Dystopian fiction is a special subgenre of science fiction because it draws readers from all interests and not just from its mother genre, science fiction.
It is difficult to convince readers of all types of a world altered from our own, where social oppression is imminent and society is functioning under new rules. There are a lot of appeals to these concepts, primarily those interested in social justice, feminism, and social issues.
Dystopian fiction takes imminent social issues and takes it a step further to demonstrate perspectives and social consequences. A huge intersection with dystopian fiction is feminism, which has carved out a name for itself through the power of strong writers.
Add these 10 dystopian feminist books to your reading list to gain new perspectives and spark conversations.
10. Parable of the Sower by Octavia E Butler
Octavia E Butler is a major contributor to the feminist dystopian literature genre, and her series Parable of the Sower is one of her greatest works.
The protagonist Lauren lives in a dystopic California, in a community hiding from the destruction of society around them. One day, what seems like a curse forces her to leave her community in search of a new life but in the process, her power gains her followers for a new religion called Earthseed. This powerful book explores overcoming the destruction of society, and what happens when a woman leads the way out of the darkness.
9. The Handmaid’s Tale by Margaret Atwood
This list would not be complete without one of pop culture’s more recent viral dystopian fiction franchises. While Margaret Atwood wrote the book in 1985, it is the perfect example of how timeless the themes posed by feminism transcend generations, and often take generations to see change on systemic levels.
In a nation where women are subjected to subjugation, and stripped of their bodily autonomy, handmaids live with families to produce their offspring and fulfill their role. The protagonist remembers life before the military took over, and discovers an underground operation of it all in search of her long-lost daughter who was taken.
8. The Power by Naomi Alderman
Naomi Alderman is a third feminist author who has made a huge impact on the genre of feminist dystopian with several incredible books to add to your reading list. The Power is by far her most famous work and has recently been adapted into a series.
One day, the girls in the world experience an awakening, a power within them that changes their status quo in society. The work begins to restructure, trying to control the power of girls and women – but the world as they knew it will never be the same.
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7. Only Ever Yours by Louise O’Neill
Louise O’Neil takes the unthinkable to the next level, in this world baby girls are no longer born – but bred and trained to support a misogynistic society.
Girls attend training school to become men’s companions until the day they are picked, and for the lead character Freida, her moment is coming all too quickly as she must make the biggest decision of her life. This is the perfect book if you have already finished The Handmaid’s Tale.
6. Red Clocks by Leni Zumas
This dystopian novel released in 2018 hits all too close to home in imagining a world where abortion is banned completely. In light of the U.S. overturning Roe v Wade, this book acts as a warning of what could come as well as highlighting the feminine health of different women.
This multi-perspective novel shows a woman trying to conceive, a pregnant teen, a successful lawyer trapped in motherhood and marriage, and a witch on trial… this book has just enough fiction and real issues faced by women to demonstrate the consequences of limiting bodily autonomy and healthcare on society.
5. Women On The Edge of Time by Marge Piercy
Connie becomes in touch with the divine, meaning she is able to see and communicate with the future – specifically in the year 2137. What she sees is two different outcomes: a utopic society living in sexual and racial equality, and another path that leads to unimaginable oppression and exploitation.
In light of her powers, doctors try to convince her to have an operation and declare her insane, but she must fight to make the decision that will change the outcome of society.
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4. The Water Cure by Sophie Mackintosh
Sophie Mackintosh takes toxic masculinity to a literal sense in her novel The Water Cure. Three sisters have grown up on a secluded island, away from a society where men are contaminating the world. Even the sea around them is contaminated, making their island the only life they know.
The book focuses on the bonds of sisterhood, and how those relationships are challenged when three castaways appear on their shores and they are exposed to contamination for the first time.
3. Kindred by Octavia E. Butler
Butler’s career is so impactful that the list would not be complete without adding another one of her classic feminist dystopian novels.
Kindred follows the protagonist Dana who is mysteriously transported from her life in the ’70s to the early eighteenth century in Maryland where her ancestors are from. As a Black woman, she is immediately subjected to slavery, and life on a plantation leads her to an unlikely encounter with one of her relatives: a slave owner.
This crossover book between time travel and dystopian fiction intersects with feminism, race, and family.
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2. Brown Girl In The Ring by Nalo Hopkinson
In a society with Caribean roots where the rich have built their walls to hoard resources, leaving the middle to lower class to revert to old ways of living, society is left to relearn the ways of their past – farming, making goods, etc.
When the rich decide they need labor, they turn to outsiders for workers. Amid a worker’s purge, a young woman must get in touch with her ancestors, speak to gods, and embody her powers to readjust the balance in her society.
1. The Women Could Fly by Megan Giddings
In a world where witches walk among us, Megan Giddings uses witchcraft as a metaphor for society’s control over women’s autonomy. In this dystopian world, women are closely monitored and must be married by the age of 30.
Jo, a queer woman of color at the age of 28 is coming up on her moment to decide about her autonomy. Fourteen years have passed since her mother’s disappearance, and in a moment at the crossroads, she decides to take the path that will lead to fulfilling her mother’s last request for her and that could uncover her truth.
