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Recommendations based on How to Live Safely in a Science Fictional Universeby Charles Yu
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Infinite Jest
by David Foster Wallace
A journey through the absurdist world of entertainment, drugs, addiction & death.
There are four major interwoven narratives: , These narratives are connected via a film, Infinite Jest , also referred to in the novel as "the Entertainment" or "the samizdat ". The film is so ... (Wikipedia)
Neuromancer
by William Gibson
A hacker's journey through a dystopian cyberpunk world, searching for a way to survive.
Henry Dorsett Case is a low-level hustler in the dystopian underworld of Chiba City , Japan. Once a talented computer hacker , Case was caught stealing from his employer. As punishment for his theft, ... (Wikipedia)
Super Sad True Love Story
by Gary Shteyngart
A darkly comic exploration of love in a technologically-driven world.
The son of a Russian immigrant , protagonist Leonard (Lenny) Abramov, a middle-aged, middle class, otherwise unremarkable man whose mentality is still in the past century, falls madly in love with ... (Wikipedia)
Zone One
by Colson Whitehead
A post-apocalyptic novel following a survivor of a zombie outbreak as he helps to clear out infected areas of New York City.
A virus has laid waste to civilization, turning the infected into flesh-eating and mortally contagious zombies. But events have stabilized, and the rebuilding process has begun. Over a three-day ... (Wikipedia)
Telegraph Avenue
by Michael Chabon
Two friends navigate life's obstacles to keep their record store afloat in a changing neighborhood.
Set in 2004, Archy Stallings, who is black, and Nat Jaffe, who is Jewish, are proprietors of Brokeland Records, a record shop located in north Oakland for twelve years. Their used vinyl business is ... (Wikipedia)
The Cyberiad
by Stanisław Lem
A series of comic science fiction stories, exploring the adventures of two robotic inventors.
A brilliantly funny collection of stories for the next age, from the celebrated author of Solaris . Ranging from the prophetic to the surreal, these stories demonstrate Stanislaw Lem's vast talent ... (Goodreads)
The Tiger's Wife
by Téa Obreht
A young doctor in a war-torn Balkan country uncovers the secrets of her grandfather's past, including his relationship with a mysterious woman known as the Tiger's Wife.
Weaving a brilliant latticework of family legend, loss, and love, Téa Obreht, the youngest of The New Yorker ’s twenty best American fiction writers under forty, has spun a timeless novel that will ... (Goodreads)
Oryx and Crake
by Margaret Atwood
An exploration of a post-apocalyptic world, and the power of human nature.
The novel focuses on a post-apocalyptic character called "Snowman", living near a group of primitive human-like creatures whom he calls Crakers . Flashbacks reveal that Snowman was once a boy named ... (Wikipedia)
The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao
by Junot Díaz
An exploration of love, identity, and the power of fate in a family's struggles and triumphs.
Oscar de León (nicknamed Oscar Wao, a bastardization of Oscar Wilde ) is an overweight Dominican growing up in Paterson, New Jersey. Oscar desperately wants to be successful with women but, from a ... (Wikipedia)
Code Name Verity
by Elizabeth Wein
Two female spies' harrowing mission during WWII and the secrets they discover.
In 1943 Nazi-occupied France, a British Lysander spy plane crashes in the fictional town of Ormaie. On board are two best friends, a pilot (Maddie, code name: Kittyhawk) and a spy (Julie, code name: ... (Wikipedia)
World War Z: An Oral History of the Zombie War
by Max Brooks
A collection of interviews recounting tales of the zombie apocalypse.
It has been nearly twenty years since the start of the apocalyptic worldwide pandemic known as the Zombie War, and about ten years since the war has ended in humanity's victory. The framing device ... (Wikipedia)
The Hallowed Hunt
by Lois McMaster Bujold
A prince must navigate political intrigue and supernatural forces to solve a murder and protect his kingdom.
The half-mad Prince Boleso has been slain by a noblewoman he had intended to defile – and Lord Ingrey kin Wolfcliff must transport the body to its burial place and the accused killer, the Lady Ijada, ... (Goodreads)
Royal Assassin
by Robin Hobb
A journey of self-discovery and growth, as a young man discovers his hidden powers and learns to use them.
Fitz has survived his first hazardous mission as king’s assassin, but is left little more than a cripple. Battered and bitter, he vows to abandon his oath to King Shrewd, remaining in the distant ... (Goodreads)
Rivers of London
by Ben Aaronovitch
A rookie police constable is thrust into a world of magic and monsters that lurk beneath London.
The novel centres on the adventures of Peter Grant, a young officer in the Metropolitan Police ; who, following an unexpected encounter with a ghost, is recruited into the small branch of the Met ... (Wikipedia)
Station Eleven
by Emily St. John Mandel
Post-apocalyptic exploration of a world drastically changed after a pandemic.
An audacious, darkly glittering novel set in the eerie days of civilization’s collapse,, Station Eleven, tells the spellbinding story of a Hollywood star, his would-be savior, and a nomadic group of ... (Barnes & Noble)
Fables, Vol. 6: Homelands
by Bill Willingham
A collection of stories exploring the power of imagination, each with its own moral lesson.
Over the hills and far away. Having beaten back the Adversary's first advance into their world, the residents of Fabletown must now prepare themselves for the full-scale war that is sure to follow. ... (Goodreads)
Cat's Cradle
by Kurt Vonnegut Jr.
A satirical exploration of human folly, exposing the dangers of unchecked science and technology.
Told with deadpan humour and bitter irony, Kurt Vonnegut's cult tale of global destruction preys on our deepest fears of witnessing Armageddon and, worse still, surviving it ... Dr Felix Hoenikker, ... (Goodreads)
Saints
by Gene Luen Yang
A Chinese-American teenager navigates two cultures, blending in while still standing out.
China, 1898. An unwanted and unwelcome fourth daughter, Four-Girl isn't even given a proper name by her family when she's born. She finds friendship—and a name, Vibiana—in the most unlikely of ... (Goodreads)
Invisible Cities
by Italo Calvino
A fantastical exploration of the cities of the imagination and the possibilities of life.
"Kublai Khan does not necessarily believe everything Marco Polo says when he describes the cities visited on his expeditions, but the emperor of the Tartars does continue listening to the young ... (Goodreads)
The City & the City
by China Miéville
Two cities that exist in the same space, but with different laws, cultures and regulations.
When a murdered woman is found in the city of Beszel, somewhere at the edge of Europe, it looks to be a routine case for Inspector Tyador Borlú of the Extreme Crime Squad. But as he investigates, the ... (Goodreads)
In Our Time
by Ernest Hemingway
A collection of short stories exploring themes of war, nature, and human relationships.
First published in 1925, earning Hemingway praise as a promising American writer. Contains several early Hemingway classics, including the famous Nick Adams stories. This volume introduces readers to ... (Goodreads)
Boxers
by Gene Luen Yang
A young Chinese boy's quest to save his village from foreign invaders during the Boxer Rebellion.
China, 1898. Bands of foreign missionaries and soldiers roam the countryside, bullying and robbing Chinese peasants. Little Bao has had enough. Harnessing the powers of ancient Chinese gods, he ... (Goodreads)
Chew, Vol. 1: Taster's Choice
by John Layman
A detective cop with the ability to experience the memories of whatever he eats solves mysterious cases.
Set in a world where all chicken and other bird meats are illegal, after a catastrophic outbreak of the bird flu that killed 23 million Americans, Chew centers on Tony Chu, a police detective who is ... (Wikipedia)
A Visit from the Goon Squad
by Jennifer Egan
A mosaic of characters, lives, and relationships as they intertwine and evolve over time.
Jennifer Egan’s spellbinding interlocking narratives circle the lives of Bennie Salazar, an aging former punk rocker and record executive, and Sasha, the passionate, troubled young woman he employs. ... (Goodreads)
Fables, Vol. 9: Sons of Empire
by Bill Willingham
A collection of stories of war, morality, and power, delving into the human condition.
Winner of Fourteen, Eisner, Awards The best-laid plans. The free Fables living in the mundane world have struck a decisive blow against the Adversary, destroying one of his most valuable assets at ... (Goodreads)
Ghost World
by Daniel Clowes
Two teenage girls navigate the awkward transition to adulthood, grappling with identity, relationships, and the mundanity of suburban life.
Ghost World has become a cultural and generational touchstone, and continues to enthrall and inspire readers over a decade after its original release as a graphic novel. Originally serialized in the ... (Goodreads)
The Quantum Thief
by Hannu Rajaniemi
Intergalactic heist of a quantum computer, revealing a dangerous criminal conspiracy.
Countless gogols of the legendary gentleman thief Jean Le Flambeur are trapped in a virtual Sobornost prison in orbit around Neptune, playing an iterated prisoner's dilemma until his mind learns to ... (Wikipedia)
The Essential Calvin and Hobbes: A Calvin and Hobbes Treasury
by Bill Watterson
A collection of beloved Calvin and Hobbes comic strips, exploring life’s adventures with childlike wonder.
Beginning with the day Hobbes sprang into Calvin's tuna fish trap, the first two, Calvin and Hobbes, collections,, Calvin and Hobbes, and, Something Under The Bed Is Drooling, are brought together in ... (Barnes & Noble)
The Imperfectionists
by Tom Rachman
A story of interconnected lives, exploring the fragility of human relationships.
Set against the gorgeous backdrop of Rome, Tom Rachman’s wry, vibrant debut follows the topsy-turvy private lives of the reporters, editors, and executives of an international English language ... (Goodreads)
Anne of the Island
by L.M. Montgomery
A young woman's journey of self-discovery as she transitions into adulthood, away from home.
Anne leaves Green Gables and her work as a teacher in Avonlea to pursue her original dream (which she gave up in, Anne of Green Gables, ) of taking further education at Redmond College in Nova ... (Wikipedia)
