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Above World

Jenn Reese

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Similar in premise + setting

These books are ranked using the premise + setting labels extracted for Above World. Books rank higher when they are close on every selected axis.

Premise labels used: undersea survival, failing technology, save the colony, quest for answers, overpopulated future, genetic adaptation, journey to the surface, cross-culture encounter

Setting labels used: future Earth, undersea city, post-apocalyptic world, extreme habitats, land and sea, sky colonies, desert colonies, genetically altered societies

This does not mean the books share the same plot, setting, quality, or difficulty. It means their premise + setting embeddings are close.

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The Neptune Project

Polly Holyoke · 2013 · The Neptune Project

A misfit girl learns she was engineered to live underwater and must cross a dangerous ocean to reach safety.

Why this is here

Premise labels: genetically altered children · underwater survival · ocean colonization · dystopian escape · government pursuit · telepathy · dolphin companionship · coming-of-age

Setting labels: futuristic Earth · undersea colony · ocean world · dystopian California · flooded coast · post-climate-change · authoritarian future · underwater setting

Semantic match: ranked by premise + setting

Distance: 0.1367

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Alight

Scott Sigler · 2016 · The Generations Trilogy

A memory-wiped teen leader and her group land on an alien world, only to face survival, betrayal, and war.

Why this is here

Premise labels: survival quest · memory loss · leadership struggle · alien world · fight or die · colonization conflict · coming-of-age under pressure · resource scarcity

Setting labels: alien planet · spacecraft · ruined city · jungle · tunnels · post-apocalyptic world · isolated colony · far-future

Semantic match: ranked by premise + setting

Distance: 0.1518

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Lies, Inc.

Philip K. Dick · 1984

In a crowded future, a suspicious heir crosses space to test a one-way colony’s promise of paradise.

Why this is here

Premise labels: overpopulation crisis · one-way teleportation · colonized paradise · corporate cover-up · truth-seeking voyage · interstellar investigation · space colonization · security state

Setting labels: future Earth · overpopulated world · space colony · distant planet · interplanetary travel · alternate realities · paraworlds · dystopian future · postwar future

Semantic match: ranked by premise + setting

Distance: 0.1535

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Silent Jenny

Mathieu Bablet · 2025

In a climate-ravaged future, Jenny searches for bee DNA aboard a roaming community to imagine a livable tomorrow.

Why this is here

Premise labels: pollinator collapse · bee DNA quest · climate catastrophe · survival community · restoration quest · search for lost world

Setting labels: far future · post-apocalyptic Earth · desertified world · mobile settlements · motorized village · monadic society · eco-dystopia · climate-ravaged world

Semantic match: ranked by premise + setting

Distance: 0.1546

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Man After Man: An Anthropology of the Future

Dougal Dixon · 1990

An illustrated speculative history imagines humanity’s descendants mutating, engineering, and surviving across a far-future ruined Earth.

Why this is here

Premise labels: future evolution · human evolution · genetic engineering · posthumanity · future anthropology · speculative biology · survival niches · environmental collapse · future history · human adaptation

Setting labels: far future · post-apocalyptic Earth · space colonization · undersea habitation · ice age · greenhouse effect · ozone depletion · magnetic reversal · ruined planet · extreme environments

Semantic match: ranked by premise + setting

Distance: 0.1558

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Lilith's Brood

Octavia E. Butler · 2000 · Xenogenesis

A post-apocalyptic trilogy about humanity’s survival bargain with aliens who demand genetic and social transformation.

Why this is here

Premise labels: human survival · alien rescue · genetic trade · human-alien hybridization · species merger · postwar recovery · forced adaptation · posthuman future · planetary restoration · survival bargain

Setting labels: post-nuclear Earth · post-apocalyptic Earth · future Earth · alien ship · rehabilitated planet · cryogenic suspension · interstellar setting · posthuman society · mutated Earth

Semantic match: ranked by premise + setting

Distance: 0.1564

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The Long Game

Ann Leckie · 2023 · The Far Reaches

An alien colony leader learns their species is short-lived and sets out to outmaneuver human colonizers for a longer future.

Why this is here

Premise labels: first contact · colonial exploitation · alien perspective · lifespan quest · species survival · power imbalance · long-term planning

Setting labels: far-off colony · colonized planet · spacefaring future · alien world · off-world

Semantic match: ranked by premise + setting

Distance: 0.1571

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Dead Astronauts

Jeff Vandermeer · 2019 · Borne

In a biotech-ravaged multiverse, three uncanny travelers battle a corporation across collapsing realities.

Why this is here

Premise labels: corporate biotech · post-apocalyptic survival · alternate realities · multiverse mission · end-of-world struggle · nonhuman protagonists · environmental collapse · biotech apocalypse

Setting labels: post-apocalyptic future · ravaged world · dystopian city · multiverse · alternate timelines · biotech-altered world · ruined Earth · posthuman setting

Semantic match: ranked by premise + setting

Distance: 0.1588

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Dawn

Octavia E. Butler · 1987 · Xenogenesis

A lone human survivor wakes aboard an alien ship and must help rebuild Earth under coercive, unsettling conditions.

Why this is here

Premise labels: post apocalypse · alien rescue · forced coexistence · genetic trade · human survival · species hybridization · repopulation · awakening survivors · contact with aliens · second chance

Setting labels: post nuclear war · spacecraft · living ship · planetary resettlement · terraforming · isolated confinement · wilderness survival · far future · Earth · alien habitat · post apocalyptic Earth

Semantic match: ranked by premise + setting

Distance: 0.1606

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The Afterlife Project

Tim Weed · 2025

Two timelines race against human extinction: one scientist survives the deep future, while others search for a way to continue the species.

Why this is here

Premise labels: human extinction · species survival · future mission · last chance · fertility quest · scientific rescue · deep future · post-collapse survival · lonely survivor · repopulation

Setting labels: 2068 · far future · deep future · post-apocalyptic Earth · rewilded Earth · uninhabited wilderness · New Hampshire · Mediterranean Sea · volcanic island · post-climate-collapse · post-pandemic world

Semantic match: ranked by premise + setting

Distance: 0.1616

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Salt

Liz Shipton · 2023 · Thalassic

In a flooded future, a reckless young sailor flees danger with her teacher, chasing secrets, survival, and a slow-burn spark.

Why this is here

Premise labels: post-apocalyptic survival · waterworld · pirate adventure · sailing journey · quest for answers · underground organization · fleeing danger · flooded future · pandemic aftermath · climate disaster · found family · forbidden attraction

Setting labels: future earth · post-pandemic · post-apocalyptic · flooded world · ocean setting · island setting · coastal cities · boat travel · nautical setting · isolated communities · waterworld · future tech · biotech · corporate world · black market · pirate haven · saline environment

Semantic match: ranked by premise + setting

Distance: 0.1633

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Ark

Stephen Baxter · 2009 · Flood

As Earth drowns, a selected crew undertakes a desperate starship mission to preserve humanity.

Why this is here

Premise labels: dying Earth · human survival · starship mission · last-chance evacuation · new world search · generation ship · post-collapse escape

Setting labels: near-future Earth · flooded world · space travel · long-duration voyage · planetary colonization · dystopian future · apocalyptic future · beyond Earth

Semantic match: ranked by premise + setting

Distance: 0.1637

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