Books like 'Headcrash'
Readers who enjoyed Headcrash by Bruce Bethke also liked the following books featuring the same tropes, story themes, relationship dynamics and character types.
sc-fi hard sci-fi cyberpunk humor virtual-reality dystopia satire
-
School Days by Nathan Lowell
Rated: 4.36 of 5 stars · 14 ratingsA New ShipA New CrewA Different Kind of MissionWhen Manchester Yards donates a new training vessel to the Merchant Officer Academy at Port Newmar, Alys Giggone recalls the Chernyakova.She wants Ishmael Wang and his crew to take a crew of cadets into the Deep Dark. They have to sort out the crews of two ships, figure out what lessons they need to teach, and who will get those lessons... -
Axiomatic by Greg Egan
Rated: 4.31 of 5 stars · 31 ratingsAxiomatic is a collection of Greg Egan's short stories that appeared in various science fiction magazines (mostly Interzone and Asimov's) between 1989 and 1992... -
The Cyberiad by Stanisław Lem
Rated: 4.20 of 5 stars · 25 ratingsA 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 and remarkable ability to blend meaning and magic into a wholly entertaining and captivating work... -
The Last Dancer by Daniel Keys Moran
Rated: 4.38 of 5 stars · 8 ratingsThe Manhattan-based Unification government controls the earth, but rebellion brews in Occupied America as the American Revolution's tricentennial approaches... -
-
Perfekcyjna niedoskonałość by Jacek Dukaj
Rated: 4.21 of 5 stars · 14 ratingsPierwszy tom trylogii Jacka Dukaja.To książka, którą po odwróceniu ostatniej kartki ma się ochotę natychmiast przeczytać jeszcze raz. A potem jeszcze raz.Jest XXIX wiek. Adam Zamoyski, tajemniczy zmartwychwstaniec, tkwi w środku rozgrywki między cywilizacjami, ludźmi, nieludźmi i istotami postludzkimi... -
The Magpie Bridge by J.A. Huss
Rated: 4.33 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsSometimes what you wantDoesn’t matter,Sometimes you justGotta finish what you started.Sometimes this reallyFucking sucks.But other timesYou need to take a breath And sit on the beach.A long, deep, breathTo remind you of why You signed on for this shit In the first place.This is my breath... -
The Big Book of Science Fiction by Ann VanderMeer, Jeff VanderMeer
Rated: 4.20 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsQuite possibly the greatest science fiction collection of all time - past, present and future. What if life was neverending? What if you could change your body to adapt to an alien ecology? What if the pope were a robot? Spanning galaxies and millennia, this must-have anthology showcases classic contributions from H. G. Wells, Arthur C. Clarke, Octavia E... -
Permutation City by Greg Egan
Rated: 4.10 of 5 stars · 21 ratingsThe story of a man with a vision - immortality : for those who can afford it is found in cyberspace. Permutation city is the tale of a man with a vision - how to create immortality - and how that vision becomes something way beyond his control... -
Sycamore 2 by Craig A. Falconer
Rated: 4.17 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsAfter discovering the truth behind Sycamore, tech pioneer Kurt Jacobs rejects the corporation’s offer of a new identity and chooses to fight to expose the truth. But with an overt threat against his family hanging over him, Kurt must act without being seen... -
The Final Dawn: by T.W.M. Ashford
Rated: 4.17 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsThe sun is dying, and it’s taking the Earth down with it.Jack Bishop needs a pair of tickets aboard one of the Arks – colossal lifeboats destined to shepherd humanity to the stars. Desperate to save his wife, he signs up for a dangerous wormhole experiment… but something goes catastrophically wrong, and Jack finds himself cast into the Stellar Abyss... -
Early Years by Steven Campbell
Rated: 4.17 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsCollection of short stories featuring Hard Luck Hank and his early days on Belvaille... -
Zeroglyph by Vance Pravat
Rated: 4.13 of 5 stars · 8 ratingsEx Machina meets Rear Window in a mind-bending sci-fi thriller about machine morality.Raphael is the holy grail of AI: a superintelligent robot that’s been programmed to be the perfect moral being. Or at least that’s what Andy, its creator, believes... -
True Names... and Other Dangers by Vernor Vinge
Rated: 4.11 of 5 stars · 9 ratingsContents:Bookworm, Run! (1966)True Names (1981)The Peddler's Apprentice (1975) with Joan D... -
Degrees of Freedom by Simon Morden
Rated: 4.08 of 5 stars · 12 ratingsWinner of the 2012 Philip K. Dick Award The Six Degrees of PetrovitchMichael is an AI of incalculable complexity trapped under the remains of Oshicora tower. Petrovitch will free him one day, he just has to trust Michael will still be sane by the time he does.Maddy and Petrovitch have trust issues. She's left him, but Petrovitch is pretty sure she still loves him... -
-
The Gabble And Other Stories by Neal Asher
Rated: 4.08 of 5 stars · 12 ratingsMost of Neal Asher's stories are set in a galactic future-scape called 'The Polity', and with this collection of marvellously inventive and action-packed short stories, he takes us further into the manifold diversities of that amazing universe... -
True Names: and the Opening of the Cyberspace Frontier by Vernor Vinge, James Frenkel
Rated: 4.08 of 5 stars · 12 ratingsOnce in a great while a science fiction story is so visionary, yet so close to impending scientific developments that it becomes not only an accurate predictor, but itself the locus for new discoveries and development. True Names by Vernor Vinge, first published in 1981, is such a work... -
Regenesis by C.J. Cherryh
Rated: 4.08 of 5 stars · 13 ratingsThe direct sequel to the Hugo Award- winning novel "Cyteen", "Regenesis" continues the story of Ariane Emory PR, the genetic clone of one of the greatest scientists humanity has ever produced, and of her search for the murderer of her progenitor -- the original Ariane Emory... -
Zero Point by Neal Asher
Rated: 4.06 of 5 stars · 16 ratingsEarth's Zero Asset citizens no longer face extermination from orbit. Thanks to Alan Saul, the Committee's network of control is a smoking ruin and its robotic enforcers lie dormant. But power abhors a vacuum and, scrambling from the wreckage, comes the ruthless Serene Galahad... -
The Rest of the Robots by Isaac Asimov
Rated: 4.06 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsThe Rest of the Robots is the third timeless, amazing and amusing volume of Isaac Asimov's robot stories, offering golden insights into robot thought processes. Asimov's Three Laws of Robotics have since been programmed into real computers the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and used as the outline for a legal robotic charter in Korea... -
The Wrong Unit by Rob Dircks
Rated: 4.22 of 5 stars · 13 ratingsI DON'T KNOW WHAT THE HUMANS ARE SO CRANKY ABOUT. Their enclosures are large, they ingest over a thousand calories per day, and they're allowed to mate. Plus, they have me. An Autonomous Servile Unit, housed in a mobile/bipedal chassis. I do my job well: keep the humans healthy and happy."Hey you."Heyoo. That's my name, I suppose. It's easier for the humans to remember than 413s98-itr8... -
Store of the Worlds: The Stories of Robert Sheckley by Robert Sheckley
Rated: 4.19 of 5 stars · 14 ratingsRobert Sheckley was an eccentric master of the American short story, and his tales, whether set in dystopic cityscapes, ultramodern advertising agencies, or aboard spaceships lighting out for hostile planets, are among the most startlingly original of the twentieth century... -
The Fractal Prince by Hannu Rajaniemi
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 18 ratings“The good thing is, no one will ever die again. The bad thing is, everyone will want to.”A physicist receives a mysterious paper. The ideas in it are far, far ahead of current thinking and quite, quite terrifying. In a city of “fast ones,” shadow players, and jinni, two sisters contemplate a revolution... -
Vurt by Jeff Noon
Rated: 4.05 of 5 stars · 34 ratingsVurt is a feather--a drug, a dimension, a dream state, a virtual reality. It comes in many colors: legal Blues for lullaby dreams. Blacks, filled with tenderness and pain, just beyond the law. Pink Pornovurts, doorways to bliss. Silver feathers for techies who know how to remix colors and open new dimensions. And Yellows--the feathers from which there is no escape... -
The Plagiarist by Hugh Howey
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 16 ratingsAdam Griffey is living two lives. By day, he teaches literature. At night, he steals it. Adam is a plagiarist, an expert reader with an eye for great works. He prowls simulated worlds perusing virtual texts, looking for the next big thing. And when he finds it, he memorizes it page by page, line by line, word for word. And then he brings it back to his world...Categorized as:
dystopia virtual-reality anthologies audiobook drama fiction hard-sci-fi young-adult -
-
Reap the Wild Wind by Julie E. Czerneda
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsThe fascinating debut of the prequel series to The Trade Pact UniverseThis prequel to The Trade Pact Universe series begins in a time before the Clan had learned how to manipulate the M?hir to travel between worlds. Aliens have begun to explore the world of Cersi, upsetting the delicate balance between the Clan and the two other powerful races who coexist by set rules... -
The Terminal State by Jeff Somers
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsAvery Cates is an army man. Between the army's new dental plan and a set of first class augments, he's been given a second chance - albeit a quick one.When a corrupt officer decides to make some money on the side by selling new recruits, Cates finds himself in uncharted territory... -
Forerunner by Isaac Hooke
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsA fleet of warships operated by the digitized minds of former humans. An unknown enemy lurking in the dark of space. The one man who hopes to conquer them both. Jain was the lieutenant commander of an elite SEAL team. He was accustomed to order and discipline, which he used to give the men under his command that particular brand of killer instinct his unit was known for... -
Vicarious by Rhett C. Bruno
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 8 ratingsThe real world is only where you breathe…In High Earth, entertainment is everything. Virtual Worlds. Games. Steaming shows. Simulations—there’s something for everybody. You don't ever even have to leave your home.For Asher Reinhart, nothing compares to Ignis: Live, a reality show that pushes human beings to their very extremes... -
Circuit of Heaven by Dennis Danvers
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsThe body is baggage. The soul is expendable.Nemo's mother and father left him behind to enter "the Bin"--joining twelve billion uploaded personalities who live in crime-free, disease-free and deathless virtual societies.Nemo has come of age on a dangerous, near-deserted planet populated by a handful of stragglers: religious fundamentalists and rebels, the creeps and the crazies...Categorized as:
cyberpunk dystopia anthologies anthropomorphism christian colonization conspiracies fiction -
Terminator Salvation: Trial by Fire by Timothy Zahn
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsFollowing the dramatic events of Terminator Salvation, a recovering John Connor grants Barnes permission to return to the destroyed VLA lab and bury his brother, killed in the explosive opening of the movie. At the ruins Barnes and Blair Williams hunt through the debris for the remains of their comrade but instead uncover a mysterious cable leading up into the mountains... -
To Crush the Moon by Wil McCarthy
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsIn the conclusion to this epic interstellar adventure by Nebula Award nominee Wil McCarthy, humanity stands at a crossroads as the heroes who fashioned a man-made heaven must rescue their descendants from eternal damnation….TO CRUSH THE MOONOnce the Queendom of Sol was a glowing monument to humankind’s loftiest dreams. Ageless and immortal, its citizens lived in peaceful splendor... -
Insider X by Dave Buschi
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsFacility 67096. It shapes our thoughts. Shapes our world. Manipulates us. And it seeks one thing. The destruction of everything we hold dear.Marks and Lip, one a former Marine, the other a cyber specialist for the NSA, are our answer to Facility 67096. What is Facility 67096? It controls the Web. Has controlled it ever since the beginning... -
The Beam: The Complete First Season Collection by Sean Platt, Johnny B. Truant
Rated: 4.09 of 5 stars · 13 ratingsThis collection contains the complete first season of the epic sci-fi saga, The Beam -- all SIX debut-season episodes. Save 45% versus buying the individual episodes! In a grim future, choice is all you have In 2097, the world is as perfect as you want it to be.Choose Enterprise and the government stays out of your way, leaving you free to sink or swim — no help for the drowning... -
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.. -
-
The Shockwave Rider by John Brunner
Rated: 3.94 of 5 stars · 16 ratingsOne man has made it his mission to liberate the mental prisoners. to restore their freedom in a world run mad... -
The Wall: Eternal Night by Joshua T. Calvert
Rated: 4.13 of 5 stars · 8 ratingsWhat if suddenly you could no longer see the sun? Or the stars? What if the world sank into darkness?Off the coast of Sulawesi, an Indonesian fisherman named Putra Buring Bule nets a strange object from the depths. A few days later, Earth falls into total darkness – an unknown phenomenon blocks out the sun and the starry sky, and the world descends into chaos... -
Tomorrow Factory: Collected Fiction by Rich Larson
Rated: 4.13 of 5 stars · 8 ratingsTwenty-three stories from one of speculative fiction’s up-and-coming stars, Pushcart and Journey Prize-nominated author Rich Larson.Welcome to the Tomorrow Factory... -
Rogue Protocol [Dramatized Adaptation] by Martha Wells, Alejandro Ruiz
Rated: 4.17 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsWho knew being a heartless killing machine would present so many moral dilemmas?Sci-fi’s favorite antisocial A.I. is back on a mission. The case against the too-big-to-fail GrayCris Corporation is floundering, and more importantly, authorities are beginning to ask more questions about where Dr. Mensah's SecUnit is.And Murderbot would rather those questions went away. For good... -
System Collapse [Dramatized Adaptation] by Martha Wells, David Cui Cui
Rated: 4.17 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsAm I making it worse? I think I'm making it worse.Following the events in Network Effect, the Barish-Estranza corporation has sent rescue ships to a newly-colonized planet in peril, as well as additional SecUnits. But if there’s an ethical corporation out there, Murderbot has yet to find it, and if Barish-Estranza can’t have the planet, they’re sure as hell not leaving without something... -
Limbo by Dima Zales, Anna Zaires
Rated: 3.91 of 5 stars · 11 ratingsYesterday, I learned all of Oasis’s secrets—or so I thought. As a new danger arises, the long-awaited Birth Day celebration turns into a nightmare, and this time, there may be no escape.In Oasis, nothing is what it seems...Categorized as:
cyberpunk dystopia virtual-reality action-adventure alternate-history audiobook book classics -
A Signal Shattered by Eric S. Nylund
Rated: 3.90 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsIn this sequel to Signal to Noise, a handful of humans who survived the annihilation of humankind on Earth is hiding on the Moon. Among them is Jack Potter, a rogue cryptographer whose business dealings with an alien named Wheeler started the entire destruction. Now, Wheeler is out to finish what he started... -
Weight of the Heart by Rosa Montero
Rated: 3.90 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsPart human and part robot, private investigator Bruna Husky has been hired to locate a stolen diamond. But as Bruna’s leads start to drop dead, her case becomes about much more than a stolen gem—and much more dangerous. Traversing the galaxy, Bruna races against the clock to uncover a nuclear power conspiracy that threatens all sentient beings... -
Beneath the Tree of Heaven by David Wingrove
Rated: 3.90 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsThe spellbinding saga of the future continues in the year 2211. The Seven T'ang, the ruling dictatorship of the solar system, is weakened by the birth of a special child, and the forces of rebellion and change are spreading from the mega-cities of Earth to a secretive, planet-wide conspiracy on Mars... -
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... -
-
Haven by Dima Zales, Anna Zaires
Rated: 3.89 of 5 stars · 9 ratingsFrom a New York Times bestselling author comes the exciting conclusion of The Last Humans trilogyWhat does it mean to be human? What does it mean to be real?I thought we were out of danger. I thought we’d outwitted our enemies. I was wrong.As my world is torn apart, survival may not be what I expected...Categorized as:
cyberpunk dystopia virtual-reality action-adventure audiobook book classics coming-of-age -
True Names by Vernor Vinge, Marvin Minsky
Rated: 3.88 of 5 stars · 8 ratingsDisaffected computer wizard "Mr. Slippery" (True Name Roger Pollack) is an early adopter of a new full-immersion virtual reality technology called the Other Plane. He and the other wizards form a cabal to keep their true identities — their True Names — secret to avoid prosecution by their "Great Adversary" — the government of the United States... -
The Lost Puzzler by Eyal Kless
Rated: 3.88 of 5 stars · 8 ratingsA brilliantly written, page-turning, post-dystopian debut from Eyal Kless, about a society hoping to salvage the technology of a lost generation, a mysterious missing boy who can open doors no one else can, and a scribe who must piece together the past to determine humanity’s future.More than a hundred years have passed since the Catastrophe brought humanity to the brink of extinction... -
The Thousand Emperors by Gary Gibson
Rated: 3.88 of 5 stars · 8 ratingsThe second in a high octane space adventure series from a master storytellerArchivist Luc Gabion is dying, slowly, victim of a forced technology implant while on assignment. He brought down a powerful terrorist, but at great cost, and this new tech brings unexpected dangers. Luc must investigate the Thousand Emperors, rulers of the Tian Di's stellar empire... -
Sycamore by Craig A. Falconer
Rated: 3.88 of 5 stars · 8 ratingsImagine a world where your eyes can't be trusted...When the Sycamore corporation releases the ultimate gadget -- an implantable microchip designed to replace smartphones -- society rapidly descends into dystopia. Augmented reality contact lenses act as the new system's display, simultaneously recording everything in the user's field of vision. The potential applications are limitless... -
Extensis Vitae by Gregory Mattix
Rated: 3.88 of 5 stars · 8 ratingsMichael Reznik is a soldier who wakes up in a mysterious underground bunker, with a technologically advanced body he doesn’t recognize. The people around him have cast aside fighting and warfare. They haven’t needed them—until now.Reznik is charged with tracking down a band of ruthless killers and finding a kidnapped doctor...
Or - use our amazing romance book finder to get recommendations based on your favorite content tropes and themes. Mix and match at will.