The Stone Gods by Jeanette Winterson takes place against the backdrop of a planet ravaged by nuclear war and environmental destruction. In that sense, it gives us a frightening glimpse into a dystopian near-future, complete with loss of hope and the lack of freedom that comes with the existence of an autocratic state, Tech City.

In such a nightmarish world, humans are no longer fully human. In a further element common to dystopian fiction, humans have been transformed, and not for the better. They've been genetically-modified to keep them in a state of permanent youth. On the face of it, this may sound more utopian than dystopian; but in reality permanent youth isn't much use without freedom or a habitable planet in which to exercise it.

Under the circumstances, it's no wonder that the story's protagonist Billie Crusoe seeks another planet on which to live with her robotic protege, Spike. To some extent, Billie's search for a new home arises out of a sense of homelessness that she's had ever since she was abandoned by her mother. Indeed, her lost mother can be seen as a metaphor for Mother Nature, which has also been lost as a result of nuclear war and environmental catastrophe.

Though Billie loves Spike and still has hopes of a better life, the details of life in Tech City, which is a corporate autocracy run by robots, indicate that Winterson is presenting us with a dystopian vision of what life could be like if the human race continues on its current path.

How does Jeanette Winterson depict a dystopian world in The Stone Gods?

In fiction, one aspect of dystopian world-building is the depiction of highly undesirable settings characterized by things like extreme disaster or cataclysm, extremely controlling governments, and/or increasingly inhumane humans.

To analyze how Jeanette Winterson handles the setting of dystopian worlds in her novel The Stone Gods, the first step is to identify each of the settings used in the narrative. The novel includes six settings: Orbus, Easter Island, Planet Blue, the Eastern Caliphate, Tech City, and the Dead Forest outside of Wreck City.

The next step is to explain how the author describes these settings. For example, Winterson depicts Planet Blue as highly similar to the planet Orbus, or Earth, of millions of years ago. Orbus is described as having become highly polluted and depleted of its natural resources. In another example, Easter Island's ecosystem is depicted as nearing extinction due to a religious conflict among the natives that resulted in their cutting down all the trees on the island.

In addition, Winterson uses human characters who are increasingly inhumane, extreme disaster or cataclysm, and/or highly controlling authorities in each of the novel's six settings. For instance, on Planet Blue, Captain Handsome decides to initiate a rain of meteors to destroy the planet's dinosaurs. This is an example of an inhumane character, extreme disaster, and authoritarian control.

Other examples of undesirable aspects of dystopian settings can be found in the other settings of the novel. These examples show how the author handles aspects of dystopian world-building.