100 books like Cog

Hounded is the first book in the Iron Druid series, about two-thousand-year-old druid Atticus O'Sullivan, who lives in present-day Arizona.

Atticus is a fun character, with just the right combination of snark, power, and oh-crap-I’m-in-over-my-head-again panic. But his companion, an Irish Wolfhound named Oberon, steals every scene he’s in.

Oberon and Atticus share a telepathic bond, which means we get to hear Oberon’s thoroughly dog-centric perspective on everything from the great squirrel conspiracy to the eternal quest for treats. The author clearly has a love and appreciation for dogs.

Oberon is a great partner and a loveable character. In short, Oberon is a Very Good Boy.

Mona is a fourteen-year-old wizard with power over bread and other baked goods.

She has a sourdough starter named Bob for a familiar. Do I need to say more?

Well, there’s more. Mona creates animated gingerbread companions, bread golems, and more. It’s a fun and creative and thoroughly entertaining idea. The story can be dark at times, but how can you resist a book with lines like, “Death by sourdough starter. Not a good way to go.”

This is one of my favorite books, period. I love the warmth and heart Kagan puts into her writing.

Hellspark is a far-future science fictional murder mystery set on an alien world. Tocohl Susumo, an expert on languages and cultures, is sent to investigate. The suspects—the planetary survey team—are a powder keg of fascinating, but clashing, cultures and backgrounds.

Helping Tocohl is her ship’s AI, Lord Margaret Lynn, aka “Maggie.” Maggie is, quite simply, the best. She’s childlike in many ways, but also loyal and clever and so much fun. The relationship between Tocohl and Maggie reminds you of a loving parent-child partnership.

Starbridge is another old favorite. The book is written with heart and warmth. It’s the kind of story that always makes me feel better when I finish reading.

Mahree Burroughs is almost seventeen, and on her way to Earth from her colony world when their ship gets caught up in a first contact situation. As is often the case, secrets and misunderstandings abound, and things get messy.

While the alien Simiu is interesting, one of my favorite characters is the sentient fungus Mahree meets and names Doctor Blanket. Doctor Blanket doesn’t come along until later in the book, but he’s great: wise and curious and simultaneously old and youthful.

I might be cheating a bit on this one; half of the story is told by Dog, yes, but the other half is told by Robot. This is a wordless graphic novel, and it is a deeply moving story about the seasons of friendship.

Robot Dreams shows us just how fragile our dearest relationships can be if we don’t lovingly and tenderly take care of them. This story shows the bliss and joy of a new friendship, the pain of a friendship ending, and the growth it takes to move forward.

I love this book with my whole heart, and I believe it is the perfect graphic novel. It is now an Oscar-nominated animated feature, so I’m not alone in my love of this beautiful story. 

These educational comics are perfect for kids who devour non-fiction books and graphic novels! I especially liked this book because it touches on drones as well as typical robots. I read this book when I was doing research for my own book, T-Bone the Drone, and found it extremely helpful in seeing how another author explained robotics in a kid-friendly way.

Autonomous is one of those books you finish reading and then just want to sit and stare off into space for a while.

The story takes place in a future world where Big Pharma runs basically the entire show. The main character is a drug pirate, fabricating expensive drugs to provide them to the population on the cheap… but when one of her fabbed drugs causes some horrible side effects, it kicks off a domino effect of chaos and death.

Other characters include a military agent sent to hunt our drug pirate down and his robotic, AI-powered partner. Every character is riddled with absolutely deal-breaking flaws, so if you’re looking for heroes, you’ve come to the wrong place. The story raises questions about morality, freedom, AI, and more. I can’t recommend it enough! 

Mademoiselle Geraldine’s Finishing Academy for Young Ladies of Quality. A finishing school? Um, ye-ees. For spies. Spies? Uh-huh. On a dirigible. A—what? In a culture where vampires and werewolves are part of society. Wrapped in a huge steampunk bow. Etiquette and espionage. Curtsies and conspiracies. Waistcoats and weaponry. Manners and mutiny. What could possibly go wrong? (What can’t?) Gail Carriger’s Parasolverse is their entirely diabolically magical setting. Her writing is laugh-out-loud clever, witty as Noel Coward, deeply principled, and there are tons more. I started with the Alexia Tarabotti seven and read every single one. I’d do it again, too. Her heroines make my heart go pitter-pat. With glee.

I fell in love with Murderbot in the first paragraph. Every book afterward in the series just made me love it more.

The hero of the Murderbot Diaries is part robot, part humanoid, and all done-with-everyone’s-crap. Everyone seemed to think that if a construct like it gained its freedom, it would rampage around killing everyone. Instead, it just wanted to be left alone to watch some good shows, and read a book or ten. Been there.

I cracked up at the sarcasm, got pulled in by the action, and felt the compassion that drove Murderbot to jump into the mouth of a deadly creature to save a human’s life. I went through the angst of Murderbot learning how to connect with people without compromising itself, and identified all too well.

In Turned On, Kate Devlin takes us on a ride through the history of sex and technology, from the Ancient Greeks to modern sex robots. 

This book is written by a technologist with an acute sense of the human. Not strictly a book about human rights, Devlin raises human rights and ethical considerations around sex tech as well as offering optimism and imagination about the ways that we could enhance our intimate lives with technology. 

The way we experience sex and intimacy is at the heart of our right to private lives, Turned On offers an erudite, funny, and sensitive exploration of what technology could mean for us.