Books like 'When Gravity Fails'
Readers who enjoyed When Gravity Fails by George Alec Effinger also liked the following books featuring the same tropes, story themes, relationship dynamics and character types.
historical sc-fi mystery action / adventure 20th century horror cyberpunk crime noir law-enforcement
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11/22/63 by Stephen King
Rated: 4.32 of 5 stars · 79 ratingsOn November 22, 1963, three shots rang out in Dallas, President Kennedy died, and the world changed. What if you could change it back? Stephen King’s heart-stoppingly dramatic new novel is about a man who travels back in time to prevent the JFK assassination—a thousand page tour de force...Categorized as:
classics crime dystopia 20th-century 21st-century action-adventure adult alternate-history -
![The Stories of Ray Bradbury by Ray Bradbury]()
The Stories of Ray Bradbury by Ray Bradbury
Rated: 4.44 of 5 stars · 29 ratingsDrunk, and in charge of a bicycle / introduction by Ray Bradbury--The night --Homecoming--Uncle Einar --The traveler --The lake --The coffin --The crowd --The scythe --There was an old woman --There will come soft rains --Mars is heaven --The silent towns --The earth men --The off season --The million-year picnic --The fox and the forest --Kaleidoscope --The rocket man --Marionettes, inc... -
![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... -
![Only Forward by Michael Marshall Smith]()
Only Forward by Michael Marshall Smith
Rated: 4.22 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsStark lives in Colour, a neighbourhood whose inhabitants like to be co-ordinated with their surroundings – a neighbourhood where spangly purple trousers are admired by the walls of buildings as you pass them. Close by is Sound, where you mustn’t make any, apart from one designated hour a day when you can scream your lungs raw... -
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![The Collected Stories of Philip K. Dick 2: We Can Remember it for You Wholesale by Philip K. Dick]()
The Collected Stories of Philip K. Dick 2: We Can Remember it for You Wholesale by Philip K. Dick
Rated: 4.20 of 5 stars · 20 ratingsMany thousands of readers consider Philip K. Dick the greatest science fiction mind on any planet. Since his untimely death in 1982, interest in Dick's works has continued to mount and his reputation has been further enhanced by a growing body of critical attention. The Philip K. Dick Award is now given annually to a distinguished work of science fiction, and the Philip K... -
![The Neutronium Alchemist by Peter F. Hamilton]()
The Neutronium Alchemist by Peter F. Hamilton
Rated: 4.22 of 5 stars · 36 ratingsNot every fallen angel comes from heaven...The ancient menace has finally escaped from Lalonde, shattering the Confederation's peaceful existence. Those who succumbed to it have acquired godlike powers, but now follow a far from divine gospel as they advance inexorably from world to world... -
![Endymion by Dan Simmons, Guy Abadia]()
Endymion by Dan Simmons, Guy Abadia
Rated: 4.18 of 5 stars · 50 ratingsThe multiple-award-winning SF master returns to the universe that is his greatest success--the world of Hyperion and The Fall of Hyperion--to tell a story of love and memory, triumph and terror in a novel even more magnificent than its predecessors.Two hundred and seventy-four years after the fall of the WorldWeb in Fall of Hyperion, Raoul Endymion is sent on a quest... -
![The Collected Stories of Philip K. Dick 2: We Can Remember it for You Wholesale by Philip K. Dick]()
The Collected Stories of Philip K. Dick 2: We Can Remember it for You Wholesale by Philip K. Dick
Rated: 4.17 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsMany thousands of readers consider Philip K. Dick the greatest science fiction mind on any planet. Since his untimely death in 1982, interest in Dick's works has continued to mount and his reputation has been further enhanced by a growing body of critical attention. The Philip K. Dick Award is now given annually to a distinguished work of science fiction, and the Philip K... -
![The Invincible by Stanisław Lem]()
The Invincible by Stanisław Lem
Rated: 4.10 of 5 stars · 20 ratingsThe Invincible (Polish: Niezwyciężony) is a science fiction novel by Polish writer Stanislaw Lem, published in 1964. The Invincible originally appeared as the title story in Lem's collection Niezwyciężony i inne opowiadania ("The Invincible and Other Stories")... -
![Sherlock Holmes in Orbit by Mike Resnick, Dean Wesley Smith]()
Sherlock Holmes in Orbit by Mike Resnick, Dean Wesley Smith
Rated: 4.08 of 5 stars · 12 ratingsAuthorized by Dame Jean Conan Doyle, this brand-new collection of 26 Sherlock Holmes stories takes place in Holmes' own era, in our present time, and in the future. All the tales contain some science fiction or fantasy element, and all remain true to the spirit and personality of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's most famous and enduring creation...Categorized as:
crime law-enforcement 20th-century action-adventure adult aliens alternate-history anthologies -
![The Best of Connie Willis: Award-Winning Stories by Connie Willis]()
The Best of Connie Willis: Award-Winning Stories by Connie Willis
Rated: 4.07 of 5 stars · 14 ratingsThis new collection of stories from the multi-award-winning author of Doomsday Book and To Say Nothing of the Dog contains:A Letter from the ClearysAt the RialtoDeath on the NileThe Soul Selects Her own SocietyFire WatchInside JobEven the QueenThe Winds of Marble ArchAll Seated on the GroundLast of the WinnebagosTen stories - which have all won the Hugo Award, the Nebula Award or both - are...Categorized as:
classics dystopia 20th-century action-adventure adult aliens anthologies apocalyptic -
![Lady of Hay by Barbara Erskine]()
Lady of Hay by Barbara Erskine
Rated: 4.06 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsThis masterfully crafted first novel tells the spellbinding story of a contemporary woman who discovers her past life as a 12th-century Welsh noblewoman. Erskine's extraordinary romance has been translated into 17 languages and has sold well over a million copies worldwide... -
![The Color Out of Space by H.P. Lovecraft]()
The Color Out of Space by H.P. Lovecraft
Rated: 4.05 of 5 stars · 19 ratingsSet in the fictional town of Arkham, Massachusetts, an unnamed narrator investigates a local area known as the “blasted hearth.” After failing to extract any information from the Arkham locals, the narrator encounters an old man, Ammi Pierce, who relates the story of a farmer who once lived there. The hearth, he claims, was caused by a meteorite that fell onto the farmer’s field in 1882... -
![Doomsday Book by Connie Willis]()
Doomsday Book by Connie Willis
Rated: 4.03 of 5 stars · 32 ratingsFor Kivrin, preparing an on-site study of one of the deadliest eras in humanity's history was as simple as receiving inoculations against the diseases of the fourteenth century and inventing an alibi for a woman traveling alone. For her instructors in the twenty-first century, it meant painstaking calculations and careful monitoring of the rendezvous location where Kivrin would be received... -
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![The Reality Dysfunction by Peter F. Hamilton]()
The Reality Dysfunction by Peter F. Hamilton
Rated: 4.08 of 5 stars · 43 ratingsIn AD 2600 the human race is finally beginning to realize its full potential. Hundreds of colonized planets scattered across the galaxy host a multitude of prosperous and wildly diverse cultures. Genetic engineering has pushed evolution far beyond nature's boundaries, defeating disease and producing extraordinary spaceborn creatures... -
![Grass by Sheri S. Tepper]()
Grass by Sheri S. Tepper
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 24 ratingsGenerations ago, humans fled to the cosmic anomaly known as Grass. But before humanity arrived, another species had already claimed Grass for its own. It too had developed a culture...... Now a deadly plague is spreading across the stars, leaving no planet untouched, save for Grass. But the secret of the planet's immunity hides a truth so shattering it could mean the end of life itself...Categorized as:
classics dystopia spirituality 20th-century action-adventure adult aliens apocalyptic -
![I Sing the Body Electric! & Other Stories by Ray Bradbury]()
I Sing the Body Electric! & Other Stories by Ray Bradbury
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 24 ratingsThe mind of Ray Bradbury is a wonder-filled carnival of delight and terror that stretches from the verdant Irish countryside to the coldest reaches of outer space. Yet all his work is united by one common thread: a vivid and profound understanding of the vast set of emotions that bring strength and mythic resonance to our frail species... -
![I Am Legend and Other Stories by Richard Matheson]()
I Am Legend and Other Stories by Richard Matheson
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 66 ratingsRobert Neville is the last living man on Earth...but he is not alone. Every other man, woman, and child on Earth has become a vampire, and they are all hungry for Neville's blood.By day, he is the hunter, stalking the sleeping undead through the abandoned ruins of civilization. By night, he barricades himself in his home and prays for dawn... -
![The Three Stigmata of Palmer Eldritch by Philip K. Dick]()
The Three Stigmata of Palmer Eldritch by Philip K. Dick
Rated: 4.01 of 5 stars · 41 ratingsIn the overcrowded world and cramped space colonies of the late 21st century, tedium can be endured through the drug Can-D, which enables users to inhabit a shared illusory world. When industrialist Palmer Eldritch returns from an interstellar trip, he brings with him a new drug, Chew-Z... -
![Planet of the Apes by Pierre Boulle]()
Planet of the Apes by Pierre Boulle
Rated: 3.99 of 5 stars · 42 ratingsBefore you see the movie, read the original novel! First published more than thirty-five years ago, Pierre Boulle's chilling novel launched one of the greatest science fiction sagas in motion picture history, from the classic 1968 movie starring Charlton Heston and Roddy McDowell, through four sequels and two television series . . . and now the newest film adaptation directed by Tim Burton... -
![Pollen by Jeff Noon]()
Pollen by Jeff Noon
Rated: 3.94 of 5 stars · 17 ratingsThe sweet death of Coyote, master taxi driver, was only the first. Soon people are sneezing and dying all over Manchester. Telekinetic cop Sybil Jones knows that, like Coyote, they died happy - but even a happy death can be a murder. As exotic blooms begin to flower all over the city, the pollen count is racing towards 2000 and Sybil is running out of time... -
![Rapture: The Big Daddy by Dustin Brubaker]()
Rapture: The Big Daddy by Dustin Brubaker
Rated: 4.17 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsArthur Winter, his wife and daughter move to Rapture with the promise of a better life and more importantly a new start. He intends to work hard and one day be wealthy just like Ryan promises everyone who moves to Rapture. He opens a small business. For a few years things are good, almost idyllic. The good life is shattered when one day his daughter mysteriously vanishes without trace... -
![The Goblin Reservation by Clifford D. Simak]()
The Goblin Reservation by Clifford D. Simak
Rated: 3.99 of 5 stars · 26 ratingsFirst-class entertainment (The Sunday Times) from a classic SF author. En route to an interplanetary research mission, a scientist is abducted by a strange, shadowy race of aliens and taken to a previously uncharted planet, a storehouse of information that would be invaluable--even to an Earth so advanced that time travel allows goblins, dinosaurs, even Shakespeare to coexist...Categorized as:
classics 20th-century action-adventure adult aliens alternate-history audiobook book -
![The Fifth Head of Cerberus by Gene Wolfe]()
The Fifth Head of Cerberus by Gene Wolfe
Rated: 3.98 of 5 stars · 30 ratingsBack in print for the first time in more than a decade, Gene Wolfe's The Fifth Head of Cerberus is a universally acknowledged masterpiece of science fiction by one of the field's most brilliant writers.Far out from Earth, two sister planets, Saint Anne and Saint Croix, circle each other in an eternal dance. It is said a race of shapeshifters once lived here, only to perish when men came... -
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![The Midwich Cuckoos by John Wyndham]()
The Midwich Cuckoos by John Wyndham
Rated: 3.92 of 5 stars · 26 ratingsA genre-defining tale of first contact by one of the twentieth century's most brilliant--and neglected--science fiction and horror writers, whom Stephen King called "the best writer of science fiction that England has ever produced.""In my opinion, [John] Wyndham's chef d'oeuvre . . . a graphic metaphor for the fear of unwanted pregnancies . . -
![The Castle by Franz Kafka]()
The Castle by Franz Kafka
Rated: 3.95 of 5 stars · 49 ratingsTranslated and with a preface by Mark HarmanLeft unfinished by Kafka in 1922 and not published until 1926, two years after his death, The Castle is the haunting tale of K.’s relentless, unavailing struggle with an inscrutable authority in order to gain access to the Castle... -
![The Alien by K.A. Applegate, Katherine Applegate]()
The Alien by K.A. Applegate, Katherine Applegate
Rated: 3.89 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsWhat would you do if you were the only alien trapped on a strange planet? Probably freak out, right? But as an Andalite warrior-cadet, Ax has to be pretty cool about stuff like that. He's been hanging with the Animorphs ever since the Dome ship was destroyed by the Yeerks and his brother, Prince Elfangor, was destroyed by Visser Three.Life on Earth is pretty different for Ax... -
![The Change by K.A. Applegate, Katherine Applegate]()
The Change by K.A. Applegate, Katherine Applegate
Rated: 3.89 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsTobias has pretty much gotten used to his life. He's a red-tailed hawk with the mind of a kid. It was weird when he first got trapped in morph. But now it's almost okay. After all, how many kids actually get the chance to fly?Now Tobias is about to make a very special choice. A choice that the other Animorphs and Ax know nothing about. And it could mean the difference between being a hawk. . -
![In the Walls of Eryx (Fantasy and Horror Classics): With a Dedication by George Henry Weiss by H.P. Lovecraft]()
In the Walls of Eryx (Fantasy and Horror Classics): With a Dedication by George Henry Weiss by H.P. Lovecraft
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 8 ratingsThis early work by H. P. Lovecraft was originally published in 1939. Born in 1890 in Rhode Island, USA, Lovecraft began writing at a very young age, quickly developing a deep and abiding interest in science... -
![The Lost World by Arthur Conan Doyle]()
The Lost World by Arthur Conan Doyle
Rated: 3.93 of 5 stars · 53 ratingsIt's London, 1907. Journalist Edward Malone, rejected by the woman he loves because he is too prosaic, decides to go in search of adventure and fame to prove himself worthy of her. Soon after, he meets Professor George Challenger, a scientist who claims to have discovered a 'lost world' populated by pterodactyls and other prehistoric monsters...Categorized as:
classics 20th-century action-adventure animals audiobook book british-isles children -
![Earth Abides by George R. Stewart]()
Earth Abides by George R. Stewart
Rated: 3.93 of 5 stars · 40 ratingsThe cabin had always been a special retreat for Isherwood Williams, a haven from the demands of society. But one day while hiking, Ish was bitten by a rattlesnake, and the solitude he had so desired took on dire new significance. He was sick for days - although, somehow, he never doubted that he'd live through the ordeal...Categorized as:
classics dystopia near-future 20th-century action-adventure alternate-history apocalyptic audiobook -
![Shade's Children by Garth Nix]()
Shade's Children by Garth Nix
Rated: 3.88 of 5 stars · 24 ratingsThe Key to Survival Rests in the Hands of Shade's ChildrenIf you’re lucky, you live to fight another day.In a futuristic urban wasteland, evil Overlords have decreed that no child shall live a day past his fourteenth birthday. On that Sad Birthday, the child is the object of an obscene harvest resulting in the construction of a machine like creature whose sole purpose is to kill...Categorized as:
cyberpunk dark dystopia 20th-century 21st-century action-adventure aliens apocalyptic -
![The Puppet Masters by Robert A. Heinlein]()
The Puppet Masters by Robert A. Heinlein
Rated: 3.86 of 5 stars · 29 ratingsFirst came the news that a flying saucer had landed in Iowa. Then came the announcement that the whole thing was a hoax. End of story. Case closed.Except that two agents of the most secret intelligence agency in the U.S. government were on the scene and disappeared without reporting back. Then four more follow up agents also disappeared... -
![Flow My Tears, the Policeman Said by Philip K. Dick]()
Flow My Tears, the Policeman Said by Philip K. Dick
Rated: 3.86 of 5 stars · 29 ratingsJason Tavener woke up one morning to find himself completely unknown. The night before he had been the top-rated television star with millions of devoted watchers. The next day he was just an unidentified walking object, whose face nobody recognised, of whom no one had heard, and without the I.D. papers required in that near future... -
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![Fire Watch by Connie Willis]()
Fire Watch by Connie Willis
Rated: 3.83 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsWinner of six Nebula and five Hugo awards, Connie Willis is one of the most acclaimed and imaginative authors of our time. Her startling and powerful works have redefined the boundaries of contemporary science fiction...Categorized as:
dystopia spirituality 20th-century action-adventure adult anthologies female-author fiction -
![House of Stairs by William Sleator]()
House of Stairs by William Sleator
Rated: 3.83 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsOne by one, five sixteen-year-old orphans are brought to a strange building. It is not a prison, not a hospital; it has no walls, no ceiling, no floor. Nothing but endless flights of stairs leading nowhere, except back to a strange red machine. The five must learn to love the machine and let it rule their lives... -
![That Hideous Strength by C.S. Lewis]()
That Hideous Strength by C.S. Lewis
Rated: 3.89 of 5 stars · 41 ratingsThe third novel in the science-fiction trilogy by C.S. Lewis. This final story is set on Earth, and tells of a terrifying conspiracy against humanity.The story surrounds Mark and Jane Studdock, a newly married couple. Mark is a Sociologist who is enticed to join an organisation called N.I.C.E. which aims to control all human life...Categorized as:
classics dystopia spirituality 20th-century action-adventure aliens arthurian audiobook -
![The Eye in the Pyramid by Robert Shea, Robert Anton Wilson]()
The Eye in the Pyramid by Robert Shea, Robert Anton Wilson
Rated: 3.82 of 5 stars · 17 ratingsIt 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 missing, and the case has landed in the lap of a tough, cynical, streetwise New York detective...Categorized as:
classics crime dark dystopia law-enforcement spirituality 20th-century action-adventure -
![Others See Us by William Sleator]()
Others See Us by William Sleator
Rated: 3.67 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsWhen an accidental dunking in toxic waste gives sixteen-year-old Jared the ability to read minds, he discovers horrifying secrets about family members during a summer reunion. Reprint. SLJ...Categorized as:
law-enforcement 20th-century action-adventure book children children-books family fiction -
![The Body Snatchers (Stephen King Horror Library) by Jack Finney, Stephen King]()
The Body Snatchers (Stephen King Horror Library) by Jack Finney, Stephen King
Rated: 3.88 of 5 stars · 39 ratingsThis edition of Finney's horror classic contains an introduction by Stephen King as well as a modernized text... -
![The Minority Report by Philip K. Dick]()
The Minority Report by Philip K. Dick
Rated: 3.84 of 5 stars · 29 ratingsIn the world of The Minority Report, Commissioner John Anderton is the one to thank for the lack of crime. He is the originator of the Precrime System, which uses precogs—people with the power to see into the future—to identify criminals before they can do any harm. Unfortunately for Anderton, his precogs perceive him as the next criminal...Categorized as:
classics crime cyberpunk dystopia law-enforcement near-future 20th-century action-adventure -
![Quicker Than the Eye by Ray Bradbury]()
Quicker Than the Eye by Ray Bradbury
Rated: 3.79 of 5 stars · 14 ratingsThe internationally acclaimed author of The Martian Chronicles, The Illustrated Man, and Fahrenheit 451, Ray Bradbury is a magician at the height of his powers, displaying his sorcerer's skill with twenty-one remarkable stories that run the gamut from total reality to light fantastic, from high noon to long after midnight...Categorized as:
classics 20th-century action-adventure adult anthologies audiobook fiction historical -
![Moonrise by Ben Bova]()
Moonrise by Ben Bova
Rated: 3.79 of 5 stars · 14 ratingsThere is a dream called Moonbase, nurtured by ex-astronaut Paul Stavenger and his wife, Joanna Masterson Stavenger, head of the powerful Masterson Corporation...Categorized as:
dystopia near-future 20th-century action-adventure adult audiobook book colonization -
![Timeline by Michael Crichton]()
Timeline by Michael Crichton
Rated: 3.88 of 5 stars · 66 ratingsIn an Arizona desert, a man wanders in a daze, speaking words that make no sense. Within twenty-four hours he is dead, his body swiftly cremated by his only known associates. Halfway around the world, archaeologists make a shocking discovery at a medieval site. Suddenly they are swept off to the headquarters of a secretive multinational corporation that has developed an astounding technology...Categorized as:
classics crime 20th-century action-adventure adult alternate-history archaeology audiobook -
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![The Visitor by K.A. Applegate, Katherine Applegate]()
The Visitor by K.A. Applegate, Katherine Applegate
Rated: 3.80 of 5 stars · 20 ratingsIf someone told you Earth was under a silent attack, there's a good chance you'd think they were pretty strange. If that same person said Earth's only means of defense depends on the actions and powers of five kids, you'd probably start to look for a quick exit. Guess what? It's all true.Rachel and her friends knew they were in for some pretty strange stuff from the very beginning... -
![The Shrinking Man by Richard Matheson]()
The Shrinking Man by Richard Matheson
Rated: 3.78 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsWhile on holiday, Scott Carey is exposed to a cloud of radioactive spray shortly after he accidentally ingests insecticide. The radioactivity acts as a catalyst for the bug spray, causing his body to shrink at a rate of approximately 1/7 of an inch per day... -
![The House on the Strand by Daphne du Maurier]()
The House on the Strand by Daphne du Maurier
Rated: 3.79 of 5 stars · 24 ratingsDick Young is lent a house in Cornwall by his friend Professor Magnus Lane. During his stay he agrees to serve as a guinea pig for a new drug that Magnus has discovered in his scientific research. When Dick samples Magnus's potion, he finds himself doing the impossible: traveling through time while staying in place, thrown all the way back into Medieval Cornwall... -
![The Android by K.A. Applegate, Katherine Applegate]()
The Android by K.A. Applegate, Katherine Applegate
Rated: 3.81 of 5 stars · 29 ratingsWhen Marco runs into his old friend Erek he doesn't think too much of it. He's got a couple of more important things to do. Like helping to save the world. But then Marco finds out Erek's been hanging with some of the kids at The Sharing. And he starts to think that something just a little weird is going on.So Marco, Jake, and Ax decide to morph and check old Erek out... -
![A Maze of Death by Philip K. Dick]()
A Maze of Death by Philip K. Dick
Rated: 3.80 of 5 stars · 29 ratingsFourteen strangers come to Delmak-O. Thirteen of them were transferred by the usual authorities. One got there by praying. But once they arrived on that treacherous planet, whose very atmosphere seemed to induce paranoia and psychosis, the newcomers tound that even prayer was useless. For on Delmak-O, God is either absent or intent on destroying His creations... -
![Necropolis by Michael Dempsey]()
Necropolis by Michael Dempsey
Rated: 3.50 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsIn a future where death is a thing of the past, how far would you go to solve your own murder?Paul Donner is a NYPD detective struggling with a drinking problem and a marriage on the rocks. Then he and his wife get dead--shot to death in a "random" crime. Fifty years later, Donner is back--revived courtesy of the Shift, a process whereby inanimate DNA is re-activated...Categorized as:
crime cyberpunk dystopia law-enforcement near-future noir 20th-century action-adventure
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