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Machines like Me

Ian McEwan

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Similar in characterization + relationships

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

Characterization labels used: drifter, day trader, failed entrepreneur, anthropologist, anthropology student, young student, synthetic human, android, humanlike robot, unlikeable characters, dull narrator, enigmatic woman, morally conflicted, directionless, self-deluding, lifelike machine, existential despair

Relationships labels used: love triangle, romantic rivalry, interpersonal relations, affair, co-parenting, bonding, jealousy, betrayal, dependency, friendship, ownership, human-machine intimacy, adoption, power imbalance

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

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Moxyland

Lauren Beukes · 2008

In near-future Cape Town, four young adults are swept into a corporate-dominated system of surveillance, branding, and revolt.

Why this is here

Characterization labels: young adults · flawed characters · unlikeable characters · morally ambiguous · antiheroic · artist · photographer · programmer · activist · blogger · DJ · corporate climber · spoiled rich kid · addict · revolutionary · corporate insider · charmer · ruthless · ambitious · cynical · idealistic · naive · self-absorbed

Relationships labels: friends · frenemies · romantic entanglement · friends with benefits · family estrangement · mother-child conflict · corporate loyalty · betrayal · collaboration · interpersonal dependency

Semantic match: ranked by characterization + relationships

Distance: 0.1643

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Evil for Evil

K.J. Parker · 2007 · Engineer Trilogy

An exiled engineer and rival rulers navigate war, love, and betrayal as an unstoppable plan tightens around a doomed city.

Why this is here

Characterization labels: engineer · exiled protagonist · sociopath · psychopath · ruthless strategist · competent leader · morally gray characters · monstrous genius · unlikable characters

Relationships labels: love triangle · forbidden love · marriage · romantic quadrangle · betrayal · family separation · political alliance · rivalry · power imbalance · assistant-rival relationship

Semantic match: ranked by characterization + relationships

Distance: 0.1645

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Specials

Scott Westerfeld, Rodrigo Corral · 2006 · Uglies

A brainwashed teen enforcer must choose between loyalty to the system and the remnants of her former self.

Why this is here

Characterization labels: brainwashed protagonist · antihero protagonist · selfish protagonist · changed personality · superhuman enforcer · rebellious teen · reluctant agent · character reversal · flat supporting cast · inconsistent character arc

Relationships labels: love triangle · friendship conflict · betrayal · romantic conflict · former friends · exes · authority-subordinate · peer rivalry · loyalty conflict

Semantic match: ranked by characterization + relationships

Distance: 0.1648

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Rappaccini's Daughter

Nathaniel Hawthorne · 2004

A student in Padua falls for a mysterious woman raised in a deadly garden of poisonous plants.

Why this is here

Characterization labels: young student · beautiful heroine · mad scientist · rival scholar · morally ambiguous characters · naive protagonist · monomaniacal father · toxic heroine · scientific obsessor

Relationships labels: love triangle · father-daughter relationship · mentor-protégé · rivalry · toxic relationship · forbidden romance · obsessive attraction · parental control · betrayal · dependency

Semantic match: ranked by characterization + relationships

Distance: 0.1686

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The Escapement

K.J. Parker · 2007 · Engineer Trilogy

An engineer’s long-built war machine reaches its final stage amid sieges, betrayals, and bleak choices.

Why this is here

Characterization labels: antihero · amoral characters · manipulative protagonist · complex character · miserable characters · morally gray · unlikable cast · character-driven · scheming characters · broken people · human weakness · rigid thinker · cynical worldview · female characters marginalized · male-dominated cast

Relationships labels: love triangle · romantic betrayal · marital conflict · marriage politics · power marriage · betrayal · dependency · tactical alliance · family motive · love as motivation · coercive partnership · rivalry

Semantic match: ranked by characterization + relationships

Distance: 0.1709

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An Absolutely Remarkable Thing

Hank Green · 2018 · The Carls

A young woman’s viral video of a strange sculpture thrusts her into global fame and a worldwide first-contact mystery.

Why this is here

Characterization labels: flawed protagonist · unlikable protagonist · messy · self-centered · ambitious · attention-seeking · snarky · relatable · human · female narrator · young adult protagonist · supporting cast thin · scientist character · best friend

Relationships labels: friendship · romantic relationship · love triangle · girlfriend · best friend · sabotaged relationships · community · global cooperation

Semantic match: ranked by characterization + relationships

Distance: 0.1711

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The Definitions

Matt Greene · 2025

After a memory-wiping illness, nameless adults relearn language and identity inside a suspicious seaside center.

Why this is here

Characterization labels: unnamed protagonist · blank slate · adult students · memory-wiped residents · intelligent narrator · gender-ambiguous narrator · adolescent-like adults · conformists · resistant characters · brainwashed residents

Relationships labels: friendship · romantic tension · same-sex desire · peer dynamics · power imbalance · institutional authority · community formation · cliques · coercive dependence · careful intimacy · budding love

Semantic match: ranked by characterization + relationships

Distance: 0.1724

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Distortion

Victor Dixen · 2018 · Phobos

Twelve young astronauts reach Mars while hidden agendas, romance, and survival pressures turn a TV mission into a trap.

Why this is here

Characterization labels: young adults · astronaut candidates · survivor mentality · strong heroine · female protagonist · antagonistic producer · questionable morals · sarcastic character · paranoid character · tough female character · chauvinist male character · stock types · character-driven

Relationships labels: romance · love triangle · couples · rivalry · alliances · betrayal · dependency · group dynamics · power imbalance · manipulated relationships · intense attraction · forced pairings

Semantic match: ranked by characterization + relationships

Distance: 0.1740

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Broken Stars: Contemporary Chinese Science Fiction in Translation

Ken Liu · 2019

A Ken Liu-curated anthology of translated Chinese SF stories and essays, spanning time travel, AI, history, and haunting what-ifs.

Why this is here

Characterization labels: robot companions · future selves · young girl protagonist · depressed protagonist · ordinary people · scholars · emperor · writer protagonist · peasant class

Relationships labels: love story · star-crossed lovers · self-to-self contact · human-machine companionship · parent-child · power hierarchy · community bonds · rivalry · betrayal

Semantic match: ranked by characterization + relationships

Distance: 0.1747

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The Persistence of Vision

John Varley · 1978

A 1970s SF collection of linked futures, from memory transfer and time travel to an unforgettable deaf-blind commune.

Why this is here

Characterization labels: drifter · wanderer · middle-aged protagonist · female protagonist · artist · composer · astronaut · geologist · computerized consciousness · clone · children · deaf-blind community · countercultural characters · marginal communities · outsider

Relationships labels: communal bonds · found family · outsider-insider · romance · sexual relationships · clone self-relationship · family dynamics · siblings · parent-child · community dependence · power imbalance

Semantic match: ranked by characterization + relationships

Distance: 0.1756

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The Sirens of Titan

Kurt Vonnegut Jr. · 1999

A wealthy man's predicted journey through space becomes a cosmic satire on luck, faith, and human purpose.

Why this is here

Characterization labels: rich man · depraved billionaire · wastrel · lucky fool · prophet · time-displaced seer · godlike figure · astronaut · space scout · alien robot · Martian soldier · antihero · dupe · unwitting pawn

Relationships labels: marriage · love triangle · parenthood · friendship · companionship · manipulation · power imbalance · betrayal · dependency · community care

Semantic match: ranked by characterization + relationships

Distance: 0.1774

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Girlfriend on Mars

Deborah Willis · 2023

A long-term couple is split apart when one enters a reality show for a one-way trip to Mars and the other watches from Earth.

Why this is here

Characterization labels: flawed protagonists · unlikeable characters · co-dependent couple · slacker boyfriend · driven woman · wannabe influencer · ex-athlete · former gymnast · lapsed evangelical · stoned character · grief-stricken character · self-absorbed character · nihilistic character · ambitious character · listless character · underemployed actor · tech-bro billionaire · side characters as archetypes

Relationships labels: long-term relationship · breakup · codependency · infidelity · love triangle · boyfriend girlfriend · exes · romantic rivalry · parent-child baggage · complicated couple · relationship deterioration · dependence · attraction tension

Semantic match: ranked by characterization + relationships

Distance: 0.1781

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