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Riot Baby

Tochi Onyebuchi

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Similar in premise + setting

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

Premise labels used: siblings, superpowers, racial injustice, police brutality, incarceration, systemic racism, black American experience, riots, family bond

Setting labels used: United States, Los Angeles, Harlem, Compton, Rikers Island, near future, dystopian future, contemporary America, 1990s, post-riot setting

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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We Cast a Shadow

Maurice Carlos Ruffin · 2019

A Black father in a near-future racist America will do anything to make his biracial son safe, even make him white.

Why this is here

Premise labels: racial oppression · internalized racism · father-son bond · protective parent · transracial passing · medical transformation · career sacrifice · survival strategy

Setting labels: near future · American South · Southern city · post-racial America (contested) · segregated society · carceral state · private prisons · law firm setting

Semantic match: ranked by premise + setting

Distance: 0.2069

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Gone Wolf

Amber McBride · 2023

A Black girl in a brutal future and a pandemic-shaken present use stories, truth, and imagination to survive and heal.

Why this is here

Premise labels: dystopian oppression · pandemic trauma · racial trauma · Black girl protagonist · biological exploitation · identity formation · storytelling as coping

Setting labels: future America · post-pandemic · Washington DC area · confinement setting · small room · segregated society · alternate reality · contemporary United States

Semantic match: ranked by premise + setting

Distance: 0.2228

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Liberation Day

George Saunders · 2022

Nine darkly funny, unsettling stories trace power, guilt, love, and oppression across near-future and everyday worlds.

Why this is here

Premise labels: power · ethics · justice · community · exploitation · memory wipe · political oppression · class divide · workplace conflict · revenge · love

Setting labels: near future · dystopian future · contemporary America · underground amusement park · workplace · home/family setting · small-town setting · political regime · alternate reality · hell-themed setting

Semantic match: ranked by premise + setting

Distance: 0.2252

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Nubia: The Awakening

Omar Epps, Clarence A. Haynes · 2022 · Nubia

Three teens from climate-destroyed Nubia uncover inherited powers in a divided future New York and must choose their loyalties.

Why this is here

Premise labels: climate refugees · awakening powers · hidden heritage · class divide · outcast youth · inheritance of power · coming-of-power

Setting labels: near-future · future New York City · flooded city · sky city · lower Manhattan · post-climate disaster · alternate future · African utopia

Semantic match: ranked by premise + setting

Distance: 0.2330

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The Union

Leah Vernon · 2022

In a far-future America ruled by Black elites, two teen girls from opposite castes risk everything to survive and rebel.

Why this is here

Premise labels: role reversal · racial hierarchy · class system · tyranny · resistance · escape · revolution · oppressed elite inversion · alternate future America · forced alliance

Setting labels: futuristic America · far-future dystopia · post-revolution society · authoritarian regime · divided nation · border crossing · militarized state · class-stratified society · racially segregated society · future technology

Semantic match: ranked by premise + setting

Distance: 0.2383

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Sons of War

Nicholas Sansbury Smith · 2020 · The Sons of War

In a collapsing America, a Marine and a mafia family fight separate wars for family, survival, and control of Los Angeles.

Why this is here

Premise labels: economic collapse · civil war · organized crime · mafia rise · family survival · city takeover · lawlessness · power vacuum · survival conflict · violent power struggle

Setting labels: Los Angeles · Naples · southern California · United States · near future · post-collapse America · civil war America · urban anarchy · post-apocalyptic city · lawless state

Semantic match: ranked by premise + setting

Distance: 0.2406

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Radicalized

Cory Doctorow · 2019

Four near-future novellas use tech, race, health care, and collapse to expose the pressure points of modern life.

Why this is here

Premise labels: near future · social critique · technological control · economic inequality · health care crisis · racial injustice · survivalism · appliance hacking · domestic terrorism · refugee experience

Setting labels: near future · present-day extrapolation · United States · Boston · refugee camp · dark web · post-collapse society · wilderness bunker · contemporary dystopia

Semantic match: ranked by premise + setting

Distance: 0.2431

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I'm Starved for You

Margaret Atwood · 2012 · Positron

In a near-future gated community, a married couple’s monthly prison exchange is disrupted by a forbidden note and obsession.

Why this is here

Premise labels: gated community · voluntary incarceration · alternate months · economic collapse · social experiment · surveillance state · marital obsession · forbidden attraction · closed society · prison economy

Setting labels: near future · dystopian future · alternate future · gated community · prison town · surveilled community · closed society · post-collapse society · American setting

Semantic match: ranked by premise + setting

Distance: 0.2435

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The Rule of Many

Ashley Saunders, Leslie Saunders · 2019 · The Rule of One

Twin fugitives return from Canada to challenge a brutal one-child regime and rally a growing rebellion.

Why this is here

Premise labels: one-child law · illegal twins · rebellion · authoritarian regime · fugitive protagonists · resistance movement · population control · oppression · return home · multiple POVs

Setting labels: near future · future America · future United States · Texas · Canada · Dallas · dystopian future · authoritarian state · near-future America

Semantic match: ranked by premise + setting

Distance: 0.2453

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Exiles

Ashley Saunders, Leslie Saunders · 2022 · Exiles

Estranged twin sisters in near-future Los Angeles confront a tech billionaire’s empire after a murder exposes a hidden conspiracy.

Why this is here

Premise labels: estranged twins · class divide · tech billionaire · elite academy · murder mystery · social inequality · homelessness · survival experiment · conspiracy · weaponized technology

Setting labels: near-future Los Angeles · post-earthquake · post-apocalyptic · California · elite enclave · academy setting · urban dystopia · technologically advanced city · quake aftermath · homeless camps

Semantic match: ranked by premise + setting

Distance: 0.2463

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I Keep My Exoskeletons to Myself

Marisa Crane · 2023

A grieving queer mother raises a child marked by a punitive shadow system in a surveilled near-future America.

Why this is here

Premise labels: surveillance state · criminal punishment · public shaming · single parenthood · widowhood · queer resistance · state oppression · social stigma

Setting labels: near future · United States · authoritarian regime · surveillance state · carceral society · alternate America · near-dystopian

Semantic match: ranked by premise + setting

Distance: 0.2468

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The Lost Cause

Cory Doctorow · 2023

In a near-future California, a teen inherits a house and joins the fight to house climate refugees amid political backlash.

Why this is here

Premise labels: climate crisis · political polarization · generational conflict · activism · refugee crisis · housing crisis · community organizing · post-crisis recovery

Setting labels: near future · 2050s · Burbank · Southern California · California · United States · post-climate-crisis · alternative future · high-tech future · urban redevelopment

Semantic match: ranked by premise + setting

Distance: 0.2474

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