Hiddensci-fi
Cover of The Merchant and the Alchemist's Gate by Ted Chiang
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The Merchant and the Alchemist's Gate

Ted Chiang

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Similar in plot structure

These books are ranked using the plot structure labels extracted for The Merchant and the Alchemist's Gate.

Plot structure labels used: story within story, frame story, nested narratives, interlinked tales, cautionary tales, causal loop, nonlinear revelation, multiple linked episodes

Focused on “episodic structure” where exact label matches exist.

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

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Cover of The Night Alphabet by Joelle Taylor

The Night Alphabet

Joelle Taylor · 2024

In a future Hackney tattoo shop, a woman’s body art opens onto many lives, times, and women’s histories.

Semantic match: ranked by plot structure

Distance: 0.0781

Cover of Or What You Will by Jo Walton

Or What You Will

Jo Walton · 2020

An aging fantasy writer and the muse living in her mind try to keep both of them alive through one last, deeply meta book.

Semantic match: ranked by plot structure

Distance: 0.0848

Cover of Trafalgar by Angélica Gorodischer

Trafalgar

Angélica Gorodischer · 1979

A coffee-fueled salesman spins linked tales of interstellar trade, strange worlds, and possible tall tales in Rosario.

Semantic match: ranked by plot structure

Distance: 0.0973

Cover of That Which Should Not Be by Brett J. Talley

That Which Should Not Be

Brett J. Talley · 2011 · That Which Should Not Be

A student’s quest for a forbidden book leads him into a stormbound tavern, where linked horror tales reveal a cosmic trap.

Semantic match: ranked by plot structure

Distance: 0.1038

Cover of The Kobayashi Maru by Julia Ecklar

The Kobayashi Maru

Julia Ecklar · 1989 · Star Trek: The Original Series

Stranded on a disabled shuttle, Starfleet officers recount their academy-era Kobayashi Maru experiences as rescue nears.

Semantic match: ranked by plot structure

Distance: 0.1045

Cover of Ka: Dar Oakley in the Ruin of Ymr by John Crowley

Ka: Dar Oakley in the Ruin of Ymr

John Crowley · 2017

An immortal crow tells a human his long, strange story across ages, worlds, and the many meanings of death.

Semantic match: ranked by plot structure

Distance: 0.1070

Cover of Time Enough for Love by Robert A. Heinlein

Time Enough for Love

Robert A. Heinlein · 2021 · The World as Myth

An immortal man recounts his centuries-spanning life while his captors try to keep him alive long enough to finish.

Semantic match: ranked by plot structure

Distance: 0.1087

Cover of The Carpet Makers by Andreas Eschbach

The Carpet Makers

Andreas Eschbach · 1995 · Carpet Makers Universe

A mysterious hair-carpet tradition on a backwater world gradually exposes a vast empire, hidden history, and a shocking truth.

Semantic match: ranked by plot structure

Distance: 0.1091

Cover of Kalpa Imperial: The Greatest Empire That Never Was by Angélica Gorodischer

Kalpa Imperial: The Greatest Empire That Never Was

Angélica Gorodischer · 1983 · Kalpa Imperial

A mythic cycle of tales traces the rise, fall, and reinvention of an imagined empire through many storytellers’ voices.

Semantic match: ranked by plot structure

Distance: 0.0795

Cover of The Circumference of the World by Lavie Tidhar

The Circumference of the World

Lavie Tidhar · 2023

A mathematician, a bookseller, and a mobster chase a vanished science-fiction novel that may reveal reality’s deepest truth.

Semantic match: ranked by plot structure

Distance: 0.1119

Cover of Den Danske Borgerkrig 2018-24 by Kaspar Colling Nielsen

Den Danske Borgerkrig 2018-24

Kaspar Colling Nielsen · 2013

A future-dated Danish civil war is remembered by an immortal man, with absurd tales, social satire, and grotesque detours.

Semantic match: ranked by plot structure

Distance: 0.1127