1984

Like George Orwell's works, Octavia E. Butler's stories illuminate bigger social concepts. Her characters could sink to the same deplorable depths as the villains in Orwell's novels. Butler's work focused on race and sex as well as Orwell's pet themes of class and government. -- Katherine Johnson

George Orwell always acknowledged his artistic debt to Yevgeny Zamyatin's We, which Orwell read before writing the most famous of all dystopian novels, Nineteen Eighty-Four. Orwell's writing is grittier and bleaker, while Zamyatin opts for frantic satire, where quirky characters constantly try to prove their utopian happiness is not a fraud. -- Michael Shumate

Both George Orwell and Marc-Uwe Kling write darkly humorous, satirical political fiction about near-future dystopias where citizens live under constant surveillance. Flawed characters include animals and sentient robots who exhibit human weakness and self-serving tendencies. Orwell focuses on totalitarianism, Kling on consumerism and political manipulation. -- Alicia Cavitt

Though Nana Kwame Adjei-Brenyah's work has a sardonic edge not found in George Orwell's, both are known for their thought-provoking, somewhat bleak stories that frequently employ dystopian settings and satire to explore contemporary societal problems. -- Stephen Ashley

George Orwell and Aldous Huxley are usually mentioned in the same breath, mainly because of Huxley's Brave New World and Orwell's Nineteen Eighty-Four. Both novels, and both writers' other works, present a cautionary vision of the future. These authors also share straightforward writing style and issue-driven plots. -- Katherine Johnson

While Tabish Khair writes in a variety of other genres as well, he and George Orwell are known for their thought-provoking, dystopian works of satire that explores the ways in which society fails large groups of people. -- Stephen Ashley

Stylistically, Saramago is not similar to Orwell. But Orwell's readers will appreciate the clarity of thought and immediacy of tone. Like Orwell, Saramago uses fantastical elements to illuminate weighty social issues such as religion and nationalism. -- Katherine Johnson

Invasions of privacy and hunger for power are common themes in George Orwell's and Kaie Kellough's compelling works of dystopian satire. Orwell's catalog is entirely prose, while Kellough is also known for his poetry. -- Stephen Ashley

Margaret Atwood and George Orwell are favorites of literary fiction fans for their thought-provoking novels; both writers are notable for their sophisticated prose and compelling story delivery, as well as their attention to people and society. Both also have used science fiction as a device for presenting their political insights. -- Katherine Johnson

Both George Orwell and Arthur Koestler wrote disturbing, dark books in which bad things happen to perfectly nice people. Both writers also paid careful attention to language, producing exquisite literary fiction with political depth. Koestler's Darkness at Noon vies with Orwell's Nineteen Eighty-Four as the quintessential anti-totalitarian novel. -- Katherine Johnson

These authors' works have the appeal factors disturbing, and they have the genres "classics" and "dystopian fiction"; the subjects "dystopias," "totalitarianism," and "near future"; and characters that are "introspective characters."

These authors' works have the appeal factors bleak and leisurely paced, and they have the genres "dystopian fiction" and "satire and parodies"; the subjects "dystopias," "totalitarianism," and "near future"; and characters that are "introspective characters" and "complex characters."