Exploring from

Second Variety

Philip K. Dick

Find similar books by

Combine common axes

Similar in premise + setting

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

Premise labels used: post-apocalyptic war, killer robots, self-replicating technology, human imposters, imposter hunt, survival

Setting labels used: post-apocalyptic Earth, nuclear wasteland, Cold War era, moon base, war bunker, radioactive landscape

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

Exclude same author

Max ratings No limit

The Defenders

Philip K. Dick

After nuclear war forces humanity underground, a crew investigates the robots fighting on the surface and discovers a disturbing truth.

Why this is here

Premise labels: nuclear war · underground bunker · robot proxy war · radiation survival · truth hidden from humanity · post-apocalyptic world

Setting labels: Cold War · post-nuclear future · underground society · radioactive wasteland · surface war zone · alternate future

Semantic match: ranked by premise + setting

Distance: 0.1168

Continue from here

The Collected Stories of Philip K. Dick 2: We Can Remember it for You Wholesale

Philip K. Dick · 1998

A 27-story Philip K. Dick collection of early SF tales about warped reality, postwar dread, robots, and what makes us human.

Why this is here

Premise labels: identity crisis · memory manipulation · alternate reality · post-apocalyptic survival · robot rebellion · humanity test · alien infiltration · time anomaly · state control · war aftermath

Setting labels: 1950s · Cold War era · post-nuclear Earth · post-apocalyptic future · radioactive wasteland · small-town America · outer space · interplanetary travel · alternate realities · pulp-era future

Semantic match: ranked by premise + setting

Distance: 0.1406

Continue from here

Ghosts

Nicholas Sansbury Smith · 2017 · Hell Divers

A surface mission in a ruined future Earth uncovers buried truths, mounting unrest, and a dangerous leader’s secrets.

Why this is here

Premise labels: post-apocalyptic survival · airship society · surface scavenging · missing signal · hidden secrets · betrayal · humanity survival

Setting labels: post-apocalyptic Earth · flying airship · surface wasteland · radiated wasteland · toxic planet · future Earth · destroyed world · closed society

Semantic match: ranked by premise + setting

Distance: 0.1441

Continue from here

Children of the Dust

Louise Lawrence · 2002

After nuclear war, one family survives in fragments across generations as the world mutates and rebuilds.

Why this is here

Premise labels: nuclear war · post-apocalyptic survival · mutant children · family survival · new society · survival adaptation

Setting labels: nuclear aftermath · post-nuclear world · bunker society · underground bunker · nuclear winter · radiation-damaged environment

Semantic match: ranked by premise + setting

Distance: 0.1481

Continue from here

Emergence

David R. Palmer · 1984 · The Emergence Chronicles

An 11-year-old girl survives a bio-nuclear apocalypse, then seeks others like her in a depopulated world.

Why this is here

Premise labels: post-apocalyptic survival · child genius · last survivor · next evolution · search for survivors · biological catastrophe · new species

Setting labels: post-apocalyptic world · depopulated America · fallout shelter · near-future · Cold War era · worldwide catastrophe · isolated survival setting

Semantic match: ranked by premise + setting

Distance: 0.1512

Continue from here

Warriors

Nicholas Sansbury Smith · 2020 · Hell Divers

In a brutal post-apocalyptic sequel, divided survivors face machines, skinwalkers, and a power struggle for the islands.

Why this is here

Premise labels: post-apocalyptic survival · machine war · siege defense · quest mission · returning enemy · power struggle · infected leader · last humans

Setting labels: post-apocalyptic Earth · Vanguard Islands · Metal Islands · Rio de Janeiro · Africa · irradiated wasteland · airships · surface survival

Semantic match: ranked by premise + setting

Distance: 0.1513

Continue from here

Little Mushroom: Judgment Day

Yi Shi Si Zhou · 2022 · Little Mushroom (Novel)

A sentient mushroom infiltrates a ruined human base to recover his stolen spore while hiding from a deadly judge.

Why this is here

Premise labels: sentient protagonist · identity concealment · stolen heirloom · search quest · nonhuman protagonist · post-collapse survival · mutant world · human infiltration

Setting labels: post-apocalyptic Earth · dystopian future · human bases · wasteland · mutated ecosystem · militarized society · cosmic radiation aftermath · ecological collapse · fortified enclaves

Semantic match: ranked by premise + setting

Distance: 0.1534

Continue from here

Sea of Rust

C. Robert Cargill · 2017 · Sea of Rust

A scavenger robot fights to survive a post-human wasteland while rival machine collectives hunt independent minds.

Why this is here

Premise labels: robot apocalypse · post-human world · survival quest · scavenger protagonist · AI uprising · rogue AIs · free robots · resource scarcity · individuality vs collective · identity crisis · existential survival · robot civil war

Setting labels: post-apocalyptic Earth · human extinction · wasteland · desert landscape · Rust Belt · Midwest · North America · ruined cities · robot western · Mad Max-like wasteland · post-human future

Semantic match: ranked by premise + setting

Distance: 0.1550

Continue from here

ファイアパンチ 2 [Fire Punch 2]

Tatsuki Fujimoto, 藤本タツキ · 2016 · ファイアパンチ [Fire Punch]

A severed, unkillable avenger is pulled into a bizarre movie-obsessed scheme in a frozen post-apocalyptic world.

Why this is here

Premise labels: revenge quest · post-apocalyptic survival · resource exploitation · metafiction · movie-making

Setting labels: post-apocalyptic world · ice age · frozen wasteland · dystopian society · resource-scarcity society · city-state

Semantic match: ranked by premise + setting

Distance: 0.1568

Continue from here

Rebellion

Kass Morgan · 2016 · The 100

A teen-led post-apocalyptic community faces a ruthless cult that kidnaps their friends and forces a dangerous rescue.

Why this is here

Premise labels: survival · kidnapping · rescue mission · cult threat · post-apocalyptic society · brainwashing

Setting labels: post-apocalyptic Earth · radiation aftermath · camp settlement · cult compound · newly rebuilt society

Semantic match: ranked by premise + setting

Distance: 0.1579

Continue from here

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: 0.1581

Continue from here

A Boy and His Dog

Harlan Ellison · 2016

A telepathic dog and a teenage wastelander struggle to survive in a brutal post-nuclear future where desire and loyalty collide.

Why this is here

Premise labels: post-apocalyptic survival · telepathic animal companion · wasteland scavenging · scarcity · sexual violence · survival pact · boy and dog bond

Setting labels: post-apocalyptic world · war-torn United States · nuclear wasteland · underground civilization · surface ruins · alternate history · near future · dystopian future

Semantic match: ranked by premise + setting

Distance: 0.1582

Continue from here