Questions tagged [dystopia]
A dystopia is the idea of a society in a repressive and controlled state, often under the guise of being utopian, as characterized in books like Brave New World and Nineteen Eighty-Four.
268
questions
6
votes
0
answers
80
views
Book about a young girl saved from a boat, on trial about what she knows, and ends with realization that she’s a robot
I vaguely remember the protagonist is saved from a boat, which lands on an island. She’s not allowed to leave and ends up in a tribunal or some other sort of trial regarding whether or not she should ...
- 61
4
votes
0
answers
82
views
Dystopian young adult novel about an orphan forced to live with a medical organization
My friend is looking for a novel they read in 2018; they remember it having a one-word title.
The story is set in a post-apocalyptic future with a world fallout, tribes, maps, and futuristic elements. ...
- 51
11
votes
1
answer
602
views
Young adult story set in a dystopian future where an AI gives up children for better hardware
I read this story when I was in 7th/8th grade in ~1999. It was on a list of recommended "books" to read for a reading contest at my school. I don't remember if it was part of a compilation ...
- 113
2
votes
2
answers
639
views
Young adult book series about a teen who goes into a Texas prison while fighting aliens
I read this about six years ago. It is a trilogy, I believe. The story starts off with a girl who is surviving on her own, trying to find her family. Later in the book, she joins a colony where she ...
- 29
7
votes
1
answer
115
views
Series of novels from the '90s, set in a dystopian future, where a young rebel engages in acts of terrorism to fight the system
I'm trying to find a series of novels from the '90s that I read as a teenager back then. Here's what I remember (sorry, it's more than a bit vague, but it was a long time ago and my memory fails me):
...
- 211
8
votes
1
answer
392
views
Dystopian novel where the protagonist is a girl with powers who has to stop the president from destroying the world [duplicate]
This book was long. Very long. I read it on my Kindle and I have forgotten about it. The plot is a bit murky in my head but I will give you the details which I remember
The story is told from the ...
- 412
8
votes
0
answers
202
views
Future Britain, no kids born, NOT Children of Men
A book I read in the UK approx 2010 but I think it was older.
Can't recall anything of the cover.
It's set in a future Britain where no (or very, very few) kids have born for at least a couple of ...
- 24k
8
votes
0
answers
142
views
Dystopian novel where you're given a number corresponding to your career
I read this probably in middle school, around 2012, but I'm sure the year isn't reliable enough to go off of and it is probably older. I can't recall if it was in-person or if this was a random book I ...
- 81
9
votes
2
answers
180
views
Live-Action Dystopian Cyberpunk(?) Sci-fi movie/show
There's really only one scene I remember clearly, but I have no idea where or when I watched it. It might have been several years ago.
Many people seem to have bionic parts of some kind. One woman is ...
- 3,322
-1
votes
4
answers
2k
views
scifi dystopian movie possibly horror elements as well from the 70s-80s the twist is that main villian and the protagonist are brothers [closed]
I have been looking for this movie for 20 years. I remember it being on TCM once but I did not watch it. It is possibly a dystopian movie in which has some sci-fi and possibly horror aspects in which ...
- 25
12
votes
0
answers
176
views
Dystopian Sci-fi Biodomes Movie
I'm trying to track down what I think was a movie I watched on British TV as a kid in the mid-early 90s.
The key scene I remember is a young girl (maybe 6-10) and an older man (grandad age). They live ...
- 121
8
votes
0
answers
140
views
Book where the main character lives in a sci-fi dystopia and is "sorted" and gets powers
The main character is male, everyone gets sorted/goes through some scanner thing and it's usually fine. For some reason his mom gets sorted red and I can't remember if she dies because of that? It ...
5
votes
0
answers
116
views
story about a perfect average citizen [duplicate]
Year ago I read a dystopian story about a guy who was found to be an exact average of several parameters.
A doctor scribbled a note "average" (or similar) on this character's health records, ...
- 51
8
votes
1
answer
2k
views
Foreign film about a dystopian future where people age 30 or over can get "regenerations"
It was a foreign film about a dystopian future where at age 30 people can start getting "regenerations". You can literally go into a place like a dairy and get regenerated; it's that easy. ...
- 89
19
votes
1
answer
2k
views
Sci-fi dystopian novel where not being addicted to any substance is illegal
I'm looking to identify a sci-fi novel I read as a teenager I scarcely remember now:
Dystopian setting.
Not being addicted to any substance is illegal. Smart people choose to get away with being ...
- 292
6
votes
0
answers
129
views
Dystopian kids’ novel in a society where growing your own food is illegal
I read this book as a 4th grader around 1981-82. It was about a boy who lived in a society where growing your own food was illegal. At school he had to eat hard little pink cookies that cut up his ...
- 61
20
votes
1
answer
3k
views
Dystopian future, illegal parents are punished by rapid aging
Please help me identify a book/story I read some years ago.
Dystopian SF future. World is extremely overpopulated and food scarce. People have gradually moved into megacities each consisting of just a ...
- 311
13
votes
1
answer
202
views
Dystopian book series I can’t quite remember
I’ll give you what I can remember from this book series.
I remember the aftermath of what ever world changing event left the atmosphere deadly to anything metallic. So the main character, i want to ...
- 131
2
votes
1
answer
92
views
Hunger Games-style book about a world with different alien species fighting
Around 10 years ago, I read a new book about an entire world, with different alien species all fighting. I remember the enemies being spider-like.
The protagonist learns that they are being watched ...
- 71
4
votes
2
answers
207
views
What is the earliest work of fiction with a dystopian future?
Taking the following definition of dystopia:
an imagined world or society in which people lead wretched, dehumanized, fearful lives
It would seem there’s a certain aspect to it that is very much ...
- 14.7k
11
votes
1
answer
445
views
Book series about a group of humans who colonise another planet after the Earth is destroyed by the Sun going nova
Trying to find a series - two books from memory - in which the Earth was destroyed by the Sun going nova. A smallish group fled to a science base to make it a colony. The world was not really suitable ...
- 113
7
votes
2
answers
249
views
Sci-fi / dystopian novel about a community where misbehavers’ brains are removed
It was a novel classified as young adult.
I don't remember the character names.
First off, it was a full-length novel (around 300-400 pages, but I might be off by a lot). The cover is a sunflower-...
- 123
18
votes
3
answers
2k
views
Show/miniseries which aired on HBO in the early '90s, featuring "Water Police"
This is something I've been totally unable to find any information about through search engines. In the early/mid '90s, I remember seeing what I think was a show or miniseries about a dystopian future ...
- 283
13
votes
1
answer
177
views
A broadcast enforces pacifism/vegetarianism
An American 40s to 60s novella read in the 80s. Set near Detroit or Chicago at about the same time.
After a nuclear war, broadcast towers have been installed to stop aggression, and nearly all the ...
- 329
5
votes
1
answer
130
views
Novel where rationing is extended to time rationing [duplicate]
In that novel, a government managing a war economy tries to reduce further resource consumption by more rationing. In addition to food rationing already in place, they introduce time rationing: each ...
15
votes
1
answer
2k
views
SF cyberpunk graphic novel from 80s involving a habitat called the hoop and its occupants hoopers
A habitat called the hoop was supposed to solve housing problems in a futuristic city. Something doesn't work and the hoop becomes a dumping ground for undesirables. There is a curfew for hoopers to ...
- 159
4
votes
1
answer
134
views
1950s or 1960s short story where everyone is in constant phone communication with relatives
In this short story, a male character commutes to or from work. He's constantly in conversation with his wife at home. If I remember correctly, there's also always music in all the places he goes ...
9
votes
2
answers
978
views
Cancelled series on WOR channel 9 or WPIX 11 in the 70’s about a dystopian future humans live underground
There was a series or limited pilot that never took off about a dystopian future where human regressed to caveman like people that lived on the earths surface due to a vaccination gone wrong. There ...
- 99
7
votes
1
answer
1k
views
"Hunger Games"-esque book where teens are run through a gauntlet of ruthless tests, and pitted against one another
The book focuses on a girl (first-person perspective) who enters a program designed to help provide better jobs for poor families, following in her older brother's footsteps (going against her parents'...
- 604
5
votes
0
answers
135
views
Short story about a cop who chases criminals in a dystopia where everyone is perfect at their job
Read at least ten years ago in an anthology, possibly Writers of the Future, but no idea which issue/edition. Everyone in the story is too good at their jobs, and so work is sort of hard to find, so ...
- 133
8
votes
3
answers
4k
views
Movie or book about people kept in a type of prison where if their name came up in a lottery, they'd be subject to experiments and/or organ harvesting
Looking for the title of a science fiction movie or book. It involved young people kept in a type of prison and facing a lottery where if their name came up they would face experiments on their body ...
- 97
7
votes
1
answer
242
views
I'm looking for a dystopian short story called "Same"
In this story everyone had the exact same schedule everyone had the exact same house and car, it was so similar that you could use any car or any house, no one had any possessions. they watched tv at ...
8
votes
1
answer
246
views
Immortality Injection Short Story?
I've been desperately trying to remember the name of this short story I read in high school, almost 10 years ago.
The premise was there was a "cure" for death, and a bunch of parents were ...
- 89
6
votes
0
answers
231
views
What is this dystopia with only three channels on TV?
It's possible that I invented this and it doesn't really exist.
What I remember: one character is proudly showing off facets of their dystopia. They say that they've successfully reduced the number of ...
- 7,533
1
vote
1
answer
104
views
Trying to find a book I read around 2008. It’s a sci-fi dystopia with a green holographic cover of a man jumping and a city behind him
I read a book around 2008. It has a green holographic cover showing a guy in a city. The plot is: virtual reality has everyone addicted to the point they are obese and with bad health problems but ...
- 27
11
votes
1
answer
1k
views
What is this from: beheading, head stolen in heist, and connected to new body?
This memory of a scene from a book/movie/show/comic popped into my mind and I can't figure out what it is from!
It's a beheading/execution scene on a castle/tower/skyscraper over a waterfall/into a ...
- 113
6
votes
1
answer
251
views
Dystopian short story about a man who can only think in the language of adverts
I read this a while back and can’t remember much.
It was a short story where a man can only think in the language of ads - the narrative is subjective to his POV and he can barely describe himself or ...
- 69
15
votes
1
answer
336
views
1980s/'90s sci-fi B-movie about a totalitarian future where a boy finds an abandoned combat robot
I once watched this movie on TV. It looks like it was released in the 1980s (or early 1990s).
The action takes place in a totalitarian future. At the beginning of the film, a boy hacker uses a ...
- 203
14
votes
1
answer
186
views
Looking for: Future, dystopian, virus & vaccine, medical check, government agency killing people
I'm looking for... something! I'm honestly not sure if it's a book, radio play, TV-series or movie, but I think it's probably a book or radio play.
It's set in a bit of a dystopian future. A few ...
- 2,859
10
votes
1
answer
1k
views
Young fit man pursuing a less healthy man through a hive structure
I'm looking for a short story about a young fit man pursuing a less healthy man through a hive structure. I think he captured or killed him. The young man has superior muscles developed by the hive ...
- 165
8
votes
1
answer
319
views
YA novel where the world is divided by color
Read this book before 2013.
The protagonist (I think it was a boy) lived in a world where society was divided by colours and each colour had their own city/continent. Each of these colours had their ...
- 89
10
votes
2
answers
1k
views
Short story/novel dystopian where the main character is compelled to buy consumer goods which he packs into a recycling slot
I have this memory of reading a short story of a dystopian future where the main character was compelled (by law?) to purchase "consumer goods". Upon arriving home he packed the purchased ...
- 109
53
votes
1
answer
4k
views
Humorous essay on dystopian novel tropes
Several years ago my now-ex was in an MFA program for writing children's literature and read to me an essay she came across. I'm looking for help in finding it. The problem is that I can't remember ...
- 761
11
votes
1
answer
402
views
Young Adult Sci-fi trilogy about a world where people can upload their minds but if they die in the simulation they'll die in the real world
I read this book in 2018/2019. It's a young adult science fiction trilogy about a world where people can upload their minds and consciousness to a simulated computer world and interact with others. If ...
- 171
7
votes
1
answer
159
views
Novel series with ritual cannibalism and flesh essential for life
Reminded by a recent question asking for SciFi books with cannibalism in them.
I am looking for a novel series (I think 3-5 books) that I read about 5-6 years ago, and I think it will have been ...
- 3,662
5
votes
2
answers
155
views
Looking for a dystopian sci-fi book in which the story is told through various characters' perspectives and people are hosts to some sort of infection [duplicate]
There are really only two characters I remember: a military man and a girl.
The girl lived in a camp with other survivors or people who weren't hosts (or brainwashed- I can't exactly remember). A ...
- 53
11
votes
1
answer
133
views
A book from the 70s/80s; boy breaks out of his dreary city life to find the country as bad [duplicate]
Was taught in UK schools in the 80s. The city was a grubby but sterile environment with the usual tropes of bloody sports and I think high tech policing: then, through a big old fence was the country,...
- 111
8
votes
1
answer
315
views
Science fiction story about a dystopian society where fertility is strictly regulated
I read this story as a teenager. It was about a dystopian future where people lived in buildings with contraceptive gas. When they got permission to become parents, they would leave the city. The ...
11
votes
4
answers
1k
views
Dystopian book where rich people use technology to temporarily inhabit the bodies of the poor
I'm trying to find a book that a friend of mine read. He does not know the title nor the author's name. Here is how he described it:
It was a dystopian society where I guess the poor live underground, ...
- 121
9
votes
1
answer
1k
views
Guy gets mugged, then his corporation sponsors the gang?
A novel series from the 90s or possibly late 80s. Thought the title was something like Boedekker's Demons, but I think I got the name mangled.
Corporate dystopia where a guy gets mugged but then turns ...
- 382