If You Like Dystopian Fiction

Can't get enough of dystopian fiction like Veronica Roth's Divergent series or Suzanne Collins' Hunger Games? Try these action-packed novels featuring strong heroines and heroes resisting government control in a dystopian future:


Pure by Julianna Baggott:
In a post-apocalyptic world, Pressia barely remembers life before the Detonations and at sixteen, the age when all are required to turn themselves over to the militia, she decides to run. Partridge is a "Pure"- one of the few who escaped the apocalypse unmarked and live safe inside the Dome. Believing that his mother is still alive outside the Dome, Partridge risks all by escaping. The day Pressia meets Partridge is the day their worlds begin to shatter all over again. This is the first in the completed Pure trilogy followed by Fuse and Burn.

Red Rising by Pierce Brown:
Darrow is a Red, a member of the lowest caste in the color-coded society of the future. Like his fellow Reds, he works all day, believing that he and his people are making the surface of Mars livable for future generations. But Darrow and his kind have been betrayed. Soon he discovers that humanity reached the surface generations ago. Vast cities and lush wilds spread across the planet with Darrow (and Reds) nothing more than slaves to a decadent ruling class. Sacrificing everything to infiltrate the upper caste system, Darrow is forced to compete for his life and the future of civilization. This is the first installment in a planned trilogy.

Memory of Water by Emmi Itäranta:
After global warming changes the world's geography and its politics, and wars are waged over water, 17-year-old Noria Kaitio becomes a tea master, a position that holds great responsibility and great secrets, until her father's death forces her to chose between safety and fighting back.

Gameboard of the Gods by Richelle Mead:
Living in exile after failing in his job as an investigator of religious groups and supernatural claims, Justin March, a man from a near-future world decimated by religious extremists, is invited to join an elite branch of the military by genetically enhanced soldier Mae, with whom he confronts formidable enemies to solve a string of ritual murders. This is the first book in the on-going series Age of X followed by the newly released The Immortal Crown.

Popular Book Club Books

Not sure what book to pick for your book club?  Here are some popular discussion-worthy books, many of which have multiple copies available at your Community Library:

• Hunger Games - In a future North America, where the rulers of Panem maintain control through a televised survival competition pitting young people against one another, sixteen-year-old Katniss's skills are put to the test when she voluntarily takes her younger sister's place.
• The Paris Wife - Follows the life of Ernest Hemingway's first wife, Hadley, as she navigates 1920s Paris.
• The Night Circus - Waging a fierce competition for which they have trained since childhood, circus magicians Celia and Marco unexpectedly fall in love with each other and share a fantastical romance that manifests in fateful ways.
• The Weird Sisters - Unwillingly brought together to care for their ailing mother, three sisters who were named after famous Shakespearean characters discover that everything they have been avoiding may prove more worthwhile than expected. 
• The Fault in Our Stars - Sixteen-year-old Hazel, a stage IV thyroid cancer patient, has accepted her terminal diagnosis until a chance meeting with a boy at cancer support group forces her to reexamine her perspective on love, loss, and life.

Books like 'Hunger Games'

The wildly-anticipated Hunger Games movie was released in theaters today, sparking a resurgence of interest in the dystopian trilogy: Hunger Games, Catching Fire, and Mockingjay.  For those of you who are addicted to these books, in which teens are forced to battle to the death on live TV, try checking out a few of these books like Hunger Games from your Community Library:

• Matched by Ally Condie - Cassia has always trusted the Society to make the right choices for her, so when Xander appears on-screen at her Matching ceremony, Cassia knows he is her ideal mate--until Ky Markham's face appears for an instant before the screen fades to black.  The newly-released sequel is Crossed; the series is on-going.
• Divergent by Veronica Roth - In a future Chicago, sixteen-year-old Beatrice Prior must choose among five predetermined factions to define her identity for the rest of her life, a decision made more difficult when she discovers that she is an anomoly who does not fit into any one group, and that the society she lives in is not perfect after all.  The sequel, Insurgent, is coming soon; the series is ongoing.
• Uglies by Scott Westerfeld - Just before their sixteenth birthdays, when they will will be transformed into beauties whose only job is to have a great time, Tally's best friend runs away and Tally must find her and turn her in, or never become pretty at all.  This is the first in a completed 4-book series, followed by Pretties, Specials, and Extras.
• Unwind by Neal Shusterman -  In a future world where those between the ages of thirteen and eighteen can have their lives "unwound" and their body parts harvested for use by others, three teens go to extreme lengths to survive until they turn eighteen.  An as-yet unnamed sequel is forthcoming.
• Maze Runner by James Dashner - Sixteen-year-old Thomas wakes up with no memory in the middle of a maze and realizes he must work with the community in which he finds himself if he is to escape.  This is the first in a completed trilogy, followed by The Scorch Trials and The Death Cure.

There are plenty of other great dystopias out there for Hunger Games fans hungry for more; share your suggestions by commenting!

The original "John Carter" stories

Although The Hunger Games is perhaps the most anticipated book to be released as a movie this season, John Carter is another book-based movie that people are eagerly awaiting.  John Carter (coming to theaters on March 9) is actually based on the series of books, starting with A Princess of Mars by Edgar Rice Burroughs.  Yes, THAT Edgar Rice Burroughs, the one who wrote Tarzan exactly a century ago in 1912.  Check out The Mars Trilogy to read the first three books in the John Carter series - A Princess of Mars, The Gods of Mars, and The Warlord of Mars.  Also, good news for ebook lovers - these books are old enough that their copyrights have expired, and are therefore available as free ebooks at Project Gutenberg.

Momentum building for dystopian 'Pure'

Looking for a new dystopian novel?  There are plenty of books out there that would love to ride on the success of stories like The Hunger Games and The Road, but one to watch for is Pure, by Julianna Baggott.  Even before its release, this book has already had its film rights purchased by the producers of Twilight.  In the story, an apocalyptic event known as the Detonations has scarred all the survivors except for the Pures, people who were protected inside the Dome.  Partridge, a teenaged Pure, has just learned that her mother might be alive outside of the Dome, and teams up with another teen from the outside in order to find her.  Place your hold now for this book, which is sure to be a much-discussed new release.

Can't get enough Hunger Games?

With the Hunger Games movie coming soon, your Community Library can't keep the Hunger Games trilogy (Hunger Games, Catching Fire, and Mockingjay) on the shelves!  For those of you who hunger for additional high-quality dystopias, there are plenty of great choices out there.  Try, for example, The Handmaid's Tale, in which an ultra-religious fervor ushers in a new era of misogyny; The Passage, in which a military experiment goes chillingly wrong, and The Leftovers, in which a Rapture-like event mysteriously causes some people to disappear.  1Q84, whose storyline is a nod to Orwell's classic dystopia 1984, is a bestseller in its native Japan; its English translation is on track to earn similar success.  Share your favorite dystopias by commenting!

Hunger Games Trilogy: Reader Review

The Hunger Games Trilogy by Suzanne Collins

Written for young adults, the three books in the Hunger Games Trilogy are also bestsellers in the adult market, with many people eagerly anticipating forthcoming the movie adaptation. Here is one reader's review of all three books:

Title: Book 1, The Hunger Games

Rating: 5/5 (excellent)
Review: A futuristic North America where the rulers of Panem are in control. There are 12 districts, each having two - girl and boy - participate in the Hunger Games - only one will survive. Although quite violent, it was a great book.

Title: Book 2, Catching Fire

Rating: 5/5 (excellent)
Review: The second in the Hunger Games trilogy - those that have secured safety in the first book "The Hunger Games" (I don't want to give anything away)by outsmarting Panem - now become the faces of a rebellion. Great Science Fiction at work. Loved it.

Title: Book 3, Mockingjay

Rating: 4/5 (good)
Review: The last book in the Hunger Games trilogy. The survivors have gone through hell and back. Now they are part of the rebellion. Will they live long enough to enjoy their freedoms? I have to say that I loved all three books. However, I was disappointed with the way the story ended.

Reviewed by: el lugo