Series

Books like Recursion: 9 series to read next

Recursion is science fiction, about artificial intelligence, set in far future. The 9 series below are ranked by how much of that they share — each card says which parts.

Recursion is 8 books, 1998–2012.

The Recursion page →Narrow this list →

Takeshi Kovacs
Blindsight / Firefall
Dune
Jean le Flambeur
Foundation
Pandora
Sprawl Trilogy
Halting State
The Culture

Takeshi KovacsSeries

seriesRichard Morgan3 books2002

Science fiction and cyberpunk, tense and dark in tone, about identity, set in far future and other star systems.

“Takeshi Kovacs is a former elite soldier turned freelance troubleshooter in a future where human consciousness can be digitized and transferred between bodies, or sleeves, making death an inconvenience for those who can afford new ones.”
from the catalogue description

Start with Altered Carbon →

Blindsight / FirefallSeries

seriesPeter Watts3 books2006

Hard science fiction and first contact, about aliens, set in space.

Start with Blindsight →

DuneUniverse

universe78 books1963

About political intrigue.

“The desert planet, where empire runs on a single substance: the spice melange, which folds space, prolongs life, and unlocks prescience, and which exists nowhere else in the known universe.”
from the catalogue description

Start with Dune →

Jean le FlambeurSeries

seriesHannu Rajaniemi3 books2010

Hard science fiction, set in space.

“Jean le Flambeur is a master thief broken out of a virtual prison to pull off one more impossible heist, in a solar system reshaped by uploaded minds, post-human factions, and economies built on memory and privacy themselves.”
from the catalogue description

Start with The Quantum Thief →

FoundationUniverse

universe123 books1940

Science fiction, about robots, set in far future.

“There is a science that reads the future of quadrillions the way an astronomer reads the orbits of stars.”
from the catalogue description

Start with Foundation →

PandoraSeries

seriesFrank Herbert & Bill Ransom4 books1966

About survival.

“The Pandora Sequence opens with Frank Herbert's solo novel Destination: Void, in which a starship crew must jury-rig a working artificial consciousness after their vessel's control systems fail.”
from the catalogue description

Start with Destination: Void →

Sprawl TrilogySeries

seriesWilliam Gibson & Terry Bisson10 books1981

Set in big city.

“Johnny Mnemonic, an early short story set in the same fictional milieu, predates the novels and introduces the courier Molly Millions before her role in the trilogy.”
from the catalogue description

Start with Neuromancer →

Halting StateSeries

seriesCharles Stross2 books2007

About surveillance.

“The plot centres on a bank robbery in a virtual world.”
from the catalogue description

Start with Halting State →

The CultureUniverse

universe21 books1987

Set in galactic scale.

“No money, no laws, no hunger, no death you didn't choose; a galaxy-spanning anarchy of humans and drones administered, gently and with enormous irony, by superintelligent Minds who name their warships things like *Frank Exchange Of Views*.”
from the catalogue description

Reading order →

Why these

No sales rank, no star ratings, no readers also bought.

Shared terms are not a promise that a book feels the same. Two series can be far-future political intrigue and read nothing alike — what the ranking can say is what they are about, and each card says which parts it shares.

Questions readers ask

What should I read after Recursion?: Takeshi Kovacs — the closest match to Recursion on what it is about, not on what sells.
Where do I start with Recursion?: Recursion. It is the entry the catalogue recommends for Recursion.
How big is Recursion?: Recursion is 8 books, 1998–2012.

Books like Recursion: 9 series to read next

Read next in Recursion

Why these

Questions readers ask

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