Books like ‘1984’ by George Orwell: New and classic dystopian novels

Remember high school English class reading assignments? Sometimes those dense classics were even enough to make the booklovers in the classroom groan. 
But every now and then, an assigned reading would come along and truly stick with us. For many, “1984” by George Orwell is one of those books. 
Its impact on science-fiction and pop culture is far-reaching. “Big Brother,” “Thought Police” and even “Orwellian” are household terms because of “1984.” And in 2017, sales of the book skyrocketed after Donald Trump’s former advisor used the phrase “alternative facts.”
“1984” is set in the totalitarian state of Oceania, where war is peace, freedom is slavery and ignorance is strength. Citizens are kept closely in line by the ruling Party, which is controlled by an ominous figure known as Big Brother. Big Brother is always watching – your language, your actions and even your thoughts. Rebellious thinking is an act of “thoughtcrime,” which carries a fatal punishment.
Check out: USA TODAY’s weekly Best-selling Booklist
If you’ve devoured Orwell’s cautionary tale and want more, here are 10 more books with dystopian themes to read next. 
“The Sisterhood” is a feminist retelling of “1984” from Julia’s perspective. The counterpart to Orwell’s protagonist, “The Sisterhood” gives Julia a voice of her own and explores the secrets she’s been harboring. Though she appears the picture of a dutiful woman, she’s part of a secret underground movement called The Sisterhood, which helps identify members of the vigilante group The Brotherhood to overthrow the Party and Big Brother. 
Eerily, this book is set in an imagined 2024 world ravaged by drugs, disease, war and drought. Lauren Olamina is a preacher’s daughter who lives in one of the only remaining safe neighborhoods outside of Los Angeles. She struggles with hyperempathy, a condition that leaves her extraordinarily sensitive to others’ pain. When a fire kills her family, Lauren is thrust into the open and dangerous world. On the run, her fight for safety may be the catalyst for change needed to save humankind. 
This dystopian sci-fi novel is about a roaming troupe of actors traversing the Great Lakes region, performing Shakespeare and music for the scattered communities that remain 15 years after a pandemic decimated most of the world’s population. But the Traveling Symphony runs into trouble when they arrive at St. Deborah by the Water and encounter a dangerous and violent prophet who threatens their existence. “Station Eleven” parallels the “before” and “after” of a pandemic-ridden society, weaving threads of fate, hope and disaster amid the apocalypse. 
This dystopian novel takes place on an island wrestling with the increasing disappearance of everyday objects and animals. Birds, hats, ribbons, roses and other items are going missing, and only some have the power to remember what’s been lost. The Memory Police, a draconian, fear-inspiring squad, ensure these items remain forever forgotten. This story follows a young novelist devising a plan to hide her editor from the clutches of the Memory Police.
In this dystopian mystery, Kathy, Ruth and Tommy grow up as students of Hailsham, an English countryside boarding school. The students of Hailsham are well-educated and prolific in art and literature but know nothing of the outside world. When the trio leaves the school grounds for the first time, they begin to uncover the mystery of what Hailsham is really training them for. 
Said to have inspired Orwell’s “1984,” Zamyatin wrote “We” in the early 1920s. It became the first novel banned in the Soviet Union – the author sent a copy abroad just before it was outlawed, allowing the book to be published in English in 1924. “We” is set 1,000 years in the future in a technologically advanced totalitarian society called One State, devoid of uniqueness and creativity. The novel follows one of the many number-named citizens, D-503, a space engineer who realizes he has an individual soul. 
In the authoritarian, technologically advanced society of “Brave New World,” humans are genetically bred and children are indoctrinated to maintain a predetermined intelligence-based hierarchy. In the “World State,” mass production, homogeneity and quick consumption, the principles of Henry Ford’s assembly line, are revered. Our protagonist, Bernard Marx, is a sleep psychologist and an Alpha, a member of the upper class of society. 
After the Second American Civil War came the rise of the Republic of Gilead, a totalitarian regime that enslaves fertile women as Handmaids to produce children for wealthy families. Offred, whose given name signifies that she belongs to a Gilead commander named Fred, lost her husband, child, name and freedom in the uprising. “The Handmaid’s Tale” is the story of her memories and new imprisonment, grasping to hope and the will to survive.
This science-fiction novel is set on the moon settlement of Anarres, an anarchic utopia with no government. Anarres is isolated from all other worlds, including its mother planet Urras, home to wars, poverty and extreme wealth. Physicist Shevek is a resident of Anarres, but he’s determined to unite the two worlds. But to make the ambitious, unprecedented trip to Urras, Shevek will have to leave his family, face hostility and question everything he was taught to know about the mother planet and his home.
Winner of the 2023 Booker Prize, “Prophet Song” is set in an imagined Ireland that’s sliding toward tyranny. Eilish Stack is a Dublin scientist, wife and mother. When her husband disappears and she’s questioned by the country’s newly formed secret police squad, she’ll have to reckon with a society on the brink of collapse and how to keep her family safe within it. 
Taste is subjective, and USA TODAY Books has plenty of genres to recommend. If dragons are your thing, check out books we suggest reading after “Fourth Wing” by Rebecca Yarros. If you’re into mysteries, try these titles similar to “Verity” by Colleen Hoover or see if you’re brave enough for one of our favorite horror novels. If you want something with lower stakes and loveable characters, see if a “cozy mystery” or “cozy fantasy” book is for you. If you want the most popular titles, check out USA TODAY’s Best-selling Booklist.