Books like Anathem
30 science fiction books to read after Anathem, by Stephenson, Neal, the closest match first.
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1. Snow Crash
by Stephenson, Neal
- Same author
- On the same lists
Considered by some as a parody of Cyberpunk. This novel popularized and cemented its use of the term avatar to describe online virtual bodies
Meet Hiro Protagonist: hacker, samurai swinging swordsman and pizza delivery boy. When his best friend dies of a brain fry and his ex girlfriend asks for his help, Hiro switches...
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2. The Diamond Age
by Stephenson, Neal
- Same author
- On the same lists
A coming of age story for a young girl in a world where nanotech has become part of all aspects of life.
Unlike the typical steampunk,, Neal Stephenson’s masterpiece does not feature steam and clockwork technology, but futuristic nano-technology that’s pervaded society on every level. This novel is so much more than...
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3. Mindplayers
by Pat Cadigan
- On the same lists
Allie Haas likes to get high. Her dealer likes to get her high. One day he convinces her to try a new, stolen madcap' - very illegal. The experience nearly...
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Vurt book 1 Start here
4. Vurt
by Jeff Noon
- On the same lists
A first time novelist, Noon has received high praise for this hip novel. A sister is lost in a coloured virtual reality that's existence is questionable and from which there is no escape. The story unfolds as her brother searches for her.
Feathers come in many colours, and each colour a different thing. There's. Black - painful, gentle; and Pink - for porno, your every eroticism fulfilled. Blues are legal, for dreaming...
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The Clockwork Century book 1 Start here
5. Boneshaker
by Priest, Cherie
- On the same lists
Steampunk in an alternate American Civil War, also a gold rush, and some zombies. A literary novel that blends the fantasy, science fiction, horror, and alternate history genres.
This one is for the discerning steampunk reader who loves a well-thought-out tale, great writing, and an interesting premise. Set in an alternative American Civil War, a son’s quest to...
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6. Count Zero
by Gibson, William
- On the same lists
Bobby Newmark, the self-styled 'Count Zero' is just getting started as a hacker, and is still an amateur. There comes a day when he is asked to test some new...
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Culture book 2
7. Player Of Games
by Iain M. Banks
- On the same lists
Probably the best of Ian Bank's Culture novels. Strong characters and a light-hearted tone to the novel despite the "seriousness" of the actual plot make this an easy, addicting read....
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8. Islands In The Net
by Bruce Sterling
- On the same lists
Imagine the world as an alternate 1985, where Whitney Houston's ubiquitous voice, those eyeball-raping neon colors, leg warmers, Kirk Cameron's ubiquitous face didn't exist. Actually, anything would have been better...
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9. Hardwired
by Walter Jon Williams
- On the same lists
Cowboy used to be a Delta pilot, up till the Soviet Orbital took out his business. Now he is a smuggler ridin' around in a tricked out hovertank that he...
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Crashcourse book 1 Start here
10. Crashcourse
by Wilhelmina Baird
- On the same lists
Nobody wants to live on Earth. The place is a hole, and a lethal one at that. Cass, Moll, and Dosh are working on getting off-world and never coming back....
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11. The Fortunate Fall
by Raphael Carter
- On the same lists
The narrator of this novel is a whale in a technological future society. There is no privacy, not even your own thoughts, and homosexuality is a crime.
Maya Andreyeva is a camera in a world that has become ever more wired, and everywhere is a third world country - except for Africa, where you need to have...
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12. The Stars My Destination
by Alfred Bester
- On the same lists
A mechanic is the sole survivor on a ship that is just a wreck.
He was one hundred and seventy days dying and not yet dead. Gully Foyle is a shipwrecked sailor abandoned out in space, and when ships pass him by without stopping...
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13. Termination Shock
by Stephenson, Neal
- Same author
A billionaire has an idea for reversing global warming, but will it work? And what will the consequences for the planet be? A disparate group of characters from around the...
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14. The Rise and Fall of D.O.D.O.
by Stephenson, Neal
- Same author
Tristan Lyons hires Melisande Stokes, a Harvard linguist, to translate historic texts for a classified government agency, the Department of Diachronic Operations. Her translations point to a past in which...
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15. Seveneves
by Stephenson, Neal
- Same author
"What would happen if the world were ending? A catastrophic event renders the earth a ticking time bomb. In a feverish race against the inevitable, nations around the globe band...
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New Crobuzon book 1 Start here
16. Perdido Street Station
by Miéville, China
- On the same lists
The cycle blends multiple genres, including Steampunk, Sci Fi, and Horror. Magic is commonplace and practiced by skilled professionals.
The famous (or infamous, depending how you view the New Weird movement) novel is generally considered one of the founding pillars of the New Weird genre. This novel meets many...
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17. Starship Troopers
by Heinlein, Robert A.
- On the same lists
The world government in this future Earth is run by veterans and citizens must earn the right to vote and hold public office with federal service.
Book Flap Description A recruit of the future goes through the toughest boot camp in the universe and into battle with the Terran Mobile Infantry against humankind's most frightening enemy. ...
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Takeshi Kovacs book 1 Start here
18. Altered Carbon
by Morgan, Richard K.
- On the same lists
Humans can transfer their conciousness into new bodies. This sets up a detective style story about a murder.
After dying in a particularly gruesome death, ex UN-envoy Takeshi Kovacs wakes up to find himself "re-sleeved" into a fresh body with a job offer: find who killed Laurens Bancroft...
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19. Schismatrix Plus
by Bruce Sterling
- On the same lists
This series is a pioneering example of this sub-genre.
Almost as important as Greg Egan’s work in describing posthumanity is Bruce Sterling’s sequence of Mechanist and Shaper stories in which posthumanity is divided between those who use mechanical means...
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The Sprawl book 1 Start here
20. Neuromancer (1985)
by Gibson, William
- On the same lists
Gibson is the father of Cyberpunk and this novel in particular is significant. In this novel the term cyberspace is coined.
Case was the best hacker in the Sprawl until his employers damaged his nervous system, and now he can no longer reach cyberspace. He drifts through the criminal underworld of...
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21. The Windup Girl (2010)
by Bacigalupi, Paolo
- On the same lists
In a future Bangkok, walled in against rising seas and kept alive by a ruthless seed bank, the world's calories are controlled by a few giant corporations. Anderson Lake poses...
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Otherland book 1 Start here
22. Otherland
by Williams, Tad
- On the same lists
This one has been around for a long while now and pre-dates the whole LitRPG movement. However, as the premise of the story takes place partly in a massive, realistic...
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Artificial Reality Division book 1 Start here
23. Tea From An Empty Cup
by Pat Cadigan
- On the same lists
You'd think that Artificial Reality couldn't kill you, since legally speaking, everything is a lie in AR anyway. But that seems to be just exactly what happened - in a...
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Revelation Space book 2
24. Chasm City
by Alastair Reynolds
- On the same lists
Chasm City is the story of what happens when utopia is hit by an epidemic. The story is told through the eyes of Tanner Mirabel, who decides to travel to...
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Night's Dawn book 1 Start here
25. The Reality Dysfunction
by Iii, David R. George
- On the same lists
Space is not the only void... In AD 2600 the human race is finally beginning to realize its full potential. Hundreds of colonized planets scattered across the galaxy host a...
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26. The Anubis Gates
by Powers, Tim
- On the same lists
An award winning novel that has time travel, historical figures, Egyptian mythology, and 19th century England.
In creating this world, Powers borrowed ideas from all over the place. Mythology, Ancient Egyptian theology, quantum theory, and classical literature“ they're all used in The Anubis Gates. It's a...
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27. Ubik
by Dick, Philip K.
- On the same lists
What is a best science fiction list without the inclusion of one of the greatest science fiction writers ever? Yes, I'm talking about Philip K. Dick, a man ignored in...
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Hyperion Cantos book 1 Start here
28. Hyperion
by Simmons, Dan
- On the same lists
So most of this series is in fact, not Dying Earth but it is a pinnacle of science fiction. The Poet's Tale: Hyperion Cantos in the first novel of Hyperion is a part of the Dying Earth sub-genre and it is the connection the readers have from Earth to the strange new universe of Hyperion.
A grand intelligent space opera tale that also tells a series of very personal tales. This juxtaposition between epic and the personal gives real life to the story. The whole...
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Heechee Saga book 1 Start here
29. Gateway (1978)
by Pohl, Frederik
- On the same lists
Robinette Broadhead is rich, and he has a lot to feel guilty about. In sessions with his robot psychiatrist, he talks about how he got there: he won a lottery...
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30. Miles Vorkosigan Saga
by Bujold, Lois Mcmaster
- On the same lists
There's a time for everything. There's a time to read heavy novels filled with grand ideas and space, the universe, and the destiny of mankind through Hard Science Fiction. There's...
Matches come from series and authors, from the lists the books share, and from the books readers open together. They are rebuilt every night. Back to Anathem.
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