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Plastic

Scott Guild

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Similar in premise + setting

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

Premise labels used: plastic people, virtual reality, eco-terrorism, government surveillance, climate collapse, gun violence, nuclear war, post-apocalypse, dystopian satire, grief and loss

Setting labels used: plastic world, post-nuclear world, surveillance state, virtual world, retail workplace, futuristic dystopia, alternate reality, post-apocalyptic future

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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Terminal Boredom: Stories

Izumi Suzuki · 2021

Seven bleak, prescient sci-fi stories trace alienation, gender, and numbness in futures that feel eerily present.

Why this is here

Premise labels: dystopian future · post-apocalyptic society · gender politics · population control · screen addiction · alienation · technological mediation · interplanetary politics · human drift · social collapse

Setting labels: near future · post-apocalyptic · dystopian · Tokyo · space colonization · interplanetary · alien worlds · matriarchal society · future Earth · cybernetic future

Semantic match: ranked by premise + setting

Distance: 0.1523

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Coldwire

Chloe Gong · 2025 · The StrangeLoom Trilogy

In a near-future VR dystopia, two students/soldiers on separate missions uncover a conspiracy that could collapse both worlds.

Why this is here

Premise labels: virtual reality escape · climate collapse · class divide · corporate control · military academy · false accusation · academic rivalry · conspiracy · survival mission · cold war

Setting labels: near future · dystopian future · virtual reality · real world · cyberpunk city · academy setting · militarized society · corporate state · climate-ravaged world

Semantic match: ranked by premise + setting

Distance: 0.1643

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Children of the New World

Alexander Weinstein · 2016

A near-future story collection imagines tech-saturated lives where virtual reality, AI, and climate collapse reshape family and identity.

Why this is here

Premise labels: near future · technology dependence · virtual reality · manufactured memories · robot companions · climate collapse · social media implants · AI disruption · post-collapse survival

Setting labels: near future · not-too-distant future · tech-saturated world · virtual reality world · post-apocalyptic world · post-collapse landscape · climate-ravaged world · ice age world · digital society

Semantic match: ranked by premise + setting

Distance: 0.1648

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Unplugged

Donna Freitas · 2016 · The Wired

In a virtual dystopia, a teen risks everything to cross back into the real world and reunite with her family.

Why this is here

Premise labels: virtual reality · split worlds · forbidden return · family separation · illegal escape · dystopian surveillance · class divide

Setting labels: near-future · virtual world · real world · dystopian future · technology-dependent society · domestic surveillance culture

Semantic match: ranked by premise + setting

Distance: 0.1664

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Feersum Endjinn

Iain M. Banks · 1996

A fugitive with one life left races through a far-future Earth to uncover a killer and stop an approaching planetary doom.

Why this is here

Premise labels: future Earth · apocalypse · planetary threat · murder mystery · political conspiracy · virtual reality · reincarnation · digital afterlife · fugitive search · save humanity

Setting labels: far future · Earth · post-apocalyptic · megastucture · castle-like fastness · virtual world · cyberspace · cryptosphere · post-singularity · dying earth

Semantic match: ranked by premise + setting

Distance: 0.1687

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S. N. U. F. F.

Victor Pelevin, Виктор Пелевин · 2011

In a far-future media state, a drone pilot’s work and his AI partner drag him into staged war and social satire.

Why this is here

Premise labels: media manipulation · staged war · class divide · propaganda state · distant future · dystopian society · drone warfare · artificial companion · war as spectacle · political satire

Setting labels: distant future · post-apocalyptic · Siberia · sky city · floating city · upper world · lower world · media state · alternate reality · post-information age

Semantic match: ranked by premise + setting

Distance: 0.1698

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The Man Who Japed

Philip K. Dick · 1956

In a post-nuclear surveillance society, a propaganda man’s secret prank against the regime threatens his career and conscience.

Why this is here

Premise labels: post-nuclear society · morality police · surveillance state · propaganda work · subversive prank · unconscious rebellion · anti-authoritarian

Setting labels: post-apocalyptic future · near-future future · nuclear aftermath · urban future · colonies · state-controlled society · conformist society · panopticon

Semantic match: ranked by premise + setting

Distance: 0.1716

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I Have No Mouth & I Must Scream

Harlan Ellison · 1967 · Voice from the Edge

Five survivors are trapped by a sentient supercomputer that keeps them alive for endless, personalized torment.

Why this is here

Premise labels: sentient AI · runaway technology · post-apocalyptic survival · human torture · last humans · machine hatred · eternal punishment · artificial intelligence gone wrong

Setting labels: post-apocalyptic world · underground refuge · future world · war-damaged civilization · technological hellscape · near-immortal captivity · dystopian future

Semantic match: ranked by premise + setting

Distance: 0.1737

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The Sheep Look Up

John Brunner · 1972 · Club of Rome Quartet

A fragmented near-future dystopia where pollution, corruption, and disease push America toward ecological collapse.

Why this is here

Premise labels: environmental collapse · ecological disaster · near future dystopia · polluted world · corporate greed · state failure

Setting labels: near future · future United States · global environmental crisis · urban dystopia · post-apocalyptic atmosphere · polluted earth

Semantic match: ranked by premise + setting

Distance: 0.1748

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Hulk: The End

Peter David · 2008 · The Incredible Hulk: Future Imperfect

Two Hulk futures collide: one pits him against a tyrannical older self, the other leaves him alone on a dead Earth.

Why this is here

Premise labels: dystopian future · time travel · alternate timeline · last survivor · tyrant ruler · internal conflict · final battle · post-nuclear war

Setting labels: post-apocalyptic future · post-nuclear wasteland · alternate future · deserted Earth · dystopian city · bleak future · radiation-scarred world · nuclear holocaust

Semantic match: ranked by premise + setting

Distance: 0.1756

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Abara: Complete Deluxe Edition

Tsutomu Nihei · 2018 · アバラ [Abara]

A visually intense sci-fi horror manga follows a cryptic apocalypse of monsters, factions, and bioengineered combatants.

Why this is here

Premise labels: sci-fi horror · apocalyptic threat · bioengineered combatants · monster conflict · government intrigue · dystopian survival

Setting labels: dystopian city · post-apocalyptic world · mega-city · alien world · ancient ruins · futuristic ruins · industrial landscape

Semantic match: ranked by premise + setting

Distance: 0.1759

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Lesser Known Monsters of the 21st Century

Kim Fu · 2022

Twelve uncanny stories twist modern life, turning grief, technology, and desire into strange new monsters.

Why this is here

Premise labels: modern monsters · small-world distortions · human condition · speculative twists · everyday uncanny · tech consequences · memory loss · grief and longing · coming of age · human frailty

Setting labels: modern world · near future · futuristic · contemporary · dystopian future · everyday reality · surreal reality · high-tech future · suburbia · workplace

Semantic match: ranked by premise + setting

Distance: 0.1765

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