What you need to know about dystopian books?
By Shihong Yang and Avani Dhanak
What exactly are dystopian books? Have I already read one/seen one??
These are books where the plots do not speak reality, but transport readers to other worlds, perspectives and even dimensions. I am pretty sure many of you have heard of the Hunger games/Divergent/Maze runner.
Why reads Dystopian? If it is all made-up stories, how can it be relevant to me?
Read it to escape from reality even for only a little while. It is an opportunity to get you into a whole new character’s mindset. You can learn many things from these types of books even though they are fantasy. For example, in the Hunger games when Katniss contemplates on whether she should grab a weapon from the cornucopia that could kill her opponents rapidly or whether she should grab a weapon that is suited to her strengths and capability. What do you think she grabbed? Undoubtedly, she grabs the bow and arrow. This is a weapon playing to her strengths, making her have a higher percent of surviving in the Games. From this the reader can learn good judgement and if they were ever in a scenario where they needed to decide over two things, they will have the confidence to choose the right item. It also teaches us that nothing in the world is perfect and anyone in the world can make a difference in our society.
Isn’t dystopian all gloom and doom? Are they even entertaining?
Dystopian is not always doom and gloom, because every character that you just start to like dies. Dystopian novels can be comedic when friends get into a quarrel and then forget that they are fighting something bigger than their petty fight. The action and fights in many dystopian novels can be quite entertaining, as you can picture yourself in their shoes running or fighting. It creates a sense of energy and gets you pumped about what could occur next.
Which are good books to start exploring?
You could jump right into the classics like the Maze Runner by James Dashner. Simply, start off with books that contain some elements related to this genre, but is not fully out of this world. For example, Station Eleven is based around the idea of a flu pandemic, which could be very relatable to nowadays.
Imagine living in a society where no one was safe.
1984 by George Orwell, is a book that challenges our perspectives of the world that we live in and the political systematic nature that runs in our society. What if our society was fascist or a dictatorship? What if we are constantly being watched? What if you had no sense of security or privacy? 1984 shows the benefits of our society that we take for granted.
Animal farm, written by the same author, George Orwell, puts us in the shoes of the animals that are kept in farms. The main characters in this novel are animals which seek to rebel against the human farmers that are keeping them encaged. It questions our morality and ethics, whereby us readers conclude that animals have precious lives and that they are conscious as well. Yet why are we threating them in such a cruel and a malicious way?
Gone by Michael Grant is a dystopian novel mixed with a twist of Sci-Fi. It is a story about an area in the world where all the adults and parental figures suddenly disappear. What would you do if all adults suddenly vanished? It questions the importance of authority figures in the lives of the youth.
Who is a well-known dystopian author? What’s so good about this author’s writing?
George Orwell, Suzanne Collins, Veronica Roth, James Dashner, Michael Grant are all fantastic dystopian authors. All the authors create immersive, compelling, and lively worlds for the reader to indulge in. The characters are quite well developed, especially when you come to the end of a trilogy. You almost become friends/enemies with the characters. Many dystopian novels have some battles or struggles to deal with, and this is always very thrilling to read. Plots can take a twist on your mind, and get you questioning what will happen next. It is impossible to put down!
If you wish to explore dystopian books, why not go on our SIC Reader's Quest - Otherwordly Observer!
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