Need some great dystopian reads for 2018? ReMade season 2 author Gwenda Bond shares her favorites in the hopes it helps you see the light at the end of the tunnel.
About ‘Remade’ season 2
You live. You love. You die. Now RUN.
ReMade Every minute, 108 people die. In one of those minutes this fall, twenty-three of those deaths will be teenagers. Now they are humanity’s last hope for survival. Awakened in a post-apocalyptic world and hunted by mechanical horrors, these teens search for answers amidst the ruins of civilization. Fate, love, and loyalty face off in this adrenaline -pumping adventure.
Read ‘Remade’ on SerialBox.com
Great dystopian reads for 2018
This might more rightly be called a list of some of my favorite dystopians–while dystopians do reflect the time in which they are written, I’ve included a mix of old and new here and the issues that make us fear dystopia, that make us need to explore the dark possibilities, are obviously timeless.
Ship Breaker by Paolo Bacigalupi — A Printz winner that’s got so much to say about the forgotten people in a world built on (and, in this case, broken by) commerce and the privilege of the wealthy. A post-peak oil world which is all about memorable characters and who is meant to suffer.
The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins — Yeah, I know, but I don’t feel Collins gets enough credit for how excellent this series is. The first volume in particular is practically perfect. This is a sharply incisive critique of so many things that any of us could be forgiven for feeling is too close to our reality show president for comfort. Mockingjay hand sign here.
The Handmaid’s Tale by Margaret Atwood — There’s a reason this book returned to the bestseller lists last year and it’s not only because of the excellent Netflix adaptation (which is also highly recommended). Every day seems to bring a new headline about the latest attempt to take away women’s reproductive — or other — rights.
The Carhullan Army/The Daughters of the North by Sarah Hall – This book about a Britain wracked by crises and a community of women within it was selected for the Tiptree Award the year I served on the jury, so I’ll just steal my comments from then: “Hall does so many things well in this book — writing female aggression in a believable way, dealing with real bodies in a way that makes sense, and getting right to the heart of the contradictions that violence brings out in people, but particularly in women in ways we still don’t see explored that often. I found the writing entrancing and exactly what it needed to be for the story; lean, but well-turned.”
Mockingbird by Walter Tevis — This is one of my favorite SF novels, a fable about losing and regaining the ability to read and how forbidden knowledge can lead to jail, freedom, or both. Spofford, the android who wants to die, is a character that has stuck with me for years. In an era when we talk about the value of libraries and experts struggle with making sure digital data is safely archived without degrading, it feels especially poignant.
Parable of the Sower by Octavia E. Butler — An essential read for anyone who likes dystopia or brilliant writing. Butler’s exploration of faith, vision, and humanity in a world grappling with class, race, and religious divides is one of the all-time greats.
About Gwenda Bond
Gwenda Bond writes for children and young adults. Her books include Lois Lane: Fallout, Girl on a Wire, and Girl in the Shadows, as well as the graphic novel Girl Over Paris with Kate Leth and Ming Doyle. She holds an MFA in writing from the Vermont College of Fine Arts and has written for Publishers Weekly, the Los Angeles Times, and the Washington Post amongst others. She currently resides in a hundred-year-old house in Lexington, Kentucky, with her husband and their menagerie.
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