trope: Dystopian

Wool

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Doomsday Morning

A classic, post-apocalyptic vision of America created by C. L. Moore, an undisputed master of science fiction’s golden age. In the wake of a nuclear war, the totalitarian system known as Comus has restored order in a shattered America. Comus Read more

365 Infantry Collection

For the brave wolven warriors of the 365th Infantry, the fight against the strange creations of the sentient computer A.C.E.S. is a nonstop war for the freedom of the Wastelands and those in the heart of the distorted metropolis Haven. Read more

Wool
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“One of dystopian fiction’s masterpieces alongside the likes of 1984 and Brave New World.” — Daily Express

The first book in the acclaimed, New York Times best-selling trilogy, Wool is the story of mankind clawing for survival. The world outside has grown toxic, the view of it limited, talk of it forbidden. The remnants of humanity live underground in a single silo.

But there are always those who hope, who dream. These are the dangerous people, the residents who infect others with their optimism. Their punishment is simple. They are given the very thing they want: They are allowed to go outside.

After the previous sheriff leaves the silo in a terrifying ritual, Juliette, a mechanic from the down deep, is suddenly and inexplicably promoted to the head of law enforcement. With newfound power and with little regard for the customs she is supposed to abide, Juliette uncovers hints of a sinister conspiracy. Tugging this thread may uncover the truth . . . or it could kill every last human alive.

Transmutation Texas (WATCHER of the DAMNED: WATCHER Book 1)

Transmutation Texas (WATCHER of the DAMNED: WATCHER Book 1)
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In a World gone Viral, a Hero shall Arise – join the Revolution with WATCHER of the DAMNED!

The Happening wreaked havoc as Humanity got a hard reset from a deadly gender-cidal Virus – and for TransMutated Survivors like The Watcher, life in Post-Apocalyptic Texas just got a whole lot bloodier and a whole lot lonelier. In a cyberpunk Wild West gone awry, The Watcher was a Rebel without a clue under the System: a brutal, high-tech Social Construct engineered to serve the Enlightened and oppress the Damned. But that’s all about to change, thanks to a cheeky chaos agent named Rose…

Now The Watcher must lead a Revolution to save Rose from the System He helped create, or Rose will die – and Humanity will die with her.

Fight the System – Join the Revolution – with WATCHER of the DAMNED!

in the same universe : Trail of Travail (Watcher of the Damned: Wanderer Book 1)

The Heads of Cerberus by Francis Stevens (Unexpurgated Edition) (Halcyon Classics)

The Heads of Cerberus by Francis Stevens (Unexpurgated Edition) (Halcyon Classics)
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This Halcyon Classics ebook is Francis Stevens’ (Gertrude Barrows Bennett) dystopian future history novel THE HEADS OF CERBERUS.

After inhaling a strange gray dust, the protagonist awakes in the year 2118 in a dystopian Philadelphia–a totalitarian city where every aspect of life is rigidly regulated by the state.

Gertrude Barrows Bennett (1883–1948) (who published under the pseudonym Francis Stevens) was the first major female writer of fantasy and science fiction in the United States. Bennett wrote a number of highly acclaimed fantasies in the 1910s and early 1920s, and has been called “the woman who invented dark fantasy.” While she lived until 1948, Bennett evidently published no new works after 1923.

This unexpurgated edition contains the complete text with errors and omissions corrected.

Psyker: A Dark, Dystopian Science Fantasy Novel (The Psyker Saga Book 1)

Psyker: A Dark, Dystopian Science Fantasy Novel (The Psyker Saga Book 1)
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Dystopian science fantasy – “Where minds are weapons and hope is heresy.”

They call it dark energy or chaos or the Warp. It leaks into our universe at an unpredictable rate.
Those sensitive to it can wield its immense power in unimaginable ways. In the Imperium of Mankind, anyone born with such a gift is labeled a psyker and outlawed at every level of society.

Enter Paric Kilhaven, a scion of a noble House and a young man as clueless as he is clever. His future was set until a genetic aberration, a freak encounter, and a curse turned his life inside out. Reality set in. He wasn’t like anyone else. He wasn’t even considered human, but at the end of the day, he was merely a pawn.

Paric navigates the darkly alluring world of his city’s underhive, hoping to escape the fate of an outlawed psyker. Rival gangs and chaotic forces align against him in a fight for the planet’s survival.

A Scanner Darkly

A Scanner Darkly
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Bob Arctor is a junkie and a drug dealer, both using and selling the mind-altering Substance D. Fred is a law enforcement agent, tasked with bringing Bob down. It sounds like a standard case. The only problem is that Bob and Fred are the same person. Substance D doesn’t just alter the mind, it splits it in two, and neither side knows what the other is doing or that it even exists. Now, both sides are growing increasingly paranoid as Bob tries to evade Fred while Fred tries to evade his suspicious bosses. In this dystopian future, friends can become enemies, good trips can turn terrifying, and cops and criminals are two sides of the same coin.

Caustically funny and somberly contemplative, Dick fashions a novel that is as unnerving as it is enthralling.

Winner of the British Science Fiction Association Award for Best Novel, Philip K. Dick’s A Scanner Darkly is a semi-autobiographical novel of drug addiction set in a future American dystopia — and the basis for the Hugo Award finalist film starring Keanu Reeves, Winona Ryder, and Robert Downey, Jr.

“A Scanner Darkly is about a descent into the deep fears of our 24-hour consumer society: the twilight of intellectual and emotional collapse…A fascinating portrait of 70s Californian counter-culture.”—The Guardian

Worlds (The Worlds Trilogy)

Worlds (The Worlds Trilogy)
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In this near-future novel by the author of The Forever War, an idealistic student visiting Earth from an orbiting colony is ensnared in a political conspiracy.

By the close of the twenty-first century, almost half a million souls have already abandoned Earth to live in satellites orbiting the strife-ridden planet. Each of these forty-one Worlds is an independent entity boasting its own government and culture, yet each remains bound to the troubled home World by economic pressure.

A brilliant student of political science born and raised in New New York, the largest of the orbiting Worlds, young Marianne O’Hara has never been to the surface but now has a golden opportunity to continue her studies far below her floating home of steel. Life on Earth, however, is very different from anything she has ever experienced.

With power in the hands of a privileged few and unrest running rampant, the allure of radical politics might be too much for an idealistic and inexperienced young World dweller to resist. But even the best of intentions can have disastrous consequences, and Marianne soon finds herself unwittingly drawn into a wide-ranging conspiracy that could result in the total destruction of everything on Earth . . . and above.

The first book in the acclaimed science fiction trilogy by Hugo and Nebula Award–winning author Joe Haldeman, Worlds offers a powerful vision of a possible future.

365 Infantry Collection

365 Infantry Collection
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For the brave wolven warriors of the 365th Infantry, the fight against the strange creations of the sentient computer A.C.E.S. is a nonstop war for the freedom of the Wastelands and those in the heart of the distorted metropolis Haven.

A war of nerves, a war of force, and a war waged in denim, leather, & chrome.

Creator Jacob Calta takes readers on a fantastic journey into a savage world, a post-apocalyptic circus that is as much a celebration of classic science fiction as it is a salute to hot rods, chopped hogs, and heavy metal, all with a unique and stylish vision from the multi-talented author, composer, and filmmaker.

Enjoy 25 exciting tales across multiple series within the setting, including a brand-new spy thriller novelette, “Lions Among the Lambs,” starring Infantry recon agent Roger Steele! Hop in and hang on for the most savage hounds this side of the Bomb!

“Between battling androids, hunting down serial killers, and surviving in the wastes, there’s a fresh sense of adventure that makes this series difficult not to love.” – The Lord Otter, Downstream Pulp

The 2022 Collection   –  The 2023 Collection   –  The Electric Anthology Volume I

The Big Sheep: A Novel

The Big Sheep: A Novel
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Los Angeles of 2039 is a baffling and bifurcated place. After the Collapse of 2028, a vast section of LA, the Disincorporated Zone, was disowned by the civil authorities, and became essentially a third world country within the borders of the city. Navigating the boundaries between DZ and LA proper is a tricky task, and there’s no one better suited than eccentric private investigator Erasmus Keane.

When a valuable genetically altered sheep mysteriously goes missing from Esper Corporation’s labs, Keane is the one they call.

But while the erratic Keane and his more grounded partner, Blake Fowler, are on the trail of the lost sheep, they land an even bigger case. Beautiful television star Priya Mistry suspects that someone is trying to kill her – and she wants Keane to find out who. When Priya vanishes and then reappears with no memory of having hired them, Keane and Fowler realize something very strange is going on.

As they unravel the threads of the mystery, it soon becomes clear that the two cases are connected – and both point to a sinister conspiracy involving the most powerful people in the city. Saving Priya and the sheep will take all of Keane’s wits and Fowler’s skills, but in the end, they may discover that some secrets are better left hidden.

Kroese’s The Big Sheep is perfect for fans of Philip Dick’s Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep, Terry Pratchett’s Guards! Guards!, and Scalzi’s Old Man’s War.

Strength of Stones

Strength of Stones
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Artificially intelligent cities rise up against humanity in this “excellent novel. It came on me as a surprise, and it knocked me out!” (Harlan Ellison).

In a theocratic world far into the future, cities control their own movements and organization. Constantly moving, growing and decaying, taking care of every need their inhabitants might think of, the cities have decided that humans are no longer a necessary part of their architecture, casting them out to wander in the wilderness and eke out a meager subsistence.

To the exiled humans, the cities represent a paradisiacal Eden, a reminder of all they cannot attain due to their sinful and unworthy natures. But things are beginning to change. People are no longer willing to allow the cities to keep them out, choosing instead to force an entry and plunder at will.

The cities are starting to crumble and die because they have no purpose or reason to continue living without citizens. One woman, called mad by some and wise by others, is the only human allowed to inhabit a city. From her lonely and precarious position at the heart of one of the greatest cities ever, she must decide the fate of the relationship between human society and the ancient strongholds of knowledge, while making one last desperate attempt to save the living cities.

Herokiller

Herokiller
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Ready Player One meets Gladiator in this high-octane thriller that mixes black-ops espionage with fight-to-the-death combat in the arena.

In the near future, the line between entertainment and brutality has blurred. Mysterious billionaire Cameron Crayton is a household name from televised spectacles in which prison inmates fight to the death, but his old shows pale in comparison to his new event, The Crucible, a gladiatorial tournament anyone can enter. The winner is promised unimaginable wealth and glory . . . if they’re able to survive a series of globally broadcast fight-to-the-death matches with medieval weaponry against the world’s most fearsome fighters.

Former black-ops operative Mark Wei wants nothing more than to be left alone to drink after sacrificing everything?including his family?in America’s covert Cold War II against China, a war won largely because of him. But there are rumors that Crayton’s background and business dealings involve shady connections to foreign powers, and soon Mark is convinced to reluctantly dust off his training, strap on a sword and armor, and enter the tournament arena as an undercover agent.

It’s the most dangerous assignment he’s ever been given, and Mark quickly finds himself not just fighting for his life in the arena against trained killers, but racing to expose The Crucible’s founder’s secrets while navigating a viral phenomenon in which the stakes are literally life and death. . . .