100 books like The Child Garden

Deep space can be scary, but I consider deep caves to be much more terrifying.

The Luminous Dead has an eerie mission to the depths of a cave on a distant exoplanet—the worst of both worlds! This book follows a non-regulation diver on a dangerous job shrouded in secrets and the enigmatic, untrustworthy voice in her helmet guiding her through the darkness.

Unsurprisingly, it doesn’t take long for the characters to descend into antagonism and uncertainty about whether the other things lurking in the cave are figments of paranoia or dangerously real. If you like feeling queasy, secondhand claustrophobia, The Luminous Dead is for you.

In a sparsely populated world settling into ruin, Makepeace patrols a city’s remains alone as the last sheriff. It isn’t until the shocking intrusion of people from the outside world that she realizes she will need to leave her quiet orbit and grapple with the problem of wider humanity.

One of the things I love best about this novel is how far into it you get before it’s even specified that Makepeace is a woman. Her thoughts, dreams, and ambitions are the defining points of her character rather than her gender and she won’t let any of the people around her forget it. This is a rough novel of survival but Makepeace is as tough as they come, at times providing the only positive human note.

Mattie is an automaton who has studied alchemy to earn independence from her creator, a man who treats her at times like a machine and at times as a woman, and who refuses to give up his control over her. She innocently takes a job to help the city’s gargoyles, never suspecting it will lead her down a path to dark political intrigue, passion, and the worst betrayal of all.

This book is deeply charming and lovely, a pleasure to read whether it’s a description of the city or a scene of action and feelings — of which there are many; Mattie’s rich interior world and her determination bring this story to life. Despite her relative lack of power she is not a woman to be underestimated.

Shannon is part of a clandestine division within the Navy utilizing possible versions of the future to solve crimes. But all timelines lead to Terminus, the end of humanity, and whenever Shannon dips into the future Terminus creeps inevitably nearer.

Leaning more heavily into science fiction is The Gone World, another complex but deeply rewarding novel. The story is grounded by Shannon’s lyrical, mournful perspective and her fierce determination to fight the injustice of a murder no matter where it takes her.

Germ is an intriguing look at how a plague can be weaponized. We follow the bio-terrorist act of a modified form of Ebola that targets people of a specific genetic makeup. Ebola scares the hell out of me because it really exists and pockets of it still spring up around the world. I loved this book for how descriptive it was and how real it felt. This book isn’t so well known, but it deserves more attention. If you liked The Andromeda Strain or if you just want a somewhat gross (ebola is a messy disease!), thriller-type story you’ll enjoy this one.

The Morningstar Strain takes us around the world and block-by-block across America. Let me say this. This is not high-concept literary artwork. Z. A. Recht is not William Faulkner or Flannery O'Connor. Recht knows what he does well, though, and he sticks to it. He puts you in the setting. Great detail work. Have you fantasized about scavenging in the zombie apocalypse? Recht puts you there. 

I still feel that urge from time to time to join Army General Francis Sherman and Dr. Anna Demilio in their continent-spanning quest for the zombie cure. They may be the same old characters saying the same old dialogue you find in every Jerry Bruckheimer film ... but. That serves as something as a bridge from the familiar to the apocalyptic.         

So, join General Sherman, Dr. Demilio, and the other survivors as they hitch a ride on the island-hopping USS Ramage to the Pacific… show more.

Parasitism of other species is probably the most common way of life on earth. It is not uncommon for a species to have tens to hundreds of parasites that exploit it. Viruses have fine-tuned the parasitic lifestyle to the extreme, attacking just about all other forms of life and fueling the evolution of counter-defenses in their hosts. Viruses co-opt the genetic machinery of their hosts for just about everything they need to replicate themselves. Carl Zimmer’s book is not only the best introduction I know to the remarkable diversity of viruses, it also is written with the crystal clear, elegant prose and solid scientific grounding that are the hallmarks of all his writing. 

In Zone One, the frantic oh-*expletive* bloodbath phase of a zombie apocalypse has clicked over into something like a new normal. In lower Manhattan, our hero “Mark Spitz” mops up straggler zombies seemingly stuck in mindless loops from their past lives and reflects on the transformed yet familiar landscape. Zone One made me realize how specific streets are encoded in my own memories, and made me want to be more present in my own life, to move through the world less like a zombie.

I love the way that Grant has written this book as part American political conspiracy theory, part zombie apocalypse. It certainly takes the political drama into a whole new place!

I liked the mechanics of how the world came to be infected with zombies and the “living with Zombies” society Grant has constructed, which I found to be well thought-out, researched, and believable. I loved the surprises in this book, the unusual relationships that Georgia Mason has with her brother and with their parents, and the general quirks and habits of her and her brother Shaun.

I enjoyed the criticisms that the book makes, particularly around journalism, religion, social media, and politics, and perhaps on the American psyche of distrust towards authority, while appreciated that it did not descend into full-blown conspiracy theory paranoia.

This book characterizes the discovery and spread HIV and AIDS. Shits an investigative journalist provides an extensive look into the disease itself, the politics and politicians battling to control or ignoring the disease. Also discussed are the events that shaped the pandemic leading to its expansion or its control.