Where are we going? This is what novels set in a future world ask us to consider.
Any book set in the future is likely to have a well-thought out world based on the author’s projection. It may contain critiques of the social and cultural structures in today’s society. Often, these books also contain potent insights into what it means to be human.
The settings are generally classed into dystopian (an imagined society where suffering and injustice prevail) and utopian (an idealized society).
These are some of my best novels. Apart from being an escape, these books ask us to consider other ways of doing things than the world we live in.
My favourite recent reads set in the future are Station Eleven by Emily St John Mandel, Children of Men by P.D. James and 1Q81 by Haruki Marukami.
This is what the other book bloggers recommend:
Stormi – Bewitched Reader Book Blog – www.bewitchedreader.com
Uglies by Scott Westerfeld is the first book in a futuristic young adult series that I first read when I was in school. I’ve actually seen this series popping up more and more lately, which is no surprise with how good of a read it is. It’s one of those that stuck with me and I’ve been itching to read again, even as an adult.
Erica Robyn – Erica Robyn Reads – www.ericarobynreads.com
The Stark Divide by J. Scott Coatsworth is the first novel in the Liminal Sky Series. This is such a wonderfully written space adventure filled with suspense! I fell in love with the characters immediately and could not wait to see what was going to happen next. If you enjoy space adventures with a wonderful cast, this is one that I highly recommend to you! Feel free to take a peek at my review for The Stark Divide here!
Jo Linsdell www.JoLinsdell.com
The Perfect Wife by J.P. Delaney takes place in Silicon Valley and is a psychological thriller set in the future. It was an awesome read and very thought provoking, especially given that Google has a patent application for a deep-learning intelligence that will “be able to mimic the personality of a loved one.” (It’s currently still under development).
Leslie Conzatti — www.upstreamwriter.blogspot.com
The books that always come to mind when I think of “a book set in the future” anymore are The Broken Empire and The Red Queen’s War– two trilogies set in about the same time period by Mark Lawrence. The reason that these are unorthodox choices is because they don’t present as “futuristic” in the normal sense, with cool cyberpunk robots or space-travel type stuff… It’s a future after a nuclear cataclysm known as “The Day Of A Thousand Suns”, which had the unintended (or maybe it was intended?) side effect of bringing magic back into the world and sending humanity back to the medieval “traditional fantasy” type setting: horses and carriages being the main modes of travel, there are empires and kings and somewhat of a feudal system. The difference, and the thing that marks this as being “in the future” are subtle details: The book talks of “Builder stone” and “Builders’ Lamps” and “Tall Castles”, and it’s only through careful attention to the descriptions that you come to realize the “stone” is concrete and asphalt, and the “lamps” are electric lights, while the “tall castles” are glass and steel skyscrapers, at least the ones that survived the blast. Further inspection proves that the map at the front of the book of this “broken empire” is in fact Western Europe, but the coastline has been dramatically shifted due to the rise of the ocean, changing the shape of the countries a little bit, and completely swamping others, but it’s all there. When the characters are riding past such tokens of a bygone era that make no sense in this “new world” as a “NO PARKING” sign, or humming snatches of “American Pie”, referring to it as “a ditty so ancient no one remembered the words”… it’s definitely a “future” book, but not the kind of future one might expect!
Laura Doherty – Tales of a Natural Spoonie – https://talesofanaturalspoonie.com
I’m struggling to think as so many of the books that I think of being set in the future are now in a future that is actually our past. Towards the end of last year I finished Nora Roberts’ most recent series Chronicles of the One. This dystopian fantasy/sci-fi series began with Year One, followed by Of Blood and Bone with the final book in the series being The Rise of Magicks. The series starts over the course of a festive/new year period where a virus called The Doom takes place and ends 18 years later. At no point is a specific year or date given yet it easy to assume that the first book begins during present day, and so the second and third books are set in a dystopian future. The Chronicles of the One series was a major change for an author who is best known for her romantic novels but it was a dystopian fantasy series I really loved.
Robin Loves Reading – https://www.robinlovesreading.com
I am not going to mention a specific book during this post. Instead I will mention the In Death series by J. D. Robb, which is the pseudonym for Nora Roberts. The series starts in the year 2059 and as I have read the first 24 books in the series, as well as a few novellas, it is now 2060. Thus far there are 50 books out, and the 51st book, Shadows in Death, will be released in September. I love this series. It focuses on Detective Eve Dallas and her ultra sexy billionaire husband Roarke. As a homicide cop, Eve has some gruesome crimes to solve. One factor that is a part of the lining of this series is Eve’s tragic past and how it has made her who she is now. Roarke’s past has also been revealed and his was nearly as difficult as Eve’s. The two are the perfect couple and I also love the secondary characters that are in each book. I have been getting these books via Scribd and am trying to read four to six books each month.
Kriti – armedwithabook.com
I have read a number of books that have been set in the future – dystopia has a certain appeal to me right now. 🙂 Station Eleven was the one that I read this year and it was really good. There are a number of parallels between Station Eleven and our present situation with the corona virus. I read it as a buddy read with a friend and you can find the full discussion here. The book tells the story of 5 people who are connected to one another and I loved the writing of this book – atmospheric is the word to describe it. When a virus becomes an epidemic and the world as we know ends, the novel talks about how people survive. It made me think about how ultimately, it does not matter what causes the breakdown of society, whatever kind of epidemic it is. People will survive, form tribes – the way we used to live before city life took over. If you enjoy dystopia, a similar book to this one is Book of M by Peng Shepherd.
Over to you, dear reader. Have you read any books set in the future? Or watched any great dystopian movies?