Advertisement
Christmas Special - Get your first 12 issues for just £12
SUBSCRIBE
Books

Best dystopian novels: Sebastian de Souza looks to a scary fictional future

The best dystopian novels are a warning for today. Normal People star Sebastian de Souza recommends five of the greatest.

Sebastian de Souza picks his favourite dystopian novels in this Big Issue video

Sebastian de Souza picks his favourite dystopian novels in this Big Issue video

With their frightening visions of the future, dystopian novels are one of the most cutting tools the writer has to attack the ills of current society. From science fiction to political satire, the most effective dystopias encourage us to stand up and fight for what we believe in – lest the speculative future becomes real.

Actor and writer Sebastian de Souza – who has previously captivated in Normal People, Skins and The Borgias – has just unleashed his own dark vision on us. His novel Kid: A History of the Future is set in 2060, when a series of deadly pandemics, devastating environmental disasters and a violent surge in cyber terrorism has driven most people to live in a virtual reality.

As part of his research, de Souza immersed himself in the writings of his predecessors. Here, he chooses the best dystopian novels everyone should read.

Top five dystopian novels, recommended by actor and writer Sebastian de Souza

Station Eleven by Emily St. John Mandel

This book is insanely relevant. It’s about a flu pandemic that wipes out something like 95 per cent of the world. It turns the idea of the dystopian novel on its head, presenting a discussion of whether the ‘before’ was better than the ‘after’, or the ‘after’ is actually better than the ‘before’.

The Parable of the Sower by Octavia E. Butler

This is a razor sharp, searing appraisal of our own power structures in the present day, but through the eyes of a 15-year-old African American girl in an imaginary world.

Advertisement
Advertisement

Ready Player One by Ernest Cline

This book is just so much fun because it manages somehow to pull just about every single pop culture phenomenon from the 80s into this crazy virtual reality universe. It made me wonder: if everyone is existing in this amazingly detailed, vivid, beautiful world, what does the outside world look like?

Animal Farm by George Orwell

Orwell frames this commentary on Communism, amongst other lots of other things, through the lens of a farm and its animals, which is something anyone and everyone can understand and connect with – however young they are.

Clockwork Orange by Anthony Burgess

Three words. Absolutely. Effing. Crazy.

Kid: A History of the Future by Sebastian de Souza is out now (Offliner Press).

Advertisement

Change a vendor's life this Christmas

This Christmas, 3.8 million people across the UK will be facing extreme poverty. Thousands of those struggling will turn to selling the Big Issue as a vital source of income - they need your support to earn and lift themselves out of poverty.

Recommended for you

View all
Comedian Kate McKinnon: 'Being yourself is harder than it sounds'
Kate McKinnon
Culture

Comedian Kate McKinnon: 'Being yourself is harder than it sounds'

A Spring of Love by Celia Dale review – disturbances in suburbia
A Spring of Love by Celia Dale cover
Books

A Spring of Love by Celia Dale review – disturbances in suburbia

If Only by Vigdis Hjorth review – a purging of a volatile affair
If Only by Vigdis Hjorth cover
Review

If Only by Vigdis Hjorth review – a purging of a volatile affair

Top 5 revolutionary books, chosen by historian and author Alice Hunt
Books

Top 5 revolutionary books, chosen by historian and author Alice Hunt

Most Popular

Read All
Renters pay their landlords' buy-to-let mortgages, so they should get a share of the profits
Renters: A mortgage lender's window advertising buy-to-let products
1.

Renters pay their landlords' buy-to-let mortgages, so they should get a share of the profits

Exclusive: Disabled people are 'set up to fail' by the DWP in target-driven disability benefits system, whistleblowers reveal
Pound coins on a piece of paper with disability living allowancve
2.

Exclusive: Disabled people are 'set up to fail' by the DWP in target-driven disability benefits system, whistleblowers reveal

Cost of living payment 2024: Where to get help now the scheme is over
next dwp cost of living payment 2023
3.

Cost of living payment 2024: Where to get help now the scheme is over

Strike dates 2023: From train drivers to NHS doctors, here are the dates to know
4.

Strike dates 2023: From train drivers to NHS doctors, here are the dates to know