Have you ever watched a show and you want to read more content, novels, stories, or shows like the one you just watched? We do, and that is why we are trying to fill the space left by the end of the first reason of The Last of Us, and we made a list about that.

However, as I start the Netflix show Black Mirror, I know that I will need to fill another gap in my soul. Why should I restrict my cravings for sci-fi and horror and the realization that we are going directly to our demise as a society, to one single TV show? No! I need more! So, let us begin with this list of books like the Series Black Mirror!

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The Red: First Light by Linda Nagata

In these novels, we follow the story of a group of soldiers who are genetically engineered to fight in a war against an alien race. This saga has a similar premise as the “Men Against Fire” episode.

Reality TV and advanced technology make for high drama in this political thriller that combines the military action of Zero Dark Thirty with the classic science fiction of The Forever War.

The Forever War by Joe Haldeman

In this story, we see Joe Haldeman and his take on how to get soldiers to be more disconnected. Based on the author’s experience in Vietnam, this novel is regarded as one of the greatest military science fiction novels ever written.

It deals with capturing the alienation that servicemen and women experience even now upon returning home from battle. It shines a light on the author’s struggles during the war, but also on the potential future regarding war.

Exhalation by Ted Chiang

Tackling some of humanity’s oldest questions along with new quandaries only he could imagine, these stories will change the way you think, feel, and see the world.

Ted Chiang is one of a kind. He is a fantastic, intelligent, and interesting writer that delivers short stories following a theme of technology, science, and their connection to the human condition, and more importantly, free will.

Sea of Rust by C. Robert Cargill

One of my favorite novels of all time! What reminded me of what true sci-fi is about! Highly critical of our current political and social climate, together with our dependency on technology. Sea of Rust is the story of how robots took control over the world, and the primordial role humanity had in its demise.

Read my review below and also check out our book club questions!

The Postmortal by Drew Magary

Humanity found a cure for aging was discovered, and after an almost no-stop political and moral debate, this cure was made available worldwide.

However, immortality comes with its problems… when evil green people, government euthanasia programs, a disturbing new religious cult, and other horrors start plaguing their lives. A pre-apocalyptic world is so real that it is completely terrifying.

Also, it gives me that this was the inspiration for Scythe!

I Am Legend by Richard Matheson

Although not the same, it has a similar premise as Black Mirror and mainly the episode “Men Against Fire”. I am Legend goes around the story of the only “human” survivor in a city full of vampires, and he kills them, as the monsters they are. However, what he will find out in his investigation will leave me out of breath and questioning his own existence.

Also, if you enjoyed he movie, read the book, becase the movie, as always, missed the mark.

Bloodchild and Other Stories by Octavia E. Buttler

In this set of stories, Butler develops different horrors that might await humanity. Children are prepared to become hosts of alien species or an apocalyptic event that left humanity without the ability to speak, and other award-winning stories that show us life on Earth and amongst the stars, telling her tales with characteristic imagination and clarity.

I Am Legend by Richard Matheson

Although not the same premise, it has certainly similarities that will make it worth reading or listening to. Set in the future, where elderly people can only get paid their pension if they join the military service in space, with the catch that their bodies will be renewed. This novel makes us question humanity but also the main character will question his identity.

The Three-Body Problem by Cixin Liu

Set against the backdrop of China’s Cultural Revolution, a military project sends signals into space to contact. An alien civilization gets the signal and plans to invade Earth.

On Earth, camps are set planning to either welcome the aliens and help them take over a world seen as corrupt, or to fight against the invasion.

Axiomatic by Greg Egan

Another set of short stories that on their own can become Black Mirror episodes. Although the author might lack flare when writing, he compensates for his futuristic view of the world and humanity. The stories go from the survival of workers threaten by a wormhole and a man looking to find meaning in the senseless death of his wife.

Out of the Dark by David Weber

Earth has conquered. The Shongairi have arrived in force, and humanity’s cities lie in radioactive ruins. In mere minutes, more than half the human race has died. The Galactic Hegemony has been around for a long time, and it likes stability, something The Shongairi tend to disturb.

Blueprints of the Afterlife by Ryan Boudinot

It is the afterlife. The end of the world is a distant, distorted memory called “the Age of Fucked Up Shit.” A sentient glacier has wiped out most of North America.

Medical care is supplied by open-source nanotechnology, and human nervous systems can be hacked – not good, not good -. An ambitious novel that enlarges the hopes and anxieties of our time starting from climate change, and social strife, and ending with the depersonalization of the digital age.

The Passengers by John Marrs

You’re riding in your self-driving car when suddenly the doors lock, the route changes and you have lost all control. Then, a mysterious voice tells you, “You are going to die.”

Taken from the deep horrors of the technological era, the fear for the Tesla company. How much of our lives are we trusting technology? and can we still trust humans with it?

The One by John Marrs

A simple DNA test is all it takes. Just a quick mouth swab and soon you’ll be matched with your perfect partner—the one you’re genetically made for.

Five very different people have been “Matched.” They’re about to meet their one true love. But “happily ever after” isn’t guaranteed for everyone. Because even soul mates have secrets. And some are more shocking than others…

In love, if we cannot trust ourselves, can we trust machines?

Dogs of War by Adrian Tchaikovsky

A bio-engineered dog fights for its life and its right to life. This gives mes a new take on the Frankenstein’s Monster… don’t you think?

A genetically engineered Bioform, he’s a deadly weapon in a dirty war, but all he wants is to be a Good Dog. And to do that he must do exactly what Master says and Master says he’s got to kill a lot of enemies.