Books like 'Vanishing World'
Readers who enjoyed Vanishing World by Sayaka Murata also liked the following books featuring the same tropes, story themes, relationship dynamics and character types.
contemporary sc-fi horror asia japan dystopia east-asia family literary-fiction poc-mc
-
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:
dystopia literary-fiction magical-realism poc-mc 21st-century action-adventure adult ai -
![Bloodchild and Other Stories by Octavia E. Butler]()
Bloodchild and Other Stories by Octavia E. Butler
Rated: 4.36 of 5 stars · 36 ratingsA perfect introduction for new readers and a must-have for avid fans, this New York Times Notable Book includes "Bloodchild," winner of both the Hugo and the Nebula awards and "Speech Sounds," winner of the Hugo Award...Categorized as:
dystopia literary-fiction magical-realism poc-mc 20th-century adult afrofuturism aliens -
![Fever by Deon Meyer]()
Fever by Deon Meyer
Rated: 4.28 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsNico Storm and his father Willem drive a truck filled with essential supplies through a desolate land. They are among the few in South Africa--and the world, as far as they know--to have survived a devastating virus which has swept through the country... -
![Sacrifice by Thomas A. Watson]()
Sacrifice by Thomas A. Watson
Rated: 4.50 of 5 stars · 8 ratingsBook Three in the Blue Plague series.Mankind is on the verge of extinction. Bruce and the family have continued to pull survivors together after the world succumbed to a virus that altered the genetic make-up of humans. The infected are everywhere, killing everything in their path and what’s most troubling, they’re learning. The family and clan are learning as well... -
-
![Anarchy Rising by Arthur T. Bradley]()
Anarchy Rising by Arthur T. Bradley
Rated: 4.29 of 5 stars · 14 ratingsAnarchy Rising is the 2nd book in Dr. Bradley's Survivalist series. It features eleven full-page illustrations. The 3rd book, Judgment Day, is due out in January of 2014After the worst pandemic in mankind's history, anarchy threatens to break apart the United States. The government is years away from providing even the most basic necessities... -
![The Grace Year by Kim Liggett]()
The Grace Year by Kim Liggett
Rated: 4.14 of 5 stars · 36 ratingsNo one speaks of the grace year. It’s forbidden.In Garner County, girls are told they have the power to lure grown men from their beds, to drive women mad with jealousy. They believe their very skin emits a powerful aphrodisiac, the potent essence of youth, of a girl on the edge of womanhood... -
![I Am Not a Number by Lisa Heathfield]()
I Am Not a Number by Lisa Heathfield
Rated: 4.25 of 5 stars · 12 ratingsThe powerful and heart-wrenching new novel from Lisa Heathfield, award-winning author of Seed and Paper Butterflies. Perfect for fans of Sarah Crossan, Louise O'Neill and Lisa Williamson.The Traditionals have been voted to lead the country, winning people over with talks of healing a broken society, of stronger families and safer streets. They promised a happier future for everyone... -
![The Gone-Away World by Nick Harkaway]()
The Gone-Away World by Nick Harkaway
Rated: 4.12 of 5 stars · 25 ratingsThe Jorgmund Pipe is the backbone of the world, and it's on fire. Gonzo Lubitsch, professional hero and troubleshooter, is hired to put it out, but there's more to the fire, and the Pipe itself, than meets the eye. The job will take Gonzo and his best friend, our narrator, back to their own beginnings... -
![The Pulse by Skylar Finn]()
The Pulse by Skylar Finn
Rated: 4.33 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsAn EMP means the end of the world as they know it for a family who fights to survive. When disaster strikes in the form of an EMP, Charlie's family flees to their homestead. They fortify their ranch and prepare to ride out the worst of the chaos. Unfortunately, the gang of scavengers who followed them from the city have other plans... -
![Replay by Ken Grimwood]()
Replay by Ken Grimwood
Rated: 4.15 of 5 stars · 42 ratingsAt forty-three Jeff Winston is tired of his low-paid, unrewarding job, tired of the long silences at the breakfast table with his wife, saddened by the thought of no children to comfort his old age. But he hopes for better things, for happiness, maybe tomorrow ...But a sudden, fatal heart attack puts paid to that... -
![The Semplica-Girl Diaries (short story) by George Saunders]()
The Semplica-Girl Diaries (short story) by George Saunders
Rated: 4.20 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsNovelette, Free online fiction.From newyorker.com“The Semplica-Girl Diaries” deals with a family in a not-too-distant future (or perhaps an alternate present or past?) that is struggling to keep up with the Joneses—which, in this society, means leasing some unusual garden ornaments... -
![Survival by Thomas A. Watson]()
Survival by Thomas A. Watson
Rated: 4.43 of 5 stars · 11 ratingsMike and Bruce have escaped the hospital and the city. Only to find infected aren't their only worry. With them they have brought survivors back to the farm and that was never part of any plan. How will they feed, clothe and help those who join them. How can those that join the family help them? They traveled through hell to come home but hell is now everywhere... -
![Friday Black by Nana Kwame Adjei-Brenyah]()
Friday Black by Nana Kwame Adjei-Brenyah
Rated: 4.08 of 5 stars · 24 ratingsIn the stories of Adjei-Brenyah’s debut, an amusement park lets players enter augmented reality to hunt terrorists or shoot intruders played by minority actors, a school shooting results in both the victim and gunman stuck in a shared purgatory, and an author sells his soul to a many-tongued god.Adjei-Brenyah's writing will grab you, haunt you, enrage, and invigorate you...Categorized as:
dystopia family literary-fiction magical-realism poc-mc 21st-century adult afrofuturism -
![Traumaland by Josh Silver]()
Traumaland by Josh Silver
Rated: 4.40 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsSeventeen-year-old Eli has been in a near-fatal car crash. As the anniversary looms, his therapist and family struggle to help him deal with the fall out. The accident has left him emotionally numb, with no memory of the months following the crash. Desperate to feel something again, Eli winds up at an underground club called Traumaland. But this is no ordinary nightclub... -
-
![A Medicine for Melancholy and Other Stories by Ray Bradbury]()
A Medicine for Melancholy and Other Stories by Ray Bradbury
Rated: 4.12 of 5 stars · 34 ratingsContents: 1 • In a Season of Calm Weather • (1957) • short story by Ray Bradbury 7 • A Medicine for Melancholy • (1959) • short story by Ray Bradbury 16 • The Wonderful Ice Cream Suit • non-genre • (1958) • short story by Ray Bradbury 39 • Fever Dream • (1948) • short story by Ray Bradbury 46 • The Marriage Mender • (1954) • short story by Ray Bradbury 51 • The Town Where No One Got Off • (1958)...Categorized as:
dystopia literary-fiction 20th-century anthologies audiobook bullying children children-books -
![Lord of All Things by Andreas Eschbach]()
Lord of All Things by Andreas Eschbach
Rated: 4.14 of 5 stars · 27 ratingsWinner of the 2012 Kurd-Laßwitz-Preis for best German science fiction novel, Lord of All Things is also a story about love against all odds.They are just children when they meet for the first time: Charlotte, daughter of the French ambassador, and Hiroshi, a laundress’s son. One day, Hiroshi declares that he has an idea that will change the world...Categorized as:
dystopia literary-fiction action-adventure audiobook book contemporary drama fiction -
![Of Mice and Mooshaber by Ladislav Fuks, Mark Corner]()
Of Mice and Mooshaber by Ladislav Fuks, Mark Corner
Rated: 4.17 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsLadislav Fuks (1923-94) was an outstanding Czech writer whose work, consisting primarily of psychological fiction, explores themes of anxiety and life in totalitarian systems... -
![Depart, Depart! by Sim Kern]()
Depart, Depart! by Sim Kern
Rated: 4.17 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsWhen an unprecedented hurricane devastates the city of Houston, Noah Mishner finds shelter in the Dallas Mavericks’ basketball arena. Though he finds community among other queer refugees, Noah fears his trans and Jewish identities put him at risk with certain "capital-T" Texans. His fears take form when he starts seeing visions of his great- grandfather Abe, who fled Nazi Germany as a boy...Categorized as:
dystopia magical-realism fiction lgbtq horror trans-mc sci-fi pollution-climate-change -
![Under the Blue by Oana Aristide]()
Under the Blue by Oana Aristide
Rated: 4.10 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsA road trip beneath clear blue skies and a blazing sun: a reclusive artist is forced to abandon his home and follow two young sisters across a post-pandemic Europe in search of a safe place. Is this the end of the world?Meanwhile two computer scientists have been educating their baby in a remote location. Their baby is called Talos, and he is an advanced AI program...Categorized as:
dystopia literary-fiction fiction sci-fi apocalyptic ai post-apocalyptic contemporary -
![What You Make It by Michael Marshall Smith]()
What You Make It by Michael Marshall Smith
Rated: 4.08 of 5 stars · 12 ratingsThe first ever collection of Michael Marshall Smith’s award-winning short stories. The first piece of fiction Smith ever wrote – a short story called The Man Who Drew Cats – won the World Fantasy award. It’s included here along with many others, some unpublished, which show the incredible versatility of one of the most exciting writers working in Britain today... -
![Sisters of the Revolution: A Feminist Speculative Fiction Anthology by Ann VanderMeer, Eleanor Arnason]()
Sisters of the Revolution: A Feminist Speculative Fiction Anthology by Ann VanderMeer, Eleanor Arnason
Rated: 4.08 of 5 stars · 12 ratingsSisters of the Revolution gathers a highly curated selection of feminist speculative fiction (science fiction, fantasy, horror and more) chosen by one of the most respected editorial teams in speculative literature today, the award-winning Ann and Jeff VanderMeer...Categorized as:
dystopia magical-realism adult aliens anthologies contemporary female-author female-mc -
![Dreamland by Rosa Rankin-Gee]()
Dreamland by Rosa Rankin-Gee
Rated: 4.07 of 5 stars · 14 ratings'You said that you would come back. You looked me in the eye and said that. Well, if you had, this is what you would have seen: soft wood, black cracks, fridges in the road. The broken spines of old rides at Dreamland.'In the coastal resort of Margate, hotels lie empty and sun-faded 'For Sale' signs line the streets. The sea is higher - it's higher everywhere - and those who can are moving inland... -
![The Wall by Marlen Haushofer]()
The Wall by Marlen Haushofer
Rated: 4.05 of 5 stars · 20 ratingsFirst published to acclaim in Germany, The Wall chronicles the life of the last surviving human on earth, an ordinary middle-aged woman who awakens one morning to find that everyone else has vanished. Assuming her isolation to be the result of a military experiment gone awry, she begins the terrifying work of survival and self-renewal...Categorized as:
dystopia literary-fiction magical-realism 20th-century action-adventure adult animals apocalyptic -
![The Marrow Thieves by Cherie Dimaline]()
The Marrow Thieves by Cherie Dimaline
Rated: 4.04 of 5 stars · 26 ratingsIn a futuristic world ravaged by global warming, people have lost the ability to dream, and the dreamlessness has led to widespread madness. The only people still able to dream are North America's Indigenous people, and it is their marrow that holds the cure for the rest of the world. But getting the marrow, and dreams, means death for the unwilling donors...Categorized as:
dystopia family magical-realism poc-mc 21st-century action-adventure apocalyptic audiobook -
-
![Pastoralia by George Saunders]()
Pastoralia by George Saunders
Rated: 4.10 of 5 stars · 35 ratingsWith this new collection, George Saunders takes us even further into the shocking, uproarious and oddly familiar landscape of his imagination.The stories in Pastoralia are set in a slightly skewed version of America, where elements of contemporary life have been merged, twisted, and amplified, casting their absurdity-and our humanity-in a startling new light...Categorized as:
dystopia literary-fiction magical-realism 20th-century 21st-century adult anthologies audiobook -
![The Invention of Morel by Adolfo Bioy Casares, Jorge Luis Borges]()
The Invention of Morel by Adolfo Bioy Casares, Jorge Luis Borges
Rated: 4.08 of 5 stars · 36 ratingsJorge Luis Borges declared The Invention of Morel a masterpiece of plotting, comparable to The Turn of The Screw and Journey to the Center of the Earth. Set on a mysterious island, Bioy’s novella is a story of suspense and exploration, as well as a wonderfully unlikely romance, in which every detail is at once crystal clear and deeply mysterious...Categorized as:
literary-fiction magical-realism poc-mc 20th-century action-adventure adult book classics -
![The Fall by Thomas A. Watson]()
The Fall by Thomas A. Watson
Rated: 4.20 of 5 stars · 13 ratingsWhat would you do in an apocalyptic event? How would your family and friends survive? Could you survive? Join two families on a journey through hell on earth as they try to save themselves and maybe mankind.A super virus has been unleashed on mankind. Our way of life and the modern day speed of travel spread the virus from the jungles of Africa around the world in days... -
![Dandelion Wine by Ray Bradbury]()
Dandelion Wine by Ray Bradbury
Rated: 4.03 of 5 stars · 53 ratingsRay Bradbury's moving recollection of a vanished golden era remains one of his most enchanting novels. Dandelion Wine stands out in the Bradbury literary canon as the author's most deeply personal work, a semi-autobiographical recollection of a magical small-town summer in 1928...Categorized as:
family literary-fiction magical-realism 20th-century action-adventure audiobook bildungsroman book -
![Apex Magazine Issue 99 by Jason Sizemore, Rebecca Roanhorse]()
Apex Magazine Issue 99 by Jason Sizemore, Rebecca Roanhorse
Rated: 4.14 of 5 stars · 16 ratingsApex Magazine is a monthly science fiction, fantasy, and horror magazine featuring original, mind-bending short fiction from many of the top pros of the field. New issues are released the first Tuesday of every month.This month we celebrate Indigenous American fantasists with guest editor Amy H. Sturgis... -
![Vurt by Jeff Noon]()
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 Perseid Collapse by Steven Konkoly]()
The Perseid Collapse by Steven Konkoly
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 16 ratingsTHE PERSEID COLLAPSE:America is on the verge of collapse, in the thrilling post-apocalyptic sequel to The Jakarta Pandemic.In 2019, an inconceivable attack against America's infrastructure will unleash a human darkness over the United States--with a vast appetite for chaos and violence...Categorized as:
dystopia literary-fiction action-adventure adult apocalyptic audiobook book conspiracies -
![2666, Part 1: The Part About The Critics by Roberto Bolaño]()
2666, Part 1: The Part About The Critics by Roberto Bolaño
Rated: 4.14 of 5 stars · 14 ratingsComposed in the last two years of Bolaño's life, 2666 has been greeted as his greatest achievement, surpassing even his previous work in its strangeness,beauty, and scope. Its throng of unforgettable characters include academics and convicts, an American sportswriter, an elusive German novelist, and a teenage student caring for her widowed, mentally unstable father... -
![My Death by Lisa Tuttle]()
My Death by Lisa Tuttle
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 12 ratingsA widowed writer begins to work on a biography of a novelist and artist—and soon uncovers bizarre parallels between her life and her subject’s—in this chilling and singularly strange novella by a contemporary master of horror and fantasy.The narrator of Lisa Tuttle’s uncanny novella is a recent widow, a writer adrift...Categorized as:
literary-fiction magical-realism horror fiction fantasy contemporary 21st-century folk-horror -
![All These Monsters by Amy Tintera]()
All These Monsters by Amy Tintera
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsFrom New York Times best-selling author Amy Tintera, a high-stakes sci-fi adventure about a teen girl who will do anything to escape her troubled home—even if that means joining a dangerous monster-fighting squad. Perfect for fans of Warcross and Renegades. Seventeen-year-old Clara is ready to fight back... -
-
![Shadows of Death by H.P. Lovecraft]()
Shadows of Death by H.P. Lovecraft
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsDescend into the nerve-shattering realm of America’s master of horror, H. P. Lovecraft–to a dank place where gloomy maelstroms await the unwary, where the unnatural is surpassed only by the unspeakable, and where all pleasure is perverse. Take a chance. . . . All you can lose is your sanity...Categorized as:
family literary-fiction adult anthologies classics contemporary cosmic-horror fiction -
![Through the Night Like a Snake: Latin American Horror Stories by Tomás Downey, Mariana Enríquez]()
Through the Night Like a Snake: Latin American Horror Stories by Tomás Downey, Mariana Enríquez
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsA boy explores the abandoned house of a dead fascist…A leaked sex tape pushes a woman to the brink…A sex worker discovers a dark secret among the nuns of the pampas…The mountain fog is not what it seems…Kermit the Frog dreams of murder…In ten chilling stories from an ensemble cast of contemporary Latin American writers, including Mariana Enriquez (tr. Megan McDowell), Camila Sosa Villlada (tr...Categorized as:
literary-fiction poc-mc horror fiction anthologies contemporary paranormal latinx-mc -
![The Trial by Franz Kafka]()
The Trial by Franz Kafka
Rated: 3.96 of 5 stars · 42 ratingsWritten in 1914 but not published until 1925, a year after Kafka’s death, The Trial is the terrifying tale of Josef K., a respectable bank officer who is suddenly and inexplicably arrested and must defend himself against a charge about which he can get no information...Categorized as:
dystopia literary-fiction magical-realism 20th-century adult audiobook book classics -
![Wanderers by Chuck Wendig]()
Wanderers by Chuck Wendig
Rated: 4.01 of 5 stars · 36 ratingsShana wakes up one morning to discover her little sister in the grip of a strange malady. She appears to be sleepwalking. She cannot talk and cannot be woken up. And she is heading with inexorable determination to a destination that only she knows. But Shana and her sister are not alone. Soon they are joined by a flock of sleepwalkers from across America, on the same mysterious journey...Categorized as:
dystopia family literary-fiction 21st-century action-adventure ai apocalyptic audiobook -
![Octavia's Brood: Science Fiction Stories from Social Justice Movements by Adrienne Maree Brown, Walidah Imarisha]()
Octavia's Brood: Science Fiction Stories from Social Justice Movements by Adrienne Maree Brown, Walidah Imarisha
Rated: 3.94 of 5 stars · 16 ratingsWhenever we envision a world without war, without prisons, without capitalism, we are producing visionary fiction. Organizers and activists envision, and try to create, such worlds all the time. This book brings twenty of them together in the first anthology of short stories to explore the connections between radical speculative fiction and movements for social change...Categorized as:
dystopia literary-fiction magical-realism poc-mc 21st-century adult afrofuturism anthologies -
![Good Night, Sleep Tight by Brian Evenson]()
Good Night, Sleep Tight by Brian Evenson
Rated: 4.13 of 5 stars · 8 ratings“PERHAPS TOMORROW I WILL WAKE UP ANOTHER PERSON. PERHAPS TOMORROW I WILL WAKE UP NOT A PERSON AT ALL.”From the “master of literary horror” (GQ) comes a collection of new stories tracing the limits and consequences of artificial intelligence and “post-human” relationships... -
![The Trial by Franz Kafka, Arthur H. Samuelson]()
The Trial by Franz Kafka, Arthur H. Samuelson
Rated: 3.96 of 5 stars · 71 ratingsWritten in 1914 but not published until 1925, a year after Kafka's death, The Trial is one of the most important novels of the twentieth century: the terrifying tale of Josef K., a respectable bank officer who is suddenly and inexplicably arrested and must defend himself against a charge about which he can get no information...Categorized as:
dystopia literary-fiction magical-realism 20th-century absurdism adult audiobook book -
![Memories of the Future by Sigizmund Krzhizhanovsky]()
Memories of the Future by Sigizmund Krzhizhanovsky
Rated: 3.92 of 5 stars · 12 ratingsWritten in Soviet Moscow in the 1920s—but considered too subversive even to show to a publisher—the seven tales included here attest to Sigizmund Krzhizhanovsky’s boundless imagination, black humor, and breathtaking irony: a man loses his way in the vast black waste of his own small room; the Eiffel Tower runs amok; a kind soul dreams of selling “everything you need for suicide”; an absentminded...Categorized as:
dystopia literary-fiction magical-realism 20th-century adult anthologies classics communism -
![More Than This by Patrick Ness]()
More Than This by Patrick Ness
Rated: 3.93 of 5 stars · 34 ratingsA boy drowns, desperate and alone in his final moments. He dies. Then he wakes, naked and bruised and thirsty, but alive. How can this be? And what is this strange deserted place?As he struggles to understand what is happening, the boy dares to hope...Categorized as:
dystopia family magical-realism action-adventure afterlife apocalyptic audiobook book -
![Pitch Dark by Courtney Alameda]()
Pitch Dark by Courtney Alameda
Rated: 3.90 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsLost to time, Tuck Morgan and his crew have slept in stasis aboard the USS John Muir for centuries. Their ship harbors a chunk of Earth, which unbeknownst to them, is the last hope for the failing human race.Laura Cruz is a shipraider searching the galaxy for the history that was scattered to the stars... -
-
![One of the Boys by Jayne Cowie]()
One of the Boys by Jayne Cowie
Rated: 3.90 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsIf you could test your son for a gene that predicts violence, would you do it?Antonia and Bea are sisters, and doting mothers to their sons. But that is where their similarities end.Antonia had her son tested to make sure he didn’t possess the "violent" M gene.Bea refuses to let her son take the test. His life should not be determined by a positive or negative result... -
![Uncanny by Sarah Fine]()
Uncanny by Sarah Fine
Rated: 3.88 of 5 stars · 8 ratingsTwo sisters. One death. No memories.Cora should remember every detail about the night her stepsister, Hannah, fell down a flight of stairs to her death, especially since her Cerepin—a sophisticated brain-computer interface—may have recorded each horrifying moment. But when she awakens after that night, her memories gone, Cora is left with only questions—and dread of what the answers might mean... -
![A Better World by Sarah Langan]()
A Better World by Sarah Langan
Rated: 3.88 of 5 stars · 8 ratingsThe author of Good Neighbors , “one of the creepiest, most unnerving deconstructions of American suburbia” (NPR), returns with a provocative and disconcerting novel about a woman questioning her new home in an exclusive company town after a night out goes terribly wrong.Welcome to Plymouth Valley... -
![How Best to Avoid Dying by Owen Egerton]()
How Best to Avoid Dying by Owen Egerton
Rated: 3.83 of 5 stars · 6 ratings[i]Lazarus Dying[/i]: the man Jesus raised from the dead is alive and living in New York City. [i]The Fecalist[/i]: an author whose best selling work is his latest poop. [i]Christmas[/i]: she loves you, you love her, she has a gun in your mouth. Welcome to the award-winning short fiction of Owen Egerton...Categorized as:
dystopia literary-fiction magical-realism adult anthologies comedy contemporary drama -
![The Fertile Ones: A Dystopian Novel by Kate L. Mary]()
The Fertile Ones: A Dystopian Novel by Kate L. Mary
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsAra Murphy never wanted to be a mother, but the law is clear. She’s fertile, which means her body belongs to the human race.It’s the year is 2067, and the world has been ravaged by pandemics. The population has dwindled, and fertile women are a rare and valuable commodity. In hopes of preserving our species, the United States has passed the Fertility Act, forcing all women to be screened... -
![Freezing Point by Grace Hamilton]()
Freezing Point by Grace Hamilton
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 8 ratingsIn the dawn of a new Ice Age, families everywhere are taking to the road to escape the frigid landscape—but you can’t outrun the cold. No one could have predicted the terrifying impact of human interference in the Arctic. Shifts in the Earth's crust have led to catastrophe and now the North Pole is located in the mid-Atlantic, making much of the eastern United States an unlivable polar hellscape...
Or - use our amazing romance book finder to get recommendations based on your favorite content tropes and themes. Mix and match at will.
