Top 5 Tuesday is a weekly meme created by Shanah, the Bionic Book Worm, and now hosted by Meeghan at Meeghan Reads.
This week’s topic:
Top 5 books set in the future
I read even fewer books that are set in the future than I do those set in present. I think this is because I think most books set in the future are sci-fi novels, and I don’t often read those.
Childhood’s End by Arthur C. Clarke
This short sci-fi classic is about an alien race visiting earth to help usher the human race toward higher evolution, I guess. The aliens help humans to better themselves and live longer, but the ultimate goal for that betterment is not what people expect. The premise sounds interesting, but I didn’t like the story because it seemed more like an exploration of ideas rather than an entertaining narrative, which is what I wanted.
Boy-1, #1 by H.S. Tak, illus. by Amancay Nahuelpan
I haven’t thought about this comic book since I read it back in 2016. It’s sci-fi set in the future about a dude who’s heir to his father’s genetic-research company that has developed a genome that improves the physical and mental states of chimps. The company wants to progress to testing the genome on humans, but the protagonist, Jadas, isn’t sure if that should happen. I found the story interesting, especially the mystery surrounding Jadas’s father, but not enough for me to continue with it.
Above the Timberline by Gregory Manchess (illus.)
This is basically an illustrated novel. The story is set in a frozen post-apocalyptic world and is about a young man who’s a polar explorer searching for his father, a famed explorer, who had been looking for a lost city deeply buried under snow. The is basically Manchess’s debut novel, and the story is quite interesting. But it’s the illustrations that got me. They are paintings (122 oil paintings) and are all breathtaking and beautiful. I’d love for more novels like this for adults, ones accompanied by beautiful art.
Divergent by Veronica Roth
YA dystopian novel set in a post-apocalyptic Chicago that’s divided into factions. The society is restrictive, so obviously the protagonist, a girl named Tris, wants to break free by funning wild with the Dauntless faction, which are known for their fearlessness, but instead she learns she’s a Divergent, a faction unwelcome in the society. I remember enjoying this first book but losing interest in the second one, Insurgent.
Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins
Another YA dystopian novel set in a post-apocalyptic world that’s helpfully divided into sections that let readers quickly determine characters’ personalities. The difference here is that kids are sacrificed to a blood-thirsty nationally broadcasted competition. The protagonist, a girl named Katniss, volunteers to take her sister’s place in the competition. I remember enjoying this and the second book, Catching Fire. I don’t know why I didn’t continue with the third book, but I plan to.
Zezee with Books 
Oooh, yes, Above the Treeline! The story itself was okay but it was obviously not the main selling point, which was the gorgeous artwork. I still look at my book from time to time just to admire the paintings.
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Same here. I really hope they will be more books like this. I only know of two others, but I’m blanking on the author’s name. I think it starts with an S and the story is set in a postapocalyptic world and there’s a robot.
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I found your thoughts on Childhood’s End to be very interesting. I’ve read this book but don’t recall too much about it. But lately I’ve been reading some other old sci-fi classics for the first time and many of them fit your description, where they seem more an exploration of ideas. Sometimes I enjoy them for that, but other times I feel a little disappointed because of the lack of story. Seems to vary based on my mood at the time.
And I loved Above the Timberline. Interesting story and fantastic artwork. I loved that they chose a wider horizontal format instead of opting for a vertical comic book format. Seemed to better suit the paintings.
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I read an article once on LitHub that said back then that was what scifi was used for. The writer said that it was scientists and other academics who wrote scifi then and they used the genre to explore ideas they had about science… something like that. It was a good read, that article. I was trying to find it to share with you because I know I liked it somewhere on this blog, but no luck so far.
I agree about the format for Above the Timberline. The landscape/horizontal setting certainly suit the paintings.
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I vaguely remember having read The Hunger Games but I’m not a huge dystopia person (I think) so I never continued! Divergent sounds like The Hunger Games but with a different setting (I also think I read the first book – all these hazy memories are why I’m pretty sure I don’t mesh well with YA Dystopia)
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Yep, Divergent basically attempted to be Hunger Games, IMO. I’m not big on dystopian either. Hunger Games is the only one that worked for me, I think.
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I really loved the concept of Above the Timberline. And The Hunger Games is a classic, and the best of that subgenre. All the wannabe Hunger Games just don’t measure up!
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I’d love to get more books like Above the Timberline. And totally agree about Hunger Games.
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I loved Above the Timberline! I wished Manchess would do more- yet I’m sure they are very time consuming because of his exquisite art.
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Same here. I’d love more books like it.
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