Flame Tree Fiction

One of the biggest gaming announcements of the year was the unveiling of Bethesda's Fallout 4. Perhaps best known for their sprawling open-world game series, The Elder Scrolls (read, Skyrim), their critically acclaimed Fallout series is not far behind. With Fallout often edging it in when it comes to the critics the games are wildly different in terms of the universes they portray. Where Skyrim is full of rich colour and endless forests, Fallout operates within a desolate dystopian dumping ground. So why then are people so excited for the fourth instalment?

What are the repurcussions of excessive power? Superhero films have lately opted for darker storylines: Man of Steel's final battle left Metroplis in ruins, with surely thousands of citizens dead. Equally Avengers Assemble's final set piece destroyed most of New York. One may wonder if the same levels of destruction will be found in the sequel. 

In the final instalment of our Dystopian Universes series (part 1 / part 2), we look at the best literary depictions of dystopias. Ranging from the classics to other books you might not have heard of. For any sci-fi lover, this is an excellent one-stop list of the best dystopian novels out there. Get some tips courtesy of us and get your weekend reading sorted out right now.

Continuing our series on Dystopian universes, this week we look into the future. Dystopian narratives are quite interesting for a variety of reasons, one being that they encourage exciting things to happen (a revolt against the government, perhaps? Dramatic chase scenes?), and if they're good, they make you think about the way you're living your life. Dystopian stories that take place in the future make the readers think about the possibilities that lay ahead and whether or not they want to be a part of shaping that future.

Dystopias have been invading our screens for decades, although there has been a recent influx of great dystopias. They come in all kinds of forms, including TV shows (the ever-popular 'The Walking Dead' is starting up again in October!), films (Mockingjay Part 1 is released in November!) and books (there are so many YA dystopias being published I don't know which to get excited about first!). But what is a dystopia? We know there must be something fundamentally broken about society. But in what way should it be broken? Must there be a totalitarian leader and cameras watching your every move?