Series

Books like VALIS: 9 series to read next

VALIS is science fiction, about faith and religion and identity, challenging and reflective in register. The 9 series below are ranked by how much of that they share — each card says which parts.

VALIS is 4 books, 1981–1982.

“The title is an acronym for Vast Active Living Intelligence System, Dick's gnostic vision of God.”
from the catalogue description
Wikipedia CC BY-SA 4.0

The VALIS page →Narrow this list →

Whileaway
Library of America P. K. Dick Collection
Last Men
Jerry Cornelius
A Clockwork Orange
Karl Glogauer
Southern Reach Trilogy
K-PAX
Quark

WhileawaySeries

seriesJoanna Russ4 books1972

About gender and society.

Start with When It Changed →

Library of America P. K. Dick CollectionSeries

seriesPhilip K. Dick9 books1962

Set in near future.

“Technically banned, a novel called The Grasshopper Lies Heavy imagines a world where the Allies won instead — and its reclusive author, Hawthorne Abendsen, becomes an obsession for characters on every side.”
from the catalogue description of The Man in the High Castle

Start with The Man in the High Castle →

Last MenUniverse

universe21 books1930

Science fiction, challenging and reflective in tone, set in far future.

“Two billion years of human history, narrated at the speed of a geologist.”
from the catalogue description

Reading order →

Jerry CorneliusSeries

seriesMichael Moorcock, M. John Harrison, Brian W. Aldiss, Colin Greenland, James Cawthorn, James Sallis, Langdon Jones & Norman Spinrad50 books1965

Postmodern.

“Jerry Cornelius is a fictional character created by English author Michael Moorcock.”
from the catalogue description
Wikipedia CC BY-SA 4.0

Start with Preliminary Data →

A Clockwork OrangeSeries

seriesAnthony Burgess4 books1962

Dystopia, dark in tone, about totalitarianism, set in near future.

“After his crimes catch up with him, Alex is made the subject of a controversial state program meant to forcibly reform his behavior, and the novel uses his ordeal to question whether imposed goodness is worth the loss of free will.”
from the catalogue description

Start with A Clockwork Orange →

Karl GlogauerSeries

seriesMichael Moorcock2 books1969

Dark in tone.

“Michael Moorcock's two Karl Glogauer novels share a character rather than a plot.”
from the catalogue description

Start with Behold the Man →

Southern Reach TrilogySeries

seriesJeff VanderMeer4 books2014

Weird fiction and horror.

“In 2013, Paramount Pictures bought the movie rights for the series, and a film adaptation of Annihilation was made with Alex Garland as writer-director.”
from the catalogue description
Wikipedia CC BY-SA 4.0

Start with Annihilation →

K-PAXSeries

seriesGene Brewer4 books1995

Mysterious in tone, about aliens.

Start with K-PAX →

QuarkSeries

seriesMarilyn Hacker, Samuel R. Delany & Brian Vickers5 books1970

“A quark is a type of elementary particle and a fundamental constituent of matter.”
from the catalogue description
Wikipedia CC BY-SA 4.0

Start with Quark/1 →

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 VALIS?: Whileaway — the closest match to VALIS on what it is about, not on what sells.
Where do I start with VALIS?: VALIS. It is the entry the catalogue recommends for VALIS.
How big is VALIS?: VALIS is 4 books, 1981–1982.
Is VALIS finished?: Yes — 4 books, 1981–1982.

Books like VALIS: 9 series to read next

Read next in VALIS

Why these

Questions readers ask

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