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Moe Lane
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This is rather amusing, in its way: Dystopian fiction is hot right now, with countless books and movies featuring decadent oligarchs, brutal police states, ecological collapse, and ordinary citizens biting and clawing just to survive. For bestselling author Naomi Klein, all this gloom is a worrying sign. ...because Naomi Klein... Continue reading
Posted Dec 22, 2014 at Countup from Dystopia
Name: Escape from New York Type: Movie Written in: 1981 Set in: 1998 Why it's a dystopia: The country has a federal police service AND has turned Manhattan into a maximum security prison. Worse, the Soviet Union's still around. Why it's significant: Snake Plissken is an iconic character; plus, the... Continue reading
Posted Nov 30, 2012 at Countup from Dystopia
That is the title of a slightly surprisingly good article from Wired, slamming the stunningly bad track record of various groups when it comes to predictions of looming catastrophe - and that 'surprisingly good' is not meant to be a reflection on the magazine; more like a reflection on the... Continue reading
Posted Aug 18, 2012 at Countup from Dystopia
This would be a comment on the movie, not the book (I haven't read the book). Watch this clip: notice what's missing? Yup. People who aren't white. A somewhat common theme in 1970s and 1980s-style post-apocalyptic film, alas: apparently, Caucasians are apparently particularly prone to survive the End Times. Either... Continue reading
Posted Aug 17, 2012 at Countup from Dystopia
It's not particularly earth-shattering or anything, but while consulting my copy of GURPS Ogre in preparation for the release of the game later this year I noted in the book's timeline that this year (2012) is supposed to be the one where the USA runs out of oil. Which is,... Continue reading
Posted May 31, 2012 at Countup from Dystopia
Sorry, folks: I did have one to go over - Branch Point by Mona Clee (alt-history written by somebody who was perhaps a little too upset over what happened to Bill Clinton)... but then I realized that the 'why it's relevant' would have been 'because it made Moe waste two... Continue reading
Posted Nov 21, 2011 at Countup from Dystopia
This is not quite a 'real' CfD, but it is kind of interesting: If only to remind folks that doom-mongering has been going on for quite a while. I also have some critical things to say about the short alternate history story "Dispatches from the Revolution" - which is a... Continue reading
Posted Oct 17, 2011 at Countup from Dystopia
Name: Car Wars, by Steve Jackson Games Type: Board/Roleplaying Game (armored and armed car warfare on the dystopian highways of a future America). Written in: 1980, to begin with; there have been multiple supplements since. 1996 is the publication date of the latest roleplaying supplement (GURPS Autoduel). Set in: 2030-2046;... Continue reading
Posted Sep 19, 2011 at Countup from Dystopia
Name: Nineteen Eighty-Four, by George Orwell Type: Book Written in: 1949 Set in: ...1984. Why it's a dystopia: The world is broken up into three super-dictatorships, two of which are always at war with the third; everybody is spying on everybody else, everybody lives in more or less abject poverty,... Continue reading
Posted Aug 30, 2011 at Countup from Dystopia
Name: It Can't Happen Here, by Sinclair Lewis. Type: Book. Written in: 1935 Set in: 1936 Why it's a dystopia: Near-bloodless Fascist (Italian-style, not German-style) takeover of the United States of America, followed by a remarkably orderly transition to a totalitarian state. Why it's significant: Given that it was essentially... Continue reading
Posted Aug 25, 2011 at Countup from Dystopia
Name: The Handmaid's Tale, by Margaret Atwood. Type: Book Written in: 1985 Set in: At a guess, probably right about now. I'm kind of pushing it - 2015 might be a safer date - but what the heck. Definitely the coup should have happened already. Why it's a dystopia: Extreme... Continue reading
Posted Aug 10, 2011 at Countup from Dystopia
Full link here. Name: The Sheep Look Up, by John Brunner. E-book pdf here. Type: Book Written in: 1972 Set in: Not really clear, but can't be after 1978. The 'hero' of the book (Austin Train, last seen being blown up while more or less masturbating to the idea of... Continue reading
Posted Aug 4, 2011 at Countup from Dystopia
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Full link. Name: Make Room! Make Room!, by Harry Harrison Type: Book Written in: 1966 Set in: 1999 Why it's a dystopia: Overcrowding. The population of NYC is over 35 million (USA population around 350 million; world population is - oh, my GOD! - seven billion); the planet is more... Continue reading
Posted Aug 3, 2011 at Countup from Dystopia
This is a bit of an experiment: it's a blog that will feature examples where folks got it flat-out wrong in predicting that things were going to go to Hell in a handbasket. I'm doing it for three reasons: It doesn't hurt to get this stuff on the record; I... Continue reading
Posted Aug 2, 2011 at Countup from Dystopia
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Mar 15, 2010