Contains Jack London's
The Iron Heel
, H.G. Wells'
The Sleeper Awakes,
and Robert Hugh Benson's
Lord of the World
, three dystopian novels that were published within ten years of each other and ushered in the genre, with an introduction by Luke Hartwell. ............ Before Huxley, before Orwell, and long before
Fahrenheit 451, A Clockwork Orange, Blade Runner,
and
The Hunger Games
, a trio of authors wrote what today are considered the first dystopian novels. Jack London's The Iron Heel has been hailed by some critics as the greatest of all dystopian novels. Published in 1908, the novel is a prophetic warning of the dangers of capitalist excess. Read together, the three novels provide an interesting testament to how three novelists writing during the same time period had a foreboding of bad things to come and how they envisioned the horrors playing out. Considering the evils of fascism, communism, and corporatism that followed, all three novels were on target in one way or another. Like
Brave New World, 1984
, and
Fahrenheit 451
, the novels provide entertaining, provocative reading. Even contemporary fans of
should find much to like in these early precursors of the genre. This collection is introduced and edited by Luke Hartwell, author of
Atom Heart John Beloved.
.......... Watersgreen House is an independent international book publisher with editorial staff in the UK and USA. One of our aims at Watersgreen House is to showcase same-sex affection in works by important gay and bisexual authors in ways which were not possible at the time the books were originally published. We also publish nonfiction, including textbooks, as well as contemporary fiction that is literary, unusual, and provocative. watersgreen.wixsite.com/watersgreenhouse