Books like Hard to Be a God
12 books with a reading profile close to Hard to Be a God by Arkady Strugatsky. Deep, outward-looking and thought-provoking; a moderate read.
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1
Foundation
by Isaac Asimov
Also deep and outward-looking · philosophy, science fiction
The Galactic Empire has ruled millions of worlds for twelve thousand years, but its internal systems are rotting.
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2
Flatland: A Romance of Many Dimensions
Also deep and outward-looking · philosophy, science fiction
A Square, a mathematician and resident of a two-dimensional world, narrates his discovery of higher spatial realities.
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3
Roadside Picnic
Also deep · philosophy, science fiction
The narrative follows Redrick Schuhart, a professional stalker who illegally ventures into the Zone, one of several locations on Earth littered with mysterious debris following a brief extraterrestrial visit.
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4
Foundation and Empire
by Isaac Asimov
Also outward-looking · philosophy, science fiction
In the second installment of the Foundation series, Hari Seldon’s mathematical predictions face two distinct threats.
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5
The Word for World Is Forest
philosophy, science fiction
On the planet Athshe, human colonists from Earth have established a logging colony to strip the world of its timber.
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6
Machines like Me
by Ian McEwan
Also deep and thought-provoking · philosophy, science fiction
In a version of 1982 where Britain lost the Falklands War, Alan Turing is alive and artificial intelligence has advanced a long way.
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7
The Island of Dr. Moreau
by H. G. Wells
philosophy, science fiction
After surviving a shipwreck, Edward Prendick is rescued and taken to a remote volcanic island inhabited by the vivisector Dr.
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8
Childhood’s End
Also deep and thought-provoking · philosophy, science fiction
The narrative begins with the sudden arrival of massive alien starships over Earth’s major cities.
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9
Heretics of Dune
Also deep · philosophy, science fiction
Fifteen hundred years after the death of the Tyrant, humanity returns from the Scattering to a transformed galaxy.
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10
Stranger in a Strange Land
Also deep · philosophy, science fiction
Valentine Michael Smith is a human born on Mars and raised by its ancient, non-human inhabitants.
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11
Cat’s Cradle
Also deep · philosophy, science fiction
John, a narrator seeking to document what prominent Americans did on the day Hiroshima was bombed, travels to the impoverished Caribbean island of San Lorenzo.
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12
The Sirens of Titan
Also deep · philosophy, science fiction
Malachi Constant is the wealthiest man in a future America, but his life is redirected by Winston Niles Rumfoord, a space traveler who exists as a wave phenomenon between Earth and Titan.
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