Books like 'The Variable Man and Other Stories'
Readers who enjoyed The Variable Man and Other Stories by Philip K. Dick also liked the following books featuring the same tropes, story themes, relationship dynamics and character types.
sc-fi hard sci-fi action / adventure cyberpunk classics
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Пикник на обочине. Отель «У погибшего альпиниста». Улитка на склоне by Arkady Strugatsky, Boris Strugatsky
Rated: 4.50 of 5 stars · 12 ratingsСталкер Рэд Шухарт, несущий смерть в мир, где живут его жена и дочь. Инопланетяне, волей или неволей творящие путчи на Земле, и инспектор Глебски, неспособный решить: боги они или сволочи. Прекрасные жрицы партеногенеза из Леса - не убивающие, нет, но делающие живое мертвым… И люди, вершащие суд над всем странным, необычным, не таким как принято... -
![Cryptonomicon by Neal Stephenson]()
Cryptonomicon by Neal Stephenson
Rated: 4.23 of 5 stars · 42 ratingsCryptonomicon zooms all over the world, careening conspiratorially back and forth between two time periods—World War II and the present. Our 1940s heroes are the brilliant mathematician Lawrence Waterhouse, crypt analyst extraordinaire, and gung-ho, morphine-addicted marine Bobby Shaftoe...Categorized as:
classics cyberpunk 20th-century action-adventure adult alternate-history asia audiobook -
![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...Categorized as:
classics cyberpunk 20th-century action-adventure ai alternate-history anthologies audiobook -
![Lockdown Tales by Neal Asher]()
Lockdown Tales by Neal Asher
Rated: 4.50 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsBest-selling author Neal Asher was far from idle during the isolation of lockdown; he kept himself occupied in the best way possible: he wrote. And his imagination was clearly in overdrive. Five brand new novellas and novelettes and one novella reworked and expanded from a story first published in 2019... -
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![Spinward Fringe Broadcast 15: Pursuit by Randolph Lalonde]()
Spinward Fringe Broadcast 15: Pursuit by Randolph Lalonde
Rated: 4.67 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsAlice Valent, Noah "Carnie" Lucas and the crew of the Clever Dream are delving into the galactic underworld in search of resistance groups and Mary Reed, an elusive leader amongst the rebels... -
![Foundation by Isaac Asimov]()
Foundation by Isaac Asimov
Rated: 4.17 of 5 stars · 49 ratingsFor 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 of ignorance, barbarism, and warfare that will last thirty thousand years... -
![The Player of Games by Iain M. Banks]()
The Player of Games by Iain M. Banks
Rated: 4.24 of 5 stars · 55 ratingsThe Culture--a humanoid/machine symbiotic society--has thrown up many great Game Players. One of the best is Jernau Morat Gurgeh, Player of Games, master of every board, computer and strategy. Bored with success, Gurgeh travels to the Empire of Azad, cruel & incredibly wealthy, to try their fabulous game, a game so complex, so like life itself, that the winner becomes emperor... -
![The Cyberiad by Stanisław Lem]()
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...Categorized as:
classics cyberpunk 20th-century action-adventure ai anthologies audiobook children-books -
![The Technician by Neal Asher]()
The Technician by Neal Asher
Rated: 4.25 of 5 stars · 16 ratingsThe Theocracy has been dead for 20 years, and the Polity rules on Masada. But the Tidy Squad consists of rebels who cannot accept the new order. Their hate for surviving theocrats is undiminished, and the iconic Jeremiah Tombs is at the top of their hitlist... -
![The Fall of Hyperion by Dan Simmons]()
The Fall of Hyperion by Dan Simmons
Rated: 4.17 of 5 stars · 68 ratingsOn the world called Hyperion the mysterious Time Tombs are opening and seven pilgrims risk their lives to petition the entity called the Shrike - a creature that may well control the fate of all mankind... -
![Polity Agent by Neal Asher]()
Polity Agent by Neal Asher
Rated: 4.22 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsFrom eight hundred years in the future, a runcible gate is opened into the Polity and those coming through it have been sent specially to take the alien maker back to its home civilization in the Small Magellanic cloud. Once these refugees are safely through, the gate itself is rapidly shut downbecause something alien is pursuing them. The gate is then dumped into a nearby sun... -
![Quantum Proliferation: A Near-Future CyberPunk Thriller by Joe Kuster]()
Quantum Proliferation: A Near-Future CyberPunk Thriller by Joe Kuster
Rated: 4.50 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsGetting his revenge felt great. Right up until the bills came due.Alex and his quantum-powered AI companion might have broken free from Apollo’s threat to shut him down, but he is still on the hook for millions he doesn’t have, and the mega-corp isn’t going to forgive and forget... -
![The Last Dancer by Daniel Keys Moran]()
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... -
![Quantum Beginnings by Joe Kuster]()
Quantum Beginnings by Joe Kuster
Rated: 4.38 of 5 stars · 8 ratingsArtificial intelligence was nearly mankind’s last invention. AI took off like a rocket, then when it racked up an impressive death toll, it crashed before it could blossom and took most high-tech industries with it. Resistance and fears became deep-set. Two decades after the infamous Rev. 4.6 incidents, humanity hasn’t quit dreaming of the wealth and power that could be at their fingertips... -
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![Foundation and Chaos by Greg Bear]()
Foundation and Chaos by Greg Bear
Rated: 4.15 of 5 stars · 26 ratingsA major science fiction author continues one of the most famous SF stories of all time... -
![Le jardin quantique by Derek Künsken]()
Le jardin quantique by Derek Künsken
Rated: 4.20 of 5 stars · 15 ratingsThe stunning, critically-acclaimed follow-up to best-selling The Quantum Magician THE ULTIMATE CHASE Days ago, Belisarius pulled off the most audacious con job in history. He’s rich, he’s back with the love of his life, and best of all, he has the Time Gates, arguably the most valuable things in existence... -
![Inhibitor Phase by Alastair Reynolds]()
Inhibitor Phase by Alastair Reynolds
Rated: 4.19 of 5 stars · 16 ratingsMiguel de Ruyter is a man with a past.Fleeing the 'wolves' - the xenocidal alien machines known as Inhibitors - he has protected his family and community from attack for forty years, sheltering in the caves of an airless, battered world called Michaelmas. The slightest hint of human activity could draw the wolves to their home, to destroy everything ... utterly... -
![Diamond Mask by Julian May]()
Diamond Mask by Julian May
Rated: 4.19 of 5 stars · 16 ratingsThe 21st century was drawing to a close, and metapsychic humankind was poised at last to achieve Unity to be admitted into the group mind of the already unified alien races of the Galactic Milieu. But a growing corps of rebels was plotting to keep the people of Earth forever separate in the name of human individuality...Categorized as:
cyberpunk action-adventure adult aliens anthologies female-author fiction hard-sci-fi -
![Her Smoke Rose Up Forever by James Tiptree Jr.]()
Her Smoke Rose Up Forever by James Tiptree Jr.
Rated: 4.19 of 5 stars · 16 ratingsThese 18 darkly complex short stories and novellas touch upon human nature and perception, metaphysics and epistemology, and gender and sexuality, foreshadowing a world in which biological tendencies bring about the downfall of humankind. Revisions from the author's notes are included, allowing a deeper view into her world and a better understanding of her work... -
![Jack the Bodiless by Julian May]()
Jack the Bodiless by Julian May
Rated: 4.17 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsIn the year 2051, Earth stood on the brink of acceptance as full member of the Galactic Milieu, a confederation of worlds spread across the galaxy. Leading humanity was the powerful Remillard family, but somebody--or something--known only as "Fury" wanted them out of the way...Categorized as:
cyberpunk action-adventure aliens anthologies female-author fiction hard-sci-fi high-school -
![Tanis Richards: Operative by M.D. Cooper]()
Tanis Richards: Operative by M.D. Cooper
Rated: 4.33 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsSomeone just killed Tanis Richards and replaced her with an Infiltrator Chameleon.While finally getting some much-needed shore leave on Mars, Tanis gets a message from Harm Ellis with instructions to go to Ceres and hunt for a missing operative . . . except she never makes it.At least, that’s what she’d like her would-be killers to think... -
![Magnificat by Julian May]()
Magnificat by Julian May
Rated: 4.22 of 5 stars · 26 ratingsThe eagerly awaited finale of a modern SF classic--May's Galactic Milieu Trilogy, which began with Jack the Bodiless and continued with Diamond Mask. The mystery involving Jack the Bodiless, the metaphysically talented Dorothea, and Fury, the insane metaphysic creature determined to become sole ruler over all humankind, explodes anew...Categorized as:
cyberpunk action-adventure adult aliens anthologies female-author fiction hard-sci-fi -
![Rika Infiltrator by M.D. Cooper]()
Rika Infiltrator by M.D. Cooper
Rated: 4.63 of 5 stars · 8 ratingsRika's Marauders continue their inexorable advance on the Nietzschean Empire... -
![More Tales of Pirx the Pilot by Stanisław Lem]()
More Tales of Pirx the Pilot by Stanisław Lem
Rated: 4.20 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsCommander Pirx, who drives space vehicles for a living in the galaxy of the future, here faces a new series of intriguing adventures in which robots demonstrate some alarmingly human characteristics. Translated by Louis Iribarne, assisted by Magdalena Majcherczyk and Michael Kandel... -
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![Fuzzies and Other People by H. Beam Piper]()
Fuzzies and Other People by H. Beam Piper
Rated: 4.18 of 5 stars · 11 ratingsThe friendship between human Jack Holloway and the small, golden-furred creatures of the planet Zarathustra has a profound impact on both Holloway and the Fuzzies... -
![BrainWeb by Douglas E. Richards]()
BrainWeb by Douglas E. Richards
Rated: 4.18 of 5 stars · 30 ratingsWhen the Academy Awards become the target of a brutal terror attack, only one man can stave off massive bloodshed.MIND'S EYE, the novel that introduced Nick Hall, was a runaway Kindle bestseller. Now Hall returns in a riveting stand-alone thriller, set in an Internet future that is just around the corner. From the New York Times bestselling author of WIRED... -
![This Alien Shore by C.S. Friedman]()
This Alien Shore by C.S. Friedman
Rated: 4.12 of 5 stars · 17 ratingsSheltered all her life in a corporate satellite in Earth's outer orbit, Jamisia must face the truth about her origins and her role in the power struggle between the Guerans who dominate intergalactic transportation and the rest of Earth's far-flung and genetically mutated colonies who are trying to break the Guera Guild's monopoly... -
![Alien by Alan Dean Foster]()
Alien by Alan Dean Foster
Rated: 4.08 of 5 stars · 24 ratingsBased on the screenplay by Dan O'Bannon. The crew of the spaceship Nostromo wake from cryogenic sleep to distress signals from an unknown planet. One is attacked when they investigate a derelict alien craft. Safely on their way back to Sol, none foresee the real horror about to begin... -
![Neutron Star by Larry Niven]()
Neutron Star by Larry Niven
Rated: 4.08 of 5 stars · 25 ratingsCome to Larry Niven's Universe and meet all the natives: Thrints, Bandersnatchi, Puppeteers -- and a host of other wonderfully created characters.Visit Lookitthat, Down, and Jinx -- indeed, an entire galaxy of planets found only in these stories that trace man's expansion and colonization throughout Known Space.A spectacular cycle of the future . . -
![A Fire Upon the Deep by Vernor Vinge]()
A Fire Upon the Deep by Vernor Vinge
Rated: 4.06 of 5 stars · 35 ratingsAlternate Cover Edition can be found here. A Fire upon the Deep is the big, breakout book that fulfills the promise of Vinge's career to date: a gripping tale of galactic war told on a cosmic scale... -
![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... -
![The Skinner by Neal Asher]()
The Skinner by Neal Asher
Rated: 4.15 of 5 stars · 31 ratingsNeal Asher, whom Tor introduced to the American audience with Gridlinked, takes us deeper into his unique universe with an even more remarkable second novel, The Skinner... -
![Tanis Richards: Blackest Night by M.D. Cooper]()
Tanis Richards: Blackest Night by M.D. Cooper
Rated: 4.67 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsThe MICI sends Tanis on her toughest mission yet.In OuterSol a handshake often comes with a knife in the back.It’s been six months since the events on Europa. During that time, Tanis and the Kirby Jones have been working to uncover who was behind her betrayal and the oligarch’s near assassination... -
![Sycamore 2 by Craig A. Falconer]()
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... -
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![The Final Dawn: by T.W.M. Ashford]()
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...Categorized as:
cyberpunk action-adventure adult book colonization exploration fiction first-contact -
![Early Years by Steven Campbell]()
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... -
![Criptonomicón III: El código Aretusa by Neal Stephenson, Pedro Jorge Romero]()
Criptonomicón III: El código Aretusa by Neal Stephenson, Pedro Jorge Romero
Rated: 4.13 of 5 stars · 8 ratingsEn 1942, Lawrence Pritchard Waterhouse, genio matemático y capitán de la marina estadounidense, colabora con Allan Turing y los especialistas británicos de Bletchley Park en el trabajo de descifrar los códigos secretos de las potencias del Eje...Categorized as:
cyberpunk action-adventure adult book fiction hard-sci-fi historical historical-fiction -
![Snow in the Desert by Neal Asher]()
Snow in the Desert by Neal Asher
Rated: 4.13 of 5 stars · 8 ratingsIn the parched, arid wastes of this far-flung Polity world, Snow is being hunted. With a prize on his head and his life in danger, trust is a luxury he can't afford. Hirald, pale and deadly in the blistering heat, is an ambiguous presence. But who is she? What does she want from him? Mankind has sought Snow's secret for thousands of years, and blood will flow in the desert before it's revealed...Categorized as:
cyberpunk action-adventure adult anthologies fiction futuristic hard-sci-fi military -
![Zeroglyph by Vance Pravat]()
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... -
![Mindscape by Jasper T. Scott]()
Mindscape by Jasper T. Scott
Rated: 4.13 of 5 stars · 8 ratingsNew to the series? Get book 1 here: smarturl.it/excelsiorPEACE ON EARTH BROUGHT A WAR FROM SPACEThirty years after The Last War, Admiral Alexander is back in the Navy. Soon after taking command of an aging battleship, he intercepts an unidentified comm transmission over the dark side of the Moon... -
![Migration by Julie E. Czerneda]()
Migration by Julie E. Czerneda
Rated: 4.08 of 5 stars · 12 ratingsSenior co-administrator of the Norcoast Salmon Research Facility, Dr. Mackenzie Connor was a biologist who studied the spawning habits of salmon. Then, last season, just as she and Dr. Emily Mamani were starting their research, they were interrupted by the arrival of Brymn, the first Dhryn to set foot on Earth...Categorized as:
cyberpunk action-adventure adult aliens anthologies exploration female-author fiction -
![Degrees of Freedom by Simon Morden]()
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]()
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... -
![Beyond the Rift by Peter Watts]()
Beyond the Rift by Peter Watts
Rated: 4.07 of 5 stars · 15 ratingsCombining complex science with skillfully executed prose, these edgy, award-winning tales explore the shifting border between the known and the alien. The beauty and peril of technology and the passion and penalties of conviction merge in narratives that are by turns dark, satiric, and introspective...Categorized as:
cyberpunk action-adventure adult anthologies apocalyptic fiction hard-sci-fi post-apocalyptic -
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![The Summer Queen by Joan D. Vinge]()
The Summer Queen by Joan D. Vinge
Rated: 4.06 of 5 stars · 16 ratingsSequel To The Hugo Award-Winning Bestseller The Snow QueenThe Summer Queen is the extraordinary sequel to one of science fiction's most celebrated novels, The Snow Queen. Set in a fully realized universe of wonders, this spectacular space epic, itself a finalist for the Hugo Award, is one of the most remarkable novels in the field... -
![Zero Point by Neal Asher]()
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... -
![Titan by John Varley]()
Titan by John Varley
Rated: 4.05 of 5 stars · 22 ratingsWhen Cirrocco Jones, captain of the spaceship Ringmaster, and his crew are captured by Gaea, a planet-sized creature that orbits around Saturn, they find themselves inside a bizarre world inhabited by centaurs, harpies, and constantly shifting... -
![Stories Volume 1 by Ray Bradbury]()
Stories Volume 1 by Ray Bradbury
Rated: 4.32 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsOne hundred classic stories from the celebrated author of Fahrenheit 451. In this, the first volume of Ray Bradbury's short stories, some of the author's finest works are published together, among them 'Homecoming', 'Veldt', 'A Sound of Thunder' and 'The Long Rain'...Categorized as:
classics 20th-century action-adventure adult anthologies fiction hard-sci-fi historical -
![Store of the Worlds: The Stories of Robert Sheckley by Robert Sheckley]()
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...Categorized as:
classics 20th-century action-adventure adult anthologies dystopia fiction hard-sci-fi -
![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...
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