What are some great new authors and books in the dystopian fiction genre?
My backlog of books to read is finally running out after six months of Covid19 and I'm looking to explore some new authors, series, and individual books in the dystopian world. I'd call "new" anything in the last 15 years or so.
Any recommendations on where I should turn?
Answers ( 1 )
If you haven't read William Gibson's work, then you IMO you should start there - lots of good early cyberpunk stuff in his early ouvre, but in the last 10 years he's written some of the most chillingly accurate predictive fiction on possible near futures.
Neal Stephenson has built on Gibson's early work and created intimately detailed portraits of people, places, and events that connect in amazing and unlikely ways. Very wordy sometimes and in some of his early works, has trouble bringing the story to a satisfying conclusion - but the journeys are incredible. Start with Cryptonomicon, I think? Possibly Snow Crash, or the Diamond Age, though those are two that I think have the best chance of either making you love/hate his work.
Did you hear about the Kevin Costner movie "The Postman?" - it is based on a book by David Brin. He's better known for Space Opera (which work I highly recommend - the Uplift War cycle in particular!) but does a great job of capturing a post-collapse Pacific Northwest.
Finally, can't be in a pandemic and not call out Stephen King's The Stand - I personally recommend the original, edited, shorter version, rather than the extra 200 pages he tacked on to it later. King captures character like no one else.
Those are just some of the best-known obvious choices. I know there are a lot more grittier / more realistic work (The Road etc.), but these books I come back to again and again.