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Dystopian fiction

  • Author:
    Lawless, J.R.H.
    Summary:

    If only fools think they can change the world, then a fool is the only one who can. Life doesn't pick winners and losers. That's for the corporations to decide. And they picked Liam Argyle for a carefree life of fame and fortune as host of the world's most popular reality show competition. Unfortunately, Liam doesn't do carefree. After two seasons of parading about the world's biggest victims on The Grass is Greener, he's been forced to put a happy face on one tragedy too many-and he won't turn a blind eye to the horrors of the corporate dystopian world of the 2070s any longer. Now, Liam is out to destroy the very people who made him a star. Even if he fails, he vows he'll never be a feckless pawn of the industrial-military-entertainment-culinary-janitorial complex ever again! . . . and this time, he means it. Contains mature themes.

  • Author:
    Ness, Patrick
    Summary:

    What if you aren't the Chosen One? The one who's supposed to fight the zombies, or the soul-eating ghosts, or whatever the heck this new thing is, with the blue lights and the death? What if you're like Mikey? Who just wants to graduate and go to prom and maybe finally work up the courage to ask Henna out before someone goes and blows up the high school. Again. Because sometimes there are problems bigger than this week's end of the world, and sometimes you just have to find the extraordinary in your ordinary life. Even if your best friend is worshipped by mountain lions.

  • Author:
    Powell, Daniel
    Summary:

    A young man with a terrible secret buried deep in his chest staggers through what remains of the American South. The destruction is total — the landscape scrubbed bare by the fires of the Reset. The sun rarely penetrates the daily ash storms, and the last of the Earth’s plants and animals are slowly dying out. And yet, there are survivors. Benjamin Stone is one of them, and he’s searching for the only person who can share his pain, another who was biologically altered at birth to become a weapon capable of bringing the world to its knees. Outside of the few supplies that sustain him in his search for a new life, he has nothing. Nothing but a will to survive and the desire to find someplace safe — someplace better. The Reset is a story of perseverance. It examines a future in which fragmentation and devolution have decimated society, and in which terrorism represents the final desperate attempt at shuffling the deck. With thematic elements similar to Stephen King’s The Stand and Cormac McCarthy’s The Road, it’s a post-apocalyptic story about the survivors of humanity’s cruelest intentions and their essential impulse to rebuild.

  • Author:
    Makansi, K.
    Summary:

    Remy Alexander wants justice. After narrowly escaping death at the hands of the Sector only to watch her world burn around her, she will defy everyone to find her revenge. Valerian Orlean wants truth. After learning what evils the Sector is truly capable of, he must confront his past in order to create a better future. In a world where deadly secrets lurk around every corner, and the food you eat can enlighten or enslave you, Remy and Vale must walk the line between hope and hate, love and loss, violence and vengeance, in order to unite—or destroy—their world. THE REAPING, the second book in the Seeds trilogy, will thrust the Resistance into the spotlight as the Okarian Sector publicly brands them as traitors and terrorists. As Remy struggles to find herself in a world where revenge has become her raison d’etre, and Vale tries to make sense of who he is despite his identity as an Orlean, the two are forced to fight together against enemies more deadly than they ever could have imagined. As they venture through the Wilds, onto a Farm, and deep into the Sector’s dangerous No-Go zones, they will find the path to truth or they will drown in the attempt. Picking up where The Sowing, Book One of the Seeds Trilogy, left off, this science-fiction dystopia written by the mother-daughter writing team of Kristina, Amira, and Elena Makansi immerses readers in the post-apocalyptic world of the Okarian Sector, where romance, friendship, adventure, and betrayal will decide the fate of a budding nation.

  • Author:
    Makansi, K.
    Summary:

    Remy Alexander wants justice. After narrowly escaping death at the hands of the Sector only to watch her world burn around her, she will defy everyone to find her revenge. Valerian Orlean wants truth. After learning what evils the Sector is truly capable of, he must confront his past in order to create a better future. In a world where deadly secrets lurk around every corner, and the food you eat can enlighten or enslave you, Remy and Vale must walk the line between hope and hate, love and loss, violence and vengeance, in order to unite – or destroy – their world. THE REAPING, the second book in the Seeds trilogy, will thrust the Resistance into the spotlight as the Okarian Sector publicly brands them as traitors and terrorists. As Remy struggles to find herself in a world where revenge has become her raison d’etre, and Vale tries to make sense of who he is despite his identity as an Orlean, the two are forced to fight together against enemies more deadly than they ever could have imagined. As they venture through the Wilds, onto a Farm, and deep into the Sector’s dangerous No-Go zones, they will find the path to truth or they will drown in the attempt. Picking up where The Sowing, Book One of the Seeds Trilogy, left off, this science-fiction dystopia written by the mother-daughter writing team of Kristina, Amira, and Elena Makansi immerses readers in the post-apocalyptic world of the Okarian Sector, where romance, friendship, adventure, and betrayal will decide the fate of a budding nation.

  • Author:
    Bell, Alden
    Summary:

    Temple can't remember a time before the zombies, but she does remember the tragedy that sent her on her personal journey toward redemption. Wandering the blighted land, she must decide where to make a home and find the salvation she seeks.

  • Author:
    Trinetti, Paul A.
    Summary:

    The fate of a future America. In The Preservation Plan, the final book of the Vexton series, an election brings tensions across the country to a head as Peace-Bringer nominee Nicole Kratz and Militant Alliance leader Gerald Levin ruthlessly battle for the presidency. But the future of the country they seek to lead is in jeopardy. Faced with a looming deadline imposed by the Outer Commission to pay its debt—as well as the threat of external forces looking to settle old scores—America is at risk of losing not just its independence, but its identity as a free nation. Following Manufractured (Book 1) and Moon Shade Bluff (Book 2), The Preservation Plan tells the story of a country facing extinction and the final struggle to save it.

  • Author:
    Alderman, Naomi
    Summary:

    Shortlisted for the Baileys Women's Prize for Fiction. What would happen if women suddenly possessed a fierce new power? In The Power, the world is a recognizable place: there's a rich Nigerian boy who lounges around the family pool; a foster kid whose religious parents hide their true nature; an ambitious American politician; a tough London girl from a tricky family. But then a vital new force takes root and flourishes, causing their lives to converge with devastating effect. Teenage girls now have immense physical power--they can cause agonizing pain and even death. And, with this small twist of nature, the world drastically resets. From award-winning author Naomi Alderman, The Power is speculative fiction at its most ambitious and provocative, at once taking us on a thrilling journey to an alternate reality, and exposing our own world in bold and surprising ways.

  • Author:
    Ogawa, Yōko
    Summary:

    A haunting Orwellian novel about the terrors of state surveillance, from the acclaimed author of The Housekeeper and the Professor. On an unnamed island off an unnamed coast, objects are disappearing: first hats, then ribbons, birds, roses--until things become much more serious. Most of the island's inhabitants are oblivious to these changes, while those few imbued with the power to recall the lost objects live in fear of the draconian Memory Police, who are committed to ensuring that what has disappeared remains forgotten. When a young woman who is struggling to maintain her career as a novelist discovers that her editor is in danger from the Memory Police, she concocts a plan to hide him beneath her floorboards. As fear and loss close in around them, they cling to her wiring as the last way of preserving the past. A surreal, provocative fable about the power of memory and the trauma of loss, The Memory Police is a stunning new work from one of the most exciting contemporary authors writing in any language.

  • Author:
    Dimaline, Cherie
    Summary:

    In a future world ravaged by global warming, people have lost the ability to dream, and the dreamlessness has led to widespread madness. The only people still able to dream are North America's indigenous population-- and it is their marrow that holds the cure for the rest of the world. But getting the marrow-- and dreams-- means death for the unwilling donors. Driven to flight, a 15-year-old and his companions struggle for survival, attempt to reunite with loved ones, and take refuge from the "recruiters" who seek them out to bring them to the marrow-stealing 'factories.'

  • Author:
    Crewe, Megan
    Summary:

    In the second installment in this dystopian trilogy, the virus has spread beyond Kaelyn's island, and she and her friends must head to the mainland, carrying with them hopes for a cure.

  • Author:
    Quinn, Susan Kaye
    Summary:

    What would you give to live forever? Seventeen-year-old Elijah Brighton wants to become an ascender—a post-Singularity human/machine hybrid—after all, they’re smarter, more enlightened, more compassionate, and above all, achingly beautiful. But Eli is a legacy human, preserved and cherished for his unaltered genetic code, just like the rainforest he paints. When a fugue state possesses him and creates great art, Eli miraculously lands a sponsor for the creative Olympics. If he could just master the fugue, he could take the gold and win the right to ascend, bringing everything he’s yearned for within reach… including his beautiful ascender patron. But once Eli arrives at the Games, he finds the ascenders are playing games of their own. Everything he knows about the ascenders and the legacies they keep starts to unravel… until he’s running for his life and wondering who he truly is. The Legacy Human is the first in Susan Kaye Quinn’s new young adult science fiction series that explores the intersection of mind, body, and soul in a post-Singularity world… and how technology will challenge us to remember what it means to be human.

  • Author:
    Quinn, Susan Kaye
    Summary:

    What would you give to live forever? Seventeen-year-old Elijah Brighton wants to become an ascender—a post-Singularity human/machine hybrid—after all, they’re smarter, more enlightened, more compassionate, and above all, achingly beautiful. But Eli is a legacy human, preserved and cherished for his unaltered genetic code, just like the rainforest he paints. When a fugue state possesses him and creates great art, Eli miraculously lands a sponsor for the creative Olympics. If he could just master the fugue, he could take the gold and win the right to ascend, bringing everything he’s yearned for within reach… including his beautiful ascender patron. But once Eli arrives at the Games, he finds the ascenders are playing games of their own. Everything he knows about the ascenders and the legacies they keep starts to unravel… until he’s running for his life and wondering who he truly is. The Legacy Human is the first in Susan Kaye Quinn’s new young adult science fiction series that explores the intersection of mind, body, and soul in a post-Singularity world… and how technology will challenge us to remember what it means to be human.

  • Author:
    Lunde, Maja
    Summary:

    A powerful tale of survival and connection--of humans, animals, and the indestructible bonds that unite us all.

  • Author:
    MacDonald, Hugh
    Summary:

    The Last Wild Boy is a dystopic story about Nora who lives in the walled city of Aahimsa, an idyllic community of girls and women working together to make a peaceful life free of the brutality of the outsiders. Nora and her friend Alice, the mayor's daughter, find an outsider baby abandoned within the city walls, and Nora starts to question whether the outsiders pose as much of a threat to her civilization as she's been taught. With the baby's life in danger, Nora must decide whether she's willing to give up everything she has to save him.

  • Author:
    Roth, Veronica
    Summary:

    More Four! Fans of the Divergent series by #1 New York Times bestselling author Veronica Roth will be thrilled by The Initiate, the second of four new short stories told from Four's perspective. Each brief story explores the world of the Divergent series through the eyes of the mysterious but charismatic Tobias Eaton, revealing previously unknown facets of his personality, backstory, and relationships.

  • Author:
    Foster, Sara
    Summary:

    Amidst a terrifying epidemic--when a healthy baby won't take a breath at birth--Lainey's friend Ellis has gone missing, as have several young pregnant women. The government's new laws monitor all citizens; yet Lainey's mother, Emma, is a midwife determined to be there for those who need her. But when seventeen-year-old Lainey finds herself in trouble, this dangerous new world becomes very real.

  • Author:
    Collins, Suzanne
    Summary:

    This Special Edition of The Hunger Games includes the most extensive interview Suzanne Collins has given since the publication of The Hunger Games ; an absorbing behind-the-scenes look at the creation of the series; and an engaging archival conversation between Suzanne Collins and YA legend Walter Dean Myers on writing about war. The Special Edition answers many questions fans have had over the years, and gives great insight into the creation of this era-defining work. In the ruins of a place once known as North America lies the nation of Panem, a shining Capitol surrounded by twelve outlying districts. The Capitol keeps the districts in line by forcing them all to send one boy and one girl between the ages of twelve and eighteen to participate in the annual Hunger Games, a fight to the death on live TV.Sixteen-year-old Katniss Everdeen regards it as a death sentence when she steps forward to take her sister's place in the Games. But Katniss has been close to death before-and survival, for her, is second nature. Still, if she is to win, she will have to start making choices that weigh survival against humanity and life against love.

  • Author:
    Greengrass, Jessie
    Summary:

    Perched on a sloping hill, set away from a small town by the sea, the High House has a tide pool and a mill, a vegetable garden, and, most importantly, a barn full of supplies. Caro, Pauly, Sally, and Grandy are safe, so far, from the rising water that threatens to destroy the town and that has, perhaps, already destroyed everything else. But for how long? Caro and her younger half-brother, Pauly, arrive at the High House after her father and stepmother fall victim to a faraway climate disaster, but not before they call and urge Caro to leave London. In their new home, a converted summer house cared for by Grandy and his granddaughter, Sally, the two pairs learn to live together. Yet there are limits to their safety, limits to the supplies, limits to what Grandy, the former village caretaker, a man who knows how to do everything, can teach them as his health fails.

  • Author:
    Atwood, Margaret
    Summary:

    Margaret Atwood puts the human heart to the ultimate test in an utterly brilliant new novel that is as visionary as The Handmaid's Tale and as richly imagined as The Blind Assassin. Stan and Charmaine are a married couple trying to stay afloat in the midst of an economic and social collapse. Job loss has forced them to live in their car, leaving them vulnerable to roving gangs. They desperately need to turn their situation around--and fast. The Positron Project in the town of Consilience seems to be the answer to their prayers. No one is unemployed and everyone gets a comfortable, clean house to live in ... for six months out of the year. On alternating months, residents of Consilience must leave their homes and function as inmates in the Positron prison system. Once their month of service in the prison is completed, they can return to their "civilian" homes. At first, this doesn't seem like too much of a sacrifice to make in order to have a roof over one's head and food to eat. But when Charmaine becomes romantically involved with the man who lives in their house during the months when she and Stan are in the prison, a series of troubling events unfolds, putting Stan's life in danger. With each passing day, Positron looks less like a prayer answered and more like a chilling prophecy fulfilled. From the Hardcover edition.

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