Daniel Keast

Stuff about Dystopian Novels Book Club

The Testaments

I have read this before, but I could remember almost nothing about it. After having finished it again I can see why. It’s fine, but it feels like it doesn’t have a lot to say after the excellent original book.

The Handmaids Tale

I’ve read this several times before, but it’s this months pick for the book club. I figured I should read it again to have it fresh in my mind. I remembered almost all of it, the only thing I think I didn’t was the Soul Scrolls shop where unmanned printers are printing out prayers which get shredded straight away.

Before and After

This is the story of a morbidly obese man that is addicted to food. He has become trapped in his apartment due to his weight, and at the start of the book is going to be removed by crane to go to the hospital and have his foot amputated. This goes wrong however when everyone else seems to turn into rage filled zombies.

The Waiting Rooms - Eve Smith

This is a story set in a future where antibiotics are no longer effective due to overuse. People over the age of seventy are refused healthcare and end up in hospitals called waiting rooms.

Lord of the Flies - William Golding

This month’s pick for the Dystopian Novels Book Club. I’ve read it before, but so long ago that I’d forgotten most of the details. In it, a group of boys crash land on a deserted island and attempt to build a society with each person filling different roles. Throughout the course of the book, this all falls apart, descending into arguing, fighting, and eventually murder.

Prophet Song - Paul Lynch

This month’s pick for the Dystopian Novels book club. It’s just been released on paperback after winning the 2023 Booker Prize. It tells the story of a family in the Republic of Ireland living through the rise of a totalitarian government.

Native Tongue - Suzette Haden Elgin

This was this months pick for the Dystopian Novels Book Club. It is a science fiction novel set in a future where women have been stripped of all rights in the US. Humans have gained contact with multiple alien species, and only a subset of linguist families called The Lines are able to communicate with them. There are a group of women who are creating their own language centred around the female perspective in the hope of freeing themselves.

The War of the Worlds - H.G.Wells

This was this months pick for the Dystopian Novels Book Club. I really thought I had already read this, but if that’s the case it was long enough ago that I didn’t really remember the details.

Bird Box - Josh Malerman

This is the Dystopian Novels Book Club pick for this month. I remember thinking that the Netflix film was okay, but very overhyped. I enjoyed the book quite a lot more, but maybe I’m just able to accept it on it’s own terms more easily without the hype.

They - Kay Dick

This month’s book club pick.

Babel - R. F. Kuang

This month’s book club pick. I loved most of this, but wish it spent less time lecturing me and gave some more nuance to the characters. I don’t really need convincing about it’s themes, and I think the message might have come across as more powerful if I was allowed to think about what was happening rather than being told how I should feel about it all the time.

Moon of the Crusted Snow - Waubgeshig Rice

The pacing felt much too slow. There are points where something exciting is supposed to be happening and the author spends paragraphs detailing where people are sitting and what clothes they’re wearing.

Snow Crash - Neal Stephenson

This was a lot. So many ideas that just keep coming. It’s absolutely ridiculous, and really quite silly throughout. I thought it was great.

The Long Walk - Stephen King

A dystopia where 100 boys are in a competition to walk as far as possible. If you drop below 4mph for 30 seconds you get a warning, after three warnings you get shot.

I Who Have Never Known Men - Jacqueline Harpman

40 women who are locked in a cage that is patrolled by men with whips escape when the men run out after hearing a siren.