Books like The Disappearance
30 science fiction books to read after The Disappearance, by Philip Wylie, the closest match first.
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1. Babel-17 (1967)
by Delany, Samuel R.
- On the same lists
The literary side of this Sci Fi book is high in its experimentation with language and its exploration of language's role in meaning, action, identity, politics, and culture.
Flowers for Algernon by Daniel Keyes won the 1967 Nebula Award for Best Novel along with Babel-17 by Samuel R. Delany. This is the only time since the start of...
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2. Lucifer's Hammer
by Larry Niven And Jerry Pournelle
- On the same lists
and Jerry Pournelle. Jerry Pournelle. The villainous asteroid has become a common trope of this sub-genre.
Its anticipated to zip close past Earth, so they send to a space-mission to visit it, and then end up realizing that the damn thing is going to hit us...
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3. Immortality Inc
by Robert Sheckley
- On the same lists
Many of those in the Transhumanist camp believe that sooner or later, in a twisted take on the 'reincarnation' mythos, we'll be able to effectively separate minds from bodies and...
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Quantrill book 1 Start here
4. Systemic Shock
by Dean Ing
- On the same lists
Ted Quantrill is a freak: he fastest gun in the West (and probably the world). After the total collapse of Russia, India and China band together (unlikely, I know, but...
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When Worlds Collide book 1 Start here
5. When Worlds Collide
by Philip Wylie
- Same author
Not many science fiction writers have won the Nobel Prize for Literature, but Kipling was the first member of this exclusive club. His finest science fiction is a pair of...
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6. Footprints Of Thunder
by James F. David
- On the same lists
This book was made into a movie, and a pretty good one at that, though by necessity not as complex and in-depth as the book. Crichton does have a habit...
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When Worlds Collide book 2
7. After Worlds Collide
by Philip Wylie
- Same author
The survivors of *When Worlds Collide* find themselves struggling to establish a new society on the world of Bronson Beta, which has assumed the orbit of the now-destroyed Earth. Within...
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8. The Terrans Of Beta
by Philip Wylie
- Same author
The Terrans of Beta, also published as After Worlds Collide, is a sequel to Philip Wylie and Edwin Balmer's When Worlds Collide, set on the new planet where the survivors...
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9. Transit
by Edmund Cooper
- On the same lists
First published published in 1964, this novel it hasn't lost anything of its appeal 40+ years later, mainly because its themes are timeless. Two men and two women are abducted...
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The Magicians book 1 Start here
10. The Magicians
by Grossman, Lev
- On the same lists
A prequel novel about a high school senior who is admitted to a school for gifted children, for a magical education in upstate New York. A typical quest story that turns dark. Things are not black and white in this world and the characters are psychologically rich.
School fantasy is often aimed at children, and it's very successful at hitting that market. It's much harder to appeal exclusively to adults, and that's where The Magicians shines. Rather...
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Big Planet book 1 Start here
11. Big Planet
by Vance, Jack
- On the same lists
A craft crash lands on the Big Planet and the survivors face a 40,000 mile trek across a dangerous landscape.
Big Planet is BIG. Really big, but with a surface gravity about equal to that of Earth. It was colonized by a whole bunch of colorful characters, ranging from rebels,...
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Null-a book 1 Start here
12. World Of Null-a
by A. E. Van Vogt
- On the same lists
Protagonist lives in one body and then dies, and awakens in another.
Aristotelian logic for dummies 101: "X results of necessity from Y and Z if it would be impossible for X to be false when Y and Z are true." Clear...
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13. The Deep Range
by Clarke, Arthur C.
- On the same lists
Most of the population is now fed from the sea--whale and plankton farms. Plausible adventures about the mysteries of the sea.
While we associate Clarke with stories about, or set in, space, this one's set underwater in the 21st century. Oceans are fenced off like fields and whales are cattle. Wardens...
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14. The Jupiter Legacy
by Harry Harrison
- On the same lists
A.K.A. The Plague From Space or The Jupiter Plague. The explorer ship Pericles returns from Jupiter. The single surviving crewman is infected with a deadly plague that has the potential...
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15. Seahorse In The Sky
by Edmund Cooper
- On the same lists
Like his later novel, Transit, this here is a story of—what looks like—an abduction of a bunch of humans by aliens (in this instance from the interior of a transatlantic...
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16. Macroscope
by Anthony, Piers
- On the same lists
Probably the most significant of Piers Anthony's SF (he did mostly fantasy). The Macroscope floats in orbit; it's like a super Hubble Space Telescope, only that it doesn't use light,...
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17. The Dragon Masters
by Vance, Jack
- On the same lists
On the rocky planet Aerlith, humans have managed to gain a spotty foothold. They live in the valleys with fertile soil and fight occasional battles for territory and general dominance....
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18. The Men In The Jungle
by Norman Spinrad
- On the same lists
On the planet Sangre (Spanish for 'blood') there exists a divided society so brutal that it makes your average Earth-bound slavery society look like a humanitarian enterprise. The sub-class is...
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19. Anthem
by Ayn Rand
- On the same lists
When people hear 'Ayn Rand', they tend to think of Atlas Shrugged and The Fountainhead. Anthem is a David to her other Goliaths. It may originally have been conceived as...
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20. Mission To Universe
by Gordon R. Dickson
- On the same lists
This is a classic 'first interstellar journey' story by the amazing Gordon Dickson. Impatient with the bureaucracy who is delaying the launch of the new-technology 'phase ship', (very cool technology!)...
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21. Rewind
by Terry England
- On the same lists
What would it be like if your mind, memories, feelings, identify suddenly ended up in the body of a prepubescent child (no sex change involved)? Well, for 17 people that's...
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A Requiem For Homo Sapiens book 1 Start here
22. Neverness
by David Zindell
- On the same lists
Usually when you think of the 80s you think of bouffant hair, jeans tight enough to threaten a man-s ability to father, and high pitched singers wearing neon colors. Fortunately,...
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Francis Sandow book 1 Start here
23. Isle Of The Dead
by Zelazny, Roger
- On the same lists
The protagonist of this story studies to become a telepath and worldscaper--someone who can create and terraform worlds. In this novel, terraforming is an artform.
Zelazny wrote a few stories about immortals, and Francis Sandow is one of them. He was born in the 20th century and ended up in suspended animation on a spaceship....
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24. The Hercules Text
by Mcdevitt, Jack
- On the same lists
The Search for Extra-Terrestrial Intelligence (SETI) has been underway for over five decades now. (For real, that is!) Somewhere out there, we thinkhope? fear?there may be life forms, alien but...
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25. Immune Response
by Steve Perry
- On the same lists
Suppose someone financed a project to create a drug-and-virus cocktail that could make people essentially immortal. Pop a capsule of the mix and Bob's your uncle. No more illness, quick...
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26. The Blue World
by Vance, Jack
- On the same lists
A spaceship with a bunch of delinquents crashes on a water-covered planet. The survivors manage to adapt to the circumstances and rebuild a kind of civilization, living on the giant...
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Nifft The Lean book 1 Start here
27. Nifft The Lean
by Shea, Michael
- On the same lists
Nifft was a thief and a rogue. Nifft is dead. This is kind of an epitaph in four short tales. You decide whether you'd ever let Nifft get close to...
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28. Blind Waves
by Steven Gould
- On the same lists
Nifft was a thief and a rogue. Nifft is dead. This is kind of an epitaph in four short tales. You decide whether you'd ever let Nifft get close to...
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29. Neanderthal
by John Darnton
- On the same lists
Neanderthal is John Darnton's thriller in which a team of scientists searches for a surviving Neanderthal people in a hidden valley in Central Asia.
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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 The Disappearance.
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