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Recommendations based on The Nine Billion Names of Godby Arthur C. Clarke
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2001: A Space Odyssey
by Arthur C. Clarke
An interstellar journey of exploration, confronting humanity's place in the universe.
A mysterious alien civilization uses a tool with the appearance of a large crystalline monolith to investigate worlds across the galaxy and, if possible, to encourage the development of intelligent ... (Wikipedia)
A Canticle for Leibowitz
by Walter M. Miller Jr.
A post-apocalyptic tale of a world struggling to rebuild after a devastating nuclear war.
After 20th century civilization was destroyed by a global nuclear war , known as the "Flame Deluge", there was a violent backlash against the culture of advanced knowledge and technology that had led ... (Wikipedia)
The City and the Stars
by Arthur C. Clarke
In the distant future, a lone human discovers a forgotten city and the secrets of an advanced civilization.
Clarke's masterful evocation of the far future of humanity, considered his finest novel. Men had built cities before, but never such a city as Diaspar. For millennia its protective dome shut out the ... (Goodreads)
Childhood's End
by Arthur C. Clarke
Human race is transformed by an alien presence, leading to the dawn of a new age.
The novel is divided into three parts, following a third-person omniscient narrative with no main character. , In some editions, the short first chapter is a separate prologue rather than the ... (Wikipedia)
Foundation
by Isaac Asimov
Exploring the possibilities of a galactic empire in a future driven by science and technology.
For twelve thousand years the Galactic Empire has ruled supreme. Now it is dying. But only Hari Seldon, creator of the revolutionary science of psychohistory, can see into the future – to a dark age ... (Goodreads)
Second Foundation
by Isaac Asimov
A quest to find the mysterious force controlling the fate of the galaxy.
Part I is about The Mule 's search for the elusive Second Foundation, with the intent of destroying it. The executive council of the Second Foundation is aware of The Mule's intent and, in the words ... (Wikipedia)
Life, the Universe and Everything
by Douglas Adams
An intergalactic quest to find the answer to the ultimate question of life.
After being stranded on pre-historic Earth after the events in, The Restaurant at the End of the Universe, , Arthur Dent is met by his old friend Ford Prefect , who drags him into a space-time eddy , ... (Wikipedia)
The Caves of Steel
by Isaac Asimov
Detective story set in a distant future, where humans and robots coexist.
A faction of Spacers have come to the realization that Spacer culture is effete, stagnating due to negative population growth and longevity. Their solution is to encourage further space exploration ... (Wikipedia)
Magician: Apprentice Volume 1
by Raymond E. Feist
A young prince embarks on a quest to save his kingdom from a dark force.
The Riftwar Saga—a classic of fantasy literature which no true fan should be without—opens with this tale of magic, might, and adventure. “One of the world’s most successful fantasy fiction ... (Barnes & Noble)
Flatland: A Romance of Many Dimensions
by Edwin A. Abbott
A two-dimensional world and its inhabitants explore the concept of multidimensionality.
The story describes a two-dimensional world occupied by geometric figures, whereof women are simple line-segments, while men are polygons with various numbers of sides. The narrator is a square , a ... (Wikipedia)
The Martian Chronicles
by Ray Bradbury
Human colonists struggle for survival on Mars, facing the challenges of a new world.
The strange and wonderful tale of man’s experiences on Mars, filled with intense images and astonishing visions. Now part of the Voyager Classics collection. The Martian Chronicles tells the story of ... (Goodreads)
The Trial
by Franz Kafka
A man is arrested and put on trial for a crime that remains unclear throughout the novel.
On the morning of his thirtieth birthday, Josef K., the chief cashier of a bank, is unexpectedly arrested by two unidentified agents from an unspecified agency for an unspecified crime. Josef is not ... (Wikipedia)
More Than Human
by Theodore Sturgeon
A story of human evolution, examining the potential of human beings to transcend their physical limitations.
The first part of the novel, The Fabulous Idiot , narrates the birth of the gestalt. In the beginning, we are introduced to the world of Lone, referred to as the "Idiot", a 25-year-old male with a ... (Wikipedia)
The Time Machine
by H.G. Wells
A scientist travels through time, discovering the future of mankind.
The book's protagonist is a Victorian English scientist and gentleman inventor living in Richmond , Surrey , identified by a narrator simply as the Time Traveller . Similarly, with but one exception ... (Wikipedia)
Mother Night
by Kurt Vonnegut Jr.
A tale of moral ambiguity, exploring the consequences of deception and the power of words.
“Vonnegut is George Orwell, Dr. Caligari and Flash Gordon compounded into one writer . . . a zany but moral mad scientist.”—,Time,, Mother Night is a daring challenge to our moral sense. American ... (Barnes & Noble)
Alas, Babylon
by Pat Frank
A small town struggles to survive the aftermath of a nuclear war.
The story is set in a fictional 1959, following two years of escalating tensions between the United States and the Soviet Union for dominance in the Middle East and in the Mediterranean Sea . The ... (Wikipedia)
I Have No Mouth and I Must Scream
by Harlan Ellison
Post-apocalyptic survivors confront an evil, immortal computer bent on torturing them.
In a dystopian future, the Cold War has degenerated into a brutal world war between the United States , the Soviet Union , and China , who have each built an "Allied Mastercomputer" (or AM) to manage ... (Wikipedia)
Solaris
by Stanisław Lem
A psychological exploration of a distant planet, uncovering the truth behind its strange and mysterious phenomena.
Solaris chronicles the ultimate futility of attempted communications with the extraterrestrial life inhabiting a distant alien planet named Solaris. The planet is almost completely covered with an ... (Wikipedia)
The Complete Stories and Poems
by Edgar Allan Poe
A collection of dark and mysterious stories and poems, exploring the depths of the human condition.
This single volume brings together all of Poe's stories and poems, and illuminates the diverse and multifaceted genius of one of the greatest and most influential figures in American literary ... (Barnes & Noble)
The Pit and the Pendulum - an Edgar Allan Poe Short Story
by Edgar Allan Poe
A man is sentenced to death by a cruel Spanish Inquisition, and struggles against insurmountable odds to survive.
The unnamed narrator is brought to trial before sinister judges of the Spanish Inquisition . Poe provides no explanation of why he is there or of the charges on which he is being tried. Before him ... (Wikipedia)
Burning Chrome
by William Gibson
A collection of sci-fi stories, exploring a dystopian cyberpunk future.
Ten tales, from the computer-enhanced hustlers of Johnny Mnemonic to the technofetishist blues of Burning Chrome . Johnny Mnemonic (1981) The Gernsback Continuum (1981) Fragments of a Hologram Rose ... (Goodreads)
The Bridge of San Luis Rey
by Thornton Wilder
Unexpected tragedy brings together a disparate group of strangers, revealing the interconnectedness of all lives.
The first few pages of the first chapter explain the book's basic premise: the story centers on a fictional event that happened in Peru on the road between Lima and Cuzco , at noon on Friday, July ... (Wikipedia)
The Portable Dorothy Parker
by Dorothy Parker
A collection of witty, satirical, and candid stories and poems.
This collection ranges over the verse, stories, essays, and journalism of one of the twentieth century's most quotable authors. ... (Goodreads)
The Long Dark Tea-Time of the Soul
by Douglas Adams
An offbeat detective story set in a surreal, supernatural world.
Dirk Gently, who calls himself a " holistic detective", has happened upon what he thinks is a rather comfortable situation. A wealthy man in the record industry has retained him, spinning a story ... (Wikipedia)
Ringworld
by Larry Niven
A sci-fi adventure to an artificial ring-shaped world, full of unexpected challenges.
On planet Earth in 2850 AD , Louis Gridley Wu is celebrating his 200th birthday. Despite his age, Louis is in perfect physical condition due to the longevity drug boosterspice . He meets Nessus , a ... (Wikipedia)
Tunnel in the Sky
by Robert A. Heinlein
A group of students are stranded on a distant planet during a survival test, facing challenges and forming their own society.
A classic novel from the mind of the storyteller who captures the imagination of readers from around the world, and across two generations. The final exam for Dr. Matson's Advanced Survival class was ... (Goodreads)
Shadow & Claw
by Gene Wolfe
Epic fantasy saga of a young man's quest in a world of darkness and danger.
Severian , an apprentice in the torturers' guild, barely survives a swim in the River Gyoll. On his way back to the Citadel (whose towers appear to be disused rockets), Severian and several other ... (Wikipedia)
Leaves of Grass
by Walt Whitman
An exploration of the relationship between the individual and the divine, viewed through the lens of nature and its rhythms.
A collection of quintessentially American poems, the seminal work of one of the most influential writers of the nineteenth century. ... (Goodreads)
The Mote in God's Eye
by Larry Niven
A journey of first contact between the human race and an alien species.
In the year AD 3017, humanity is slowly recovering from an interstellar civil war that tore apart the first Empire of Man. The Second Empire is busy establishing control over the remnants of its ... (Wikipedia)
Hellboy, Vol. 1: Seed of Destruction
by Mike Mignola
Supernatural detective investigates the dark and mysterious forces of the world.
Dark Horse presents new editions of the entire Hellboy line with new covers, beginning with Seed of Destruction , the basis of director Guillermo del Toro's blockbuster films. Hellboy is one of the ... (Goodreads)
