Fantasy/Horror/Scifi Book Club - Dictators/Tyrants

Hello all

This is the first meeting of what was formerly the "Glasgow Fantasy, Sci-fi and Horror book group" Meet-ups group, now merged into the Glasgow Geek Social. While we will bring with us a number of regular members, we hope the members of the Glasgow Geek Social will offer new blood to the group.

For context, we meet on the last Thursday of each month from 6.30-8.30 PM. We set an overarching theme for the month's reading, one that usually is broad enough to cover fantasy, sci-fi, horror, and sometimes broader fiction such as speculative history or detective stories. Although I will list examples suggested by our members below, these are just to set the tone, and you are free to read whatever you wish, however strictly or loosely it fits the theme, and tell the other attendees about it on the day.

The current venue is the library at The Gamers Club.

The theme for May is DICTATORS / TYRANTS. So books where some authoritarian overlord has a part or presence in the story. This could be your quintessential fantasy story where the hero sets out to defeat the Demon Lord, or sci-fi dystopian fiction following some outgunned rebels fighting the good fight. It may even lean more to speculative fiction, where the dictator never appears on the page, but their presence just felt throughout by the restrictions on personal freedoms as the protagonist goes about their life. I suppose you could also blindside us with a book about a benevolent dictator :D

Examples

• Animal Farm, by George Orwell (1945) - A satirical take on the Russian Revolution, animals take over a farm to create a utopia until a pig named Napoleon ultimately replaces the farmer as dictator.
• 1984, by George Orwell (1949) - Speculative fiction where protagonist, Winston Smith, navigates a world completely controlled by the dictator Big Brother. While Big Brother is never seen its presence is felt throughout.
• The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe, by CS Lewis (1950) - An isekai example where 4 children in England step through a wardrobe into a fantasy land ruled by an evil Witch.
• Lord of the Rings, by JRR Tolkien (1954) - Sauron is probably the quintessential fantasy dictator, and the Fellowship of the Ring the quintessential hero's party that set out to defeat him.
• V for Vendetta, by Alan Moore (1982) - A graphic novel example, follows a anarchist named V leading a revolutionary campaign against fascist Norsefire Party in a dystopian UK.
• Fatherland, by Robert Harris (1982) - An alternative history where the Nazis won WW2 and follows a police officer investigating a murder in a Germany Hitler still ruled by Hitler.
• Harry Potter series, by JK Rowling (1997-2007) - An orphan grows up at a magic school with the looming threat of the return of Lord Voldemort, the magical dictator who killed his parents.
• The Hunger Games series (2008-2025), by Susanne Collins - Teenagers are put into a lethal game for the entertainment of the masses, overseen by the dictator President Snow, who's presence increases as the series progresses. The prequel The Ballad of Song Birds and Snakes (2020) features his early rise to power.
• Mistborn: The Final Empire, by Brandon Sanderson (2006) - What if the immortal hero defeated the big bad, only to become a bigger tyrant himself. Mistborn deals with the rebellion against such an immortal ruler.
• Any number of Star Wars and pulp fantasy books.