Skip to content

Top Navigation

EW.com EW.com
    • All TV
    • TV Reviews
    • TV Reunions
    • Recaps
    • What to Watch
    • Animated
    • Comedy
    • Crime
    • Drama
    • Family
    • Horror
    • Reality
    • Sci-fi
    • Thriller
    • All Movies
    • Movie Reviews
    • Trailers
    • Film Festivals
    • Movie Reunions
    • Movie Previews
    • All Music
    • Music Reviews
    • All What to Watch
    • What to Watch Podcast Episodes
    • TV Reviews
    • Movie Reviews
    • All BINGE
    • EW's Binge Podcast Episodes
    • Recaps
    • Survivor
    • This is Us
    • RuPaul's Drag Race
    • Ozark
    • The Masked Singer
    • The Blacklist
    • The Walking Dead
    • Better Call Saul
    • All The Awardist
    • The Awardist Podcast Episodes
    • Oscars
    • Emmys
    • Golden Globes
    • SAG Awards
    • Grammys
    • Tony Awards
    • All Books
    • Book Reviews
    • Author Interviews
    • All Theater
    • Theater Reviews
  • Podcasts
  • Gaming
    • All Events
    • Comic-Con
  • Celebrity
  • Streaming

Profile Menu

Your Profile

Account

  • Join Now
  • Email Preferences
  • Newsletter
  • Manage Your Subscription this link opens in a new tab
  • Give a Gift Subscription this link opens in a new tab
  • Logout
Login
Subscribe

Explore EW.com

EW.com EW.com
  • Explore

    Explore

    • Your guide to 2022's biggest tours

      Your guide to 2022's biggest tours

      From Billie Eilish and Bad Bunny to the Red Hot Chili Peppers and the Weeknd, here are all the artists who can't wait to get on the road again. Read More
    • Your guide to the 2022 TV premiere dates

      Your guide to the 2022 TV premiere dates

      Read More
    • The 20 most anticipated books of 2022

      The 20 most anticipated books of 2022

      Read More
  • TV

    TV

    See All TV
    • TV Reviews
    • TV Reunions
    • Recaps
    • What to Watch
    • Animated
    • Comedy
    • Crime
    • Drama
    • Family
    • Horror
    • Reality
    • Sci-fi
    • Thriller
  • Movies

    Movies

    See All Movies
    • Movie Reviews
    • Trailers
    • Film Festivals
    • Movie Reunions
    • Movie Previews
  • Music

    Music

    See All Music
    • Music Reviews
  • What to Watch

    What to Watch

    See All What to Watch
    • What to Watch Podcast Episodes
    • TV Reviews
    • Movie Reviews
  • BINGE

    BINGE

    See All BINGE
    • EW's Binge Podcast Episodes
    • Recaps
    • Survivor
    • This is Us
    • RuPaul's Drag Race
    • Ozark
    • The Masked Singer
    • The Blacklist
    • The Walking Dead
    • Better Call Saul
  • The Awardist

    The Awardist

    See All The Awardist
    • The Awardist Podcast Episodes
    • Oscars
    • Emmys
    • Golden Globes
    • SAG Awards
    • Grammys
    • Tony Awards
  • Books

    Books

    See All Books
    • Book Reviews
    • Author Interviews
  • Theater

    Theater

    See All Theater
    • Theater Reviews
  • Podcasts
  • Gaming
  • Events

    Events

    See All Events
    • Comic-Con
  • Celebrity
  • Streaming

Profile Menu

Subscribe this link opens in a new tab
Your Profile

Account

  • Join Now
  • Email Preferences
  • Newsletter
  • Manage Your Subscription this link opens in a new tab
  • Give a Gift Subscription this link opens in a new tab
  • Logout
Login
Sweepstakes

Follow Us

  1. Home
  2. Books
  3. 10 prescient new feminist dystopias to read after The Handmaid's Tale

10 prescient new feminist dystopias to read after The Handmaid's Tale

Since Hulu's adaptation premiered, a wave of urgent dystopias of a feminist bent have rocked publishing. Here are the 10 you need to know about.
By David Canfield and Mary Kate Carr April 27, 2018 at 12:00 PM EDT
Each product we feature has been independently selected and reviewed by our editorial team. If you make a purchase using the links included, we may earn commission.
Skip gallery slides
FB

1 of 11

FB
Tweet Pinterest Email Send Text Message

In the not-to-distant future...

June
Credit: George Kraychyk/Hulu

The Handmaid's Tale, Margaret Atwood's seminal feminist fiction and now a blockbuster Hulu series, paints a grim picture of the future while at the same time highlighting the feminist struggle for reproductive (and other) rights. These novels, recently released or on the way, present fictional tales with a feminist bent of worlds not too different from ours — and ones that are worlds away.

1 of 11

Advertisement
Advertisement

2 of 11

FB
Tweet Pinterest Email Send Text Message

The Power by Naomi Alderman

The Powerby Naomi Alderman
Credit: Little Brown and Company

The Power imagines a world in which young women suddenly develop an extraordinary physical ability that allows them to hurt, or even kill with a touch. Almost overnight, dynamics of gender and power are flipped on their head – and the opportunity to create a feminist utopia is threatened by the corruption that power brings. Buy it here.

2 of 11

3 of 11

FB
Tweet Pinterest Email Send Text Message

Red Clocks by Leni Zumas

Leni Zumas, The Red Clocks CR: Lee Boudreaux Books
Credit: Lee Boudreaux Books

In a slightly altered United States, the Personhood Amendment grants citizenship rights to embryos, leading to a ban on abortion and in vitro fertilization. In one small town, three women with varying perspectives are brought together by the arrest of Gin, a homeopath who’s secretly helped women end their pregnancies. Buy it here.

3 of 11

Advertisement
Continued on next slide.
Advertisement

4 of 11

FB
Tweet Pinterest Email Send Text Message

Future Home of the Living God by Louise Erdrich

9781472153357
Credit: Harper Collins

The world begins to unravel and the future of the human race is threatened when pregnant women everywhere begin giving birth to what appears to be a primitive species of humans. Cedar Hawk Songmaker, adopted at birth and now pregnant herself, goes on a journey to understand her own and her baby’s origins, all while protecting herself from the government’s unwieldy and totalitarian efforts to quell the crisis. Buy it here.

4 of 11

Advertisement

5 of 11

FB
Tweet Pinterest Email Send Text Message

An Excess Male by Maggie Shen King

ebb-5a1d246560d8d
Credit: Harper Voyager

China’s “One Child” policy – a policy which put preference on a male child – has led to a future where the excessive male population has far outnumbered marriageable women. One such “Excess Male,” Wei-guo, dreams of finding love and family; but even if he succeeds, the extremism of the government will threaten any happiness he finds. Buy it here.

5 of 11

6 of 11

FB
Tweet Pinterest Email Send Text Message

Dread Nation by Justina Ireland

718mn9epntL
Credit: Balzer + Bray

The first in a series, Dread Nation sees a world in which the Civil War was interrupted when the dead began to rise. In response, the Native and Negro Reeducation Act passed, requiring certain children attend combat schools to learn to put down the dead. On the cusp of graduating one such school herself, Jane McKeene becomes entangled in a political conspiracy that will threaten her life and the future she’d planned. Buy it here.

6 of 11

Advertisement
Advertisement
Continued on next slide.
Advertisement

7 of 11

FB
Tweet Pinterest Email Send Text Message

The Belles by Dhonielle Clayton

1484728491
Credit: 448 pages

Camellia Beauregard lives in Orléans, one of the lucky Belles that controls Beauty, a scarce commodity in their society. Camellia’s ambition to rise above all the other Belles brings her to the royal palace, where she learns the beautiful façade isn’t all it seems from the outside. Buy it here.

7 of 11

Advertisement
Advertisement

8 of 11

FB
Tweet Pinterest Email Send Text Message

Brightly Burning by Alexa Donne

35721194._UY1815_SS1815_
Credit: HMH Books for Young Readers

This hot YA debut is described as a reimagining of Jane Eyre, only set among the stars of outer space. Donne's dystopian vision isn't typical: There's no water ration, plenty of books to read, and AI which hasn't turned on humanity yet. But a conspiracy is underway that could upend everything. Pre-order it ahead of its May 1 release here.

8 of 11

Advertisement

9 of 11

FB
Tweet Pinterest Email Send Text Message

The Completionist by Siobhan Adcock

9781501183478
Credit: Simon & Schuster

Marine Carter Quinn returns from the war to his life in a not-too-distant future, with artificially engineered water, advanced technology, and a fertility crisis that touches the lives of Carter’s sisters, Fred and Gardner. While Fred experiences a rare natural pregnancy that changes her life, Carter tries to hunt down Nurse Completionist Gardner, who has mysteriously vanished. Pre-order it ahead of its June 19 release here.

9 of 11

Advertisement
Advertisement
Continued on next slide.
Advertisement

10 of 11

FB
Tweet Pinterest Email Send Text Message

Vox by Christina Dalcher

717RMr7sU9L
Credit: Berkley

Women’s rights and livelihoods begin to fall apart in an America where the government decrees the female population is only allowed to speak 100 words a day. Despite her denial that such a thing could occur in her country, Dr. Jean McClellan must struggle to reclaim her own voice for herself, her daughter, and her countrywomen. Pre-order it ahead of its Aug. 20 release here.

10 of 11

Advertisement
Advertisement
Advertisement

11 of 11

FB
Tweet Pinterest Email Send Text Message

An Ocean of Minutes by Thea Lim

81611I4R-xL
Credit: Touchstone

When a deadly flu outbreak threatens the life of her boyfriend, Frank, Polly agrees to travel to the future where she’ll become a bonded laborer in exchange for life-saving treatment for Frank. Although the couple plans to meet in the future, Polly is re-routed in time and left adrift in a changed world. Pre-order it ahead of its July 10 release here.

11 of 11

Advertisement
Advertisement
Replay gallery

Share the Gallery

Pinterest Facebook

Up Next

  • By David Canfield @davidcanfield97
  • By Mary Kate Carr

    Share the Gallery

    Pinterest Facebook
    Trending Videos
    Advertisement
    Skip slide summaries

    Everything in This Slideshow

    Advertisement

    View All

    1 of 11 In the not-to-distant future...
    2 of 11 The Power by Naomi Alderman
    3 of 11 Red Clocks by Leni Zumas
    4 of 11 Future Home of the Living God by Louise Erdrich
    5 of 11 An Excess Male by Maggie Shen King
    6 of 11 Dread Nation by Justina Ireland
    7 of 11 The Belles by Dhonielle Clayton
    8 of 11 Brightly Burning by Alexa Donne
    9 of 11 The Completionist by Siobhan Adcock
    10 of 11 Vox by Christina Dalcher
    11 of 11 An Ocean of Minutes by Thea Lim

    Share & More

    Tweet Pinterest Email Send Text Message
    EW.com

    Magazines & More

    Learn More

    • Subscribe this link opens in a new tab
    • Advertise this link opens in a new tab
    • Content Licensing this link opens in a new tab
    • Accolades this link opens in a new tab

    Connect

    Follow Us
    Subscribe to Our Newsletter
    Meredith© Copyright 2022 Meredith Corporation. Entertainment Weekly is a registered trademark of Meredith Corporation All Rights Reserved. Entertainment Weekly may receive compensation for some links to products and services on this website. Offers may be subject to change without notice. Privacy Policythis link opens in a new tab Terms of Servicethis link opens in a new tab Ad Choicesthis link opens in a new tab California Do Not Sellthis link opens a modal window Web Accessibilitythis link opens in a new tab
    © Copyright EW.com. All rights reserved. Printed from https://ew.com

    View image

    10 prescient new feminist dystopias to read after The Handmaid's Tale
    this link is to an external site that may or may not meet accessibility guidelines.