Many literary terms are used to describe the aftermaths of the world’s end, which gives rise to a tumultuous future, and authoritative rule of governments. The fate of humanity in the near future has been narrated and imagined in many future dystopian literature books for decades. Still, lately, it has been observed that there is some influx of such stories on this matter. According to the best mystery and thriller books on future dystopias, three end-of-the-world terminologies are typically used synonymously, but they are quite different. Author Owen Davis’s phenomenal future dystopian book sequence Salvation Hoax Series is one of the best of enemies books that specifically describes the human race’s situation to survive the apocalypse and future dystopias. A must-read book if readers wish to know how things could end up in the near future.
The question is, why are post-apocalyptic and future dystopian books so popular? These books often answer how changing socio-political backgrounds is beneficial, which serves both purposes for the readers; an intriguing fiction to read and a cautionary sign for everyone to be mindful of possible futures.
What is Future Dystopian, Apocalyptic & Post-Apocalyptic Literature?
Dystopian Fiction
Utopian fiction is termed a society where everything is perfect, particularly one in which citizens never encounter distress, oppression, or poverty. On the contrary, books about a dystopian future describe the opposite. A nation where citizens experience biased behaviors and oppression (sexism, racism, or classism) or a kind of distress (poverty) can theoretically be categorized as a dystopia.
Netflix streaming channel has presented the original and classical dystopian series Black Mirror™ which is an excellent example of how dystopia revolves. The show depicts how things like social media and the abuse of technology can drastically contribute to a dystopian future for humankind. This phenomenal series, including many other future dystopian works, demonstrates how the power of technology could soon prove to be more dangerous than good (for civilization in general) and how it has the potential to make us less human—and less compassionate.
Post-Apocalyptic Fiction
This piece of literature deals with the aftermath of zombies, alien invasion on earth, a deadly pandemic, or the consequences of a nuclear war. The surviving characters are left with no choice but to endure at all costs with these catastrophes. The main struggle for the surviving characters in a post-apocalyptic tale is dealing with the new social, physical, and cultural settings left behind by a recent tragedy. There are typically fewer people alive and fewer established civilizations in post-apocalyptic books, so the chief conflict in these stories revolves around the surviving characters who are seen fighting and struggling to find resources or in a hunt to search for other survivors.
Apocalyptic Fiction
An apocalyptic book tells the stories of what consequences led the world to end. These disastrous events occur during the timeline of the story. Many popular novels, such as World War Z and Outbreak, or the movie 2012, are good examples of apocalyptic events. In almost all these speculative stories, human life is at risk and threatened globally. For instance: naturally occurring disasters, outbreaks of a deadly disease, nuclear wars, or alien invasions. The characters face this terrible apocalypse and must put all their efforts into surviving, combat, and outsmarting the dangers of a crumbling world, which becomes massively difficult when most of the population has fallen, victim. It is common for apocalyptic books to be classified as “genre” because the survival struggle is typically at the forefront of the story, making apocalyptic narratives more plot-based rather than character driven.
What Are The Difference Between These Terminologies?
Dystopian books mainly concentrate on the influence of imperfect civilization on the characters. Writers typically use these frameworks to search the effects of classism, racism, sexism, and the influence of resistance. Classic dystopian works describe how the characters survive in a dystopian society created in the aftermath of devastating catastrophes. They are technically a post-apocalyptic story. However, the narrative focuses on how the characters are affected by society rather than the effects of the disasters.
Apocalyptic and post-apocalyptic narratives focus on characters struggling to survive a devastated landscape. If the catastrophic events are during the story’s timeline, then the book is termed apocalyptic. If the events have already occurred, it is categorized as post-apocalyptic. The Walking Dead comic book sequence by Robert Kirkmen and Tony Moore is an excellent example of a post-apocalyptic tale, as it describes the group of survivors trying their best to stay alive after a zombie outbreak has taken over the world.
