Asking for recommendations of fiction books with a communist setting. Ideally with a “show don’t tell” narrative structure. That is, communism exists and works fine but the author does not say “this is communism”. Just existing in the background like any other normal thing.
The first thing that comes to mind is Red Star by Alexander Boganov. It is pretty explicitly “about” communism in that it takes place on a communist Mars. It was written in the early 1900s but I think holds up fine.
The Culture series by Ian Banks features a communist-post-scarcity economic society.
Any books in the Noon Universe universe by Arkady and Boris Strugatsky take place in a future Earth where communism has spread over the planet.
I will second Noon books by Strugatskys. It’s literally the series that comes to mind when the op’s question is “communist setting without being explicit”. The books deal a lot with the moral dilemmas that arise in such society and with contacts with other cultures.
I would also suggest “Probationers”, also by Strugatsky brothers. It’s a bit more grounded, taking place solely inside the solar system, but it has more overt “capitalism vs communism” discussions by several characters, without veering into propaganda or strawmanning. If anything, the chapter with space miners seems like a direct jab at contemporary (and even modern, despite book being old) western sci-fi. Good stuff
The first few chapters of Cosmonaut Keep by Ken MacLeod take place in an alternate history where the USSR took over the EU. The author is either an anarchist or a trot and the main antagonist is a “stalinist.” The sequel is pretty good, the 3rd book not as much.
The novels Singularity Sky, Iron Sunrise, and Glasshouse by Charles Stross take place in post scarcity settings that aren’t explicitly FALGSC but pretty close.
On a related note, does anyone have experience with BookWyrm?
Fire on the Mountain (1988) by Terry Bison is an alternate history novel that takes place in an African American socialist republic a century after Harriet Tubman’s and John Brown’s successful raid on Harper’s Ferry. I’ve read some of it and have been meaning to finish it. I suppose it’s quite explicit in its socialism, however.
2312 (2012) by Kim Stanley Robinson is a science fiction novel that takes place across a colonized solar system with multiple POVs. I quite like it, but if you much prefer narrative over worldbuilding then you may not. However, it does fit your criteria better. Socialism appears to be the predominant mode of production, with references to widespread worker co-ops (the author is obsessed with Mondragon), solar-system-wide economic planning, and I don’t think money comes up at all… Earth seems to be kind of fucked up though, so I guess you could say it has FALGSC but not FALGEC. Finally, I should note that Kim Stanley Robinson is not a Marxist.
Fire on the Mountain (1988) by Terry Bison is an alternate history novel that takes place in an African American socialist republic a century after Harriet Tubman’s and John Brown’s successful raid on Harper’s Ferry. I’ve read some of it and have been meaning to finish it. I suppose it’s quite explicit in its socialism, however.
It is not that explicit. It’s more one of those family history discovery stories, just the history is alternative and it happens in vaguely socialist solarpunk aesthetics. Honestly, it’s worth the reading because there is barely anything else there, but i found it incredibly boring, as the history is given in very small portions which don’t even get the clues about many important things, but the mundane slice of life comes in huge chunks inbetween (and i don’t like the slice of life).
While not communism per se, Island by Aldous Huxley is a nice read. It’s set on a fictional island that is communist-like. It’s pretty utopian though.
