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Stephen Leeds: Death and Faxes

Brandon Sanderson, Max Epstein, David Pace, Michael Harkins

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These books are ranked using the premise + themes labels extracted for Stephen Leeds: Death and Faxes. Books rank higher when they are close on every selected axis.

Premise labels used: genius investigator, hallucinated experts, data breach investigation, FBI case, techno-thriller, mystery solving, sound-based technology, religious mystery, revenge

Themes labels used: mental illness, grief, loss, identity, sanity, competence, perception, technology and ethics, religion and science, faith, memory, isolation, trust, control, humanity

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

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Legion: The Many Lives of Stephen Leeds

Brandon Sanderson · 2018 · Legion

A genius private investigator with hallucinatory experts tackles strange cases, while his mind starts to unravel.

Why this is here

Premise labels: genius detective · hallucinated experts · problem solving · psychology as power · impossible cases · mystery investigations · alter egos · hidden knowledge

Themes labels: mental illness · sanity · identity · belief and reality · psychology · compartmentalization · religion · faith · technology and ethics · self-knowledge · loss · control · human psyche

Semantic match: ranked by premise + themes

Distance: 0.1258

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Skin Deep

Brandon Sanderson · 2014 · Legion

A genius with hallucinatory specialist “aspects” investigates a stolen corpse hiding dangerous biotech data.

Why this is here

Premise labels: genius consultant · hallucinated helpers · stolen corpse · encoded data · biotechnology mystery · high-tech conspiracy · mind as system · dangerous information

Themes labels: identity · sanity · memory · knowledge storage · science and faith · life and death · human personality · control · compartmentalization · technology ethics · death denial · religion and science

Semantic match: ranked by premise + themes

Distance: 0.1376

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The Death I Gave Him

Em X. Liu · 2023

In a locked-down future lab, a grieving scientist’s son hunts his father’s killer with help from the lab’s AI.

Why this is here

Premise labels: locked-room mystery · revenge quest · immortality research · lab lockdown · murder investigation · AI companion · futuristic retelling · family betrayal

Themes labels: mortality · immortality · revenge · grief · guilt · depression · mental illness · death · sanity · obsession · love · loss · morality · ethics of technology · personhood · consciousness · humanity · memory · truth vs speculation · revenge vs justice · fear of death · self-destruction · agency · queerness

Semantic match: ranked by premise + themes

Distance: 0.2123

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The Fullness of Time

Kate Wilhelm · 2012

A documentary crew probes a reclusive family whose uncanny foresight hides a disturbing cost.

Why this is here

Premise labels: future knowledge · time travel · investigation · family secrets · documentary investigation · patent fortune · insider trading · madness · suicide · reclusive family · scientific mystery · hidden power

Themes labels: time · future knowledge · free will · causality · madness · suicide · wealth and power · genius and cost · ethics of control · secrecy · family legacy · identity · consciousness · humanity · investigative ethics

Semantic match: ranked by premise + themes

Distance: 0.2274

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Human Remains

Jo Callaghan · 2025 · Kat and Lock

An AI detective and a human cop probe a gruesome rural murder while a past case and public suspicion threaten to engulf them.

Why this is here

Premise labels: AI detective · police investigation · cold case · serial killer suspicion · wrongful conviction · revenge plot · human-machine partnership · media scrutiny

Themes labels: AI ethics · human vs machine · truth and justice · wrongful conviction · public opinion · media influence · grief · loss · loneliness · trauma · trust · bias · human judgment · morality · accountability · identity

Semantic match: ranked by premise + themes

Distance: 0.2277

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Absolute Martian Manhunter, Vol. 1: Martian Vision

Deniz Camp · 2025 · Absolute Martian Manhunter (2025)

An FBI agent’s mind is invaded by an alien presence, forcing him to investigate crimes while reality unravels around him.

Why this is here

Premise labels: brain infection · alien consciousness · mind-sharing · FBI agent · mind-reading · psychic powers · crimes investigation · buddy cop · identity reimagining · social breakdown

Themes labels: human nature · collective madness · consciousness · perception · empathy · nihilism · psychological horror · social manipulation · good and evil · marriage

Semantic match: ranked by premise + themes

Distance: 0.2295

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Game Changer

Douglas E. Richards · 2016

A Secret Service agent on the run uncovers a near-future brain-tech conspiracy that could reshape memory, learning, and power.

Why this is here

Premise labels: mind manipulation · memory alteration · brain-tech · knowledge download · near-future technology · national security plot · assassination attempt · conspiracy plot

Themes labels: memory reliability · identity · control of mind · ethics of technology · science and morality · knowledge transfer · false memories · free will · truth and perception · religion and belief · human enhancement · power and abuse

Semantic match: ranked by premise + themes

Distance: 0.2298

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The Fortunate Fall

Cameron Reed, Raphael Carter · 1996

A telepresence journalist investigating a covered-up massacre uncovers buried memories, political secrets, and forbidden love.

Why this is here

Premise labels: investigative journalism · media surveillance · virtual reality broadcast · memory manipulation · state conspiracy · cover-up investigation · forbidden love · political intrigue · truth seeking · dystopian control

Themes labels: memory · identity · privacy · surveillance · human nature · love · betrayal · morality · consciousness · selfhood · freedom · truth · propaganda · state power · censorship · technology and humanity · change · survival · survivor guilt · human rights · homophobia · gender · queer oppression · media ethics · collective memory · history and forgetting · genocide · politics · religion · philosophy

Semantic match: ranked by premise + themes

Distance: 0.2310

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Strange Bodies

Marcel Theroux · 2013

A dead academic seems to return in a new body, pulling a psychiatrist and a conspiracy into questions of identity and immortality.

Why this is here

Premise labels: identity theft · consciousness transfer · body swap · immortality quest · forgery · metaphysical conspiracy · mad science · authenticity crisis

Themes labels: identity · authenticity · consciousness · human nature · mortality · immortality · madness · language · representation · memory · selfhood · ethics · scientific ethics · philosophy of mind · body-mind relationship · truth · forgery · soul

Semantic match: ranked by premise + themes

Distance: 0.2311

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The Speed of Sound

Eric Bernt · 2018 · Speed of Sound Thriller

A brilliant autistic inventor’s sound-recreating device draws government and criminal forces into a deadly chase.

Why this is here

Premise labels: acoustic technology · memory retrieval · government conspiracy · special abilities · inventor on the run · privacy threat

Themes labels: privacy · secrecy · surveillance · control · autism · human dignity · power of technology · ethics of invention · trust · grief · communication · identity

Semantic match: ranked by premise + themes

Distance: 0.2315

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Spiral

Kōji Suzuki · 2005 · リング [Ring]

A grieving pathologist uncovers a deadly mystery linking a corpse, a cursed video, and a virus-like transformation.

Why this is here

Premise labels: forensic investigation · curse expansion · viral horror · code breaking · scientific explanation · mystery sequel

Themes labels: grief · death · science vs supernatural · genetics · mutation · virus transmission · identity · reproduction · gender · memory · ethics · evolution · fate · human extinction · truth-seeking

Semantic match: ranked by premise + themes

Distance: 0.2329

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Altered Carbon

Richard K. Morgan · 2018 · Takeshi Kovacs

A hardened ex-envoy wakes in a new body and is hired to solve a rich man’s apparent suicide in a brutal future.

Why this is here

Premise labels: body swapping · digital consciousness · immortality economy · murder investigation · private investigator · elite operative · rich elite · future crime · conspiracy · resleeving

Themes labels: identity · selfhood · mortality · immortality · class inequality · wealth and power · ethics of technology · morality · human nature · violence · corruption · surveillance · social stratification · what makes us human · memory and experience · religion and death · capitalism · dehumanization

Semantic match: ranked by premise + themes

Distance: 0.2332

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