Exploring from

The Asylum

Matt Dymerski

Find similar books by

Combine common axes

Similar in characterization + relationships

These books are ranked using the characterization + relationships labels extracted for The Asylum. Books rank higher when they are close on every selected axis.

Characterization labels used: doctor protagonist, asylum worker, patients, mentor figure, unreliable protagonist, investigator

Relationships labels used: doctor-patient, mentor-student, institutional power, abusive relationships, male DV victim, worker-patient

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

Exclude same author

Max ratings No limit

K-Pax

Gene Brewer · 1995 · K-Pax

A psychiatrist records sessions with a patient who claims to be an alien from K-PAX, and the truth stays uncertain.

Why this is here

Characterization labels: charismatic outsider · enigmatic patient · psychiatrist protagonist · unreliable identity · compelling patient · institutional staff · secondary patients

Relationships labels: doctor-patient · therapist-client · mentor-like influence · patient community · staff-patient · friendship · possible dependency

Semantic match: ranked by characterization + relationships

Distance: 0.1406

Continue from here

Hospital

Han Song · 2023 · Hospital

A business trip turns nightmarish when a mysterious illness traps one man inside a dystopian hospital system.

Why this is here

Characterization labels: hapless protagonist · confused protagonist · middle-aged man · patient protagonist · bureaucratic functionaries · doctors · medical punk · flat characters · delirious protagonist · imaginative protagonist

Relationships labels: doctor-patient power imbalance · institutional control · family breakdown · family conventions · bribery · coercion · dependency · authority conflict · gendered hostility · parent-child tension

Semantic match: ranked by characterization + relationships

Distance: 0.1485

Continue from here

The Chef

Andy Weir · 2010

A woman in a hospital remembers an explosion, and a doctor’s questions slowly turn a simple recovery into something darker.

Why this is here

Characterization labels: woman protagonist · doctor · memory loss · disturbed protagonist · ambiguous motives · hidden identity · potentially unreliable narrator · young girl

Relationships labels: doctor-patient · father-daughter · power imbalance · possible abuse · manipulation · interrogation

Semantic match: ranked by characterization + relationships

Distance: 0.1495

Continue from here

The Terminal Man

Michael Crichton · 2002

An experimental brain surgery meant to stop violent seizures instead turns one patient into a deadly threat.

Why this is here

Characterization labels: psychiatrist · surgeon · scientist · doctor · patient as test subject · violent protagonist · psychotic protagonist · paranoid protagonist · brilliant but unstable · arrogant experts · female doctor · beleaguered psychiatrist · paper-thin characters · limited character development

Relationships labels: doctor-patient · medical team · professional rivalry · authority vs patient · institutional power · patient under guard · human-machine relation · man-machine conflict

Semantic match: ranked by characterization + relationships

Distance: 0.1516

Continue from here

العنكبوت

Mostafa Mahmoud, مصطفى محمود

A doctor pursues a baffling patient and uncovers a speculative mystery about the soul, memory, and past lives.

Why this is here

Characterization labels: doctor protagonist · older protagonist · curious investigator · medical expert · philosophical thinker · obsessive seeker · scientist-physician · mysterious patient · driven researcher · intellectual protagonist

Relationships labels: doctor-patient · mentor-like inquiry · pursuit dynamic · investigator-subject · professional intrusion · conflict with authority · observer-observed

Semantic match: ranked by characterization + relationships

Distance: 0.1599

Continue from here

The Lathe of Heaven

Ursula K. Le Guin · 2003

A man whose dreams rewrite reality is used by an ambitious psychiatrist to try remaking the world.

Why this is here

Characterization labels: ordinary protagonist · passive protagonist · quiet protagonist · reluctant hero · power-hungry antagonist · ambitious psychiatrist · manipulative authority figure · vulnerable patient · love interest · underdeveloped supporting cast · egomaniac · mild-mannered lead

Relationships labels: patient-doctor · therapeutic power imbalance · romantic relationship · friendship · manipulation · dependency · trust and betrayal · control dynamic · mentor abuse · love under pressure

Semantic match: ranked by characterization + relationships

Distance: 0.1722

Continue from here

A Cure for Suicide

Jesse Ball · 2015

An amnesiac man is retrained to live in a strange village, until a new relationship unsettles everything he’s learned.

Why this is here

Characterization labels: unnamed protagonist · examiner · claimant · caregiver · guide · patient · volatile woman · charismatic woman · moldable protagonist · alienated characters · bureaucratic role

Relationships labels: caretaker and patient · teacher and learner · man-woman relationships · power imbalance · dependency · romantic tension · betrayal · love story · bonding · control

Semantic match: ranked by characterization + relationships

Distance: 0.1727

Continue from here

A Case of Need

Michael Crichton, Jeffery Hudson · 2017

A Boston pathologist investigates when a doctor friend is jailed over a woman’s death after an alleged illegal abortion.

Why this is here

Characterization labels: pathologist · obstetrician · doctor-detective · loyal friend · professional colleague · prominent physician · medical authority · upright doctor · scapegoat · imperfect protagonist · driven investigator · arrogant doctors · many characters

Relationships labels: friendship · professional loyalty · doctor colleague · family secrets · parent-child conflict · doctor-patient · hospital hierarchy · romantic infidelity · marital tension · power imbalance · community suspicion

Semantic match: ranked by characterization + relationships

Distance: 0.1740

Continue from here

The House of Thunder

Leigh Nichols, Dean Koontz · 1992

An amnesiac woman recovering in a hospital begins seeing impossible men from her traumatic past—and doubts her sanity.

Why this is here

Characterization labels: amnesiac protagonist · traumatized woman · physicist · doctor figure · caretaker suspicion · vulnerable protagonist · strong-willed protagonist · unreliable perception · handsome doctor · antagonistic men

Relationships labels: doctor-patient · romance subplot · instant attraction · caretaker dependency · past victimization · authority mistrust · community complicity

Semantic match: ranked by characterization + relationships

Distance: 0.1759

Continue from here

Briefing for a Descent Into Hell

Doris Lessing · 1971

An amnesiac Cambridge professor in a psychiatric ward drifts through visions, letters, and memory as reality fractures.

Why this is here

Characterization labels: middle-aged professor · academics · amnesiac protagonist · eccentric · delusional · traumatized veteran · mystery patient · doctors · nurses · family members · friends and colleagues · uncooperative patient · identity-fractured protagonist

Relationships labels: doctor-patient · family reconciliation · marriage · husband-wife · friends and colleagues · authority conflict · treatment relation · medical custody · community witness · lover references

Semantic match: ranked by characterization + relationships

Distance: 0.1780

Continue from here

Crypt of the Moon Spider

Nathan Ballingrud · 2024 · Lunar Gothic Trilogy

A woman is sent to a moon asylum for melancholy, where spider-silk medicine and buried secrets warp mind and body.

Why this is here

Characterization labels: melancholy protagonist · passive heroine · female lead · mad scientist · sadistic doctor · abusive orderly · condescending husband · patient prisoner · scientific authority figure · brain surgeon · cultic scholars · victimized woman

Relationships labels: husband-wife · marital abandonment · institutional power imbalance · doctor-patient · parent-child influence · male authority over women · caregiver abuse

Semantic match: ranked by characterization + relationships

Distance: 0.1786

Continue from here

Parasite Eve

Hideaki Sena · 2005

A grieving scientist’s experiment with his dead wife’s cells awakens a terrifying force inside the human body.

Why this is here

Characterization labels: researcher protagonist · scientist protagonist · grieving husband · teen transplant patient · student researcher · obsessive experimenter · medical professional · morally compromised

Relationships labels: husband-wife · parent-child · doctor-patient · researcher-student · organ donor-recipient · family grief · obsession · manipulation · dependency · betrayal

Semantic match: ranked by characterization + relationships

Distance: 0.1815

Continue from here