Dystopian Literary Fiction

See the rain forests...northern beauty, misted nights. Come to Lighthouse Island.... In the coming centuries, the world's population has exploded and covered the Earth with endless cities. Animals are nearly all gone. Drought plagues the land and cloudy water is issued by the quart. There are no maps, no borders, no numbered years. On this urban planet the only relief from the overcrowding, the petty informers, and the harsh rule of the big Agencies is the television in every living space, offering dreams of vanished waterfalls and the promise of virtual vacations in green spaces for the lucky few.

After the end of a brutal civil war, London is divided, with slums standing next to a walled city of elites. Monk-like masters are selected for special schooling and shut away for decades, learning to write beautiful compositions for the chimes, played citywide morning and night, to mute memory and keep the citizens trapped in ignorance.

In this darkly comic and surreal collection from celebrated author Alissa Nutting, misfit women scramble for agency in a series of uncanny circumstances. Throughout these breathtakingly creative 17 stories spread across time, space, and differing planes of reality, we encounter a host of women and girls in a wide range of unusual jobs. A space cargo deliverywoman enlists the help of her cybersex partner to release her mother from cryogenic prison.

Sam fa la guardia carceraria. Non per scelta ma quasi per caso, dopo aver fallito l’addestramento militare. Vive giornate tutte uguali, con una vena violenta che cerca di tenere sotto controllo e una depressione non diagnosticata. Ma un’occasione inaspettata lo conduce a Clearwell, una struttura di quarantena nel nord degli Stati Uniti. È stata costruita di recente, per ospitare gli individui di cui tutti parlano di continuo alla radio, in tv, sui social: i cosiddetti profeti.

Anno del Signore 2018: il mondo è trasformato. Il futuro è crollato nel presente, aggiornandolo e mutandolo. L'accelerazione tecnologica riconfigura tutto e tutti. Le macchine e gli algoritmi si candidano a mutare geneticamente il pianeta e l'umanità. Nulla e nessuno è indenne: il lavoro non è più lavoro, il denaro è puro fantasma, la specie umana è pronta a ibridarsi, persino la biologia rischia di non essere più biologica e la Storia non è più storia.

"Eine Pause im Irrsinn. Noch eine Anstrengung, das Aussterben zu verhindern, in einer seltsamen Entschlossenheit vereint. Es ist der letzte Versuch." Sibylle Bergs neuer Roman setzt da an, wo GRM endet – in unserer neoliberalen Absurdität, in der der Einzelne machtlos scheint. Der Kapitalismus ist alternativlos geworden. Das beste aller Systeme hat wenigen zu absurdem Reichtum verholfen und sehr vielen ein menschenwürdiges Dasein genommen. Die Krise ist der Normalzustand, Ausbeutung heißt nicht mehr "Kolonialismus" sondern "Förderung strukturschwacher Länder".

In Neuamerika leben die Menschen nach dem Gesetz der Natur. Auch Gaia Marinos muss sich diesen Regeln beugen. Versteckt in den Wäldern lebt sie das Leben einer Aussätzigen und hat den anderen doch eines voraus: In einer Welt ohne schriftliche Aufzeichnungen kann sie lesen. Als sie in Gefangenschaft gerät, rettet ihr diese Fähigkeit das Leben. Gaia macht es sich zur Aufgabe, die letzten Bücher der Erde zu finden, doch als diese Mission zu scheitern droht, muss sie sich entscheiden.

En un futuro inquietante y dominado por clones que parecen haber pagado la inmortalidad con la pérdida de la capacidad de reír y de experimentar emociones auténticas, dos misteriosos personajes, Daniel24 y Daniel25, encuentran los diarios de su «original», Daniel1, famoso por sus monólogos cáusticos en los que mezcla la provocación con una visión fría y cruel de la existencia. A través de la lectura de estos diarios, Daniel25 conocerá los últimos años de la vida de Daniel1, y el descubrimiento de su dolor le llevará a poner en riesgo el sueño de la inmortalidad de sus creadores.

In this kaleidoscopic voyage through the past, present, and future of the United States, a young girl uncovers a secret society, a middle-aged man searches for his lost first love, a group of teens invent a role-playing game, protests threaten to topple the government, and an eccentric lawyer and his young Vietnamese protégée re-open a dormant case.

Bill and Penelope are the lucky ones. Not only do they survive the Shark Flu emerging from the melting Icelandic permafrost to sweep like a scythe across the world, but they begin to rebuild a life in the wreckage of the old. A garden to feed themselves planted where the lawn used to be, a mattress pulled down to the living room fireplace for warmth. Even Bill’s psychology practice endures the collapse of the social order, the handful of remaining clients bartering cans of food for their sessions.

John Hill and Marvino Buck sit in a prison cell, watching the world fall apart on the news. Janay Williamson, a guard at the Cook County Jail, finds herself surrounded by violent men when civilization begins to crumble. Henry Haynes is a doctor in the middle of his shift when he notices the hospital is eerily silent. None of them knew the world would end that day. Now that it has, they all will have to fight to stay alive. With the world collapsing all around them, death seems imminent. Surviving quickly becomes all that there is.

Set in Rhode Island, Winner of the National Book Award tells the story of twins who could not be more different. Abigail Mather is a woman of passionate sensual and sexual appetites, while her sister, the book-loving local librarian Dorcas, lives a quiet life of the mind. But when the sisters are sought out by the predatory and famous poet, Guy DeVilbiss, who introduces them to Hollywood hack writer and possible psychopath Conrad Lowe, they rapidly become pawns in a game that leads to betrayal, shame and ultimately, murder.

It's 1962, and physics student Grace Pulansky believes she has met the man of her dreams, Robert Jones, while serving up slices of pecan pie at the local diner. But then the FBI shows up, with their fedoras and off-the-rack business suits, and accuses him of being a bomb-planting mass-murderer. Finding herself on the run with Jones across America's Southwest, the discoveries awaiting Gracie will undermine everything she knows about the universe.

Three teenagers are traveling northeast in a navy blue Ford pickup. Turi fled his abusive family at the border to see the beautiful New England landscape he’s always dreamed about. Arnulfo is undocumented and wants only to find someplace safe and quiet. Molly seeks a new life far away from her nowhere Missouri town. Turi and Arnulfo are best friends. Molly and Turi are falling in love. But for all their innocence, violence follows the trio at every turn.

In deze spannende surrealistische roman merken vijf willekeurige personen op een dag in de toekomst een merkwaardige geur op, een walm. Daar blijft het echter niet bij en de walm ontwikkelt zich tot een onverdraaglijke stank. Eerst zijn ze bang dat het om terrorisme gaat, of een milieuramp, en al snel gaan wetenschappers aan de slag om een verklaring te vinden voor de mysterieuze stank. Terwijl het zich over de wereld verspreidt als een epidemie worden de levens van de vijf personen steeds meer overhoop gehaald. Totdat ze tot een hele bijzondere conclusie komen over de oorzaak ervan.

Yada wächst als Bürgerin einer schwimmenden Stadt in der Ostsee auf. Ihr Vater, ein libertärer Tech-Unternehmer, hat die Seestadt als Rettung vor dem Chaos entworfen, in dem die übrige Welt versinkt. In den Jahren seit ihrer Gründung ist ihr Glanz vergangen, Algen und Moos überwuchern die einst spiegelnden Flächen. Yadas Vater fürchtet, sie könne das Schicksal ihrer Mutter ereilen, die vor ihrem Tod an einer rätselhaften Krankheit litt. Und Yada macht eines Tages eine Entdeckung, die alles ins Wanken bringt.

I’ve finally got my sister back. Now, if we can just catch up with our friends and find a way home...it’s only 300 miles away. When we’re offered a deal that seems to include everything we need to get home, the only choice is to accept. Never mind that the cost is our silence, along with taking a slight excursion along the way. The clock is ticking and we’re sworn to secrecy. Can we reach home in time and keep our promises? The road ahead is nowhere near easy. Tag along with Quinn and Riley as they attempt to reach their safe haven before devastation erupts.

As the world descends into chaos, a young cyborg tightens the noose around his neck. How could life spiral down into such a black hole? The cyborg terrorist revolutionaries attacking the clones; the riot police retaliating with public hangings; executions being streamed live across the entire sector; and true love failing. The new world order brings a class struggle, social unrest, and injustice where an interracial love has no hope to survive.

When Alabine Rivers, a politically active young woman with a bright career and romance ahead of her, finds out the devastating news that she has terminal cancer, the only thing that gives her solace is the possibility of a second life through the emerging field of cryogenics.

In Jos, Nigeria, Dareng Pamson is slowly winning back the trust of his pregnant wife after his infidelity shook their marriage. When a young Muslim woman comes in out of the rain looking for work in Dareng’s auto repair shop, Dareng cautiously agrees—against his better judgment. She’s passionate and willing to learn. Besides, it’s time he started doing things differently. After being back in her hometown for only a week, Murmula Denge finds who she’s looking for: Dareng, the Christian man whose coldhearted ambition and greed shattered her family.