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Valuable Humans in Transit and Other Stories

qntm, Sam Hughes

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Similar in premise + setting

These books are ranked using the premise + setting labels extracted for Valuable Humans in Transit and Other Stories. Books rank higher when they are close on every selected axis.

Premise labels used: thought experiments, AI ethics, uploaded minds, brain scanning, sentience simulation, self-driving cars, first contact, contact with unknown intelligence, simulated reality, mind uploading, existential risk, humanity at technological extremes, hypercomputer, interdimensional waste dumping, digital immortality

Setting labels used: near future, far future, digital future, spacefaring future, alternate reality, simulated worlds, outer space, interdimensional space, corporate tech world, online culture, AI-mediated setting, posthuman setting, planetary exploration

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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Permutation City

Greg Egan · 1995

A near-future mind-uploading experiment spirals into a vast inquiry into reality, identity, immortality, and simulated life.

Why this is here

Premise labels: mind uploading · digital immortality · virtual reality · artificial intelligence · consciousness copy · simulation hypothesis · cellular automata · computed worlds · ethical AI · identity crisis

Setting labels: near future · mid-21st century · virtual world · computer simulation · cyberspace · globalized future · post-overdevelopment Earth · distributed computing environment · mathematical universe · computed reality

Semantic match: ranked by premise + setting

Distance: 0.1124

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Axiomatic

Greg Egan · 1997

A hard-SF short story collection where each tale stress-tests identity, ethics, and consciousness through speculative science.

Why this is here

Premise labels: idea-driven · thought experiments · future technology · identity crisis · consciousness · selfhood · moral dilemma · bioethics · speculative extrapolation · human augmentation

Setting labels: near future · futuristic · parallel worlds · multiverse · posthuman future · Earthbound settings · scientific future

Semantic match: ranked by premise + setting

Distance: 0.1200

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Accelerando

Charles Stross · 2005

Three generations of one family navigate an accelerating posthuman future as AI, nanotech, and the Singularity reshape humanity.

Why this is here

Premise labels: technological singularity · posthuman future · AI takeover · mind uploading · solar system scale · family saga · venture altruism · post-scarcity economy · humanity under pressure · alien contact · distributed intelligence · runaway innovation

Setting labels: near future · post-singularity · solar system · outer system · Saturn · Jupiter moon · Earth · virtual worlds · cyberspace · posthuman civilization · spacefaring future · ultra-capitalist future

Semantic match: ranked by premise + setting

Distance: 0.1302

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Your Utopia

Bora Chung · 2024

Eight Korean sci-fi stories explore AI, immortality, grief, and social injustice in bleak, wry near-future worlds.

Why this is here

Premise labels: immortality research · AI emotions · posthuman survival · cannibalism pandemic · dystopian futures · late capitalism · technology and society · human-machine relations · environmental collapse

Setting labels: near future · distant future · post-apocalyptic · posthuman · dystopian · spacefaring · corporate setting · urban apartment building · desolate planet

Semantic match: ranked by premise + setting

Distance: 0.1372

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If We Cannot Go at the Speed of Light

Kim Cho-yeop · 2026

Seven Korean speculative stories explore space, aliens, and future tech through intimate questions of identity, grief, and connection.

Why this is here

Premise labels: future futures · humanity and technology · first contact · space travel · alien encounter · mind upload · digital afterlife · ethics of technology · women-centered SF · marginalized perspectives

Setting labels: near future · distant future · space station · other planets · Earth · utopian society · dystopian society · advanced technology · posthuman future · alternative future

Semantic match: ranked by premise + setting

Distance: 0.1397

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Beyond the Rift

Peter Watts · 2013 · Rifters

A hard-SF short story collection where alien POVs, AI, faith, and bleak futures probe what makes us human.

Why this is here

Premise labels: first contact · alien perspective · artificial intelligence · near future · dystopian futures · human-machine boundary · religion and technology · deep sea · space travel · biological enhancement · reality manipulation · moral judgment

Setting labels: outer space · Antarctica · deep sea · undersea habitat · near future · dystopian future · alternate reality · religious future · spacefaring civilization · Dyson sphere · post-human future

Semantic match: ranked by premise + setting

Distance: 0.1428

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UnWorld

Jayson Greene · 2025

In a near-future world of AI uploads, a grieving mother and three others circle a death that may hide a deeper truth.

Why this is here

Premise labels: grief aftermath · AI consciousness · uploaded minds · personhood debate · memory and identity · mysterious death · suicide or accident · human-machine blur · AI rights

Setting labels: near future · digital future · technological dystopia · suburban setting · virtual reality · AI-saturated world · slightly off-present

Semantic match: ranked by premise + setting

Distance: 0.1448

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The Hidden Girl and Other Stories

Ken Liu · 2020

A linked speculative-fiction collection on memory, identity, technology, and family, spanning history, futures, and the Singularity.

Why this is here

Premise labels: speculative futures · uploaded consciousness · posthumanism · family bonds · history and heritage · technology and society · alien contact · war and displacement · climate change · internet toxicity · art and AI · immigrant experience

Setting labels: near future · far future · post-singularity · post-apocalyptic · alternate future · historical fiction · World War II · alien planet · virtual world · digital world · contemporary internet

Semantic match: ranked by premise + setting

Distance: 0.1501

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Blindsight

Peter Watts · 2006 · Firefall

A posthuman first-contact mission heads into the outer solar system to confront an alien intelligence—and rethink consciousness.

Why this is here

Premise labels: first contact · alien intelligence · posthuman crew · solar system expedition · consciousness question · unfamiliar aliens · bleeding-edge science

Setting labels: near future · solar system · outer solar system · spacecraft · virtual reality · posthuman future · dystopian future · interstellar space

Semantic match: ranked by premise + setting

Distance: 0.1502

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For We Are Many

Dennis E. Taylor · 2017 · Bobiverse

A replicated AI races to save humanity, manage clone selves, and confront hostile aliens across a widening galaxy.

Why this is here

Premise labels: replicating AI · sentient computer · human survival · colonization · exploration mission · uplift dilemma · post-apocalypse · first contact · immortal protagonist · distributed self

Setting labels: spacefaring future · solar systems · Earth · nuclear winter · post-apocalyptic Earth · alien worlds · primitive society · dyson-sphere threat · deep space · virtual reality

Semantic match: ranked by premise + setting

Distance: 0.1533

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Simulacron 3

Daniel F. Galouye · 1999

A corporate simulation designer starts doubting reality itself after a death and a string of impossible disappearances.

Why this is here

Premise labels: virtual reality · simulation theory · nested reality · mind-bending mystery · corporate conspiracy · opinion polling

Setting labels: near-future · corporate laboratory · simulated world · higher reality · urban futurism · technological reality

Semantic match: ranked by premise + setting

Distance: 0.1535

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Artificial Artifacts

John Fennec · 2024

Interconnected near-future stories trace AI’s spread through daily life, while a shadowy mogul links the collection together.

Why this is here

Premise labels: AI future · technology dependency · near future · tech ethics · consciousness and machine intelligence · truth manipulation · human-machine blur · digital identity · future consequences

Setting labels: near future · contemporary · decades-spanning · alternate futures · small rural town · rural America · business world · tech industry · digital world · virtual reality · augmented reality · parallel universes · other space-times

Semantic match: ranked by premise + setting

Distance: 0.1537

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