Books like 'VAS: An Opera in Flatland'
Readers who enjoyed VAS: An Opera in Flatland by Steve Tomasula & Stephen Farrell also liked the following books featuring the same tropes, story themes, relationship dynamics and character types.
contemporary sc-fi hard sci-fi humor university literary-fiction
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Project Hail Mary by Andy Weir
Rated: 4.53 of 5 stars · 80 ratingsA lone astronaut.An impossible mission.An ally he never imagined.Ryland Grace is the sole survivor on a desperate, last-chance mission—and if he fails, humanity and Earth itself will perish.Except that right now, he doesn't know that. He can't even remember his own name, let alone the nature of his assignment or how to complete it.All he knows is that he's been asleep for a very, very long time... -
![The Martian by Andy Weir]()
The Martian by Andy Weir
Rated: 4.37 of 5 stars · 95 ratingsSix days ago, astronaut Mark Watney became one of the first people to walk on Mars. Now, he’s sure he’ll be the first person to die there... -
![Exhalation by Ted Chiang]()
Exhalation by Ted Chiang
Rated: 4.33 of 5 stars · 37 ratingsalternate cover for this ISBN can be found hereThe universe began as an enormous breath being held.From the acclaimed author of Stories of Your Life and Others — the basis for the Academy Award-nominated film Arrival — comes a ground-breaking new collection of short fiction: nine stunningly original, provocative, and poignant stories...Categorized as:
literary-fiction 21st-century action-adventure adult ai aliens alternate-history anthologies -
![Artificial Condition by Martha Wells]()
Artificial Condition by Martha Wells
Rated: 4.30 of 5 stars · 65 ratingsIt has a dark past – one in which a number of humans were killed. A past that caused it to christen itself “Murderbot”. But it has only vague memories of the massacre that spawned that title, and it wants to know more.Teaming up with a Research Transport vessel named ART (you don’t want to know what the “A” stands for), Murderbot heads to the mining facility where it went rogue... -
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![Second Foundation by Isaac Asimov]()
Second Foundation by Isaac Asimov
Rated: 4.27 of 5 stars · 68 ratingsSo far the Foundation was safe. But there was a hidden Second Foundation to protect the first. The Mule has yet to find it, but he was getting closer all the time. The men of the Foundation sought it, too, to escape from Mule's mind control. Only Arkady, a 14 year-old girl seemed to have the answer, or did she..Categorized as:
literary-fiction 20th-century action-adventure adult audiobook book classics contemporary -
![I, Robot by Isaac Asimov]()
I, Robot by Isaac Asimov
Rated: 4.23 of 5 stars · 76 ratingsThey mustn't harm a human being, they must obey human orders, and they must protect their own existence...but only so long as that doesn't violate rules one and two. With these Three Laws of Robotics, humanity embarked on a bold new era of evolution that would open up enormous possibilities - and unforeseen risks... -
![The Dispossessed by Ursula K. Le Guin]()
The Dispossessed by Ursula K. Le Guin
Rated: 4.24 of 5 stars · 67 ratingsFrom the brilliant and award-winning author Ursula K. Le Guin comes a classic tale of two planets torn apart by conflict and mistrust — and the man who risks everything to reunite them.A bleak moon settled by utopian anarchists, Anarres has long been isolated from other worlds, including its mother planet, Urras—a civilization of warring nations, great poverty, and immense wealth...Categorized as:
literary-fiction university 20th-century action-adventure adult aliens audiobook book -
![Stories of Your Life and Others by Ted Chiang]()
Stories of Your Life and Others by Ted Chiang
Rated: 4.24 of 5 stars · 67 ratingsTed Chiang's first published story, "Tower of Babylon," won the Nebula Award in 1990. Subsequent stories have won the Asimov's SF Magazine reader poll, a second Nebula Award, the Theodore Sturgeon Memorial Award, and the Sidewise Award for alternate history. He won the John W. Campbell Award for Best New Writer in 1992. Story for story, he is the most honored young writer in modern SF... -
![Hyperion by Dan Simmons]()
Hyperion by Dan Simmons
Rated: 4.22 of 5 stars · 73 ratingsOn the world called Hyperion, beyond the law of the Hegemony of Man, there waits the creature called the Shrike. There are those who worship it. There are those who fear it. And there are those who have vowed to destroy it. In the Valley of the Time Tombs, where huge, brooding structures move backward through time, the Shrike waits for them all... -
![Old Man's War by John Scalzi]()
Old Man's War by John Scalzi
Rated: 4.15 of 5 stars · 50 ratingsJohn Perry did two things on his 75th birthday. First he visited his wife's grave. Then he joined the army.The good news is that humanity finally made it into interstellar space. The bad news is that planets fit to live on are scarce-- and alien races willing to fight us for them are common. So: we fight. To defend Earth, and to stake our own claim to planetary real estate... -
![2001: A Space Odyssey by Arthur C. Clarke]()
2001: A Space Odyssey by Arthur C. Clarke
Rated: 4.19 of 5 stars · 74 ratingsOn the Moon, an enigma is uncovered.So great are the implications of this discovery that for the first time men are sent out deep into our solar system.But long before their destination is reached, things begin to go horribly, inexplicably wrong...One of the greatest-selling science fiction novels of our time, this classic book will grip you to the very end... -
![Contact by Carl Sagan]()
Contact by Carl Sagan
Rated: 4.14 of 5 stars · 44 ratingsTHE FUTURE IS HERE...IN AN ADVENTURE OF COSMIC DIMENSION. In December, 1999, a multinational team journeys out to the stars, to the most awesome encounter in human history. Who -- or what -- is out there? In Cosmos, Carl Sagan explained the universe. In CONTACT, he predicts its future -- and our own... -
![Columbus Day by Craig Alanson]()
Columbus Day by Craig Alanson
Rated: 4.25 of 5 stars · 36 ratingsWe were fighting on the wrong side, of a war we couldn't win. And that was the good news. The Ruhar hit us on Columbus Day. There we were, innocently drifting along the cosmos on our little blue marble, like the native Americans in 1492. Over the horizon come ships of a technologically advanced, aggressive culture, and BAM! There go the good old days, when humans only got killed by each other... -
![Unparalleled by D.S. Smith]()
Unparalleled by D.S. Smith
Rated: 4.22 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsWaking up in a strange house, with no memory of how or why he is there, Stuart Milton finds his life has changed beyond recognition. His pregnant wife is missing, but his only living relative, his brother, is incapable of substantiating his claim. Lost in a world of confusion that is spiralling out of his control, Stuart finds temporary salvation in a psychiatrist assigned to his case... -
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![Bioterror! by Laurence E. Dahners]()
Bioterror! by Laurence E. Dahners
Rated: 4.45 of 5 stars · 16 ratings“Bioterror!" is the fourteenth book in a series of near future SciFi/Thrillers. Their heroine Ell Donsaii has a nerve mutation that makes her a genius and provides her some astonishing athletic abilities... -
![Time Shelter: A Novel by Georgi Gospodinov]()
Time Shelter: A Novel by Georgi Gospodinov
Rated: 4.23 of 5 stars · 13 ratings“A trickster at heart, and often very funny” (Garth Greenwell, The New Yorker), award-winning Bulgarian author Georgi Gospodinov has enthralled readers around the world with his labyrinth-like, Kafkaesque tales of contemporary Europe...Categorized as:
literary-fiction adult book contemporary fiction hard-sci-fi magical-realism philosophy -
![The Rise of Endymion by Dan Simmons]()
The Rise of Endymion by Dan Simmons
Rated: 4.17 of 5 stars · 45 ratingsThe time of reckoning has arrived. As a final genocidal Crusade threatens to enslave humanity forever, a new messiah has come of age. She is Aenea and she has undergone a strange apprenticeship to those known as the Others. Now her protector, Raul Endymion, one-time shepherd and convicted murderer, must help her deliver her startling message to her growing army of disciples... -
![Effacement by Hieronymus Hawkes]()
Effacement by Hieronymus Hawkes
Rated: 4.25 of 5 stars · 8 ratingsWhen recording every aspect of your life has become the law, what happens when your connection to the world is severed? With the advent of BioNarratus’s Vitasync neurochip, serious crime has all but disappeared. Without a lifelog you can’t get a bank account, medical insurance, or a job... -
![All Systems Red by Martha Wells]()
All Systems Red by Martha Wells
Rated: 4.08 of 5 stars · 84 ratings"As a heartless killing machine, I was a complete failure."In a corporate-dominated spacefaring future, planetary missions must be approved and supplied by the Company. Exploratory teams are accompanied by Company-supplied security androids, for their own safety.But in a society where contracts are awarded to the lowest bidder, safety isn’t a primary concern... -
![Burning Chrome by William Gibson]()
Burning Chrome by William Gibson
Rated: 4.07 of 5 stars · 29 ratingsTen tales, from the computer-enhanced hustlers of Johnny Mnemonic to the technofetishist blues of Burning Chrome...Categorized as:
literary-fiction 20th-century action-adventure adult ai anthologies audiobook classics -
![The Collapsing Empire by John Scalzi]()
The Collapsing Empire by John Scalzi
Rated: 4.11 of 5 stars · 47 ratingsThe first novel of a new space-opera sequence set in an all-new universe by the Hugo Award-winning, New York Times-bestselling author of Redshirts and Old Man's War... -
![Ancillary Sword by Ann Leckie]()
Ancillary Sword by Ann Leckie
Rated: 4.10 of 5 stars · 47 ratingsSeeking atonement for past crimes, Breq takes on a mission as captain of a troublesome new crew of Radchai soldiers, in the sequel to Ann Leckie's NYT bestselling, award-winning Ancillary Justice. A must read for fans of Ursula K. Le Guin and James S. A. Corey.Breq is a soldier who used to be a warship... -
![Over the Edge/An Edge in My Voice by Harlan Ellison]()
Over the Edge/An Edge in My Voice by Harlan Ellison
Rated: 4.17 of 5 stars · 6 ratings"Razor Sharp Beyond the Edge. Harlan Ellison's stories and essays have been on the cutting edge of contemporary American Literature for over 40 years, but he stubbornly refuses to abandon the use of a manual typewriter. He's involved in every medium from television drama to comic books, and his works have been translated into 26 languages... -
![Solaris by Stanisław Lem]()
Solaris by Stanisław Lem
Rated: 4.02 of 5 stars · 40 ratingsA classic work of science fiction by renowned Polish novelist and satirist Stanislaw Lem.When Kris Kelvin arrives at the planet Solaris to study the ocean that covers its surface, he finds a painful, hitherto unconscious memory embodied in the living physical likeness of a long-dead lover...Categorized as:
literary-fiction university 20th-century action-adventure adult aliens audiobook book -
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![Biochips by William Gibson]()
Biochips by William Gibson
Rated: 4.04 of 5 stars · 49 ratingsTurner, corporate mercenary, wakes in a reconstructed body, a beautiful woman by his side. Then Hosaka Corporation reactivates him for a mission more dangerous than the one he's recovering from: Maas-Neotek's chief of R&D is defecting. Turner is the one assigned to get him out intact, along with the biochip he's perfected... -
![Le Problème à trois corps by Liu Cixin, Gwennaël Gaffric]()
Le Problème à trois corps by Liu Cixin, Gwennaël Gaffric
Rated: 4.05 of 5 stars · 44 ratingsPremier volume d'une trilogie culte, récompensé par le Hugo du meilleur roman en 2015, Le Problème à trois corps signale l’arrivée d’un auteur majeur sur la scène de la hard SF... -
![The Speed of Dark by Elizabeth Moon]()
The Speed of Dark by Elizabeth Moon
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 24 ratingsIn the near future, disease will be a condition of the past. Most genetic defects will be removed at birth; the remaining during infancy. Unfortunately, there will be a generation left behind. For members of that missed generation, small advances will be made. Through various programs, they will be taught to get along in the world despite their differences... -
![Outland by Dennis E. Taylor]()
Outland by Dennis E. Taylor
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 19 ratingsWhen the Yellowstone supervolcano erupts, it's up to six college students and their experimental physics project to prevent the end of civilization. When an experiment to study quantum uncertainty goes spectacularly wrong, physics student Bill Rustad and his friends find that they have accidentally created an inter-dimensional portal... -
![Theory of Bastards by Audrey Schulman]()
Theory of Bastards by Audrey Schulman
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 14 ratingsLife is finally worth living for Dr. Francine Burk. A recent surgery has finally provided a cure from years of undiagnosed pain. And her subversive scientific discovery, the “Theory of Bastards,” which has unseated public figures and past presidents, has rewarded her with a generous grant and a prestigious placement at The Foundation...Categorized as:
literary-fiction 21st-century action-adventure adult animals apocalyptic audiobook book -
![Picks and Shovels by Cory Doctorow]()
Picks and Shovels by Cory Doctorow
Rated: 4.20 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsNew York Times bestselling author Cory Doctorow returns to the world of Red Team Blues to bring us the origin story of Martin Hench and the most powerful new tool for crime ever the personal computer.The year is 1986. The city is San Francisco... -
![Invisible Planets: Contemporary Chinese Science Fiction in Translation by Ken Liu, Chen Qiufan]()
Invisible Planets: Contemporary Chinese Science Fiction in Translation by Ken Liu, Chen Qiufan
Rated: 4.05 of 5 stars · 27 ratingsAward-winning translator and author Ken Liu presents a collection of short speculative fiction from China. Some stories have won awards; some have been included in various 'Year's Best' anthologies; some have been well reviewed by critics and readers; and some are simply Ken's personal favorites...Categorized as:
literary-fiction 21st-century adult aliens anthologies asian-mc contemporary dystopia -
![Reamde by Neal Stephenson]()
Reamde by Neal Stephenson
Rated: 3.95 of 5 stars · 35 ratingsFour decades ago, Richard Forthrast, the black sheep of an Iowa family, fled to a wild and lonely mountainous corner of British Columbia to avoid the draft. Smuggling backpack loads of high-grade marijuana across the border into Northern Idaho, he quickly amassed an enormous and illegal fortune...Categorized as:
literary-fiction 21st-century action-adventure adult audiobook book contemporary crime -
![He, She and It by Marge Piercy]()
He, She and It by Marge Piercy
Rated: 3.94 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsIn the middle of the twenty-first century, life as we know it has changed for all time. Shira Shipman's marriage has broken up, and her young son has been taken from her by the corporation that runs her zone, so she has returned to Tikva, the Jewish free town where she grew up... -
![Steel Beach by John Varley]()
Steel Beach by John Varley
Rated: 3.94 of 5 stars · 16 ratingsFleeing Earth after an alien invasion, the human race stands on the threshold of evolution, like a fish cast on artificial shores. Their new home is Luna, a moon colony blessed with creature comforts, prolonged lifespans, digital memories, and instant sex changes. But the people of Luna are bored, restless, and suicidal -- and so is the computer that monitors their existence.. -
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![Backwards by Rob Grant]()
Backwards by Rob Grant
Rated: 3.97 of 5 stars · 32 ratingsThis is the third adventure of the unlikely space heroes of the cult TV hit Red Dwarf – Lister, Rimmer, Kryten, Holly and the Cat – as they continue their epic journey through frontal-lobe-knotting realities. We join them just as Dave Lister has finally found his way back to planet Earth – which is good. What’s bad, however, is that time isn’t running in quite the right direction... -
![Turbulence by Lyn Gala]()
Turbulence by Lyn Gala
Rated: 3.98 of 5 stars · 20 ratingsCorporal Jacqs Glebov is a simple soldier who wants a bunk, decent food and the company of other battle-hardened men and women who understand the realities of fighting. Instead he's stuck patrolling a remote corner of the border with cadets straight out of boot camp. They don't understand him, and he sure doesn't have an ounce of respect for them... -
![Pattern Recognition by William Gibson]()
Pattern Recognition by William Gibson
Rated: 3.91 of 5 stars · 33 ratingsCayce Pollard is an expensive, spookily intuitive market-research consultant. In London on a job, she is offered a secret assignment: to investigate some intriguing snippets of video that have been appearing on the Internet. An entire subculture of people is obsessed with these bits of footage, and anybody who can create that kind of brand loyalty would be a gold mine for Cayce's client...Categorized as:
literary-fiction university 21st-century action-adventure adult audiobook book classics -
![Whalefall by Daniel Kraus]()
Whalefall by Daniel Kraus
Rated: 3.87 of 5 stars · 15 ratingsWhalefall is a scientifically accurate thriller about a scuba diver who’s been swallowed by an eighty-foot, sixty-ton sperm whale and has only one hour to escape before his oxygen runs out.Jay Gardiner has given himself a fool’s errand—to find the remains of his deceased father in the Pacific Ocean off the coast of Monastery Beach... -
![Gnomon by Nick Harkaway]()
Gnomon by Nick Harkaway
Rated: 3.91 of 5 stars · 31 ratingsFrom the widely acclaimed author of The Gone-Away World and Tigerman, a virtuosic new novel and his most ambitious book yet--equal parts dark comedy, gripping detective story, and mind-bending philosophical puzzle--set in a not-too-distant-future, high-tech surveillance state.In the world of Gnomon, citizens are ceaselessly observed and democracy has reached a pinnacle of 'transparency... -
![The Space Merchants by Frederik Pohl, C.M. Kornbluth]()
The Space Merchants by Frederik Pohl, C.M. Kornbluth
Rated: 3.85 of 5 stars · 20 ratingsIn a vastly overpopulated near-future world, businesses have taken the place of governments and now hold all political power. States exist merely to ensure the survival of huge transnational corporations. Advertising has become hugely aggressive and boasts some of the world’s most powerful executives... -
![Transition by Iain M. Banks]()
Transition by Iain M. Banks
Rated: 3.85 of 5 stars · 20 ratingsThere is a world that hangs suspended between triumph and catastrophe, between the dismantling of the Wall and the fall of the Twin Towers, frozen in the shadow of suicide terrorism and global financial collapse. Such a world requires a firm hand and a guiding light...Categorized as:
literary-fiction 21st-century action-adventure adult alternate-history audiobook book conspiracies -
![2 B R 0 2 B by Kurt Vonnegut Jr.]()
2 B R 0 2 B by Kurt Vonnegut Jr.
Rated: 3.90 of 5 stars · 37 ratingsThis Seedbox Classics edition of 2 B R 0 2 B or 2BR02B includes illustrations.2 B R 0 2 B by Kurt Vonnegut is a science fiction story that focuses on a society where individuals have an indefinite lifespan and the population of the United States is limited to forty million. In order for a new birth to take place, someone else must die...Categorized as:
humor literary-fiction 20th-century adult anthologies audiobook classics contemporary -
![Diary of an AssCan by Andy Weir]()
Diary of an AssCan by Andy Weir
Rated: 3.84 of 5 stars · 19 ratingsOriginal Fiction, Short Story, Science FictionAndy Weir’s prequel to The MartianThis short story gives us a glimpse into Mark Watney’s world just before taking off on his mission for Mars. Read on for more from this exceptional character. Please note: This story includes language that some might find offensive... -
![The Ministry for the Future by Kim Stanley Robinson]()
The Ministry for the Future by Kim Stanley Robinson
Rated: 3.89 of 5 stars · 35 ratingsEstablished in 2025, the purpose of the new organization was simple: To advocate for the world's future generations and to protect all living creatures, present and future. It soon became known as the Ministry for the Future, and this is its story.From legendary science fiction author Kim Stanley Robinson comes a vision of climate change unlike any ever imagined...Categorized as:
literary-fiction 21st-century adult alternate-history apocalyptic audiobook book contemporary -
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![The Fold by Peter Clines]()
The Fold by Peter Clines
Rated: 3.87 of 5 stars · 38 ratingsSTEP INTO THE FOLD. IT’S PERFECTLY SAFE. The folks in Mike Erikson's small New England town would say he's just your average, everyday guy. And that's exactly how Mike likes it. Sure, the life he's chosen isn’t much of a challenge to someone with his unique gifts, but he’s content with his quiet and peaceful existence...Categorized as:
humor 21st-century action-adventure adult aliens alternate-history apocalyptic audiobook -
![The Test by Sylvain Neuvel]()
The Test by Sylvain Neuvel
Rated: 3.85 of 5 stars · 35 ratingsAward-winning author Sylvain Neuvel explores an immigration dystopia in The TestBritain, the not-too-distant future.Idir is sitting the British Citizenship Test.He wants his family to belong.Twenty-five questions to determine their fate. Twenty-five chances to impress.When the test takes an unexpected and tragic turn, Idir is handed the power of life and death... -
![The Warehouse by Rob Hart]()
The Warehouse by Rob Hart
Rated: 3.84 of 5 stars · 36 ratingsCloud isn’t just a place to work. It’s a place to live. And when you’re here, you’ll never want to leave.Paxton never thought he’d be working for Cloud, the giant tech company that’s eaten much of the American economy. Much less that he’d be moving into one of the company’s sprawling live-work facilities... -
![Love Minus Eighty by Will McIntosh]()
Love Minus Eighty by Will McIntosh
Rated: 3.81 of 5 stars · 27 ratingsThe words were gentle strokes, drawing her awake."Hello. Hello there."She felt the light on her eyelids, and knew that if she opened her eyes they would sting, and she would have to shade them with her palm and let the light bleed through a crack."Feel like talking?" A man's soft voice... -
![Redshirts by John Scalzi]()
Redshirts by John Scalzi
Rated: 3.81 of 5 stars · 43 ratingsEnsign Andrew Dahl has just been assigned to the Universal Union Capital Ship Intrepid, flagship of the Universal Union since the year 2456. It’s a prestige posting, and Andrew is thrilled all the more to be assigned to the ship’s Xenobiology laboratory...Categorized as:
humor 21st-century action-adventure aliens alternate-history alternate-universe audiobook book -
![Resistant by Rachael Sparks]()
Resistant by Rachael Sparks
Rated: 3.50 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsIn the final battle with drug-resistant bacteria, one woman's blood holds a secret weapon.Rory and her father have survived the antibiotic crisis that has killed millions, including Rory’s mother—but ingenuity and perseverance aren’t their only advantages. When a stoic and scarred young military veteran enters their quiet life, Rory is drawn to him against her better judgment . .Categorized as:
literary-fiction action-adventure adult audiobook book contemporary evolution fiction
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