Dystopian Themes in Christian Fiction

So I’ve been reviewing a lot of dystopian fiction recently.  Dystopian fiction is pretty new to Christian fiction, but Apocalyptic or “end-times” fiction has been around for a while. (Think the Left Behind series.) I noticed last year that thanks to The Harbinger, apocalyptic and biblically-based end-times fiction was enjoying a resurgence in popularity. I had predicted (ok fine hoped) that it might die down a bit if we survived the end of the Mayan calendar,* but that doesn’t appear to be the case.

Now, personally, I’m kind of over dystopian fiction. I mean, The Hunger Games was great and all, but the genre as a whole is kind of, well…depressing. But my opinion hasn’t changed the fact that dystopian fiction doesn’t seem to be going anywhere. Sigh. I really hate it when I’m right.** The good news is that the dystopian setting seems to work well for Christian Fiction. As far as adult fiction goes, I’m not seeing a lot of dystopian themes, but it’s really starting to catch on in the teen segment.

If you’re looking to try Christian dystopian fiction on for size, start with Anomaly (teen) by Krista McGee or Forbidden (adult) by Ted Dekker and Tosca Lee. Captives by Jill Williamson and Swipe by Evan Angler are both great teen titles, and Fatherless by James Dobson and Kurt Bruner is written for adults. Older titles that also qualify are Flight of Shadows by Sigmund Brouwer and Last Light by Terri Blackstock.

Here’s hoping you disappear when the rapture happens, but if you’re unlucky enough to be left behind, may the odds be ever in your favor! (And for goodness sake, don’t let anyone embed a microchip into your forehead or right hand!) –Happy Reading!

*Plus the Christian community never really bought into the whole Mayan calendar thing anyway.
**Actually I love being right, my boredom with dystopian fiction notwithstanding.