100 books like The Diamond Age

Philip K. Dick’s seminal work basically jumpstarted the cyberpunk genre. It gives the genre form and breathes life into its android shell. The scope of Dick’s impact on science fiction and pop culture cannot be overstated.

I love this book because it delves into deep philosophical questions about consciousness, empathy, and what it means to be human. As a cop myself, I love Deckard’s character development, especially as he struggles with the morality of his actions in a world where humans and replicants are virtually indistinguishable.

A Transatlantic Tunnel, Hurrah! is an outlier, if you like. I call it ‘proto-Steampunk’ as it was published before the term was coined in the early 1980s. Regardless, it could be a template for Steampunk when it arrived. In some ways, it’s an alternate history, and it has steam-powered contraptions, big engineering projects, a Victorian tone that still incorporates our modern gaze, cameo appearances by real historical figures, and a rip-roaring narrative. Its rollicking diction is uplifting, and it mirrors the gorgeous stiff upper lip tone of much Victorian fiction to heart-warming effect. It plays with the manners, morals, and decorum of the times to create a world that isn’t the nineteenth century as it was, but as it should have been. The edition I have, purchased many years ago, has a foreword by the notoriously curmudgeonly Auberon Waugh where he admits that he ‘cried like a baby at the… show more.

Tim Powers is one of my favorite science fiction authors, and The Anubis Gates is probably his best book. As always with Powers, it follows a couple of themes besides time travel, including an Egyptian curse and a malicious puppeteer. The travel mechanism takes into account changes in the landscape since the target time. I particularly enjoyed the use of The Beatles’ "Yesterday" as an out-of-time signaling device.

OK, yes, I know. It’s fiction, and the first steampunk novel too. But I think that sometimes fiction can tell us (almost) as much as factual history about the past, if the authors have done their research – and Gibson and Sterling absolutely have. I can even tell just what academic papers they’d been reading!

It’s alternative history Victorian, But I think it tells us a lot about the real Victorians too, because it shows just how much technology mattered to their sense of who they were and what made them different from their parents. And, obviously, it’s a great story.

When encountering a spinster alone at a ball, there is no excuse to forget proper manners, even—or perhaps especially—if one is a vampire. Or werewolf. I adored the voice in this book, which gave that Jane Austen feel, except brimming with humor.

The characters enchanted me as they balanced between high-society manners and the reality of living with (or being) supernatural creatures. The interactions between solidly practical Alexia and exasperated Lord Maccon made it a romance I couldn’t help but root for.

Even if Alexia was soulless, you can’t convince me her werewolf wasn’t her soulmate. A perfect blend of Victorian London and paranormal romance.

I’m a sucker for ‘80s nostalgia, and this pop culture birthday gift picked all the right member berries for me. Games, movies, all the things I loved as a kid, right there in a literary thriller adventure. But, while the throwback to childhood hooked me, the hero’s simple desire to “win the game” and “earn the big prize” kept me invested. After all, that was what childhood and video games were all about.

Add to that the reality of what happens when the hero takes the competitive lead and suddenly gains the utter wrath of his corporate opponents in a David vs. Goliath showdown; what could possibly convince me to put this book down? This one checks all my boxes.

I really like this book because it's a thrilling tech story that gets you thinking about how technology might change our world. The book made me realize how powerful and risky AI can be. I love how fast-paced the story is and how it makes you consider issues of control and freedom.

The way the author talks about technology and its effects on people really got me thinking. The book makes you wonder about how society and technology come together, and it's interesting.

I Have No Mouth and I Must Scream is the first title on my list that is merely a short story. That said, what Harlan Ellison’s Hugo Award-winning sci-fi tale lacks in length, it makes up in complexity. Set in a post-apocalyptic future, the story follows the horrific ordeal of five humans artificially kept alive by AM (Allied Master computer), a programme responsible for the near-extinction of humanity. AM derives its pleasure and purpose from endlessly torturing the last living humans, rendering them immortal and unable to commit suicide. This unique supervillain became my inspiration for the Neon God – a corrupt, mind games-obsessed A.I. announced in my Neon Science-Fiction novel. Ellison’s story, however, conjures up images of desolation and despair I’ve yet to encounter in a work of science fiction.

Readers who like cat protagonists, steampunk, or both, will love Calico Cogg, the main protagonist of this story. I liked the spunky little cat from the moment I met her, and did not want to put this story down. Clever Calico Cogg began life as an ordinary cat but after she was saved from the streets of Ticswyk, a city in an exciting steampunk world, by Lionel Cogg, a kindly inventor, he enhances her with implants that make her stronger and more agile than a regular cat. I found her talents as impressive as her audience did at the beginning of the book. What can Calico Cogg not do, right?  But then, when her beloved human Lionel is kidnapped, Calico's skills are put to the ultimate test! Even with her enhanced skills, it’s a race against time if she’s going to rescue her human! I was on the edge of… show more.

I was hooked from page one and finished reading the book in just a few days. Although this is a complicated story, the description was vivid and clear. The plot was fast-paced and full of actions that will keep you on the edge of your seat most of the time.