker... Read Bird Box Summary

Blindness, the 1995 book by Portuguese author José Saramago, tells the story of a society that’s been struck by a virulent epidemic of blindness. This postmodern, apocalyptic novel was originally written in Portuguese, and was translated into English by Giovanni Pontiero with additional help from Margaret Jull Costa. When Saramago won the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1998, Blindness was listed as one of his qualifying works.Plot SummaryThe plot of Blindness follows the onset—and the... Read Blindness Summary

Bloodchild and Other Stories is a short story collection by African-American science-fiction author Octavia Butler (1947-2006). It was first published in 1995 and reissued in 2005 featuring two new stories, “Amnesty” and “The Book of Martha,” as well as two essays about the power of writing and the difficulties of being an author. Each story in the reissued edition features an afterword written by Butler, which makes clear how she uses science fiction to take... Read Bloodchild and Other Stories Summary

Brave New World, a dystopian novel published in 1932, is perhaps Aldous Huxley’s most famous and enduring work, consistently ranked among the top-100 English-language novels by entities such as the Modern Library, BBC, and The Observer. The novel opens with a tour of the Central London Hatchery and Conditioning Centre, in which the Director explains the foundational ideas of society’s “stability,” which stems from the production-line uniformity of its citizens. People in the World State... Read Brave New World Summary

William Gibson’s 1986 science fiction short story collection Burning Chrome contains 10 works first published between 1977 and 1985. Gibson co-wrote three of the stories with fellow authors. The stories touch on classic science fiction themes, like space exploration, as well as the relationships between technology, capitalist power, and humanity. Several stories are early expressions of the cyberpunk subgenre, which Gibson and other authors developed in the 1980s. Cyberpunk combines sci-fi and noir styles with... Read Burning Chrome Summary

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Cloud Atlas is a 2004 novel by British author David Mitchell. The sprawling narrative is composed of a series of nested stories, spanning centuries into the past and the future. In addition to winning numerous literary and science fiction awards, the novel was adapted into a 2012 film of the same name. This guide uses the 2014 Sceptre edition of Cloud Atlas.Content Warning: The novel and this guide depict slavery and discuss racism, death by... Read Cloud Atlas Summary

Dawn, a 1987 science fiction novel by Octavia Butler, is the first installment in the Lilith’s Brood trilogy. The story takes place in a near-future, post-apocalyptic world. The protagonist, Lilith Iyapo, is one of the few human survivors left after a nuclear war. Lilith wakes in a featureless room, as she has many times before. Each time she has Awakened, she has been unable to determine where she is or why she is being confined... Read Dawn Summary

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The classic science fiction novel Ender's Game (1985) by Orson Scott Card follows a precocious boy’s fight against space aliens and his own government. The essence of the story first appeared in a small sci-fi journal in 1977 as a short story of the same name. Card expanded the premise into a series that includes 15 novels and 13 related short stories. Along with becoming a best-seller and winning the top award for science fiction... Read Ender's Game Summary

Kurt Vonnegut’s short story “EPICAC” is a work of science fiction originally published in the November 25, 1950, issue of Collier’s Weekly and was later included in his first short story collection, Welcome to the Monkey House (1968). Vonnegut is one of the 20th century’s best-known American satirical writers, and his military experience informs the anti-war themes and dark humor of his work. “EPICAC” follows a military supercomputer that develops romantic feelings for its programmer’s... Read Epicac Summary

Ted Chiang’s Exhalation is a collection of nine science fiction short stories. Published in 2019, the stories feature time travel, robots, artificial intelligences, and human beings grappling with an everchanging world. Seven of the nine stories appeared in previous publications, going on to win multiple Hugo, Nebula, and Locus awards. Through the science fiction genre, Exhalation explores forgiveness, parenting, technology ethics, free will, and climate change. This is Ted Chiang’s second collection, following Stories of... Read Exhalation Summary

Geek Love is a 1989 novel by Katherine Dunn. The novel is structured as a memoir written by Olympia “Oly” Binewski, an albino hunchback dwarf, as she chronicles the bizarre story of her family of carnival freaks. Her parents, Aloysius “Al” and Lillian “Lil, Lily, or Crystal Lil” Binewski, had sought to prop up their faltering traveling carnival by breeding their own children into freaks through the prenatal use of illicit drugs, poison, and radiation. The eldest living child, Arturo, nicknamed... Read Geek Love Summary

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He, She and It is a 1991 cyberpunk novel by Marge Piercy. It won the Arthur C. Clarke award for Best Science Fiction novel, telling the story of a romance between a human woman and a cyborg against the backdrop of a post-apocalyptic world.  Plot Summary Shira and her ex-husband, Josh, are sitting in a courtroom in Nebraska awaiting word on the custody of their son, Ari. Shira is a psychoengineer who works with artificial intelligence... Read He, She and It Summary

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How Long ‘Til Black Future Month, a collection of 22 short stories created in the spirit of Afrofuturism, was written by New York Times bestselling author N.K. Jemisin. Jemisin is the only author awarded the Hugo Award for Best Novel for three consecutive years. This collection transports readers to dozens of new worlds, characters, and possibilities. Often taking on important societal issues such as rape, pollution, the abuse of power and religion, mediocre educational models... Read How Long 'Til Black Future Month? Summary

I Am Legend by Richard Matheson was published in 1954. The novel depicts a post-apocalyptic world in which people infected with a contagious disease behave like vampires. The last human man, Robert Neville, must protect himself as he studies the scientific basis for the disease. I Am Legend discusses moral relativism, the evolution of the horror genre, and loneliness. It has been adapted several times, most recently as the 2007 film I Am Legend starring... Read I Am Legend Summary

It Can’t Happen Here, a political novel by Sinclair Lewis first published in 1935, details the rise, consolidation, and partial collapse of an American fascist dictatorship. The book is told primarily from the perspective of Doremus Jessup, an owner-editor of a small-town Vermont newspaper and self-described middle-class liberal intellectual. Jessup is 60 years old at the start of the novel. Jessup begins as a cynical but detached observer of politics but over the course of... Read It Can't Happen Here Summary

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Journey to the Center of the Earth was written by the French writer Jules Gabriel Verne (1828–1905), who is best known for Extraordinary Voyages, a series of science fiction adventure stories that includes Journey to the Center of the Earth (1864) as well as Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea (1870) and Around the World in Eighty Days (1872). Verne was born in the French port city of Nantes and from a young age was... Read Journey To The Center Of The Earth Summary

The 1979 novel Kindred was written by Octavia E. Butler, a Black author from California who wrote science fiction that challenged white hegemony. The novel tells the story of Edana “Dana” Franklin, a young Black woman in 1976 whose connection to a young white boy named Rufus Weylin allows her to time travel to 1800s Maryland. As she jumps between 1976 and the 1800s, she learns how she and Rufus are connected, and she must survive... Read Kindred Summary

Landscape with Invisible Hand is a satirical dystopian science fiction novel by M. T. Anderson, written for a young adult audience. A diverse author, Anderson writes both fiction and nonfiction for people of all ages. In 2023, Landscape with Invisible Hand was adapted for film, reflecting the novel’s popularity and relevance. The book depicts a future world in which an alien species, the vuvv, have sold their technology to humans, causing the collapse of the... Read Landscape with Invisible Hand Summary

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Nalo Hopkinson’s Midnight Robber was first published by Warner Books in 2000. It is speculative fiction with many Afro-Caribbean/Afrofuturist influences and cyberpunk elements. Midnight Robber was nominated for the Hugo Award for Best Novel, and Hopkinson won the John W. Campbell Award for Best New Writer. Plot SummaryThe novel moves between a first-person narrator and a third-person narrator who tell the story of Tan-Tan, the Robber Queen. She lives on planet Toussaint with her father... Read Midnight Robber Summary

Never Let Me Go is a 2005 novel by Kazuo Ishiguro set in an alternative dystopian version of Great Britain in the 1990s in which cloning technology allows for the mass proliferation of organ donation. Medical problems like cancer are cured because organs are harvested from clones through a state-sanctioned program. The cloned “donors” have their organs taken one at a time until they die. The novel is narrated by Kathy, a clone who works... Read Never Let Me Go Summary

New York 2140 is a 2017 science fiction novel by Kim Stanley Robinson. Through the viewpoints of multiple characters, global warming and its consequences acts as a backdrop to examining issues of greed, exploitative capitalism, the occasional need for revolution, and the importance of teamwork when organizing against a system. New York 2140 is a cautionary tale about global warming, and an illustration of the author’s fondness for resilient, tough New Yorkers.The novel unfolds in... Read New York 2140 Summary

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One Second After is a 2009 dystopian alternate history novel by Dr. William Forstchen depicting what might happen to a small American town after an electromagnetic pulse (EMP) strike. The book is the first in a trilogy known as the John Matherson series. The remaining titles are One Year After (2015) and The Final Day (2017), and all three books are New York Times bestsellers.Forstchen took his inspiration for One Second After from a 2004... Read One Second After Summary