Dystopian thrillers are a potent cross-pollination of genres . At their best, they wrestle with our darkest fears around governments, technology, class, and the fragility of human freedom. They might serve as cautionary tales, open our eyes to developing situations that have the potential to worsen over time, or simply provide bleak entertainment aimed at making us feel better about our current situation.

The best dystopian thrillers succeed as both cautionary tales and adrenaline rides, fusing suspense with speculative vision. With this distinct marriage of themes and tones in mind, this list ranks the very best dystopian thrillers ever . The titles below cover a variety of styles and tones, but all use the distant, corrupted future to expose the flaws already lurking in our present.

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