Battle Royale

Takami, Koushun. Battle Royale, San Francisco, CA: Viz Media, c2003.

Battle Royale is a controversial dystopian novel that tells a story of class of high school students who part of totalitarian regime are pitted against each other on a deserted island for three days and only one can survive.

The novel has been highly criticized for its use of intense violence as it explains in graphic detail how each student hunts and kills another.

Fast paced and filled with adrenalin Battle Royale is a page turning science fiction thriller that does explore themes such as totalitarian governments, survival and competition in teenagers.

While being compared to Lord of the Flies and the Hunger Games this novel differentiates itself with its transgressive style becoming a contemporary transgressive classic.

Clockwork Orange

Burgess, Anthony.A Clockwork Orange, New York: Norton, c1967

This bleak dystopian science fiction novel which was famously adapted into an Academy Award nominated film follows Alex and friends through their sociopathic ultraviolent escapades.

Written as a first person narrative the novel highly uses a futuristic slang called “nadsat” while adding more intrigue but additionally making it a little harder to comprehend.

Thought provoking with its questions of morality and free will Clockwork Orange has long been considered a classic and is even named in the Modern Library’s 100 best novels.

An interesting science fiction staple, a must read for people over 18 interested in transgressive fiction.