“Stand at the top of a cliff and jump off and build your wings on the way down.”
Ray Bradbury is one of the most significant American authors history has ever produced. Over seventy years, the novelist has become renowned for his storytelling, engaging characters and dystopian sci-fi premises. His most influential work remains Fahrenheit 451. The book famously paints a world where the Government has outlawed literature, with readers following Guy Montag, a firefighter tasked with burning anything that promotes freedom of thought. It is one of the most iconic dystopian sci-fi books of all time, so why not check out the best books like Fahrenheit 451 at What We Reading?
Parable Of The Sower – Octavia E. Butler
The first entry in the Earthseed series, Octavia E. Butler’s Parable of the Sower takes place in 2025 when the world has descended into anarchy and chaos. Readers follow Lauren Olamina and her family living in one of the few safe zones on the outskirts of Los Angeles, hiding away in their defended enclave where her father preaches about the life of the righteous.
However, after one fateful fire, Lauren is forced into the world she has always regarded as filled with evil. One of the all-time great works of Black speculative fiction, Parable of the Sower is a fantastic recommendation for those who loved the themes of oppression present in Fahrenheit 451.
2084 – Boualem Sansal
Along with Fahrenheit 451, George Orwell’s 1984 is one of the most acclaimed dystopian works in literary history. Algerian author Boualem Sansal reimagines the classic novel in 2084: The End of the World. In this satirical look at control and resistance, Sansal paints a world where religious extremists influence every inch of everyday life.
Powerful and striking with its messaging, 2084 is the perfect follow-up for those who loved the Red Scare influences behind Ray Bradbury’s works.
Station Eleven – Emily St. John Mandel
After a flu pandemic ravages the planet, readers follow a musical troupe across the deserted wastelands of the Great Lakes region. Emily St. John Mandel’s Station Eleven is a poignant and powerful celebration of art, humanity and the meaning of life. Fahrenheit 451 touches on the importance of freedom of expression through literature, and this tone is mirrored by St. John Mandel in a significant way across this Goodreads Choice Award nominee.
Crossing between times as readers follow the before and after of the troupe’s members, its speculative fiction did so, so well.
Check Out The Best Apocalyptic Books Like The Last Of Us
Animals – Don LePan
Heralded as a ‘powerful piece of writing, and a disturbing call to conscience’, Don LePan’s Animals examines the relationship between humans and their mistreatment of other lives on the planet.
Set one hundred years into the future, LePlan paints a vivid picture of a world where abuse of antibiotics and the horrors of factory farming has led to mass extinctions and a crisis when it comes to food distribution. With the food scarce, humans turn to a new model for continuing to eat: using the disenfranchised in society as a possible means of feeding.
Black Milk – Robert Reed
Hugo Award winner Robert Reed’s Black Milk is another one of the world’s most famous dystopian sci-fi books. The story follows a quintet of genetically altered children created by the mad scientist, Dr. Florida.
These children have amazing senses and incredible memory. However, they face difficulties in finding where they belong in the world. The Sparkhounds, previous creations from Florida, suddenly disrupt their journeys by starting a rebellion to seize control of the entire planet.
Never Let Me Go – Kazuo Ishiguro
Kazuo Ishiguro’s Never Let Me Go introduces readers to an aloof English boarding school named Hailsham. Safely tucked away from the influence of the world around it, Hailsham is an education institute that takes great pride in raising its students in arts, literature and the sorts of attitudes society wants of them.
Strangely, these students are never taught anything about the outside world. Readers follow Kathy and her friends, Ruth and Tommy, as they make a daring break for the outside world and discover the true reality of what Hailsham is. A touching love story and scathing critique of human arrogance simultaneously, Never Let Me Go is a masterful piece of character storytelling from Ishiguro.
Feed – M.T. Anderson
Similar to Fahrenheit 451, M.T. Anderson’s Feed explores themes of identity crises and consumerism in a dystopian future. The book centres around an all-too-believable premise where humans have an internet feed plugged into their brains, meaning they never need to think for themselves.
Readers follow Titus and his friends as they plan a trip to the Moon for spring break. However, when a hacker hijacks all of their feeds, they are sent to the hospital and forced to lie around with nothing in their heads all day. Anderson’s smart and savage satire is on full show in Feed, establishing a dystopian sci-fi read that any fan of Orwell, Burgess or Bradbury is sure to enjoy.
Uglies – Scott Westerfield
Credited with reinvigorating the YA dystopian genre, Scott Westerfield’s Uglies has sold over three million copies since its first release in 2005.
In it, Westerfield creates a world where all sixteen-year-olds are given free plastic surgery from the Government that turns them from ‘Uglies’ to ‘Prettys’. A critique of the ‘haves’ and ‘have nots’ in contemporary society, readers follow the story of two girls, Tally and Shay, who are both dealing with the difficulties of being a Pretty, and what the secrets behind this dystopia world really are.
Check Out The Best Ray Bradbury Books
Part-time reader, part-time rambler, and full-time Horror enthusiast, James has been writing for What We Reading since 2022. His earliest reading memories involved Historical Fiction, Fantasy and Horror tales, which he has continued to take with him to this day. James’ favourite books include The Last (Hanna Jameson), The Troop (Nick Cutter) and Chasing The Boogeyman (Richard Chizmar).
