Books like The Plot Against America
30 science fiction books to read after The Plot Against America, by Philip Roth, the closest match first.
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1. Fatherland: A Novel
by Robert Harris
- On the same lists
As we've seen with Philip Roth, alternate history is a popular form with authors who would not normally be interested in writing science fiction, think, for instance, of MacKinlay Kantor's...
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2. 11/22/63
by King, Stephen
- On the same lists
The best Stephen King in a decade, and even a coin toss for his best work yet. King takes a well-known historical event, the Assassination of JFK, and does something...
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3. Lord Of The Flies
by Golding, William
- On the same lists
A plane carrying schoolboys crashes on an uninhabited Pacific island with no adults left alive. Ralph, who is elected leader after blowing a conch to gather the others, tries to...
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Thursday Next book 1 Start here
4. The Eyre Affair
by Fforde, Jasper
- On the same lists
Imagine an alternate world where the world of books and people collide. It does in this delightful series by Jasper Fforde. I could spend the next 10,000 words trying to...
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5. The Difference Engine
by Sterling, William Gibson, Bruce
- On the same lists
and William Gibson. An example of Retro Futurism with a Steampunk feel.
A classic - perhaps THE classic steampunk novel, penned by two of the genre’s founders: William Gibson and Bruce Sterling. The premise of this novel is a simple “What If”...
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6. The Years Of Rice And Salt
by Robinson, Kim Stanley
- On the same lists
Ever wondered what the world would have been like if the Black Death killed 99% of Europe's population instead of a third? No? Really? Okay. I must admit I hadn't...
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7. Gate Of Time
by Silverberg, Robert
- On the same lists
When I imagine Two Hawks, I visualize him as a Cherokee Indiana Jones (the Raiders/Temple/Last Crusade Indy, not that Crystal Skull tripe, thank you very much.) At other times, I...
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8. Lest Darkness Fall
by Camp, L. Sprague De
- On the same lists
Throw away your hallucinogens (or don't, but I'm not going to suggest you do anything illegal here), because Lest Darkness Fall is one of those science fiction novels that begins...
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9. The Coming Of The Quantum Cats
by Pohl, Frederik
- On the same lists
A fun take on the multiverse theme—a great scientist invents a machine to travel between universes, only to have it stolen by another version of herself who wishes to use it to become a multiversal conqueror.
Imagine Stargate if it was set in the 80s sans MacGyver Richard Dean Anderson, and you've got The Coming of the Quantum Cats. Originally an Analog Sccience Fiction magazine series,...
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10. Transition
by Iain M. Banks
- On the same lists
I wonder if inserting an M in between my first name and surname will magically turn me into a top science-fiction writer like Iain Banks. (Really, he writes non science...
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Small Change book 1 Start here
11. Farthing
by Walton, Jo
- On the same lists
What happens when the great United States fails to provide assistance? Disputes are negotiated peacefully, and everyone kisses and makes up, with a nice cup 'o tea, as is the...
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12. The Alteration
by Kingsley Amis
- On the same lists
Holy Shit. That was my first thought, and rather apt thought, when I read this novel and realized what "the alteration" referred to. I sure as hell wasn't expecting that....
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13. Ada Or Ardor
by Vladimir Nabokov
- On the same lists
A Family Chronicle. History is altered as well as science--similar technology to ours, but water based rather than electricity based.
Do you ever wonder, sometimes, if Vladimir Nabokov had problems with women? I mean, not that Lolita or this piece about sibling incest necessarily reflects on his own relationships... but...
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14. The Iron Dream
by Norman Spinrad
- On the same lists
In an alternate history, Hitler becomes a Sci Fi writer in the US.
I thought I was all out of Hitler jokes, until The Iron Dream came along, and offered up an alternate history Hitler who, instead of being the Fuhrer as we...
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Wild Cards book 1 Start here
15. Wild Cards
by Martin, George R. R.
- On the same lists
If you're a fantasy, Game of Thrones, or superhero fan, this George R Martin series science fiction/super hero anthology should be on your reading list. Actually, I would go so...
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16. The Redemption Of Christopher Columbus
by Card, Orson Scott
- On the same lists
Why is it that fundamentalists Christians who don't believe in things like caffeine and alcohol always have the most fantastic imaginations? Orson Scott Card, everyone's favorite Mormon (and trust me,...
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The Axis Of Time book 1 Start here
17. Weapons Of Choice
by John Birmingham
- On the same lists
Crikey mate, Stephen Irwin got killed by a sting ray, Crocodile Dundee, alternate history science-fiction. Ever heard of a top science fiction Australian author? *Crickets chirping* No, me either. Australians...
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18. Pasquale's Angel
by Paul Mcauley
- On the same lists
The cool thing about McAuley's hard science fiction, spanning biotechnology, alternate history and time travel, is that he's actually a posh botanist with a lovely accent, not a Sheldon Cooper...
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19. Making History
by Stephen Fry
- On the same lists
We all know Stephen Fry is the amusing, articulate comedian. But inside that tart wit is a spectacular speculative fiction. In 1998's Sidewise Award Winner, this story of Michael "Puppy"...
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20. The Separation
by Priest, Christopher
- On the same lists
As if alternate histories weren't confusing enough, The Separation wants to further test its readers' intelligence by giving the readers a story about twin brothers during World War 2 who...
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21. The Bridge
by Iain Banks
- On the same lists
A mysterious structure, a symbolic dream, a journey of self-discovery, a love story--this novel has lots to offer.
Iain Banks had written a string of science fiction before he finally burst into print with his brilliant and controversial novel, The Wasp Factory. That and the two novels that...
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22. Gravity's Rainbow
by Thomas Pynchon
- On the same lists
When it was first published, Gravity's Rainbow was shortlisted for the Nebula Award, losing out to Arthur C. Clarke's Rendezvous with Rama. In their introduction to The Secret History of...
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23. The Calcutta Chromosome: A Novel Of Fevers, Delirium & Discovery
by Amitav Ghosh
- On the same lists
In 1898, the British scientist Ronald Ross, working in Calcutta, made a major discovery about the transmission of malaria for which he would eventually be awarded the Nobel Prize. But...
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24. We Are All Completely Beside Ourselves: A Novel
by Karen Joy Fowler
- On the same lists
Karen Joy Fowler isn't really a mainstream writer: she began writing science fiction, practically all of her short fiction is sf or fantasy, and she jointly founded the James Tiptree...
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25. A Maggot
by John Fowles
- On the same lists
Fowles is known as a postmodern writer, though some of the postmodern techniques he uses could equally be considered fantastic: the god game in The Magus for instance, or the...
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26. C
by Tom Mccarthy
- On the same lists
Even when the British new wave was introducing literary experiment into science fiction, the genre has been suspicious of the avantgarde. There is a sense that no nonsense storytelling does...
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27. Strange Bodies: A Novel
by Marcel Theroux
- On the same lists
Perhaps it is the fact that he is the son of Paul Theroux that tends to get Marcel Theroux tagged as a mainstream novelist. In fact his work has often...
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28. Viper Wine: A Novel
by Hermione Eyre
- On the same lists
This first novel seems like a fairly conventional historical fiction telling the true story of the death of the Stuart beauty Venetia Stanley in 1633. In her thirties she began...
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29. Set This House In Order: A Romance Of Souls
by Matt Ruff
- On the same lists
Matt Ruff isn't exactly a mainstream writer, his previous novels, Fool on the Hill and Sewer, Gas & Electric were both overtly works of the fantastic, but Set This House...
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30. Resistance
by Owen Sheers
- On the same lists
Sheers is a Welsh poet who chose an unlikely topic for his first novel, because it is basically another version of the Germans winning World War Two, an old and...
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 Plot Against America.
The shortlist
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