What is dystopian fiction?

While romance and utopian novels are fantastic - they can take us away to the perfect world for a while, dystopian novels offer a stark reality.

Rather than rainbows and flowers, you are going to dive into a repressive, oppressive, sad and often lonely society.

The words that you most often see associated with dystopian novels are hard governments, totalitarianism, dehumanisation, disasters, wars, post-war and bleakness. 

The art of the dystopian novel is that it tackles real-world issues like autonomy, politics, war, government corruption and more in a fictitious way.

It’s not a genre that everyone will want to read, but it is one that everyone should. A great dystopian fiction novel will leave you with a lot of questions, and it might highlight some real-world issues that you have yet to be aware of.

But there are other reasons that the next book you choose should be dystopian fiction.



Suspenseful

If you want to be gripped and feverishly reading more of the book than you had originally planned, then dystopian it is. While horrors and thrillers might have you hooked, the emotions you will feel while reading a dystopian novel aren’t the same.

The style of the writing is often entrancing and will have you turning pages trying to get to the bottom of the who, what, where, and why.

The most loved characters often won’t make it out alive, or something traumatic and dramatic befalls them. Dystopian fiction novels are true to life, and sometimes the unexpected happens, and sometimes there is nothing you can do but watch from the sidelines. 

 

Settings

If you want to feel like you can smell the acrid air and the dust on your own fingertips, then dystopian novels are perfect. Most often, the cities and the descriptions are so recognisable that you can imagine where the characters are.

What makes dystopian novels so impactful is that they heavily reflect the elements that we are familiar with, and that means the content is even more thought-provoking.

There are a few dystopian societies that you may encounter - technological, moral, totalitarian control, corporate, bureaucratic.

And these will be in combination with figurehead concepts, surveillance, propaganda, restrictions and censorship, fear of the outside, and conformity.

Big topics that are intricately woven into beautifully written texts.



Thought-provoking 

We are inundated with things that need our consideration, but often unless we put in some work, we will be coming at every issue with only our own point of view to drive us. When you read a dystopian novel, you will be presented with a different opinion, view and occasional facts.

While what is contained within the novel might be highly exaggerated, many of the topics take their inspiration from the world around us. It is also interesting to read dystopian novels that are based in a country that is not your own.

It’s not just that but looking at how you might handle something, or that maybe you and your action and voice can make a difference in the world. What makes these types of novels even more interesting is that not everyone's opinion will match yours - and there are a lot of discussions that can be had.



Busy

Just like real-life, dystopian novels are busy - there is always something happening. There are a lot of stories that need to be woven together so that you have a fully rounded picture of what is going on.

You’ll get some history; you’ll get characters that arrive and deliver information, death, most likely some upsetting situations, and more.

You’ll explore the rules, you’ll experience the thoughts and feelings of others, and each page will be filled with more.



In your feelings

Because of the topics that these types of novels cover, you can find yourself in a dark place during reading - and that is one of the things that good art should do. Good art should make you feel things, and sometimes it is lighthearted and lovely; other times, it is darker and more pressing. Both are valid.




In the end, one of the shining things that appear in all types of the dystopian novels is the vastness of the human spirit.