Books like “Schismatrix”

What to read after “Schismatrix” by Bruce Sterling: a list matched by tropes, mood and atmosphere. Under each book you will see what it has in common.

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1
The Diamond Age
Neal Stephenson · 1995
From the same world: “Cyberpunk”
- Cyberpunk
In a world split between rich enclaves and crowded cities, an engineer builds an interactive book meant to teach his daughter. It changes hands until it reaches Nell, an orphan whose slow education becomes the key to something larger.
2
The Stars My Destination
Alfred Bester · 1956
From the same world: “Cyberpunk” and “Space Opera”
Gully Foyle survives a wrecked spaceship and swears revenge on the vessel that left him for dead. His hunt across a future where people can teleport by thought turns him into a wealthy, dangerous man chasing a weapon that could end the war.
3
Hyperion
Dan Simmons · 1989
Similar atmosphere: “Philosophical”
- Space Opera
- Philosophical
On the eve of war, seven pilgrims travel to the planet Hyperion to seek the Shrike, a deadly creature of legend. Each tells the story of what brought them there, and their tales circle the fate that awaits them at the Time Tombs.
4
Neuromancer
William Gibson · 1984
From the same world: “Cyberpunk”
- Cyberpunk
- Morally Grey Character
Case is a washed-up computer hacker living in a Japanese city, until a mysterious employer hires him for one more job. Working with a street samurai and a woman with mirrored eyes, he is drawn into a scheme far larger than the theft he was promised.
5
Snow Crash
Neal Stephenson · 1992
From the same world: “Cyberpunk”
- Cyberpunk
- Morally Grey Character
In a future Los Angeles split between franchised city-states, a hacker and a teenage skateboard courier chase a drug that works on both computers and human minds. The trail runs from the neon Metaverse to ancient languages and a plan to reshape civilisation.
6
The Quantum Thief
Hannu Rajaniemi · 2010
Similar atmosphere: “Philosophical”
- Space Opera
- Philosophical
Jean le Flambeur is a thief imprisoned in a city where residents trade their memories and time. He is offered his freedom if he can pull off one more impossible heist, with a warrior from a distant society watching his every move.
7
A Fire Upon the Deep
Vernor Vinge · 1992
From the same world: “Space Opera”
- Space Opera
In a galaxy where thought and technology work differently at its edges, a human expedition releases an ancient menace from a lost archive. Two children stranded on a medieval world and a crew racing to stop the Blight are drawn into the same crisis.
8
Ancillary Justice
Ann Leckie · 2013
From the same world: “Space Opera”
- Space Opera
- Morally Grey Character
A soldier who was once a starship's artificial intelligence wakes in a single human body. Cut off from her many selves, she crosses a collapsing empire to find the officer who destroyed everything she was, and to settle a debt of revenge.
9
Foundation
Isaac Asimov · 1951
Similar atmosphere: “Philosophical”
- Space Opera
- Philosophical
As the Galactic Empire begins to decay, mathematician Hari Seldon foresees thirty thousand years of chaos. To shorten the coming dark age he gathers scholars on the remote world Terminus, where the Foundation must survive plots, warlords and its own predictions.
10
The Collapsing Empire
John Scalzi · 2017
From the same world: “Space Opera”
- Space Opera
The Interdependency is bound together by the Flow, a network of routes that made the empire rich. When a scientist proves the Flow is shifting, an heir to the throne must hold together feuding houses before trade and power collapse.
11
A Memory Called Empire
Arkady Martine · 2019
From the same world: “Space Opera”
- Space Opera
Ambassador Mahit Dzmare arrives at the heart of the Teixcalaanli Empire to replace a predecessor who died under unclear circumstances. Guided by his recorded memories, she must survive court politics, assassins, and a capital that hides its own plans.
12
The Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet
Becky Chambers · 2014
From the same world: “Space Opera”
- Space Opera
A young woman joins the crew of a tunnelling ship that builds wormholes between distant worlds. The long haul to a new client planet is told through its mismatched crew, a pilot, a doctor, an engineer and an AI, all looking for somewhere to belong.