First, some definitions.

dystopia: an imagined place or state in which everything is unpleasant or bad, typically a totalitarian or an environmentally degraded society. The opposite of utopia.

trilogy: a group of three related novels, plays, films, operas, or albums.

Young adult fiction is abounding in dystopian fiction trilogies these days. Why dystopias? Maybe it has something to with the question I ask myself when I’m worried about the success of a huge project I’ve undertaken, “What’s the worst thing that could happen if I fail?” Usually, the answer is comforting. Things could be worse than they are now, and even if the whole project fails, life will go on. Dystopian fiction is like that: you think our society/government/legal system/moral climate is going to hell in a handbasket? Just read about X in this great new book. Things could be much worse, and still there’s hope, usually, in the young adult dystopian novels at least.

Why trilogies? Well, I’m tempted to say that the publishers want to sell three books instead of just one, that the story in these books could often be edited down to one chunky novel. However, that’s not always the case. There’s something about the three-book series that lends itself to the introduction, climax, ending resolution arc of a grand story. The one thing I know about this trend is that it frustrates readers who often get involved in the first volume of a projected trilogy or series only to find out that the next book hasn’t even been written yet and won’t be published until next year.

Oh, well. If you’re a fan of these dystopian fiction trilogies, here’s an annotated list of the ones I’ve read or heard about and can recommend:

The Giver, Gathering Blue, and Messenger by Lois Lowry. The Giver won a Newbery Medal. My review is here. The three books set in this futuristic seeming utopia are related, but not a proper trilogy that continues from one book to the next.

The Hunger Games, Catching Fire and Mockingjay by Suzanne Collins. The first one is great, quite absorbing (Semicolon review of The Hunger Games here). The second book in the trilogy is an OK follow-up, and the third book is riveting and quite violent. Here’s my review of Mockingjay with notes on spiritual lessons I found while reading.

The Declaration, The Resistance, and The Legacy by Gemma Malley. If the chance to live forever came with a price, would you opt in or out? Semicolon review of The Declaration.

Uglies, Pretties, and Specials by Scott Westerfield. “Uglies is set in a world in which everyone has an operation when they turn sixteen, making them supermodel beautiful. Big eyes, full lips, no one fat or skinny.” I haven’t read this series, but I’ve heard good things about it.

The Maze Runner, The Scorch Trials, and The Death Cure by James Dashner. My rant about The Maze Runner and unfinished series books that leave me twisting in the wind. I haven’t read the second and third books in this trilogy.

The Knife of Never Letting Go (Chaos Walking, #1), The Ask and the Answer (Chaos Walking, #2), and Monsters of Men (Chaos Walking, #3) by Patrick Ness. In Prentisstown everyone can hear the thoughts of all the men in town, a situation that makes for a lot of Noise and not much privacy. These books should be read together, if at all. They’re all one story, and they should have a violence warning attached.

Unfinished series:
The Roar by Emma Clayton. Semicolon review here. I’m not sure this one is meant to be a trilogy, but it does have a sequel called The Whisper, to be published sometime later this year, 2011? Wait for the sequel because this story of mutant twins living in a totalitarian state behind The Wall is absorbing and thought-provoking, but unfinished. The ending is not an ending at all, but rather a set-up for the second half (or third).

Delirium by Lauren Oliver. Lena lives in a managed society where everyone gets an operation when they turn eighteen that cures them of “delirium,” the passion and pain of falling in love. Sequels will be Pandemonium (2012) and Requiem (2013).

Matched by Ally Condie. There’s not so much action and adventure in this book, but more romance and thoughtful commentary on the pros and cons of a “safe” society bought with the price of complete obedience to an authoritarian government. Second book, Crossed, will be out November 1, 2011.

Divergent by Veronica Roth. This one is satisfying as a stand-alone, but the second book in the series, Resurgent, will be out next year, 2012.