Your Top 50 Books Set in the Future.
How lucky are we that literature isn’t constrained by anything as boring as physics; whether we want to follow a knight through his battles of old, an astronaut as she breaches the final frontiers of space, or even experience the end of the world in some, hopefully far flung distant future, we can do so with ease and from the comfort and safety of our favourite reading spot.
We asked our followers on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter for their favourite books set in the future and with almost 500 replies from across the platforms we had almost 100 different titles mentioned and here we have listed the top 50 books set in the future for you.
Fahrenheit 451 – Ray Bradbury
Topping our poll is a classic: Published in 1953, Fahrenheit 451 tells of a dystopian future where all printed literature is banned and firemen are no longer the people you call to put fires out but are the ones who are responsible for burning any illicit material found stashed away by lawbreakers.
The Hunger Games – Suzanne Collins
The world is fractured and Panem is what is left; with twelve Districts that are each responsible for a separate area of manufacture and all of them ruled over by the Capitol, humanity is controlled by fear, and The Hunger Games. A pair of children chosen from each of the Districts and a pair from The Capitol and are thrown into an arena, where they must fight to the death until just one is left.
The Passage – Justin Cronin
When a virus intended to boost humanity’s immunity mutates and becomes deadly, it leaves a post apocalyptic world filled with vampire like beings and humanity on the brink of extinction. Beginning in 2016 and covering a ninety year period, this is a book set in the immediate future.
1984 – George Orwell
We could not have a futuristic poll without mentioning 1984. It may now be in the past but when it was written and for many of us, when we first read it, Orwell’s horrifying predictions of a world watched over by Big Brother was set in a year still to come.
In Death (series) – J.D. Robb
In fifth place is J.D Robb’s In Death series which is a staggering 54 books (as of July 2016) long and follows Lieutenant Eve Dallas and her husband Roarke as they investigate myriad unusual deaths and mystifying murders and is set in a mid-21st century New York City.
Naked in Death (In Death, Book 1) US
Naked in Death (In Death, Book 1) UK
Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep – Philip K. Dick
Written in 1968 and set in a post apocalyptic San Francisco, Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep plunges us into a world ruined by a nuclear war , animals are so rare as to be considered a sign of status and the poor can only afford robotic pets. Bounty hunter Rick Deckard has been given the job to kill 6 androids as they possess no empathy, but is it as cut and dried as Deckard’s employers would have him believe.
Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep US
Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep UK
Ready Player One – Ernest Cline
It’s 2044 and the world is an ugly place to live. So bad in fact that teenager Wade Watts spends as much time as possible when he is plugged into the virtual utopia that is known as OASIS where he has to solve puzzles. When he discovers an important clue, he inadvertently puts his life at risk when it becomes apparent that there are people out there who would kill for what he knows.
The Handmaid’s Tale – Margaret Atwood
Set in the Republic of Gilead, which is a theocratic military dictatorship The Handmaid’s Tale follows the life of a woman who is reduced to being known only as being the possession of her owner Fred. Offred is still fertile in a world that has made most women sterile, and that fact confers upon her a status both desired and loathed and a life that she can not and dare not refuse to accept.
Brave New World – Aldous Huxley
Your ninth placed choice is the classic Brave New World: Written in 1931 and set in London in the year 2540 Brave New World follows Miranda as she realises that the Island she lives on is not all there is and the way her father treats people is not the right way to treat people. Huxley has been quoted as saying his book is designed to show what a “negative utopia” might look like.
Dune – Frank Herbert
And completing our top ten is Dune; set in the far off future and follows the story of young Paul Atreides, whose noble family accepts the stewardship of the desert planet Arrakis in a feudal universe. In 2003 it was cited as being the best selling sci-fi book ever.
11. The Martian Chronicles – Ray Bradbury
12. The Silo Series – Hugh Howey
13. Divergent(series) – Veronica Roth
14. Stranger In A Strange Land – Robert A. Heinlein
15. The Host – Stephanie Meyer
16. Wayward Pines Trilogy – Blake Crouch
17. Unwind – Neal Shusterman (Review)
18. A Canticle for Leibowitz – Walter M. Miller
19. In the year 2889 – Jules Verne
20. Station Eleven – Emily St. John Mandel
And after the featured top 20, here we take the list to complete your top 50:
The Lunar Chronicles – Marissa Meyers
Maze Runner – James Dashner
The Time Machine – H.G Wells
The Chrysalids – John Wyndham
The Machine Stops – E.M Forster
The Fifth Wave – Rick Yancey
Oryx and Crake – Margaret Atwood
La Journée d’un Journaliste Américain en 2889 – Jules Verne
Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy – Douglas Adams
The Shannara Chronicles – Terry Brooks
The Circle – Dave Eggers
The Uglies Series – Scott Westerfeld
Pebble in the Sky – Isaac Asimov
All These Things I’ve Done – Gabrielle Zevin
The Road – Cormac McCarthy
The Long Walk – Stephen King
The Tek War Books – William Shatner
Solaris – Stanislaw Lem
Boy meets Boy – David Levithan
Looking Backward – Edward Bellamy
The Pure Series – Julianna Baggott
Tunnel in the Sky – Robert A Heinlein
Galactic Football League series – Scott Sigler
The Fountains of Paradise – Arthur C. Clarke
The Giver – Lois Lowry
Time Enough for Love – Robert Heinlein
Random Acts of Senseless Violence – Jack Womack
Rendezvous with Rama – Arthur C. Clarke
Pig on a Lead – Derek Ingrey
Childhoods End – Arthur C. Clark
What an epic list of classic authors, and so many sci-fi novels in that list. Of course, if you think we’ve missed a title that should have been included, please let us know in the comments.
10 of 2024’s Most Anticipated Reads
The For Reading Addicts Book of the Year 2023
Are You Willing to Unite Against Book Bans?
Roald Dahl Censorship Creates Grotesque Versions of Classics
For Reading Addicts Book of the Year 2022
I am not sure who added the Galactic Football League series but GENIUS! I love these books
Erm. “The Hitch-Hiker’s Guide To The Galaxy” doesn’t take place in the future; it’s either the contemporary present or Earth’s pre-history.
Can’t believe anybody missed Mary Doria Russell : The Sparrow/Children of God are two of the best sci-fi novels EVER, with fabulous characters and amazing writing. Check her out!