Margaret Atwood followed up with Cat's Eye in 1988. This novel revisits some of the themes from her earlier works. It centers on a controversial painter who returns to her childhood city, where she encounters old friends and the memories they bring.

Marge Piercy is often associated with Atwood, largely because both authors write poetry and fiction from a feminist viewpoint. Piercy's novel most akin to this one is Woman on the Edge of Time, published in 1976. This book incorporates science fiction elements, featuring a protagonist confined to the psychiatric ward at Bellevue Hospital. She must conform to her oppressors' expectations while also traveling to the future year of 2137 with a fellow inmate.

Critics frequently compare the dark future depicted in The Handmaid's Tale to George Orwell's 1984, the quintessential dystopian novel. Released in 1949, Orwell's story portrays a society where government surveillance is omnipresent, monitoring and controlling every citizen's action. It follows Winston Smith's struggle for freedom. Another dystopian novel often mentioned alongside 1984 is Aldous Huxley's Brave New World, published in 1932. Huxley's futuristic society shares many traits with our own: mood-controlling pills, lab-born babies, and "Feelies" that entertain through sight, sound, and touch. Like the works of Atwood and Orwell, Huxley's novel highlights the complications of total government control, especially when the protagonist falls in love.

Anthony Burgess's A Clockwork Orange, published in 1963, presents a chilling vision of the future. It focuses on juvenile delinquents and explores whether their horrendous crimes or the government's mind-control methods to curb their violence are more terrifying.

Carol Ann Howell's recent book on Atwood, titled Margaret Atwood (1996), offers complex and insightful analyses of Atwood's body of work. The chapter "Science Fiction in the Feminine" is particularly valuable for students. It examines how the female perspective reshapes the science fiction genre and how this genre effectively addresses feminist issues.