Literary theme analysis, by a book like {foo}
Books about Surveillance
Little Brother
by Cory Doctorow
A teen tech genius fights against a dystopian government by using his skills to create a revolution.
Marcus Yallow is a 17-year-old hacker /techno whiz from San Francisco . One day Marcus and his best friend Darryl play truant from school to play an Alternate Reality Game . A terrorist attack is ... (Wikipedia)
1984
by George Orwell
A cautionary tale of a society taken over by a totalitarian regime, where freedom of thought is suppressed.
In the year 1984, civilization has been damaged by war, civil conflict, and revolution. Airstrip One (formerly known as Great Britain) is a province of Oceania , one of the three totalitarian ... (Wikipedia)
Land of Black Gold
by Hergé
Adventure of a young reporter and his loyal companion, uncovering a mysterious oil conspiracy.
The classic graphic novel. Car engines have started spontaneously exploding all over the country . . . someone's been tampering with the oil! Tintin, with Thompson and Thompson at his side, sails on ... (Goodreads)
Mona Lisa Overdrive
by William Gibson
A thrilling adventure through a cyberpunk dystopia, unraveling a mysterious conspiracy.
Taking place eight years after the events of, Count Zero, and fifteen years after, Neuromancer, , the story is formed from several interconnecting plot threads, and also features characters from ... (Wikipedia)
All Tomorrow's Parties
by William Gibson
A journey through a dystopian future, exploring themes of technology and identity.
The book has three separate but overlapping stories, with the repeated appearance of shared characters. The San Francisco/Oakland Bay Bridge, the overarching setting of the trilogy, functions as a ... (Wikipedia)
Zero History
by William Gibson
A thrilling exploration of corporate espionage and high-tech subterfuge.
Hollis Henry and Milgrim find themselves in London working for Hubertus Bigend , unaware that their lives previously crossed in Spook Country . One of Bigend's current interests is fashion, ... (Wikipedia)
Digital Fortress
by Dan Brown
A thrilling tale of espionage and intrigue, as a team of experts race against time to crack a powerful encryption code.
When the National Security Agency's invincible code-breaking machine encounters a mysterious code it cannot break, the agency calls its head cryptographer, Susan Fletcher, a brilliant and beautiful ... (Goodreads)
Spook Country
by William Gibson
A thriller about a journalist trying to uncover a mysterious plot involving virtual reality technology.
The first strand of the novel follows Hollis Henry, a former member of the early 1990s cult band The Curfew and a freelance journalist. She is hired by advertising mogul Hubertus Bigend to write a ... (Wikipedia)
The Fifth Elephant
by Terry Pratchett
An unlikely hero embarks on a madcap mission, uncovering sinister secrets along the way.
The Ankh-Morpork City Watch is expanding; there is now a Traffic department with traffic cameras implemented using iconograph technomancy and a wheel clamping team, and the clacks are beginning to ... (Wikipedia)
The Circle
by Dave Eggers
A cautionary tale of a powerful tech company that blurs the boundaries between privacy and surveillance.
Mae Holland, a recent college graduate, lands a job at The Circle, a powerful technology company run by the "Three Wise Men"—Tom Stenton, a ruthless businessman; Eamon Bailey, a likeable public ... (Wikipedia)
I Am Watching You
by Teresa Driscoll
A woman's quest to uncover the truth about a mysterious disappearance in her small town.
When Ella Longfield overhears two attractive young men flirting with teenage girls on a train, she thinks nothing of it—until she realises they are fresh out of prison and her maternal instinct is ... (Goodreads)
Illuminae
by Amie Kaufman
Two teens fight for survival amidst a galactic war, set against a backdrop of espionage and deception.
This morning, Kady thought breaking up with Ezra was the hardest thing she’d have to do. This afternoon, her planet was invaded. The year is 2575, and two rival mega-corporations are at war over a ... (Goodreads)
No Place to Hide: Edward Snowden, the NSA, and the U.S. Surveillance State
by Glenn Greenwald
Exposé of the US government's massive surveillance system, detailing the dangers of pervasive state power.
By Glenn Greenwald, star of, Citizenfour, the Academy Award-winning documentary on Edward Snowden In May 2013, Glenn Greenwald set out for Hong Kong to meet an anonymous source who claimed to have ... (Goodreads)
Feed
by Mira Grant
A future world where information is controlled by corporations, and a group of journalists fight to uncover the truth.
Feed is set several decades after the zombie apocalypse , referred to as the Rising. Two man-made viruses (a cure for cancer and a cure for the common cold) combined to form Kellis-Amberlee, a virus ... (Wikipedia)
On Photography
by Susan Sontag
Examination of the implications of photography and its effects on society.
First published in 1973, this is a study of the force of photographic images which are continually inserted between experience and reality. Sontag develops further the concept of 'transparency'. When ... (Goodreads)
Them: Adventures with Extremists
by Jon Ronson
Exploration of extreme political and fringe groups by an inquisitive journalist.
Ronson chronicles his travels and interviews with "extremists" and attempts to uncover the mystery behind the "tiny elite that rules the world from inside a secret room". The book is written on the ... (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)
Numero zero
by Umberto Eco
Una redazione raccogliticcia che prepara un quotidiano destinato, più che all’informazione, al ricatto, alla macchina del fango, a bassi servizi per il suo editore. Un redattore paranoico che, ... (Goodreads)
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)
Stasiland: Stories from Behind the Berlin Wall
by Anna Funder
An exploration of life in East Germany before and after the fall of the Berlin Wall.
In 1989, the Berlin Wall fell; shortly afterwards the two Germanies reunited, and East Germany ceased to exist. In a country where the headquarters of the secret police can become a museum literally ... (Goodreads)
Discipline and Punish: The Birth of the Prison
by Michel Foucault
Examines the emergence of the modern prison system and its effects on society.
Librarian note: an alternate cover for this edition can be found, here,. Barely two hundred and fifty years ago a man condemned of attempting to assassinate the King of France was drawn and quartered ... (Goodreads)
Pattern Recognition
by William Gibson
A story of a woman's search for truth and identity in a digital world.
Advertising consultant Cayce Pollard , who reacts to logos and advertising as if to an allergen , arrives in London in August 2002. She is working on a contract with the marketing firm Blue Ant to ... (Wikipedia)
Rainbows End
by Vernor Vinge
A retired professor's adventure in a future society of enhanced technology.
Thanks to advances in medical technology, Robert Gu is slowly recovering from Alzheimer's disease . As his faculties return, Robert (who has always been technophobic ) must adapt to a different ... (Wikipedia)
Alif the Unseen
by G. Willow Wilson
A hacker navigates a dangerous and repressive world while seeking love and justice.
In an unnamed Middle Eastern security state, a young Arab-Indian hacker shields his clients—dissidents, outlaws, Islamists, and other watched groups—from surveillance and tries to stay out of ... (Goodreads)
Splinter Cell
by David Michaels
Sam Fisher, a former Navy SEAL, is recruited by the NSA to become a Splinter Cell, a covert operative tasked with stopping global threats.
FREEDOM HAS A COST. ONE MAN PAYS THE PRICE. In response to the growing use of sophisticated digital encryption to conceal potential threats to the United States, the National Security Agency has ... (Goodreads)
We
by Yevgeny Zamyatin
A dystopian tale of a totalitarian state and its citizens' struggle for freedom.
A few hundred years after the One State's conquest of the entire world, the spaceship Integral is being built in order to invade and conquer extraterrestrial planets. Meanwhile, the project's chief ... (Wikipedia)
Chasing the Dime
by Michael Connelly
A man's search for answers leads him into a dangerous web of secrets and lies.
The messages waiting for Henry Pierce when he plugs in his new telephone clearly aren't intended for him: "Where is Lilly? This is her number. It's on the site." Pierce has just been thrown out by ... (Goodreads)
Darkness at Noon
by Arthur Koestler
A political prisoner is interrogated during a totalitarian regime and struggles with his loyalty to the party.
Darkness at Noon is divided into four parts: The First Hearing, The Second Hearing, The Third Hearing, and The Grammatical Fiction. In the original English translation, Koestler′s word that Hardy ... (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)
Virtual Light
by William Gibson
Cyberpunk thriller, exploring the effects of technology on future societies.
The plot centers around Chevette Washington, a young bicycle messenger who lives in the ad hoc , off-the-grid community that has grown on the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge in the aftermath of a ... (Wikipedia)
Firewall
by Henning Mankell
A detective is tasked with tracking down a mysterious hacker who is sending threatening emails.
Stopping to get money from a cash machine one evening, a man inexplicably falls to the ground: dead. A taxi driver is brutally murdered by two teenaged girls. Quickly apprehended they appal local ... (Goodreads)
Lexicon
by Max Barry
A thrilling adventure through an underground world of secret language and mind control.
In a school in Virginia, children are taught the art of persuasion instead of usual subjects. They learn in detail how to handle the power of language to control other individuals by breaking them ... (Wikipedia)
The Billion Dollar Spy: A True Story of Cold War Espionage and Betrayal
by David E. Hoffman
A gripping true story of espionage, betrayal, and the struggle against the Soviet Union during the Cold War.
From the author of the Pulitzer Prize-winning history, The Dead Hand, comes the riveting story of a spy who cracked open the Soviet military research establishment and a penetrating portrait of the ... (Goodreads)
The Eyre Affair
by Jasper Fforde
An eccentric literary detective, in an alternate 1985, uses time-travel to save kidnapped characters from classic novels.
In a parallel universe , England and Imperial Russia have fought the Crimean War for more than a century; England still has a parliamentary government, although heavily influenced by the Goliath ... (Wikipedia)
Warcross
by Marie Lu
A teenage hacker's thrilling journey in a virtual world with danger and excitement.
18-year old Emika Chen works as a bounty hunter for a living, which entails capturing individuals who are suspected of betting on Warcross, the largest internet game in the world, in which players ... (Wikipedia)
Dear Leader: Poet, Spy, Escapee - A Look Inside North Korea
by Jang Jin-sung
A former North Korean poet laureate's harrowing escape from the country and insights into the oppressive regime of Kim Jong-il.
In this rare insider's view into contemporary North Korea, a high-ranking counterintelligence agent describes his life as a former poet laureate to Kim Jong-il and his breathtaking escape to freedom. ... (Goodreads)
Among the Brave
by Margaret Peterson Haddix
A dystopian future where kids are sent to secret camps to protect them from an oppressive government.
The fifth book starts off directly where the last book had ended, from the point of view of Trey, Luke's friend from Hendricks' School for Boys. After Luke Garner (Lee Grant) leaves Smits Grant, the ... (Wikipedia)
The Code Book: The Science of Secrecy from Ancient Egypt to Quantum Cryptography
by Simon Singh
A comprehensive history of cryptography and its role in shaping our world.
In his first book since the bestselling Fermat’s Enigma , Simon Singh offers the first sweeping history of encryption, tracing its evolution and revealing the dramatic effects codes have had on wars, ... (Goodreads)
Ghost in the Shell
by Masamune Shirow
Cyborg policewoman searches for the truth in a world of cyber-terrorism and political intrigue.
In the rapidly converging landscape of the 21st century Major Kusanagi is charged to track down the craftiest and most dangerous terrorists and cybercriminals, including ghost hackers When he track ... (Goodreads)
The Cardinal of the Kremlin
by Tom Clancy
US and Soviet forces battle for control of a powerful satellite system.
For thirty years, Colonel Mikhail Semyonovich "Misha" Filitov, a personal aide to the Soviet Minister of Defense and war hero, has been passing military, technical, and political intelligence to the ... (Wikipedia)
A Most Wanted Man
by John le Carré
A thrilling espionage story, following a dangerous game of cat and mouse between spies and criminals.
A young Turkish boxing champion in Hamburg notices he is being shadowed by a tall gaunt young man in a black coat, who turns up on his doorstep and demands hospitality. Somewhat suspiciously, they ... (Wikipedia)
Incarceron
by Catherine Fisher
A daring escape from a prison-like world forces two teens to confront a harsh reality.
Incarceron – a futuristic prison, sealed from view, where the descendants of the original prisoners live in a dark world torn by rivalry and savagery. It is a terrifying mix of high technology -- a ... (Goodreads)
The One
by John Marrs
Five strangers are brought together by a mysterious genetic testing company, revealing secrets that could change the world.
Soon to be a major TV Series! A Wall Street Journal Best Science Fiction Book of 2018 “Just try to put this gripping thriller down once you pick it up.” — AARP “A shock on every other page.” — Wall ... (Barnes & Noble)
Freedom™
by Daniel Suarez
A thrilling exploration of the implications of a technological revolution, as a hacker seeks to save humanity from a sinister AI.
The sequel picks up shortly after the end of Daemon . Sobol's distributed AI has already infiltrated the computer systems of numerous companies and governments. Many companies have surrendered, ... (Wikipedia)
Bleeding Edge
by Thomas Pynchon
A darkly comedic murder mystery set in a tech-driven New York City.
Thomas Pynchon brings us to New York in the early days of the internet It is 2001 in New York City, in the lull between the collapse of the dot-com boom and the terrible events of September 11th. ... (Goodreads)
V.
by Thomas Pynchon
A mysterious search for the truth, uncovering a vast conspiracy involving multiple characters.
The novel alternates between episodes featuring Benny, Stencil and other members of the Whole Sick Crew (including Profane's sidekick Pig Bodine ) in 1956 (with a few minor flashbacks), and a ... (Wikipedia)
Nexus
by Ramez Naam
A thrilling tale of hackers, scientists, and criminals, all caught up in the emergence of a revolutionary new technology.
Samantha Cataranes (Sam), an agent for the Emerging Risks Directorate (ERD) of the United States government, arrives undercover at a party looking for Kaden Lane. Kaden is there testing Nexus 5, an ... (Wikipedia)
The Society of the Spectacle
by Guy Debord
A critical analysis of the commodification of society and the power of the media.
Few works of political and cultural theory have been as enduringly provocative as Guy Debord's The Society of the Spectacle. From its publication amid the social upheavals of the 1960s up to the ... (Goodreads)
Glasshouse
by Charles Stross
An exploration of a future world where technology has created a new form of government.
When Robin wakes up in a clinic with most of his memories missing, it doesn’t take him long to discover that someone is trying to kill him. It’s the twenty-seventh century, when interstellar travel ... (Goodreads)
The Memory Police
by Yōko Ogawa
A mysterious power erasing memories of everyday objects, leading to a fight for freedom.
The story follows a novelist on an island under the control of the Memory Police. An unknown force causes the people of the island to collectively 'forget' and lose their attachment to objects or ... (Wikipedia)
Slated
by Teri Terry
Kyla's memory has been erased, but she discovers secrets about her past that make her question everything.
Kyla’s memory has been erased, her personality wiped blank, her memories lost for ever. She’s been Slated. The government claims she was a terrorist and that they are giving her a second chance - as ... (Goodreads)
United We Spy
by Ally Carter
A group of friends must team up to stop a dangerous organization from wielding its power.
Don't miss a moment of the beloved, bestselling series where spies-in-training navigate double crosses, secret missions, friendship, and first love-now with a bonus epilogue! , Cammie Morgan has lost ... (Barnes & Noble)
Daemon
by Daniel Suarez
A thrilling techno-thriller, exploring the power of artificial intelligence and its potential for revolution.
Upon publication of the obituary for Matthew A. Sobol, a brilliant computer programmer and CTO of Cyberstorm Entertainment, a Daemon is activated. Sobol, dying of brain cancer, was fearful for ... (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)
Blackout
by Marc Elsberg
A massive power outage hits Europe, plunging the continent into chaos and revealing the fragility of modern society.
The novel starts with a collapse of electrical grids across Europe, plunging the population into darkness and disaster. , , The prolonged electricity cut causes major problems: no more petrol , no ... (Wikipedia)
The Penultimate Truth
by Philip K. Dick
In a post-apocalyptic world, the masses are kept underground while a privileged few live above ground. A rebellion ensues.
World War III begins early in the 21st century. It is fought between the two superpowers, West-Dem and Pac-Peop. The fighting is extensive and severe, most of it performed by "leadies", robots built ... (Wikipedia)
Cosmopolis
by Don DeLillo
A day in the life of a billionaire, revealing the absurdity of a materialistic society.
Cosmopolis is the story of Eric Packer, a 28-year-old multi-billionaire asset manager who makes an odyssey across midtown Manhattan to get a haircut. He drives around in a stretch limo , which is ... (Wikipedia)
Hold Tight
by Harlan Coben
Parents attempt to protect their teenage son from a dangerous online predator.
The story is introduced with the characters Marianne, Nash and Pietra. Pietra tricks Marianne by drugging her which leads to Nash brutally beating Marianne to death, his last words to her being: ... (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)
Ghost in the Wires: My Adventures as the World's Most Wanted Hacker
by Kevin D. Mitnick
True story of an infamous hacker's journey of escape and evasion, eventually leading to his arrest and imprisonment.
If they were a hall of fame or shame for computer hackers, a Kevin Mitnick plaque would be mounted the near the entrance. While other nerds were fumbling with password possibilities, this adept ... (Goodreads)
يوتوبيا
by أحمد خالد توفيق
An exploration of the effects of rapid technological advancement on contemporary life.
كيف ستكون مصر عام 2023؟ لقد عزَلَ الأغنياء أنفسهم في (يوتوبيا) الساحل الشمالي تحت حراسة المارينز الأمريكيين، يتعاطون المخدرات ويمارسون المتع المحرمة إلى أقصاها، بينما ينسحق الفقراء خارجها ينهش بعضهم ... (Goodreads)
UR
by Stephen King
A look into the consequences of unchecked technology and its effects on humanity.
Wesley Smith, an English teacher at a Kentucky college and book aficionado, wants to go "New School" after fighting with his girlfriend and buys a Kindle . Due to a minor mistake in his credit card ... (Wikipedia)
Ghostman
by Roger Hobbs
A professional ghostman, Jack, is pulled back into the criminal underworld to repay a debt. But things quickly spiral out of control.
I make things disappear. It’s what I do. This time I'm tidying up the loose ends after a casino heist gone bad. The loose ends being a million cash. But I only have 48 hours, and there’s a guy out ... (Goodreads)
The Jennifer Morgue
by Charles Stross
An action-packed spy thriller set in a near-future tech world.
Bob Howard, from The Laundry, secret UK agency against evil forces, narrates boarding yacht of Ellis Billington for Gravedust device that talks with dead. Ellis plans to raise Jennifer Morgue, ... (Goodreads)
Dataclysm: Who We Are
by Christian Rudder
Exploring the hidden truths revealed by big data and how this data paints a picture of humanity.
A, New York Times, Bestseller,An audacious, irreverent investigation of human behavior—and a first look at a revolution in the making Our personal data has been used to spy on us, hire and fire us, ... (Goodreads)
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