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Recommendations based on Mirrorshades: The Cyberpunk Anthologyby Bruce Sterling
* statistically, based on millions of data-points provided by fellow humans
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)
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)
Snow Crash
by Neal Stephenson
A hacker's quest in a futuristic America dealing with a mysterious computer virus.
Hiro Protagonist is a hacker and pizza delivery driver for the Mafia. He meets Y.T. (short for Yours Truly), a young skateboard Kourier ( courier ) who refers to herself in the third person , during ... (Wikipedia)
The Diamond Age: Or, a Young Lady's Illustrated Primer
by Neal Stephenson
A young girl's journey of learning and self-discovery, aided by advanced technology.
The protagonist in the story is Nell, a thete (or person without a tribe; equivalent to the lowest working class) living in the Leased Territories, a lowland slum built on the artificial, diamondoid ... (Wikipedia)
Count Zero
by William Gibson
A thrilling journey of a hacker between two worlds, as he unravels a conspiracy of corporate espionage.
As with later Gibson works, there are multiple story-line threads which eventually intertwine: Thread One : In the southwestern US, Turner, a corporate mercenary soldier , has been hired by former ... (Wikipedia)
A Scanner Darkly
by Philip K. Dick
A dystopian tale of surveillance and paranoia in a world of drug addiction.
The protagonist is Bob Arctor, member of a household of drug users, who is also living a double life as an undercover police agent assigned to spy on Arctor's household. Arctor shields his identity ... (Wikipedia)
Cryptonomicon
by Neal Stephenson
A thrilling journey through the past and present, combining tech, history and adventure.
The action takes place in two periods—World War II and the late 1990s, during the Internet boom and Asian financial crisis . In 1942, Lawrence Pritchard Waterhouse, a young United States Navy code ... (Wikipedia)
Altered Carbon
by Richard K. Morgan
A futuristic sci-fi noir set in a world where death is no longer permanent.
On the colony planet of Harlan’s World, Takeshi Kovacs and his partner Sarah Sachilowski, former Envoys who had returned to a life of crime, are killed by a U.N. colonial commando unit. Kovacs is ... (Wikipedia)
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)
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)
The Illuminatus! Trilogy
by Robert Shea
An epic adventure spanning multiple continents, uncovering a mysterious worldwide conspiracy.
It was a deadly mistake. Joseph Malik, editor of a radical magazine, had snooped into rumors about an ancient secret society that was still alive and kicking. Now his offices have been bombed, he's ... (Goodreads)
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 Man in the High Castle
by Philip K. Dick
Set in an alternate 1962, a man must confront a dark and oppressive new world order.
It's America in 1962. Slavery is legal once again. The few Jews who still survive hide under assumed names. In San Francisco, the I Ching is as common as the Yellow Pages. All because some twenty ... (Goodreads)
Stranger in a Strange Land
by Robert A. Heinlein
A human raised by Martians must find his place in a hostile Earth society.
The story focuses on a human raised on Mars and his adaptation to and understanding of humans and their culture. It is set in a post- Third World War United States, where organized religions are ... (Wikipedia)
Consider Phlebas
by Iain M. Banks
A thrilling space opera about a galactic war between two powerful civilizations.
The war raged across the galaxy. Billions had died, billions more were doomed. Moons, planets, the very stars themselves, faced destruction, cold-blooded, brutal, and worse, random. The Idirans ... (Goodreads)
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)
The Dispossessed
by Ursula K. Le Guin
A sci-fi exploration of utopian and dystopian societies, and the struggle for a better world.
Librarian note: Alternate cover edition of ISBN, 9780061054884,. Shevek, a brilliant physicist, decides to take action. He will seek answers, question the unquestionable, and attempt to tear down 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)
The Wake
by Neil Gaiman
A man returns to his childhood home and confronts the memories of a mysterious event that happened there.
When a Dream ends, there is only one thing left to do... THE WAKE In which the repercussions of the Death of Lord Morpheus are felt, and, in an epilogue, William Shakespeare learns the price of ... (Goodreads)
V for Vendetta
by Alan Moore
A dystopian future, where a mysterious vigilante fights for freedom and justice.
On Guy Fawkes Night in London in 1997, a young girl goes to see her boss after curfew when she is sexually attacked by three men who are actually members of the state secret police , called "The ... (Wikipedia)
The Illustrated Man
by Ray Bradbury
A collection of short stories about the human condition and its connection to the universe.
That The Illustrated Man has remained in print since being published in 1951 is fair testimony to the universal appeal of Ray Bradbury's work. Only his second collection (the first was Dark Carnival ... (Goodreads)
Blue Mars
by Kim Stanley Robinson
The final book in the Mars Trilogy, following the terraforming and colonization of Mars. The story explores the political, social, and environmental consequences of human expansion into space.
Red Mars starts in 2026 with the first colonial voyage to Mars aboard the Ares , the largest interplanetary spacecraft ever built and home to a crew who are to be the first hundred Martian colonists. ... (Wikipedia)
The Final Solution
by Michael Chabon
A retired detective investigates the theft of a parrot and uncovers a deeper mystery involving a mute Jewish boy and his rare stamp collection.
In deep retirement in the English countryside, an eighty-nine-year-old man, vaguely recollected by locals as a once-famous detective, is more concerned with his beekeeping than with his fellow man. ... (Goodreads)
Old Man's War
by John Scalzi
Elderly citizens enlist in an interstellar war to save humanity, discovering new strength and purpose.
Old Man's War is about a soldier named John Perry and his exploits in the Colonial Defense Forces (CDF). The first-person narrative follows Perry's military career from CDF recruit to the rank of ... (Wikipedia)
The Exorcist
by William Peter Blatty
A priest's battle against a powerful demon possessing a young girl.
An elderly Jesuit priest named Father Lankester Merrin is leading an archaeological dig in northern Iraq and is studying ancient relics. After discovering a small statue of the demon Pazuzu (an ... (Wikipedia)
Woken Furies
by Richard K. Morgan
A cyborg warrior's mission to bring justice to a chaotic world.
Takeshi Kovacs finds himself in a new "sleeve," or human body, back on his home planet of Harlan's World. He is on the run after making numerous attacks against the Knights of the New Revelation, an ... (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 Vampire Lestat
by Anne Rice
A vampire's exploration of his immortality and the secrets of the world of the undead.
Set in the late 18th century to the late 1980s, the story follows the 200-year-long life of the vampire Lestat de Lioncourt, and his rise from humble beginnings as impoverished nobility in the ... (Wikipedia)
Accelerando
by Charles Stross
A sci-fi novel exploring the future of humanity as technology evolves.
The Singularity. It is the era of the posthuman. Artificial intelligences have surpassed the limits of human intellect. Biotechnological beings have rendered people all but extinct. Molecular ... (Goodreads)
Transmetropolitan, Vol. 1: Back on the Street
by Warren Ellis
A journalist navigates a dystopian world, exposing corruption and social injustices.
After years of self-imposed exile from a civilization rife with degradation and indecency, cynical journalist Spider Jerusalem is forced to return to a job that he hates and a city that he loathes. ... (Goodreads)
