Now to scratch the surface.
Dystopia
Wiki answer: a community or society that is in some important way undesirable or frightening. It is the opposite of a utopia.
Fiction example(s): Brave New World, Blade Runner, Shadowrun
Things from my brain: a civilization has achieved their "utopia" through the removal of an important human factor; typically control, environmental stability and so on. The system is typically long sense established.
Post-Apocalypse
Wiki answer: concerned with the end of human civilization. This apocalypse is typically portrayed as being due to a potentially existential catastrophe.
Fiction example(s): A Boy and His Dog, Fallout, World War Z (my favorite book)
Things from my brain: a land that is still reeling from the tragedy that forever changed its world; ie. a wasteland brought on by a world nuclear war, zombies are the dominant species due to virus and so on. The new world is still relatively new.
Blade runner has always been a favorite of mine (the games was killer too), and a huge fan favorite is Fallout, so they'll help start off. Not going into super detail, just a genre taster today.
Dystopia
Bladerunner. Wiki: depicts a dystopian Los Angeles in November 2019 in which genetically engineered organic robots called replicants—visually indistinguishable from adult humans—are manufactured by the powerful Tyrell Corporation as well as by other "mega-corporations" around the world. Their use on Earth is banned and replicants are exclusively used for dangerous, menial or leisure work on off-world colonies. Replicants who defy the ban and return to Earth are hunted down and "retired" by police special operatives known as "Blade Runners". The plot focuses on a desperate group of recently escaped replicants hiding in Los Angeles and the burnt-out expert Blade Runner, Rick Deckard (Harrison Ford), who reluctantly agrees to take on one more assignment to hunt them down.
Post-Apocalypse
Fallout. Wiki: a series of post-apocalyptic role-playing video games created by Interplay Entertainment. Although the series is set during the 22nd and 23rd centuries, its retro futuristic setting and artwork are influenced by the post-war culture of 1950s America, and its combination of hope for the promises of technology and lurking fear of nuclear annihilation. Game 1: Released in 1997, Fallout takes place in a post-apocalyptic Southern California, beginning in the year 2161. The protagonist is tasked with recovering a water chip in the Wasteland to replace the broken chip in his or her home, Vault 13. Fallout's atmosphere and artwork are reminiscent of post-WWII America and the nuclear paranoia that was widespread at that time.
The beautiful thing about these two genres is that the world itself has a tendency to be a main character (usually an antagonist), that the main character(s) must overcome, accept, change or otherwise affect or be affected by it as the catalyst for questioning the validity of the current system.
Both are juicy, typically done the same way by a frightening amount of writers (with exceptions of course), and are favorites of mine. Again, not a ton of depth today, just a taster.
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