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Combine common axes
These books are ranked using the characterization labels extracted for The Cautious Traveller's Guide to the Wastelands.
Characterization labels used: orphan, grieving widow, disgraced naturalist, scientist, stowaway, train-born child, cartographer, company agent, comic relief side character, curious protagonist, defiant youth, redemption arc, investigative protagonist
This does not mean the books share the same plot, setting, quality, or difficulty. It means their characterization embeddings are close.
An archaeologist in a future Dominican Republic loses 40 years in a pocket world and returns to a changed, corporate-dominated reality.
Why this is here
Characterization labels: archaeologist protagonist · biologist spouse · scientist protagonist · disgraced ex-agent · grieving mother · guilt-driven · idealistic turned disillusioned · flawed protagonist · estranged spouse · queer couple
Semantic match: ranked by characterization
Distance: 0.2353
As Earth nears destruction by asteroid, a young botanist must decide what—and who—matters most before the final ark leaves.
Why this is here
Characterization labels: young scientist · botanist · horticulturist · scientist crew · lonely protagonist · melancholy protagonist · dedicated worker · reflective character · hope-awakened character
Semantic match: ranked by characterization
Distance: 0.2386
A Soviet cosmonaut returns from a secret deep-space mission with reality-bending powers and a world afraid of what he’s become.
Why this is here
Characterization labels: orphan · cosmonaut · astronaut · godlike protagonist · alienated protagonist · sympathetic protagonist · powerful being · state-raised
Semantic match: ranked by characterization
Distance: 0.2485
A shipwrecked father and son discover a hidden island where dinosaurs and humans share a carefully imagined utopia.
Why this is here
Characterization labels: explorer · naturalist · scientist · father son duo · young protagonist · translator character · world learner · outsider observer · curious child · practical adult
Semantic match: ranked by characterization
Distance: 0.2497
A Czech astronaut on a solo mission to a cosmic dust cloud confronts family guilt, a failing marriage, and a possible alien friend.
Why this is here
Characterization labels: orphan · astronaut · scientist · astrophysicist · researcher · national hero · traumatized protagonist · guilt-haunted · ambitious · introspective · lonely · morally conflicted · wife figure · grandparent-raised · possibly imaginary companion
Semantic match: ranked by characterization
Distance: 0.2498
A grieving scientist’s experiment with his dead wife’s cells awakens a terrifying force inside the human body.
Why this is here
Characterization labels: researcher protagonist · scientist protagonist · grieving husband · teen transplant patient · student researcher · obsessive experimenter · medical professional · morally compromised
Semantic match: ranked by characterization
Distance: 0.2507
A scientist’s Antarctic warning unravels an expedition into ancient ruins, alien history, and creeping cosmic dread.
Why this is here
Characterization labels: geologist protagonist · scientist narrator · expedition leader · academic explorers · survivor narrator · curious investigators · impossibly ancient beings
Semantic match: ranked by characterization
Distance: 0.2522
A scientist is exiled to the dinosaur past after a murder frame-up, while his daughter races across time to clear him.
Why this is here
Characterization labels: scientist protagonist · widowed father · teen daughter · young son · falsely accused · determined heroine · survivalist arc · grief-stricken · relatable characters · flat characters (mixed) · one-dimensional characters (mixed) · secretive colleagues · morally burdened · smart protagonist · resourceful daughter · protective parent
Semantic match: ranked by characterization
Distance: 0.2536
A scavenger and a sentient pirate ship enter a marriage of convenience to solve a murder, and fall for each other.
Why this is here
Characterization labels: scavenger · bot maker · data analyst · mother · widow · sentient ship · pirate leader · idealistic · protective · grieving · outsider
Semantic match: ranked by characterization
Distance: 0.2539
Two astronauts on a near-future mission to Enceladus search for life while isolation, risk, and doubt mount.
Why this is here
Characterization labels: wisecracking protagonist · marine biologist · astronaut · veteran pilot · grieving character · female scientist · skeptical protagonist · lonely explorer
Semantic match: ranked by characterization
Distance: 0.2581
A grief-stricken reporter chases a possible plane-crash survivor into a conspiracy involving science, power, and secrets.
Why this is here
Characterization labels: grieving father · investigative reporter · prisoner of grief · determined seeker · troubled lead · persistent investigator · mysterious woman · shadowy antagonists · special children
Semantic match: ranked by characterization
Distance: 0.2584
Genetically changed children face quarantine, fear, and state control as their species nears adolescence.
Why this is here
Characterization labels: scientist protagonists · biologist · archaeologist · teen protagonist · parental protection · rebellious youth · exiled researchers · government officials · bounty hunters · persecuted underclass · posthuman children · likable characters
Semantic match: ranked by characterization
Distance: 0.2591
