The Demeter Flower - Rochelle Singer (b. 1939) (St. Martin's Press, 1980)
Feminist eutopia in which a successful women-only community has to face a generational conflict and a visit of a couple from a patriarchal community.
Keywords: Female author; US author

"Demeter's Palace" - Debi [Deborah L. Hodgeson] Kean (WARP: The Magazine of the [New Zealand] National Association for Science Fiction, 1980)
An authoritarian dystopia in which business has taken over government. There is a rigid separation of the rich and the poor and between men and women.
Keywords: Aotearoa New Zealand author; Female author

"Docket, 2028: Supreme Council on Psycho-Ethics" - Gertrude J. Rubin Williams (1927-86) (Journal of Clinical Child Psychology, 1980)
Briefly presents a series of cases to come before the Council on Psycho-Ethics that give a picture of the world in 2028, whether it is eutopian or dystopian is up to the reader. The cases include such issues as psychotropic drugs that are required to prevent mental illness, required licenses for parenthood (contraceptives are in the water supply), rights for clones, applications for euthanasia (117), surrogacy (117-18), and the sale of body parts (118).  Half the world’s population had requested exemption from the military on moral grounds (118).
Keywords: Female author; US author

The Dreamers - James E[dwin] Gunn (1923-2020) (Simon & Schuster, 1980)
Flawed utopia which leaves people no challenges.
Rpt. as The Mind Master. New York: Timescape, 1981.
Keywords: Male author; US author

Dustland - Virginia [Esther] Hamilton (1934-2002) (Greenwillow Books, 1980)
The second volume of the Justice Cycle. The first volume, Justice and Her Brothers. New York: Greenwillow Books, 1978, is not utopian but introduces the characters, who have exceptional powers. In this volume, they travel to a barren future characterized by the title. See also 1981 Hamilton.
Keywords: African American author; Female author

"Ecological Impact" - Patricia Mathews (Tales of the Free Amazons, 1980)
Free Amazon story.
Keywords: Female author

"The Feast of Saint Janis" - Michael [Jürgen] Swanwick (b. 1950) (New Dimensions, 1980)
Dystopia following a world-wide economic collapse following some sort of nuclear accident with the U.S. particularly hard hit and Africa relatively well off because it practiced corporate social responsibility. Genetic damage. Janis is Janis Joplin (1943-70) who is impersonated and, once a year, the impersonator is killed by the crowd.
Rpt. in Beyond Armageddon: Twenty-One Sermons to the Dead. Walter M. Miller, Jr. and Martin H[arry] Greenberg (New York: Donald I. Fine, 1985), 295-325; and in The Best of Michael Swanwick (Burton, MI: Subterranean Press, 2008), 13-41.
Keywords: Male author; US author

"Fifth Column" - Janus [pseud.] (Quill & Quire, 1980)
Satire. Summaries of the "Gulliver Report" of 2000 by Sir Laputa Gulliver on British Canadian relations. Canada has become an empire with Trudeau as Emperor and the Premiers of each province kings. Effects of oil crisis. Petty bickering among kingdoms. Purpose of Sir Gulliver's visit was to report on possibility of Britain being absorbed by the Canadian empire. Québec is an absolute monarchy. Prince Edward Island run by McDonald's. Ontario completely poverty stricken. Alberta wealthy from oil; has a Czar. British Columbia re-named Outer Earth and is ruled by a Lama. Vancouver Island has been re-named the Isle of the Blest.

"Filth" - Gilfillan, Caroline (Crystal Crone (London), 1980)
Eutopia of a woman’s revolution taking place throughout the world. The Scottish Highlands has become Women’s Territory with men driven out. Australia and The Philippines are Women’s territories. England has become a dystopia for women because of the men’s fears of the revolution. Women from another planet are planning to help.
Keywords: Female author

The Fourth Wall - N[ikolas] A[nthony] Diaman (b. 1936) (Persona Press, 1980)
A future U.S. as an authoritarian dystopia from a gay perspective. Knowledge is disappearing and most people are losing the ability to read. See also 1978 and 1997 Diaman.
Keywords: Male author; US author

"Freelance" - Nina Boal (Tales of the Free Amazons, 1980)
Free Amazon story.
Keywords: Female author

"From Small Mutations" - Ian [Travis] MacMillan (1941-2008) (TriQuarterly, 1980)
Dystopia brought about by the disappearance of most plant life and the death of a significant part of the world's population. The population has been concentrated and most aspects of life are under governmental control. Violence and betrayal are common.
Keywords: Male author; US author

“The Future Lost” - Robert Sheckley (1928-2005) (Omni, 1980)
Brief eutopia of a future that in eliminating aggression and ending war produced a society with completely free and open sexuality.
Rpt. in The Collected Short Fiction of Robert Sheckley. Book Five (Eugene, OR: Pulphouse Publishing, 1991), 195-200.
Keywords: Male author; US author

The Garden of Winter - Gordon [Stewart] Eklund (b. 1945) (Berkley Books, 1980)
After a war, a new philosophy/religion emerges that is ruled by citizens philosophers known as gentle men. Machines are outlawed. Women are subordinate and not educated. Has been read as an agrarian utopia, but within the text the society is presented as deeply flawed.
Keywords: Male author; US author

The Gardens of Delight - Ian Watson (b. 1943) (Victor Gollancz, 1980)
Eutopia and dystopia based on the Hieronymus Bosch (c. 1450-1516) painting, The Gardens of Earthly Delights, which is in the Museo del Prado in Madrid. The novel has three sections similar to the triptych, the Gardens, which open and close the novel. Hell, and Eden.
U.S. ed. New York: Timescape, 1982.
Keywords: English author; Male author

Good News - Edward [Paul] Abbey (1927-89) (E. P. Dutton, 1980)
Dystopia. Post-catastrophe conflict between collapsed cities and the resurgent countryside.
An excerpt was published under the same title in TriQuarterly, no. 48 (Spring 1980): 273-95.
Keywords: Male author; US author

Gordonstown; A New Design for America - Stuart Gordon (b. 1924) (Gordonstown Press, 1980)
Eutopia describing a technologically advanced village.
Keywords: Male author; US author

Green is for Galanx - [Jeanne] [Dixon] (b. 1936) (Atheneum, 1980)
Young adult novel in which a dystopian society puts the gifts of unusually talented children into androids. Social control through entertainment.
Keywords: Female author; US author

Happiness and Utopia - Dale Lee Harris (Privately published by the author to secure copyright, 1980)
Religious eutopia based on an acceptance of the doctrine of the Trinity and Jesus Christ as one’s savior. Such acceptance will transform people and make them more cooperative and will lead to world-wide democracy, peace, and prosperity.
Rev. ed. as Jesus Christ's World Utopia. West Chicago, IL: Christian Freedom Press, 1983.
Keywords: Male author; US author

"Happiness Is the Needle on Full" - Caroline Forbes (b. 1952) (Crystal Crone (London), 1980)
Dystopia of an overpopulated, energy short, class ridden future. The story begins in the dystopia and evolves into a lesbian love story.
Rpt. as "The Needle on Full." The Needle on Full [Cover adds the subtitle Lesbian Feminist Science Fiction] (London: Onlywomen Press, 1985), 9-37.
Keywords: Female author; UK author

Homeworld - Harry [Max] Harrison (1925-2012) (Granada, 1980)
Flawed utopia in which the elite lead lives of comfort and privilege because the majority of the population lead lives of poverty and degradation. See also 1981 Harrison Starworld and Wheelworld.
Rpt. London: Severn House, 1986. U.S. ed. New York: Bantam Books, 1980.
Keywords: Male author; US author

The Humanoid Touch - Jack [John Stewart] Williamson (1908-2006) (Holt, Rinehart & Winston, 1980)
Following from 1949 Williamson, the robots follow humans to a planet without robots and begin to take over.
An excerpt was published as “The Humanoid Universe.” Illus. Paul Lehr. Analog Science Fiction/Science Fact 100.6 (June1980): 14-56; and rpt. in The Worlds of Jack Williamson: A Centennial Tribute 1908-2008. Ed. Stephen Haffner (Royal Oak, MI: Haffner Press, 2008): 521-66.
Keywords: Male author; US author

“In Bed One Night” - Robert [Lowell] Coover (b. 1932) (Playboy, 1980)
Dystopia in which a man finds two strangers in his bed, who explain that they have been assigned to his bed to alleviate homelessness. It is clear that who is assigned and who people are assigned to depend on class and income.
Rpt. in his In Bed One Night and Other Brief Encounters (Providence, RI: Burning Deck, 1983), 14-18; and in his Going for a Beer: Selected Short Fictions (New York: W. W. Norton, 2018), 161-64.
Keywords: Male author; US author

"In looking-glass castle" - Gene [Rodman] Wolfe (1931-2019) (TriQuarterly, 1980)
A society in which women rule and all men are fugitives, which is generally seen as positive by women and negative by men.
Keywords: Male author; US author

The Integrated Man - Michael [Steven] Berlyn (b. 1949) (Bantam Books, 1980)
Dystopia. People controlled by implanted computer chips. Revolt.
Keywords: Male author; US author

"The Island. A Male Chauvinist Comedy" - James Saunders (1925-2004) (Bye Bye Blues and Other Plays, 1980)
Satire. Men seemed to have died out and women reproduce without them. Three young sisters have been placed on an idyllic isolated island to live a new and better life. They long for something they can't identify, and then some men show up.
Keywords: English author; Male author

"The King Is Dead! Long Live--" - [Margery (known as Marj) A.] [Krueger] (1941-2006) (Chrysalis, 1980)
Dystopia of a future in which an electronic chastity belt produces great pain in rapists and is used by women to punish men.
Rpt. (New York: Zebra Books), 60-74.
Keywords: Female author; US author

The Last President - Michael [Joseph] Kurland (b. 1938); [Barton Stewart] [Whaley] (1918-2013) (William Morrow & Co, 1980)
The Watergate scandal following the break-in at the headquarters of the Democratic Party national headquarters in June 1972 turns the U.S. into an authoritarian dystopia.
Keywords: Male author; US author

"Life" - Dennis R. Caro (b. 1944) (Microcosmic Tales: 100 Wondrous Science Fiction Short-Short Stories, 1980)
Brief story set in an overpopulated world.
Rpt. (New York: DAW Books, 1992), 204-06.
Keywords: Male author; US author

Lifekeeper - Mike [Michael Dennis] McQuay (1949-95) (Avon, 1980)
Dystopia of computer perfection and the problems that develop as the computer appears to start wars.
Keywords: Male author; US author

Logan's Search - William F[rancis] Nolan (1928-2021) (Bantam Books, 1980)
Sequel to 1967 Nolan and Johnson and 1977 Nolan. Mostly adventure but some on the eutopia from 1977 Nolan.
Rpt. in Logan: A Trilogy. Baltimore, MD: Maclay and Associates, 1986), 261-384. Rpt. with the same pagination New York: Dell, 1992.
Keywords: Male author; US author

"'Looking Backward' from 2030 (with apologies to Edward Bellamy)" - Jayne Burks; Melvin Rubenstein (Journal of Clinical Child Psychology, 1980)
History of the period from the mid-twentieth century to 2030 with a focus on child-rearing and education, both of which change to take individual differences into account. Governmentally supported childcare facilities. Parents are encouraged to raise their children at home and are provided with financial support to do so after taking parenting courses.
Keywords: Female author; Male author; US author

The Lost Philosophy of Love - [Roy Victor] [Wallace] (1927-1917) (Author, 1980)
Eutopia called Many Waters of about 2,000 people based on agriculture and light industry. Calls it a commune. Common meals. Has its own school. A lot of New Age healing. The second edition is illustrated. The author says that an alternative title could be The Way to Utopia.
Rev. ed. illus. Fold-out map. Brisbane, QLD: Love Publications, 1982. 61 pp.
Keywords: Australian author; English author; Male author

The Love Explosion - Robert H[enry] Rimmer (1917-2001) (New American Library, 1980)
Another of Rimmer's novels of the good life through sex. In this novel two couples have sexual and other revelations while on a vacation on Guadeloupe, which produces a temporary utopia, which is then incorporated into their lives. See also 1966, 1968, 1975, 1978, 1982, and 2000 Rimmer.
Keywords: Male author; US author

Magic Time - Kit [Lilian Craig] Reed (1932-2017) (Berkley Books, 1980)
Eutopian amusement park that is really a dystopia.
Keywords: Female author; US author

"The Meeting" - Nina Boal (Tales of the Free Amazons, 1980)
Free Amazon story.
Rev. in Marion Zimmer Bradley and The Friends of Darkover, Free Amazons of Darkover. Ed. Marion Zimmer Bradley (New York: DAW Books, 1985), 97-109.
Keywords: Female author

"Mind and World in the 21st Century: An Interview with a Future Being" - Gertrude J. Rubin Williams (1927-86) (Journal of Clinical Child Psychology, 1980)
Eutopia with the focus on changes in the family and child-rearing. Pluralism in family structure and community childcare. Children have the right to divorce their parents. Technological solutions to disabilities.
Keywords: Female author; US author

The Mind Game - Norman [Richard] Spinrad (b. 1940) (Jove, 1980)
Authoritarian dystopia brought about through mental control.
Rpt. New York: Bantam Books, 1985.
Keywords: Male author; US author

Mockingbird - Walter [Stone] Tevis (1928-84) (Doubleday & Co., 1980)
Machine dystopia. Humans can no longer read or write and no longer have children (all women had been sterilized). People take drugs, smoke marijuana and watch test patterns on television. Many commit suicide. Everything is breaking down, including the robots that run everything. People are supposed to follow three slogans, "When in doubt, forget it" (20), "Don't ask--relax" (21), and "Alone is best" (23).
Keywords: US author

Nealities: Doc Genius and Henry the Stud - Merzie Wilson (Vantage Press, 1980)
African American eutopia using African and African American history and legend.
Keywords: African American author; Female author

The Number of the Beast - Robert A[nson] Heinlein (1907-88) (Fawcett Columbine, 1980)
Something of a tour of an imaginary solar system in which the protagonists land in a number of societies drawn from fantasy and science fiction. His The Pursuit of the Pankera: A Parallel Novel About Parallel Universes. Rockville, MD: Caezik SF & Fantasy/Arc Manor, 2020, which was put together from his manuscript and handwritten notes, begins with the same protagonists but then takes them into a parallel universe.
Rpt. as vol. 25 of The Virginia Edition of his works. Houston, TX: The Virginia Edition, 2010. Extract published in Omni 2.1 - 2 (October - November 1979: 66-69, 118, 120, 122, 124, 126, 128, 130, 132, 134, 136, 138; 56-58, 60-64, 112, 114-18, 120, 122, 124-28.
Keywords: Male author; US author

One On Me - Tim[othy Wade] Huntley (b. 1939) (DAW Books, 1980)
Satirical flawed utopia. Having a child is in poor taste but one is born and raised by people who know nothing about children and their needs and did not want this one or for anyone to know of his existence. Raised in a floating habitat on food tabs and without much exercise, he ends up on Earth, discovers those imprisoned for opposing the new system, and begins to bring about change.
Keywords: Male author; US author

Operation Misfit - E[dgar] Hoffman [Trooper] Price (1898-1988) (Ballantine Books, 1980)
Dystopia emphasizing thought control in which the Thought Control Board tries to eliminate a maverick, who appears throughout the series. Much of the novel follows the maverick into space and is mostly adventure. Sequels include Operation Longlife. New York: Ballantine Books, 1982, in which a man who is 186 years old is targeted to obtain the secret of his longevity; Operation Exile. New York: Ballantine Books, 1986, in which the North American empire is under threat and the series protagonist is hired to protect the emperor’s wife with, again, much of the novel mostly adventure; and Operation Isis. New York: Ballantine Books, 1986, in which the man, after more adventures, retires to Mars.
Keywords: Male author; US author

“Outside the Solar Village: One Utopian Farm” - Wes Jackson (b. 1936) (New Roots for Agriculture, 1980)
A eutopia set in 2030 when there has been a radical change in population distribution with large cities becoming much smaller with everyone thinking sustainably. The eutopia focuses on sustainable farming using the example of one farm in Kansas. The farming of the twentieth century had badly damaged the land, but by 2030 and new methods of settlement and farming, there had been substantial recovery.
Rev. in new ed. (Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press, 1985), 116-32.
Keywords: Male author; US author

Overworld - Michael Vyse (Faber and Faber, 1980)
Authoritarian dystopia with technology in conflict with a more natural life. Both are destroyed.
Keywords: Male author; UK author

The Paradise Plot - Ed Naha (b. 1950) (Bantam Books, 1980)
Flawed utopia. A space colony designed to be a eutopia with no pollution, controlled weather, sufficient space for population growth, no crime, and little illness turns out to be less than ideal.
Keywords: Male author; US author

"The Path We Tread" - Nick Zepke (b. 1940) (Pictures of the Future, 1980)
Eutopia or dystopia depending on your outlook. Two tier economy. Small enterprises for local markets with a few large exporters with monopolies for selected corporations. Stress on the market. Welfare cut and a growth in inequality. Privatization of education and local government. Retire at 45 but then work in small shops and family businesses. Revised constitution requires people to work, live in stable families, and participate in corporate and community affairs. The rights specified are free access to information, joining voluntary associations, and stand for office. Prisons closed. Young offenders are sent to the military, and older ones are sent to mental hospitals.
Keywords: Aotearoa New Zealand author; Male author

"Peggy" - Gilfillan, Caroline (Crystal Crone (London), 1980)
Eutopia of a woman's revolution taking place throughout the world. The Scottish Highlands has become Women's Territory with men driven out. Australia and The Philippines are Women's territories. England has become a dystopia for women because of the men's fears of the revolution. Women from another planet are planning to help.
Keywords: Female author

"People Come First" - Nick Zepke (b. 1940) (Pictures of the Future, 1980)
Eutopia presented as a debate in the New Zealand legislature in 2004 over a proposed Social Justice Commission, which will oversee all social services. It is part of a Labour government plan to focus on small scale industries and limited growth and the rejection of multinational corporations. The last line of the Prime Minister's speech indicates that all legislation has to be approved by the people voting yes or no on home terminals.
Keywords: Aotearoa New Zealand author; Male author

"The Perpetual Migration" - Marge Piercy (b. 1936) (The Moon Is Always Female, 1980)
Short eutopian poem on the joy of life. Part of her "The Lunar Cycle".
Rpt. in her Circles On the Water: Selected Poems of Marge Piercy (New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1982), 273-74.
Keywords: Female author; US author

The Probability Broach - L[ester] Neil Smith [III] (1946-2021) (Ballantine Books, 1980)
The novel begins in a U. S. where the government is systematically limiting individual rights, but it then moves into an alternative history eutopia set in a libertarian North American Confederacy and is the first volume of a loosely connected series set in the Confederacy. A story set in the same future is his “The Spirit of Exmas Sideways” (1989). In publication order, the volumes, not all of which are utopian, the series includes The Venus Belt (1980); Their Majesties' Bucketeers. Illus. New York: Ballantine Books, 1981. 182 pp.; The Nagasaki Vector. New York: Ballantine Books, 1983. 242 pp., neither of which have much to do with the main themes in the series; Tom Paine Maru. New York: Ballantine. 273 pp. Rpt. rev. Rockville, MD: Phoenix Pick, 2009. 222 pp. [An author’s note says that the first edition was badly cut by the publisher and that this version reflects his original intent]; The Gallatin Divergence. New York: Ballantine, 1985. 223 pp.; Brightsuit MacBear. New York: Avon, 1988. 212 pp.; Taflak Lysandra. New York: Avon, 1988. 230 pp., in all three of which there are clashes between the Confederacy and the authoritarian Federalists; and The American Zone (2001) which is a sequel to The Probability Broach. In the chronology of the series, the volumes are The Probability Broach, The Nagasaki Vector, The American Zone, The Venus Belt, The Gallatin Divergence, Tom Paine Maru, Brightsuit MacBear, Taflak Lysandra, and Their Majesties' Bucketeers. The novel won the 1982 Prometheus Prize of the Libertarian Futurist Society.
Rev. ed. [the author’s website calls it the “unexpurgated” edition]. New York: Tor, 1996. 305 pp. Rpt. New York: Orb, 2001. 317 pp. See also Smith and Scott Bieser, illustrator. The Probability Broach: The Graphic Novel. Round Rock, TX: Big Head Press, 2004. 185 pp.
Keywords: Male author; US author

A Rag, a Bone, and a Hank of Hair - [David] [Higginbottom] (1923-2016) (Kestrel, 1980)
Young adult flawed utopia. A future population bred to be peaceful cannot themselves have children and a breeding program using people stolen from the past is started.
Keywords: English author; Male author

Red Zone - Tom Browne (Topliner Tridents/Macmillan Children’s Books., 1980)
Young adult dystopia where a girl from the privileged classes meets a boy from the Red Zone, the least privileged in a highly structure society that was killing the poorest to control population.
Keywords: Male author

“The Rescue” - Linda MacKendrick (The Keeper’s Price and Other Stories, 1980)
Free Amazon story.
Keywords: Female author

Return to Earth: A Novel of the Future - H[elen] M[ary] Hoover (1935-2018) (Viking Press, 1980)
Young adult novel in which corporations own most countries but, although there are radical differences in income, try to create good lives for all their inhabitants. The relatively good societies are contrasted with a charismatic religious leader and his control of his followers.
Keywords: Female author; US author

Riddley Walker - Russell [Conwell] Hoban (1925-2011) (Jonathan Cape, 1980)
Post-catastrophe dystopia describing the society that has developed in England, which is presented as a primitive but complex society. The novel is presented as written by a member of the society, Riddley Walker, and is in the language that is used by the society.
U.S. ed. with the subtitle A Novel. New York: Summit Books, 1980. Exp. ed. Indianapolis: Indiana University Press, 1998, with two illus., an “Afterword” (223-27), “Notes” (229-31), and a “Glossary” (233-35) by the author.
Keywords: English author; Male author; US author

Run, Come See Jerusalem - Richard C[arleton] Meredith (1937-79) (Ballantine Books, 1980)
Authoritarian religious dystopia and revolt in which a time traveler tries to prevent the birth of the founder of the dystopia.
U.K. ed. London: Hamlyn, 1985.
Keywords: Male author; US author

Russian Hide-and-Seek; A Melodrama - Kingsley [William] Amis (1922-95) (Hutchinson, 1980)
Dystopia of the U.K. overrun by the U.S.S.R.
Keywords: English author; Male author

"Scorched Supper on New Niger" - Suzy McKee Charnas (1939-2023) (New Voices III; The Campbell Award Nominees, 1980)
A story of corporate conflict in space that includes a feminist eutopia based on African traditions.
Rpt. in The Best Science Fiction of the Year #10. Ed. Terry Carr (New York: Pocket Books, 1981), 23-61; and in The Mammoth Book of Modern Science Fiction: Short Novels of the 1980s. Presented by Isaac Asimov. Ed. Charles G. Waugh and Martin H. Greenberg (New York: Carroll & Graf, 1993), 90-125. U.K. ed. (London: Robinson Publishing, 1993), 90-125.
Keywords: Female author; US author

Shadowman - Geo[rge] W. Proctor (1946-2008) (Fawcett Gold Medal, 1980)
Flawed utopia in which an emotionless society without crime or violence produces an assassin.
Keywords: Male author; US author

Songs from the Stars - Norman [Richard] Spinrad (b. 1940) (Simon & Schuster, 1980)
Ecological eutopia that develops initially as a conflict between those practicing the old science of physics and those who have rejected that science. By the end of the novel, the two groups are forced to work together.
Keywords: Male author; US author

The Splendid Freedom - Arsen [Julius] Darnay (b. 1936) (Ace Books, 1980)
Three alternative future dystopias. They are "The Splendid Freedom" Galaxy Science Fiction 35.9 (September 1974): 6-33 (1-45) about an Earth that pretends to provide all the experiences unavailable on other planets, "The Eastcoast Confinement." Galaxy Science Fiction 35.10 (October 1974): 6-54 (47-132) about the New Puritan Secular Order in the U.S. that imprisons all dissidents, and "Plutonium" Galaxy Science Fiction 37.3 (March 1976): 5- 61 (133-244) about a religious cult worshipping atomic waste.
Keywords: Hungarian author; Male author; US author

Split Infinity - [Piers Anthony Dillingham] [Jacob] (b. 1934) (Ballantine Books, 1980)
Two worlds are described. One is a dystopia based on science and rigid class distinctions, and the other is a fantasy in which only magic works. One individual moves between the two worlds. The story is continued in his Blue Adept. New York: Ballantine Books, 1981. Rpt. New York: Ballantine Books, 1982; and in his Double Exposure (Garden City, NY: Nelson Doubleday, [1982]), 261-514; and in his Juxtaposition. By Piers Anthony [pseud.]. New York: Ballantine Books, 1982. Rpt. New York: Ballantine Books, 1983; and in his Double Exposure (Garden City, NY: Nelson Doubleday, [1982]), 515-790.
Rpt. in his Double Exposure (Garden City, NY: Nelson Doubleday, [1982]), 1-259.
Keywords: Male author; US author

"Stepfather Bank" - [David Charles] [Poyer] (b. 1949) (The Berkley Showcase; New Writings in Science Fiction and Fantasy, 1980)
Dystopia set in 2110 in which the "Bank," having gradually gained control of all corporations, owns everything. It employs everyone except one poet.
Keywords: Male author; US author

Still Forms on Foxfield - Joan [Lyn] Slonczewski (b. 1956) (Ballantine Books, 1980)
Eutopia based on Quaker (Society of Friends) beliefs. The novel is concerned with how the society deals with potential conflict with more technologically advanced later settlers.
Keywords: Female author; US author

The Technocrats - Forest W. Horton (Leisure Books, 1980)
Authoritarian dystopia set in 1984. Machines revolt.
Keywords: Male author

Tetrarch - Alex[ander] Comfort (1920-2000) (Shambala/Random House, 1980)
Allegory/fantasy depicting a number of eutopias and dystopias based loosely on various mythologies and William Blake (1757-1827) in particular. Verula is an evil city with high technology and a repressive culture and represents the contemporary world. The central eutopia, Los, is a sexually free, cooperative society. There are appendices of “The Losian Religion As Expounded by William Blake,” Losian Grammar, examples of the Losian Script, and a Losian Vocabulary. While the author is best known for his books on sexual technique like The Joy of Sex (1972), his career ranged through fiction, poetry, anarchist theory, the biology of aging, and geriatric psychology. For an extremely detailed biography, see Eric Laursen, Polymath: The Life and Professions of Dr. Alex Comfort Author of the Joy of Sex. Chico, CA/Edinburgh, Scot.: AK Press, 2023. 740 pp. See also 1943, 1961 and 1989 Comfort.
Keywords: English author; Male author

"That's No Way to Treat a Fairy" - Fitzgerald, Luchia (Crystal Crone (London), 1980)
Eutopia. The Leprechauns ruled the small people enslaving some their own people, the workers, and the fairies, and the women were treated worst of all. A women's revolution brings about communities of mixed men and women, all men, and all women, which is presented as a eutopia within the post-revolutionary eutopia.
Keywords: English author; Female author; Irish author

“There Is Always an Alternative” - Patricia Mathews (The Keeper’s Price and Other Stories, 1980)
Free Amazon story.
Keywords: Female author

"This One Time" - Joan [Marie] Verba (b. 1953) (Tales of the Free Amazons, 1980)
Free Amazon story.
Rpt. in Marion Zimmer Bradley and The Friends of Darkover. Free Amazons of Darkover. Ed. Marion Zimmer Bradley (New York: DAW Books, 1985), 228-39.
Keywords: Female author

This Time of Darkness - H[elen] M[ary] Hoover (1935-2018) (Viking, 1980)
Children's dystopia set in an extensive, class-ridden city. Outside the city is a village presented as a contrasting eutopia.
Keywords: Female author; US author

Timescape - Gregory [Albert] Benford (b. 1941) (Simon and Schuster, 1980)
The novel is set in three times. In 1998, which has experienced a worsening environmental collapse, scientists are trying to contact 1962 in hopes of correcting the problem. The paradox created by this activity produces an alternative future 1974. A related novel is his Rewrite: Loops in the Timescape. New York: Saga Press, 2018. The book is copyrighted by Benford and Michael Rose with a brief explanation in the “Afterword.”
Keywords: Male author; US author

"The Transformation Era" - Nick Zepke (b. 1940) (The New Zealand Listener, 1980)
Eutopia. Decentralization, simplicity, growth of alternative lifestyles, initially urban but becoming rural. Maori radicalism and growing Maori independence.
Rpt. in Pictures of the Future (Wellington, New Zealand: Mallinson Rendel, 1980), 41-47.
Keywords: Aotearoa New Zealand author; Male author

The Travails of Jane Saint - Josephine [Mary Howard] Saxton (b. 1935) (Virgin Books, 1980)
The novel begins with Jane Saint being sentenced to total reprogramming in an isolation chamber for being a revolutionary, which, in the context, means an advocate for women’s liberation. The novel then follows her “experiences” during the period she is in the chamber, experiences that center around a quest to free women. Much fantasy, with talking dogs, one of whom is named Merleau-Ponty, after the French philosopher; a friendly, supportive demon; a witch; a shaman; and so forth. See also 1989 Saxton, which is a sequel.
Part previously published as "Jane Saint's Travails." Amazons! Ed. Jessica Amanda Salmonson (New York: DAW Books, 1979), 107-16.
Keywords: English author; Female author

Under Plum Lake - Lionel Davidson (1922-2009) (Jonathan Cape, 1980)
Eutopian fantasy set in Egon, a world under the sea that evolved separately from the world above and has advanced further both technically and psychologically. The protagonist is a thirteen year old boy.
U.S. ed. New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1980.
Keywords: English author; Male author

Unisave - Axel Madsen (1930-2007) (Ace Books, 1980)
Overpopulation dystopia.
Keywords: Danish author; Male author; US author

Universal Evolution and the Road to Peace - Bernard John Wilson (Dorrance & Co, 1980)
The book is divided into two parts that reflect the title. The eutopia is in the second, much smaller part, "The Road to Peace" (85-97), which includes a summary of a "Model Charter" for world government (90-97).
Keywords: Male author

Valhalla - Newton [Kendall] Thornburg (1929-2011) (Little, Brown, 1980)
Near future post-catastrophe dystopia brought about by the collapse of the U.S. dollar. Government and jobs disappear and gangs control cities. Valhalla is an ex-monastery now the fortress compound of one man, and the novel focuses on the attacks on it and its defense.
Keywords: Male author; US author

Voices in Time - [John] Hugh MacLennan (1907-90) (Macmillan of Canada, 1980)
Post-catastrophe, looking backward. Authoritarian dystopia slowly being overcome and a better society created. The emphasis is on the period of conflict.
Rpt. Markham, ON, Canada: Penguin Canada, 1981. U.K. ed. Harmondsworth, Eng.: Penguin Books, 1983.
Keywords: Canadian author; Male author

Waiting for the Barbarians - J[ohn] M[axwell] Coetzee (b. 1940) (Secker & Warburg, 1980)
Dystopia of a fictionalized South Africa.
Keywords: Male author; South African author

"A Walk on the Wild Side" - Paul [A.] Collins (b. 1954) (Ad Astra (London), 1980)
Future dystopia of violence set in Sydney.
Rpt. as “A Walk on the Wild Side.”in The Cygnus Chronicler: An Australian Review of Science Fiction and Fantasy (West Ryde, NSW, Australia) 3.1 (7) (December 1980): 4-5; and as "Suburban Walk" in Paper Children: Selections from the McGregor Literary Competitions 1980-81. Ed. Alan Lawson (Toowoomea, QLD, Australia: Darling Downs Institute Press, 1982), 98-104; as "Spaziergang Suburban Walk." Trans. Christoph Göhler. In SF aus Australien: "Wahr sind die Träume der Götter" und 10 weitere Geschichten. Ed. Paul [A.] Collins and Peter Wilfrit (München, Germany: Wilhelm Goldmann Verlag, 1983), 117-24; and as "Weesechosek, 'A Good Place to Live'. In his The Government in Exile and other stories (Melbourne, VIC. Australia: Sumeria, 1994), 1-11.
Keywords: Aotearoa New Zealand author; Australian author; English author; Male author

Watchstar - Pamela Sargent (b. 1948) (Pocket Books, 1980)
First volume in a young adult trilogy followed by her Eye of the Comet. <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:state w:st="on">New York</st1:state></st1:place>: Harper & Row, 1984; and Homesmind. New York: Harper & Row, 1984. This volume takes place in a future that has rejected technology or, to their way of thinking, outgrown it. People live in small villages, communicate only by telepathy, are telekinetic, and can fly. Those born without these abilities are killed. Each person must go through an individual rite of passage, and the protagonist is going through hers when she meets a boy who has descended to Earth from a comet in which he lives. He is from the without telepathic powers who were people left behind and fled Earth to live on comets in space. Eye of the Comet focuses on a young woman who is set the task by Homesmind, a cybernetic mind, of reconciling the two societies. Homesmind concludes with the conflict between the two worldviews and its impact on the various protagonists.
Keywords: Female author; US author

“What I Did During My Park Vacation” - Ruth Berman (b. 1942) (Microcosmic Tales: 100 Wondrous Science Fiction Short-Short Stories, 1980)
The brief story is about a high-tech society where most of the natural world is gone, and a park travels from roof top to roof top so that people can be temporarily exposed to it.
Rpt. (New York: DAW Books, 1992), 267-68.
Keywords: Female author; US author

Who Killed Utopia - Paul Walker (1942-2007) (Carlyle, 1980)
Standard flawed utopia with a computer that has gone wrong.
Keywords: Male author; US author

"The Wishes of Maidens" - Felix C[harles] Gotschalk [Jr.] (1929-2002) (New Voices III; The Campbell Award Nominees, 1980)
Dystopia with very few fertile men and many women wanting to become pregnant.
Keywords: Male author; US author

A Woman's World. 138-9 Chri Plus - Jerome, Hilary (Thorn Press, 1980)
Gender-role reversal novel. Men are kept in "semenaries". Women keep "manikins" that are somewhere between female and male as servants and for sexual pleasure. Women wear "protectors" or chastity belts whenever men are out of the semenaries.

World Without Money--An Alternative - A[nnemarie] Wicklow (Arthur H. Stockwell, 1980)
Eutopia--title says it. Details of how it would work.
Keywords: Austrian author; Female author; Irish author

Zero Weather, A Future Fantasy - [Ramón Sender] [Barayón] (b. 1934) (Family Publishing Co, 1980)
New Age conflict between good and evil, with the followers of evil plotting to, among other things, drive the U.S. president insane and the followers of good, led by a man named Zero, fighting back against the various plots. Good wins.
Keywords: Male author; Spanish author; US author

Zion in Our Time - James A. Christenson (Center for Zionic Studies, 1980)
How to build a new Zion of the Reorganized Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, now known as the Christian Community. The five principles of the law of the celestial kingdom are Assistance, Cooperation, Providence, Equality, and Endowment (129-29). Includes a “Concordance of Scriptures on Zion--Bible” (150-55), “Scriptures re Sion” (155-56), “Scriptures on Zion--Book of Mormon” (156-57), and “Scriptures on Zion--Doctrine and Covenants” (157-61).
Keywords: Male author; US author

1988: The Fanzine of the Future, nos. 1 - 2 (1979) - M[ichael] J[ohn] Weller (1979)
Brief graphic novel depicting an authoritarian dystopia based on class, ethnicity, and race justified by the need to act against terrorists. The second issue is primarily a chronology of what happened between 1979 and 1988 to create the dystopia plus some overall description of the dystopia.
Keywords: Male author

Alongside Night - J[oseph] Neil Schulman (1953-2019) (Crown, 1979)
Dystopia based on an extrapolation of a continuing economic downturn.
Keywords: Male author; US author

The Avatar - Poul [William] Anderson (1926-2001) (Berkley Publishing, 1979)
One part of the novel is a typical Anderson dystopia in which the authoritarian Social Welfare Party takes over of Earth.
Parts of Chapters II and XXIII were published in slightly different form as parts of his “Joelle.” Isaac Asimov’s Science Fiction Magazine 1.3 (Fall 1977): 148-86.
Keywords: Male author; US author

Bander Snatch - Kevin O'Donnell Jr. (1950-2012) (Bantam Books, 1979)
Future bureaucratic dystopia with a deep rich-poor division. Bander Snatch is the name of a streetwise leader of one of the poor areas.
Keywords: Male author; US author

Benefits - Zoë Fairbairns (b. 1948) (Virago, 1979)
Feminist dystopia. Government encourages and then forces women to stay home and care for their families. It then tries to control conception by requiring contraception and later putting a contraceptive in the water. This causes major fetal damage and creates the beginnings of a backlash.
Rpt. with an "Introduction" by the author (i-iv) Nottingham, Eng.: Five Leaves, 1998.
Keywords: English author; Female author

The Big Trucker; A Magical Novel - Dennis Dunn (Dancing Rock Press, 1979)
Complex fantasy.  Begins with the Grail story “The Big Load” that continues throughout the novel and includes a utopia-of-sorts, “Our Sweet Land” ruled by “Big Mac.” Includes elements of earlier work such as the L. Frank Baum’s The Wonderful Wizard of Oz (1900) and the story of Johnny Appleseed (John Chapman 1774–1845). There is also a dystopia, “Welfare.”
A comic version was published in twelve parts illus. Steve Abbott and Bill Sigfried. San Francisco, CA: Dancing Rock Press, 1978-79.
Keywords: Male author

Blade Runner (A Movie) - William S[eward] Burroughs (1914-97) (Blue Wind, 1979)
Dystopia based on 1974 Nourse and using the same situation and characters. Unrelated to the Ridley Scott movie Blade Runner (1982).
Rpt. London: The Tangerine Press, 2019, with an introduction by Oliver Harris (ix-xxiii, 81-83)
Keywords: Male author; US author

The Brats. A Novel of the Future - R[onald Henry Glynn] Chetwynd-Hayes (1919-2001) (William Kimber, 1979)
Post-catastrophe authoritarian dystopia. The Brats are the sub-human creatures who hunt in packs, kill everything, and are the dominant life form.
Keywords: English author; Male author

Burger's Daughter - Nadine Gordimer (1923-2014) (Jonathan Cape, 1979)
As with much of Gordimer’s fiction, the novel is concerned with racial strife in the dystopia that is South Africa, with what she calls “the interregnum”, and, in this case, with the coming revolution. On the censorship of the novel, see What Happened to Burger’s Daughter: or How South African Censorship Works. Emmarentia, South Africa: Taurus, 1980.
On the censorship of the novel, see What Happened to Burger’s Daughter: or How South African Censorship Works. Emmarentia, South Africa: Taurus, 1980.
Keywords: Female author; South African author

Canopus in Argos: Archives. Re: Colonised Planet 5. Shikasta. Personal, Psychological, Historical Documents Relating to Visit by Johor (George Sherban) Emissary (Grade 9) 87th of the Period of the Last Days - Doris [May] Lessing (1919-2013) (Alfred A. Knopf, 1979)
The first of five volumes detailing the history and future of earth and other zones. See also 1980 (2), 1982, and 1983 Lessing. The Canopeans are the most advance beings and watch over others, interfering from time to time, not always successfully. Colonised Planet 5 appears to be Earth.
U.K. ed. London: Jonathan Cape, 1979.
Keywords: English author; Female author

Catacomb Years - Michael [Lawson] Bishop (1945-2023) (Berkley/Putnam, 1979)
Satire. Future domed city and the inhabitants. Includes, in "Old Folks at Home," a communal utopia for senior citizens and, in "The Windows in Dante's Hell," an overpopulation, class-based dystopia.
Parts were originally published as “If a Flower Could Eclipse.” Worlds of Fantasy 1.3 (Winter 1970-71): 152-83; rpt. in his The City and the Cygnet: An Alternative History of the Atlanta Urban Nucleus in the 21st Century (Bonney Lake, WA : Kudzu Planet Productions/Fairwood Press, 2019), 25-49, together with the “Interlude: The Testimony of Leland Tanner” (50-53); “Old Folks at Home.” Universe 8. Ed. Terry Carr (Garden City, NY: Doubleday, 1978), 1-48. Rpt. (New York: Popular Library, [1978]), 7-63; in The Best Science Fiction Novellas of the Year #1. Ed. Terry Carr (New York: Ballantine Books, 1979), 54-109; and in his The City and the Cygnet: An Alternative History of the Atlanta Urban Nucleus in the 21st Century (Bonney Lake, WA : Kudzu Planet Productions/Fairwood Press, 2019), 54-98, together with the “Interlude: The City Takes Care of Its Own” (99-100); “The Windows in Dante’s Hell.” Orbit 12. Ed. Damon [Francis] Knight (New York: G.P. Putnam’s Sons, 1973): 28-45; rpt. in his The City and the Cygnet: An Alternative History of the Atlanta Urban Nucleus in the 21st Century (Bonney Lake, WA : Kudzu Planet Productions/Fairwood Press, 2019), 101-14, together with the “Interlude: Volplaning Heroes” (115-16); “The Samurai and the Willows.” The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction 52.2 (297) (February 1976): 5-45; rpt. in his The City and the Cygnet: An Alternative History of the Atlanta Urban Nucleus in the 21st Century (Bonney Lake, WA : Kudzu Planet Productions/Fairwood Press, 2019), 117-55, together with the “Interlude: First Councilor Jarboe” (156-60); “Allegiances.” Galaxy Science Fiction 36.2 (February 1975): 20-62; rpt. in his The City and the Cygnet: An Alternative History of the Atlanta Urban Nucleus in the 21st Century (Bonney Lake, WA : Kudzu Planet Productions/Fairwood Press, 2019), 161-203, together with the “Interlude: The Cradle Begins to Rock” (204-05); and “At the Dixie-Apple with the Shoofly-Pie Kid.” Cosmos Science Fiction and Fantasy 1.4 (November 1977): 18-21, 23-25; rpt. in his The City and the Cygnet: An Alternative History of the Atlanta Urban Nucleus in the 21st Century (Bonney Lake, WA : Kudzu Planet Productions/Fairwood Press, 2019), 206-20, together with the “Interlude: The Introduction to Out and Back Again” (221-27).
Keywords: Male author; US author

"The Chance" - Peter Carey (b. 1943) (War Crimes, 1979)
Dystopia based on the ability to participate in a genetic lottery (the Chance) in which body types can be changed. The Chance is run by aliens who have arrived on Earth as merchants. Conflicts develop between those opting for beauty, those choosing not to change, and those who opt for ugliness.
Rpt. in his Collected Stories (St. Lucia, Australia: University of Queensland Press, 1994), 261-96; U.K. ed. (London: Faber & Faber, 1995), 191-96; in Centaurus: The Best Australian Science Fiction. Ed. David G. Hartwell and Damien Broderick (New York: Tor, 1999), 495-525; and in The Best Australian Science Fiction Writing: A Fifty Year Collection. Ed. Rob Gerrand (Melbourne, VIC, Australia: Black Inc., 2004), 239-68.
Keywords: Australian author; Male author

“Charlottesville: A Fictional Account” - Nan Randall (The Effects of Nuclear War, 1979)
A day-by-day account of the effects of nuclear war on Charlottesville, Virginia. The story provided the basis for the television film The Day After (1983) written by Edward Hume (b. 1936) and directed by Nicholas Meyer (b. 1945).The author had written with William Kincade (1939-2017), the executive director of the Arms Control Association, a series describing the effect of two nuclear bombs dropped on the Tampa Bay area. See “Doomsday.” St. Petersburg Times (February 25-28, 1979): 1A, 20A; 1A, 13A-14A; 1A, 7A; 12A.  For background to the story, see Alexis C. Madrigal, “The People Who Would Survive Nuclear War.” The Atlantic.com (January 25, 2018). https://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2018/01/that-time-the-government-commission-fiction-about-nuclear-war/551303/
Keywords: Female author; US author

"Chocolate Sundae Heist" - John [Edward] Clark (Alien Worlds, 1979)
Satire on Queensland politics, particularly the extreme right wing that held power in Queensland. The author's note says, "...I've postulated what would happen if the concept of 'Law and Order' was taken to its extreme" (167). The penalty for stealing a chocolate sundae is death, immediate imposed at the scene of the crime by a robot judge. No one drives any longer for fear of violating the traffic laws; even so a man is found guilty of jaywalking in a deserted street.
Keywords: Australian author

"The Circle" - Geo Logical [pseud.] (Utopian Eyes, 1979)
Eutopian future story projecting the Kerista Commune into a world-wide phenomenon.

Communalist Society: Some Principles for a Possible Future - John Friedmann (b. 1926) (School of Architecture and Urban Planning, University of California, Los Angeles, 1979)
Eutopia of a decentralized society. See also 1976 Friedmann and 1979 Friedmann, The Good Society: A personal account of its struggle with the world of social planning and a dialectical inquiry into the roots of radical practice.
Keywords: Austrian author; Canadian author; Male author; US author

Dark Wing - Carl West; Katherine [Anne] MacLean (1925-2019) (Atheneum, 1979)
Young adult dystopia in which medical care is illegal and the ill are put to death. Corporate power.
Keywords: Female author; Male author; US author

Engine Summer - John [Michael] Crowley (b. 1942) (Doubleday, 1979)
Post-catastrophe novel focusing on two surviving societies, one of which can be considered eutopian and is based on occupational/generational ties and is non-competitive. The novel includes the detailed description of a game in which there is no winner.
Rpt. New York: Bantam Books, 1980. U.K. ed. London: Victor Gollancz, 1980.
Keywords: Male author; US author

Exile. Book IV of Daily Lives in Nghsi-Altai - Robert [Molise Boyer] Nichols (1919-2010) (New Directions, 1979)
This volume gives the history of Nghsi-Altai (29-39) and focuses on the "population lottery" which uses a lottery to reduce the population by choosing a family to exile. The family chosen is the family at the center of Book III. See 1977 Nichols, the note there, and 1978 and 1979 Nichols, The Harditts of Sawna.
Parts originally published as "The Meaning of Festivals." New Directions in Prose and Poetry No. 26. Ed. J[ames] Laughlin. (New York: New Directions, 1973), 70-75; and "Nghsi-Altai: An excerpt from the novel Daily Lives in Nghsi-Altai." New Directions in Prose and Poetry No. 33. Ed. J[ames] Laughlin (New York: New Directions, 1976), 117-25.
Keywords: Male author; US author

"The Exit Door Leads In" - Philip K[indred] Dick (1928-82) (Rolling Stone College Papers, 1979)
Dystopia of a society controlled by robots and an attempt to reform it through a college that is trying to encourage rebellion against all authority.
Rpt. in Robots, Androids, and Mechanical Oddities: The Science Fiction of Philip K. Dick. Ed. Patricia S. Warrick and Martin H[arry] Greenberg (Carbondale: Southern Illinois University Press, 1984), 229-45; and in The Collected Stories of Philip K. Dick. Volume 5 The Little Black Box (Los Angeles, CA/Columbia, PA: Underwood/Miller, 1987), 315-31. The paperback edition has it in The Collected Stories of Philip K. Dick. Volume 5 The Eye of the Sibyl (New York: Citadel Twilight, 1992), 315-31.
Keywords: Male author; US author

The Fight for Manod - Raymond [Henry] Williams (1921-88) (Chatto & Windus, 1979)
The first part of the novel, which is the part excerpted by Milner, describes a plan to transform an area of Wales from a backwater into a substantial, thriving community. The rest of the novel concerns the difficulties of doing that.
London" Hogarth Press, 1988. An excerpt was published in Tenses of the Imagination: Raymond Williams on Science Fiction, Utopia and Dystopia. Ed. Andrew Milner. Ralahine Utopian Studies 4 (Oxford, Eng,: Peter Lang, 2010), 215-30, with an editor’s introduction (215-16).
Keywords: English author; Male author

“Five Letters from an Eastern Empire giving Information upon architecture, etiquette, irrigation, ventriloquism, justice, sex and poems in an Obsolete country” - Alasdair [James] Gray (1934-2019) (Words (Fife, Scot.), 1979)
Dystopian oriental tale with a puppet as an emperor and an authoritarian government.
Slightly rev. as “Five Letters From an Eastern Empire: Describing Etiquette, Government, Irrigation, Education, Clogs, Kites, Rumour, Poetry, Justice, Massage, Town-Planning, Sex and Ventriloquism in an Obsolete Nation.” Illus. by the author in his Unlikely Stories, Mostly (Edinburgh, Scot.: Canongate, 1983), 85-113; rpt. (London: Penguin, 1984), 85-113; and in his Every Short Story, 1952-2012 (Edinburgh, Scot.: Canongate, 2012), 91-133.
Keywords: Male author; Scottish author

From Blight to Height - Marinelli, Jean (Vantage Press, 1979)
Eutopia in which a new form of society, called a Region, is established with sixty thousand people. Most decision-making is by a computer known as Comp-U, which is said to know what is best for everyone. The first is successful in eliminating poverty, unemployment, and discrimination, and its people are able to reach their full potential. People wore the same clothing and housing was identical. Standardized names plus a number. Contraceptives required and sexual activity limited to Friday nights. People ate together. No tobacco but marijuana was used. No children initially. As a result, more such Regions are established. Female author.
Keywords: Female author; US author

Gallagher's Glacier - Walt[er R.] Richmond (1922-77); Leigh [Tucker] Richmond (1911-95) (Ace Books, 1979)
Authoritarian dystopia in which the universe is ruled by giant corporations. Rebellion.
Part originally published as "Gallagher's Glacier." Analog Science Fact--Science Fiction 74.3 (November 1964): 37-42. Short version published New York: Ace Books, 1970.
Keywords: Female author; Male author; US author

The Good Society; A personal account of its struggle with the world of social planning and a dialectical inquiry into the roots of radical practice - John Friedmann (b. 1926) (MIT Press, 1979)
Eutopia. Between fiction and non-fiction. See also 1976 Friedmann and 1979 Friedmann, Communalist Society.
Keywords: Austrian author; Canadian author; Male author; US author

The Granville Hypothesis - Ted Mancuso (b. 1950) (Manor Books, 1979)
Flawed utopia. Computer perfect world under attack.
Keywords: Male author; US author

The Great Change - Jack Wagner (Trinidad Press, 1979)
Detailed socialist eutopia using a version of the “sleeper wakes” in which a labor leader in the mid-twentieth century comes back to San Francisco in 2012. Quite a bit on the transition. Much is provided free or inexpensively. Much more on the details of the workplace and production than in many comparable works. Partnership between management and unions. Annual turnover in many leadership positions. A lot of bureaucracy but working the way it should.
Keywords: Male author; US author

The Harditts of Sawna. Book III of Daily Lives in Nghsi-Altai - Robert [Molise Boyer] Nichols (1919-2010) (New Directions, 1979)
Third volume of four about eutopia in a Southeast Asian country that has a fairly simple, agricultural life but a complex mythology. This volume focuses on village life through a single family, the Harditts. See 1977 Nichols, the note there, and 1978 and 1979 Nichols, Exile.
Part originally published as "Harvesting the Wind: An excerpt from the novel Daily Lives in Nghsi-Altai." New Directions in Prose and Poetry No. 31. Ed. J[ames] Laughlin (New York: New Directions, 1975), 26-46.
Keywords: Male author; US author

"Iceback Invasion" - Hayford Pierce (b. 1942) (Omni, 1979)
Dystopian satire on multiculturalism.
Rpt. in The Best of Omni Science Fiction. Ed. Ben Bova and Don Myrus (New York: Omni Society, 1980), 52-59.
Keywords: Male author; US author

In the Circle of Time - Margaret J[ean] Anderson (b. 1931) (Alfred A. Knopf, 1979)
Young adult novel in sequel to 1977 Anderson. This novel is set in 2179 in which two children from our time assist a eutopian society in its struggle against a mechanized dystopia. See also 1984 Anderson.  The female author was born in Scotland and lives in the U.S.
Keywords: Female author; Scottish author; US author

The Island - Peter [Bradford] Benchley (1940-2006) (Doubleday & Co, 1979)
Description of an island dystopia created by modern day pirates.
Keywords: Male author; US author

"Japanese Tea" - Terence M[ichael] Green (b. 1947) (Alien Worlds, 1979)
Dystopian educational system of the future.
Rpt. in his The Woman Who Is the Midnight Wind (Potters Lake, NS, Canada: Pottersfield Press, 1987), 69-83.
Keywords: Canadian author; Male author

Jem: The Making of a Utopia - Frederik [George] Pohl [Jr.] (1919-2013) (St. Martin's Press, 1979)
A novel about the discovery of a planet inhabited by three different species, the attempt to exploit it by three different groups from Earth, and the ultimate coming together of all six groups with a very brief depiction of the better society that resulted.
Rpt. New York: Bantam Books, 1980. U.K. ed. London: Victor Gollancz, 1979.
Keywords: Male author; US author

Juniper Time - Kate [Katie Gertrude Meredith] Wilhelm (1928-2018) (Harper & Row, 1979)
Background of a post-disaster (drought) dystopia where the western part of the U.S. is abandoned, and people move east to settle in what are in effect concentration camps. The novel follows the experience of one woman who flees west and is taught survival skills by the Indians who have reclaimed the land.
Keywords: Female author; US author

Kindred - Octavia E[stelle] Butler (1947-2006) (Doubleday & Co., 1979)
The dystopia of U.S. slavery written in the form of a slave narrative by a woman who lives simultaneously in the past and the present.
Rpt. Boston, MA: Beacon Press, 1988 with an “Introduction” by Robert Crossley (ix-xxvii); and in Kindred, Fledgling, Collected Stories. Ed. Gerry Canavan & Nisi Shawl (New York: Library of America, 2021), 1-271, with a Chronology (743-755), a Note on the Text (756-757), and Notes (761-769). Adapted as a graphic novel by Damian Duffy and John Jennings. New York: AbramsComicArt, 2017, with an “Introduction” by Nnedi Okorafor (iv-vi).
Keywords: African American author; Female author

Lagrange Five - Mack [Dallas McCord] Reynolds (1917-83) (Bantam Books, 1979)
A space colony/station is a eutopia of great beauty, but the eutopia is undermined by what seems to be almost an illness that strikes from time to time in which people become claustrophobic. See also 1983 and 1984 Reynolds and 1985 Reynolds with Ing.
Keywords: Male author; US author

The Land - [Mary Vigliante] [Szydlowski] (b. 1946) (Manor, 1979)
Women are rulers and men are "Beasts" not considered human. One woman starts a movement to free the Beasts, who almost enslave the women, until a balance is achieved with hope of turning the dystopia into a eutopia.
Keywords: Female author; US author

Land of the Possible: A Report of the First Visit to Prire - Mary Alice White Ph.D. (1920-2000) (Warner Books, 1979)
A very detailed eutopia depicting Prire, a long established, isolated country that welcomes its first visitor in many years. Variety of ways of life, with the novel depicting Capital City, Blue Lake Village, which is a cooperative, Mountgate, a village of artists, Ponyo City, which has a university, and Shin, a factory town. There is also an area set aside for those who simply want to be left alone. Experiments are being constantly run to provide the evidence for policy choices. Stress on the small, local face-to-face community using appropriate technology that was available in the late 1970s. Every person from age twelve has two jobs, a community service job as well as an occupation. Life-long education. Gender and age equality.
Keywords: Female author; US author

"The Legend of Lady Bruna" - Marion Zimmer Bradley (1930-99) (Legends of Hastur and Cassilda, 1979)
This is a story of a strong woman who fought to keep her people free and is one of the legends of the Free Amazons.
Rpt. in Marion Zimmer Bradley and The Friends of Darkover. Free Amazons of Darkover: An Anthology. Ed. Marion Zimmer Bradley (New York: DAW Books, 1985), 24-32 with an introductory note on 23. No copy of the Legends appears to be held in any library. Information from Catherine Coker, “The Friends of Darkover: An Annotated Bibliography and History.” Foundation 37.104 (Winter 2008): 52.
Keywords: Female author; US author

Legion - Charles L[ewis] Grant (1942-2006) (Berkley Books, 1979)
Post-catastrophe authoritarian dystopia set in 2257 as background. Part of a series that follows the same family from 1976 and 1977 Grant.
Keywords: Male author; US author

Leviathan's Deep - [Margery (known as Marj) A.] [Krueger] (1941-2006) (Doubleday, 1979)
Conflict within a world dominated by women over how to respond to contact and growing conflict with Earth. Part of the solution is to educate the men on the woman-dominated world.
Keywords: Female author; US author

Long Talking Bad Conditions Blues - Ronald Sukenick (1932-2004) (Fiction Collective, 1979)
Dystopia of modern life with some elements of science fiction.
Parts originally published under the same title in Granta, [no. 1] (Spring 1979): 181-90; Luna Park; and Ploughshares, no. 18 (5.3) (Fall 1979): 165-76.
Keywords: Male author; US author

The Long Walk - [Stephen Edwin] [King] (b. 1947) (Signet, 1979)
Authoritarian dystopia in which one hundred teenage boys participate in an annual ritual of walking until only one is left alive, most of the rest having been shot for infractions of the rules.
Rpt. in The Bachman Books: Four Early Novels by Stephen King. Rage, The Long Walk, Roadwork, The Running Man (New York: New American Library, 1985), 133-322 with "Why I Was Bachman" (v-x); and separately New York: Signet, 1996 with "The Importance of Being Bachman" (v-xiii).
Keywords: Male author; US author

The Love Siege - Tom [Donald] Wakefield (1935-96) (Routledge & Kegan Paul, 1979)
Near future authoritarian dystopia. In 1983 "political" meetings of any sort are forbidden, with even school staff meetings having to have a government official in attendance. Nonconformists are killed. But there is successful resistance.
Keywords: English author; Male author

Macrolife - George Zebrowski (b. 1945) (Harper & Row, 1979)
A utopia that ranges into the future in a way similar to the utopias of Olaf Stapledon. In this work, “macrolife” or a “macroworld” is mobile space habitat (see the design and description on 114-16). They spread throughout the galaxy, producing a wide variety of social systems, and, at times, come into conflict with natural worlds. His 1999 Cave of Stars is described as a companion piece.
Rpt. with the subtitle A Mobile Utopia. Amherst, NY: Pyr, 2006.
Keywords: Male author; US author

Mindsong - Joan [Irene] Cox (1942-2009) (Avon, 1979)
.Science fiction novel that includes a description of a terraformed planet called Eden that exists in an age similar to Earth’s Hellenic age and is presented in eutopian terms.
Keywords: Female author; US author

"The Moons of Sirius" - Michaels, Ward (In Touch For Men (Los Angeles, CA), 1979)
Male homosexual eutopia in which the original colonists had separated by gender and lost any memory of each other.
Keywords: Male author

Morlock Night - K[evin] W[ayne] Jeter (b. 1950) (DAW Books, 1979)
Dystopia in which the Morlocks from 1895 Wells, The Time Machine use the time machine to attack England. The English, led by Merlin, and others from various time periods, successfully fight back.
Rpt. Oxford, Eng.: Angry Robot, 2011 with an “Introduction” by Tim Powers (7-11) and an afterword, “K W Jeter, Morlock Night” by Adam Roberts (295-301).
Keywords: Male author; US author

The New Gulliver or The Adventures of Lemuel Gulliver, Jr. in Capovolta - Esmé Dodderidge (1916-97) (Taplinger, 1979)
Gender reversal satire.
U.K. ed. London: J.M. Dent, 1980.
Keywords: Female author; Welsh author

A New Utopia - Peter [Christopher] Milward [S.J.] (1925-2017) (Aratake Shuppan, 1979)
Eutopia structured like More's Utopia with two parts. The first part is a factual journal of his trip with Japanese friends to Bruges, Belgium to visit the area where More was when he began writing Utopia. The second part (40-68) is a eutopia that contrasts the real Japan with a eutopian version that centers on religion and simplicity.
The first two parts were published as In Search of Historic Britain. [Tokyo, Japan]: Aratake Shuppan, 1978; and In Search of More's England. [Tokyo, Japan]: Aratake Shuppan, 1978.
Keywords: English author; Male author

News from the City of the Sun - Isabel [Diana] Colegate (b. 1931) (Hamish Hamilton, 1979)
A novel about the history of an intentional community from the 1930s to 1970s. The members have divergent views of what eutopia will be like and how to bring it about.
Keywords: English author; Female author

"No More Pencils, No More Books" - John Morressy (1930-2006) (The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction, 1979)
Dystopia of future inner-city schools with constant violence, heavily medicated students, and no learning.
Rpt. in The Best Science Fiction of the Year #9. Ed. Terry Carr (New York: Ballantine Books, 1980), 269-81.
Keywords: Male author; US author

"Nuclear Fission" - Paul David Novitski (Universe, 1979)
A decentralized eutopia with multiple gender relations that developed after an unexplained revolution that led to cities being abandoned and environmental damage that caused the desertification of the U.S. Midwest. The story focuses on one multi-relationship home in a community of fairly self-sufficient households.
Rpt. in Kindred Spirits: An Anthology of Gay and Lesbian Science Fiction Stories. Ed. Jeffrey M. Elliot (Boston, MA: Alyson Publications, 1984), 151-74 with an editor's note on 149-50.
Keywords: Male author

"The Oath of the Comhi-Letzii or 'Order of Renunciates' Commonly Called the 'Free Amazons' with Explanatory Commentary" - Walter [H.] Breen (1928-93) (The Darkover Concordance: A Reader's Guide, 1979)
Oath of a utopian order that asserts the freedom of the women joining it from all social ties except those she freely chooses.
Rpt. as “The Oath of the Free Amazons.” In Marion Zimmer Bradley and The Friends of Darkover, Free Amazons of Darkover: An Anthology. Ed. Marion Zimmer Bradley (New York: DAW Books, 1985), 16-22 with an introductory note on 15.
Keywords: Male author; US author

Offworld - [Roberta Leah Jacobs] [Gellis] (1927-2016) (Pocket Books, 1979)
Mostly adventure but begins in a standard utopia that is terribly dull.
Keywords: Female author

"Options" - John [Herbert] Varley (b. 1947) (Universe, 1979)
Impact of easy sex change operations on a society that had strived for gender equality but still had significant inequalities. Experiencing both genders from the inside improves things.
Rpt. in The Best Science Fiction Stories of the Year #9. Ed. Terry Carr (New York: Ballantine Books, 1980), 192-225; in his Blue Champagne. Illus. Todd Cameron Hamilton (Nile, IL: Dark Harvest, 1986), 223-62;  and in Feminist Philosophy and Science Fiction: Utopias and Dystopias. Ed. Judith A. Little (Amherst, NY: Prometheus Books, 2007), 363-90.
Keywords: Male author; US author

"The Origin of the Axletree" - Alasdair [James] Gray (1934-2019) (Scottish Short Stories 1979, 1979)
A mildly dystopian story in which a prince decides to build a structure, the Axletree, that will reach heaven. See 1983 Gray for the dystopian sequel.
Rpt. as "The Start of the Axletree." Illus. by the author in his Unlikely Stories, Mostly (Edinburgh, Scot.: Canongate, 1983), 67-83; and in his Every Short Story, 1952-2012 (Edinburgh, Scot.: Canongate, 2012), 76-89.
Keywords: Male author; Scottish author

"Our Lady of Desperation" - Keith [John Kingston] Roberts (1935-2000) (Ladies From Hell, 1979)
Dystopian satire. After a revolution in the U.K. in which the Civil Service becomes dominant a four class system is established. Class A (the Civil Service and other powerful people) pays no taxes and classes B and C pay taxes at the rate of 60 and 70 percent respectively. Class D, the focus of the story and composed "anybody on whom the suspicion of creativity falls" (21) is supposed to pay at the 70% rate, but an error in the law allows them to make considerable incomes. In response the government assigns a minder to every individual in Class D to oversee all their activities.
Keywords: English author; Male author

"Out There Where The Big Ships Go" - [John Middleton] [Murry] [Jr.] (1926-2002) (The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction, 1979)
Eutopia brought about through a galactic game that was brought back to a ravaged Earth from a distant eutopian planet. Having reached the planet humans were then allowed to play the Game, which was the route to the next step in human evolution.
Rpt. in his Out There Where The Big Ships Go (New York: Pocket Books, 1980), 9-37; and in The 1980 Annual World's Best SF. Ed. Donald A. Wollheim with Arthur W. Saha (New York: DAW Books, 1980), 217-45.
Keywords: English author; Male author

"The Paradigm" - Randal Flynn (b. 1957) (Transmutations, 1979)
Authoritarian dystopia. The story focuses on a playwright who on winning a prize must decide on writing for the state or having an implant and being demoted to factory work. Having chosen to write for the state, the story traces the various compromises with his integrity that he has to make.
Rpt. in The Best Australian Science Fiction Writing: A Fifty Year Collection. Ed. Rob Gerrand (Melbourne, VIC, Australia: Black Inc., 2004), 269-98.
Keywords: Australian author; Male author

A Planet Called Utopia - [James Murdoch] [MacGregor] (1925-2008) (Zebra Books, 1979)
Eutopia/dystopia of immortality. To avoid overpopulation, there is no marriage or childbirth. Because it could be everlasting, the great fear of the immortals is pain and kidnapping with the threat of torture is common.
Keywords: Male author; Scottish author

The Planet Masters - Allen [Lester] Wold (b. 1943) (St. Martin's Press, 1979)
Dystopia set in a society based on a caste system that includes killing as a means of improving one's position.
Keywords: Male author; US author

Praise All the Moons of Morning - [Jeanne] [Dixon] (b. 1936) (Atheneum, 1979)
Young adult dystopia in which the inhabitants are kept passive with a drug. A young girl in the dystopia and a woman from the past help free the people.
Keywords: Female author; US author

Project Lambda - Paul O'M Welles (Ashley Books, 1979)
Dystopia of a holocaust directed at homosexuals in the U.S.
Keywords: Male author

Renaissance - A[lfred] E[lton] van Vogt (1912-2000) (Pocket Books, 1979)
Dystopia of women dominating men who have been emasculated by alien technology.
Keywords: Canadian author; Male author; US author

Retreat: As It Was! A Fantasy - Donna J. Young (Naiad Press, 1979)
Lesbian eutopia. After a war that killed everyone, women were given a second chance. Since then, they have learned parthenogenesis and spread around the galaxy. The novel is set on a frontier world called Retreat and follows the development and relationships of a number of women living in one of the communities there. The back cover has "What It Was Like Before the Men Came", but there is no mention of men in the book.
Keywords: Female author; US author

Revolution Island - Julian [Charles] Fane (1927-2009) (Hamish Hamilton and St. George's Press, 1979)
Socialists take power and establish an authoritarian dystopia. The novel ends with a the dystopia being overthrown. Anti-socialist and anti-trade union.
Keywords: English author; Male author

The Ring Cycle - Melvin [Ezell] Gorham (1910-94) (Sovereign Press, 1979)
Consists of "The Valkyrie: A Play in Three Acts" which replays Richard Wagner's Ring as a dystopia featuring two police states and opposed by Wotan as the leader of free people. See the author's The Six Disciplines of Man's Being and Man's Relation to Government. Rev. ed. Rochester, WA: Sovereign Press, 1984. See also 1970 and 1975 Gorham. For other works from the same general perspective, see 1984 von Konen, the note there, 1984 Valoric Fire, and 1987 Pedersen.
Part also published as Melvin Gorham’s Interpretation of Richard Wagner’s The Valkyries [Cover adds A Play in Three Acts] Together with The Morality of the Early Northern Europeans by John Harland. Rochester, WA: Sovereign Press, 1987.
Keywords: Male author; US author

A Salute to America In the Year 2000" - Tom [Thomas Jefferson] Anderson (1910-2002) (American Opinion, 1979)
A John Birch Society eutopia. Money is tied to gold and silver. It is illegal for the federal government to have a deficit. The minimum wage is abolished; anyone on welfare or being paid in tax dollars is disenfranchised. The sixteenth amendment establishing the income tax is repealed and a new tax system is implemented with no deductions and a maximum tax of ten per cent. The US is no longer in the UN, and the UN is no longer in the US. US citizens tried for treason are "deported to the Communist country of their choice" (46). The change was brought about by those who were "raised in traditional Christian homes and attended private Christian schools" (40).
Keywords: Male author; US author

"A Second Eden" - Jeff Watkins (In Touch For Men (Los Angeles, CA), 1979)
Male homosexual eutopia where an exploring party had crashed on a planet and developed the ability to create children. The last survivors of the crash had been two homosexual men, but the society they create is completely accepting of all sexual orientations.
Keywords: Male author

Shadow of Earth - Phyllis [Leah Kleinstein] Eisenstein (1946-2020) (Dell, 1979)
Dystopian parallel history in which the Spanish Armada defeats England in 1588 and the middle ages continue.
Keywords: Female author; US author

Show Me a Hero - Patrick [James] Alexander (b. 1926) (Macmillan, 1979)
The novel is about a future U.K. democratic socialist dictatorship, the resistance movement, and the coup that succeeded in overthrowing it.
Keywords: Male author; UK author

The Sixth Winter - Douglas Orgill (b. 1922); John Gribbin (Simon and Schuster, 1979)
Climate-change (new ice age) dystopia.
Keywords: English author; Male author

A Song in the Forest - Peter [Hedley Colwill] Hooper (1919-91) (John McIndoe, 1979)
Post-catastrophe. Primitive life with some eutopian elements. Two tribes are described, one violent and one peaceful. There are two sequels that are both borderline utopian that follow the relations between the tribes and their effects on each other--People of the Long Water. Dunedin: John McIndoe, 1985; and Time and the Forest. Dunedin: John McIndoe, 1986. Both are at ATL and VUW.
Keywords: Aotearoa New Zealand author; Male author

Stud Service - Johnny Mann [pseud.?] (Greenleaf, 1979)
Gay male eutopia; stress on the sex. See also 1969 Wells.
Rpt. as Service Stud. By Clay Caldwell, which may also be a pseudonym. New York: Badboy, 1995.

The Sudden Star - Pamela Sargent (b. 1948) (Fawcett Gold Medal, 1979)
Dystopia of overpopulation and violence. Medical care severely restricted.
Keywords: Female author; US author

Sweet & Sour Milk - Nuruddin Farah (b. 1945) (Allison & Busby, 1979)
First volume of his Variations on the Theme of African Dictatorship trilogy. Can be read as a dystopia or a realistic novel of contemporary Africa. The other volumes are Sardines. London: Allison & Busby, 1981. Rpt. London: Heinemann Educational Books, 1982. U.S. ed. St. Paul, MN: Graywolf Press, 1992; and Close Sesame. London: Allison & Busby, 1983. U.S. ed. St. Paul, MN: Graywolf Press, 1992.
Rpt. London: Heinemann, 1980. U.S. ed. St. Paul, MN: Graywolf Press, 1992.
Keywords: Male author; Somali author

The Talking Coffins of Cryo-City - Shirley [Laurolyn] Parenteau (b. 1935) (Elsevier/Nelson Books, 1979)
A young adult novel which describes a flawed utopia based on the control of the weather. The world is run by machines. Criminals are frozen.
Keywords: Female author; US author

They Saw the Second Coming. An explosive novel about the end of the world - Doug Clark (Harvest House, 1979)
Armageddon (See Revelation 16) and a brief description of the millennium.
Keywords: Male author

The Third Body. A Novel - Sam[uel H.] Dann (1918-2004) (Popular Library, 1979)
Dystopia of separate female and male countries where reproduction is a matter of dominance and death and sexual pleasure unknown. The novel focuses on a couple who commit the blasphemy of falling in love.
Keywords: Male author; US author

"To Keep the Oath" - Marion Zimmer Bradley (1930-99) (The Bloody Sun, 1979)
Story about her Free Amazons with an emphasis on why women choose to join them.
Rpt. in The Bloody Sun and "To Keep the Oath" (Boston, MA: Gregg Press, 1979), 373-408; and in Marion Zimmer Bradley's Darkover (New York: DAW Books, 1993), 15-42. It is not in The Bloody Sun. New York: Ace Books, 1964.
Keywords: Female author; US author

Tomorrow . . . What It Will Be Like - Herbert W. Armstrong (1892-1986) (Everest House, 1979)
Eutopia. Direct rule by God. God will make the entire world cultivatable by reducing the mountains, watering the deserts, changing the world weather patterns, and thawing out the ice packs. This will eliminate the population problem. Single language. Jerusalem the financial capital of the world. Gold standard. Human nature improved. All debts canceled every fifty years. See also 1966 Armstrong and Armstrong.
Keywords: Male author; US author

Transmaniacon - John [Patrick] Shirley (b. 1954) (Zebra Books, 1979)
Dystopia set in the 22nd century. The continental U.S. is cut off from the rest of the world by an apparently impenetrable barrier. Inside the barrier there are a number of authoritarian city-states. The novel follows one man's successful attempt to escape.
Keywords: Male author; US author

The Two Kingdoms; A Novel of Islandia - Mark Saxton (1914-88) (Houghton Mifflin, 1979)
A novel of romance and adventure set in the history of Islandia from 1942 Wright. See also 1969 Saxton and 1982 Saxton. The author worked for the publisher of 1942 Wright and assisted Wright’s daughter in preparing the manuscript for publication.
Keywords: Male author; US author

"Ultima Thule" - Arline Todd (Chrysalis, 1979)
Transplant dystopia in which needed organs are harvested from unwilling donors.
Keywords: Female author

"Unaccompanied Sonata" - Orson Scott Card (b. 1951) (Omni, 1979)
Dystopia. People are categorized through tests given almost from birth and are required to do only the thing that they are supposedly best suited to do. The story focuses on a musical genius who is only allowed to make music uninfluenced by hearing anyone else's music. When he hears other music and incorporates it, he is no longer allowed to make music. When he does, his hands are cut off; when he sings, his vocal cords are removed.
Rpt. in The 1980 Worlds Best SF. Ed. Donald A. Wollheim with Arthur W. Saha ([New York:] DAW Books, 1980), 73-91; in The Best of Omni Science Fiction. Ed. Ben Bova and Don Myrus (New York: Omni Society, 1980), 38-44; and in The Fourth Omni Book of Science Fiction. Ed. Ellen [Sue] Datlow (New York: Zebra Books, 1985), 185-206. Separately published [Eugene, OR: Pulphouse Publishing, 1992].
Keywords: Male author; US author

The Underdogs - William Weintraub (b. 1926) (McClelland and Stewart, 1979)
Satire on the separation of Québec from the rest of Canada twenty years later. Québec bankrupt. Anglos of Québec are at the bottom of society.
Excerpt published as "Farming in the Sun Life Building." Saturday Night 93.10 (December 1978): 34-37, 40-46.
Keywords: Canadian author; Male author

Underkill - James White (1928-1999) (Corgi, 1979)
Authoritarian dystopia with the plot centering on an extraterrestrial campaign to improve Earth.
Keywords: Male author; Northern Ireland author

The Unlimited Dream Company - J[ames] G[raham] Ballard (1930-2009) (Jonathan Cape, 1979)
Mostly fantasy but the setting has utopian elements.
Keywords: English author; Male author

The Vandal - Ann [Acheson] Schlee (b. 1934) (Macmillan, 1979)
Young adult future dystopia run by scientists who use drugs to control the citizenry. Vandalism as an act of rebellion against authority. Solidarity with other young people who are being controlled by the authorities.
U.S. ed. New York: Crown, 1981.
Keywords: Female author; US author

A Voice Out of Ramah - [Karen] Lee Killough (b. 1942) (Ballantine Books, 1979)
Dystopia of a male dominated society that uses religion to reinforce its power until a man begins to doubt and a woman begins to question.
Keywords: Female author; US author

"War Crimes" - Peter Carey (b. 1943) (War Crimes, 1979)
Dystopia set in a future of a collapsed economy, corruption, luxury for the few, and extreme poverty for the many. Ends with the beginning of a revolt by the unemployed but with no idea of whether or not it will succeed.
Rpt. in his The Fat Man in History (London: Faber & Faber, 1980), 158-86; and in his Collected Stories (St. Lucia, QLD, Australia: University of Queensland Press, 1994), 310-37. U.K. ed. (London: Faber & Faber, 1995), 310-37.
Keywords: Australian author; Male author

Web - [John Wyndham Parkes Lucas Beynon] [Harris] (1903-69) (Michael Joseph, 1979)
The novel is primarily science fiction, but it focuses on a planned utopian community to be established on an island in the South Pacific.
Keywords: English author; Male author

Windows - D[avid] G[uy] Compton (1930-2023) (Berkley Books, 1979)
Continuation of 1974 Compton which begins with the final words of the previous book. The reporter, who blinded himself in the previous book as the only way to stop broadcasting, becomes involved in a plot, which is ultimately defeated, to overthrow governments.
Rpt. New York: Ace Books, 1983.
Keywords: English author; Male author

On Wings of Song - Thomas M[ichael] Disch (1940-2008) (St. Martin's Press, 1979)
Religious dystopia with fantasy elements.
U.K. edition. London: Gollancz, 1979. Also published in The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction 56.2 - 4 (February - April 1979): 6-61; 101-57; 86-159. Collector's Edition illus. Pat Morrissey with an "Introduction" by James Morrow (vii-xii). Norwalk, CT: The Easton Press, 1993.
Keywords: Male author; US author

"With Mingled Feelings of Anticipation and Apprehension the Emigrants Leave Their Native Earth for a Far-Off Destination" - [Joseph] Ward Moore (1903-78) (Chrysalis, 1979)
Overpopulation dystopia.
Keywords: Male author; US author

A Woman of the Future - David [Neil] Ireland (b. 1927) (George Braziller, 1979)
Surrealistic dystopia presented in notes and journal entries by a girl from early childhood to the end of her schooling. Australia is divided among the Free Citizens, who do nothing, the Servants of Society, who are the working middle class, and a few extremely rich known as the Pros. Machines have replaced most labor. Advancement based on education and competitive examinations. People fall out of the Servant class by developing abnormal characteristics, and the woman of the novel becomes a leopard.
Australian edition Ringwood, VIC, Australia: Allen Lane, 1979. Rpt. Ringwood, VIC, Australia: Penguin, 1980.
Keywords: Australian author; Male author

A World Between - Norman [Richard] Spinrad (b. 1940) (Pocket Books, 1979)
Pacifica is a decentralized, electronic democracy with gender equality threatened by two authoritarian dystopias, one lesbian, one technological.
Keywords: Male author; US author

1985 - [John Anthony Burgess] [Wilson] (1917-1993) (Hutchinson, 1978)
The first part of the book (13-102) is an analysis of Nineteen Eighty-four. The rest (103-219) is a fairly typical anti-labor dystopia--Tucland [TUC = Trades Union Congress]--but including an attack on Arab interests in the U.K. The book also includes "A note on Worker's English" (221-26/499-504 in the reprint) and "Epilogue: an interview" (227-40/505-18 in the reprint).
Rpt. in his Future Imperfect. The Wanting Seed. 1985 (London: Vintage, 1994), 283-518 and includes his "1985 and The Wanting Seed--An Introduction" (v-viii).
Keywords: English author; Male author

Abra - Joan [Louise] Barfoot (b. 1946) (McGraw-Hill Ryerson, 1978)
Sort of a modern feminist Robinsonade in which a woman leaves home and family to live an isolated life and creates a good life for herself.
U.K. ed. as Gaining Ground. London: Women's Press, 1980.
Keywords: Canadian author; Female author

"Alien Sensation." - Josephine [Mary Howard] Saxton (b. 1935) (Cassandra Rising, 1978)
Far future dystopia. Humans spend life drugged and dreaming, being fed experiences in pill form. They are maintained by aliens, and apparently humans had already chosen this way of life before the aliens arrived to colonize the planet.
Keywords: English author; Female author

“[American Journal]” - Robert [Earl] Hayden (1913-80) (Effendi Press, 1978)
Poem in which an alien tries to understand America and Americans and explain them to The Counselors.
Rpt. (New York/London: Liveright, 1982), 57-60; and in Collected Poems. Ed. Frederick Glaysher (New York/London: Liveright, 2013), 192-95.
Keywords: African American author; Male author

"Antinomy" - Spider Robinson (b. 1948) (Destinies, 1978)
Future tale set in 1998 with a background dystopia of violence. Great medical advances.
Rpt. in his Antinomy (New York: Dell, 1980), 13-47; and in his Melancholy Elephants (Harmondsworth, Eng.: Penguin, 1984), 23-53. Rpt. (New York: Tor, 1985), 65-100.
Keywords: Canadian author; Male author; US author

"Appendix: A Fictional Conclusion" - Rem[ment Lucas] Koolhaas (b. 1944) (Delirious New York: A Retroactive Manifesto for Manhattan, 1978)
Eutopia. Architectural projects for a better Manhattan.
New ed. (New York: Monacelli Press, 1994), 293-310. Reproduced in Small, Medium, Large, Extra-Large: Office for Metropolitan Architecture. Rem Koolhaas and Bruce Mau. Ed. Jennifer Sigler. Photography Hans Werlemann (New York: The Monacelli Press, 1995), 26-39.
Keywords: Dutch author; Male author

"The Barbie Murders" - John [Herbert] Varley (b. 1947) (Isaac Asimov's Science Fiction Magazine, 1978)
Authoritarian dystopia set in a Barbie commune in which all are women and all look alike.
Rpt. in The Best Science Fiction of the Year #8 Ed. Terry Carr (New York: Ballantine Books, 1979), 1-34; in his The Barbie Murders (New York: Berkley, 1980), 52-81; U.K. ed. (London: Futura, 1983), 52-81; book reissued as Picnic on Nearside (New York: Berkley, 1984), 52-81; and in Future Crime: An Anthology of the Shape of Crime to Come. Ed. Cynthia Manson and Charles Ardai (New York: Donald I. Fine, 1992), 165-91.
Keywords: Male author; US author

Beloved Son - George [Reginald] Turner (1916-97) (Faber & Faber, 1978)
Post-catastrophe dystopia. Complex new society established to be a eutopia, but it has serious problems. At the end of this volume, the dystopia is being replaced in the name of a new eutopia, which looks to be set to become the next dystopia. First volume of a trilogy; see 1981 and 1983 Turner.
Keywords: Australian author; Male author

"Best Interests" - Chelsea Quinn Yarbro (b. 1942) (Chrysalis, 1978)
An over-caring apartment computer system produces a dystopia.
Rpt. as "Best Interest." In her Signs and Portents (Santa Cruz, CA: Dream Press, 1984), 75-85.
Keywords: Female author; US author

"Body Game" - Robert Sheckley (1928-2005) (Omni, 1978)
Dystopia of a rich/poor division based around the possibility of being able to purchase a new body when the old one wears out.
Rpt. in The Best of Omni Science Fiction. Ed. Ben Bova and Don Myrus (New York: Omni Society, 1980), 34-37.
Keywords: Male author; US author

"The Cage of Flesh" - Lee [John] Harding (1937-2023) (Envisaged Worlds: From the Editor of Void. Australia's First Science Fiction Anthology, 1978)
Dystopia. A future overpopulated world, where the overwhelming majority of people live impoverished lives, but where the rich search for exotic pleasures and live lives of extreme decadence.
Keywords: Australian author; Male author

The Cave - John Sligo (b. 1944) (John McIndoe, 1978)
Authoritarian dystopia in which the protagonist tries to assassinate the Leader and is arrested and tortured. He is helped to escape, and the novel ends with a war about to begin.
Keywords: Aotearoa New Zealand author; Australian author; Male author

Chrome - George Nader (1921-2002) (G. P. Putnam's Sons, 1978)
Post-catastrophe story of love between a man and a male robot. Dystopian elements.
Rpt. Boston, MA: Alyson Publications, 1987.
Keywords: Male author