Don't Bite the Sun by Tanith Lee

I would call this a traditional sci-fi. A distant future Utopia. But Utopia never works, does it? I like the philosophical angle, fure sure. I'm not sure I appreciated having to read and reference so many made up words. I guess it's some kind of writing flex. Apparently there are more books in this series, and I'm somewhat interested in what other kind of stuff Tanith Lee does, so maybe I'll catch the next one.

The Giver by Lois Lowry

Here's another one that seems like everyone has read except for me. From the kid-loving empath, Lois Lowry, this is the story of a utopian society and the dark side of it. I guess the lesson is that not everything is as it seems. Life without pain and rain often goes without joy and rainbows.

Every kid and every person is generally the same, with their occupations chosen for them at age twelve. Jonas is chosen for a special job, though. He is to be the Receiver, the receiver of all memories of life before their safe community where everyone's granted a bike and nobody steals anything. Jonas is given the right to lie, which nobody ever does, but he has to because he's given all of this secret knowledge from the former receiver. The Giver.

That's probably enough spoilers for you. It's a pretty good, short little book. It's for kids after all. And I got through it pretty easily, without the shock and awe I might have felt in the early to mid 90s. Still I'm happy to have joined the Giver party I'd been missing all these years.