Recommendations based on Unlocked: An Oral History of Haden's Syndromeby John Scalzi

* statistically, based on millions of data-points provided by fellow humans

  1. Lock In

    by John Scalzi
    A sci-fi thriller involving a global pandemic and a world of augmented reality.

    The world is exposed to a highly contagious virus. Most who get sick experience nothing worse than flu -like symptoms. For 1%, the virus causes the victims to be fully awake, but unable to move or ... (Wikipedia)

  2. Redshirts

    by John Scalzi
    A group of space explorers uncover an unlikely conspiracy while on a mission to an alien planet.

    In the prologue, several senior officers of the Intrepid , flagship of the Universal Union, lament the unusually high number of casualties of low-ranking crew members during recent away missions and ... (Wikipedia)

  3. The Consuming Fire

    by John Scalzi
    The second book in the Interdependency series, as the collapse of the Flow threatens the survival of humanity.

    Following the events of The Collapsing Empire, End is now isolated from Hub as the result of a Flow shoal breakdown. Seeking to unite the population of the Interdependency behind an agenda to get ... (Wikipedia)

  4. Trigger Warning: Short Fictions and Disturbances

    by Neil Gaiman
    Collection of short stories, exploring the boundaries of the imaginative.

    Multiple award winning, #1 New York Times bestselling author Neil Gaiman returns to dazzle, captivate, haunt, and entertain with this third collection of short fiction following Smoke and Mirrors and ... (Goodreads)

  5. Batman: Whatever Happened to the Caped Crusader?

    by Neil Gaiman
    A retrospective exploration of the Batman mythos, examining the legacy of the iconic hero.

    The story begins over Gotham City , which the narrator describes as being "different." It is not quite the Gotham that he is accustomed to, but it is still intimately familiar to him. Outside the Dew ... (Wikipedia)

  6. Saga, Volume 3

    by Brian K. Vaughan
    A family's epic adventure of survival in a dangerous and unpredictable universe.

    The Eisner, Harvey, and Hugo Award-winning phenomenon continues, as new parents Marko and Alana travel to an alien world to visit their hero, while the family's pursuers finally close in on their ... (Barnes & Noble)

  7. Perfect State

    by Brandon Sanderson
    A tale of a world with perfect order and a ruler who strives to maintain it.

    From the author of Legion and the #1 New York Times bestselling Stormlight Archive comes an action-filled novella about privilege, culture clash, and expectations. God-Emperor Kairominas is lord of ... (Goodreads)

  8. The People of Sparks

    by Jeanne DuPrau
    After fleeing their underground city, Lina and Doon lead their people to a new town, but tensions arise with the locals.

    The story resumes after the evacuation of Ember, an underground city, which has been cut off from the surface for more than 200 years. The 400+ refugees from the city cannot return, as the city's ... (Wikipedia)

  9. Elantris

    by Brandon Sanderson
    Epic fantasy tale of a cursed city and its inhabitants’ struggles to restore its former glory.

    Elantris was once a place of magic, and the immortal Elantrians were gods in the eyes of people, with the divine ability to create and heal with a mere wave of a hand. Anyone in Arelon had the ... (Wikipedia)

  10. The Apocalypse Codex

    by Charles Stross
    A secret agent's mission to protect humanity from a powerful cult and its apocalyptic agenda.

    For outstanding heroism in the field (despite himself), computational demonologist Bob Howard is on the fast track for promotion to management within the Laundry, the supersecret British government ... (Goodreads)

  11. The Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet

    by Becky Chambers
    An intergalactic adventure filled with unlikely friendships and epic space battles.

    Follow a motley crew on an exciting journey through space-and one adventurous young explorer who discovers the meaning of family in the far reaches of the universe-in this light-hearted debut space ... (Goodreads)

  12. The Churn

    by James S.A. Corey
    A rag-tag crew on a mission to save humanity from an ancient alien threat.

    From New York Times bestselling author James S.A. Corey... Before his trip to the stars, before the Rocinante , Amos Burton was confined to a Baltimore where crime paid you or killed you. Unless the ... (Goodreads)

  13. Red Rising

    by Pierce Brown
    An oppressed society's revolution against their oppressive overlords, led by a young man with a hidden destiny.

    It has been seven hundred years since mankind colonized other planets. The powerful ruling class of humans has installed a rigid, color-based social hierarchy where the physically superior Golds at ... (Wikipedia)

  14. All You Need Is Kill

    by Hiroshi Sakurazaka
    A soldier battles against aliens in a war, uncovering secrets and inner strength.

    The story is told from the perspective of Keiji Kiriya, a new recruit in the United Defense Force. Despite equipping its soldiers with powered exoskeletons , the UDF is losing its fight against the ... (Wikipedia)

  15. The Sculptor

    by Scott McCloud
    A young sculptor makes a deal with death to create extraordinary art, but the cost is his mortality.

    26-year-old New York-based artist David Smith is dealing with a difficult life—his family is dead, his patron has abandoned him, and he is broke , —when Death greets him in the guise of his dead ... (Wikipedia)

  16. The Ice Dragon

    by George R.R. Martin
    A young girl's quest to tame a magical creature and save her home from destruction.

    The ice dragon was a creature of legend and fear, for no man had ever tamed one. When it flew overhead, it left in its wake desolate cold and frozen land. But Adara was not afraid. For Adara was a ... (Goodreads)

  17. Saga, Volume 1

    by Brian K. Vaughan
    A young family from opposite sides of a galactic war fight to survive and protect their newborn child.

    Each issue of Saga is titled with a numerical Chapter, such as "Chapter 1" for the debut issue. Every six chapters comprise a story arc designated as a "Volume" and are reprinted as trade paperbacks. ... (Wikipedia)

  18. Locke & Key, Vol. 6: Alpha & Omega

    by Joe Hill
    The epic conclusion to the Locke family's battle against the supernatural forces that haunt their ancestral home.

    The shadows have never been darker and the end has never been closer. Turn the key and open the last door; it's time to say goodbye. The final arc of New York Times bestselling Locke & Key comes to a ... (Goodreads)

  19. Neverwhere

    by Neil Gaiman
    A mysterious journey through a hidden realm of London, filled with danger and unexpected allies.

    Neverwhere is the story of Richard Mayhew and his trials and tribulations in London. At the start of the story, he is a young businessman, recently moved from Scotland and with a normal life ahead. ... (Wikipedia)

  20. Record of a Spaceborn Few

    by Becky Chambers
    A group of humans, the last of their kind, struggle to maintain their culture and way of life aboard a fleet of aging spaceships.

    Centuries after the last humans left Earth, the Exodus Fleet is a living relic, a place many are from but few outsiders have seen. Humanity has finally been accepted into the galactic community, but ... (Goodreads)

  21. The Hydrogen Sonata

    by Iain M. Banks
    A civilization on the brink of extinction, struggling to find a way to survive.

    The Gzilt, a civilisation that almost joined the Culture 10,000 years before the novel, have decided to Sublime, leaving behind “the Real” to take up residence in higher dimensions. The ... (Wikipedia)

  22. The Magician's Land

    by Lev Grossman
    The final book in the Magicians trilogy, as Quentin Coldwater and his friends face their ultimate challenge in a magical world.

    After being expelled from the magical realm of Fillory, magician Quentin Coldwater returns to his alma mater , the magical college of Brakebills, as a new professor. There he is finally given a ... (Wikipedia)

  23. Superman: Red Son

    by Mark Millar
    What if Superman had landed in Soviet Russia instead of the United States? Follow the alternate history of the Man of Steel.

    The Soviet Union reveals Superman to the world in 1953. The news of a superpowered alien under Soviet control causes panic in the United States , shifting the focus of the Cold War arms race from ... (Wikipedia)

  24. Embassytown

    by China Miéville
    Exploring a distant alien city and unraveling its mysteries.

    Embassytown takes place mostly in the city of the title, on the planet Arieka. Embassytown exists on the very edge of the "Manchmal" (from the German for "sometimes"), which is suspected to be the ... (Wikipedia)

  25. Station Eleven

    by Emily St. John Mandel
    Post-apocalyptic exploration of a world drastically changed after a pandemic.

    An audacious, darkly glittering novel set in the eerie days of civilization’s collapse,, Station Eleven, tells the spellbinding story of a Hollywood star, his would-be savior, and a nomadic group of ... (Barnes & Noble)

  26. The Slow Regard of Silent Things

    by Patrick Rothfuss
    A solitary journey into the depths of a mysterious underground realm.

    Deep below the University, there is a dark place. Few people know of it: a broken web of ancient passageways and abandoned rooms. A young woman lives there, tucked among the sprawling tunnels of the ... (Goodreads)

  27. The Bands of Mourning

    by Brandon Sanderson
    A quest for an artifact that could unlock the secrets of the Mistborn universe.

    Three hundred years after the events of the Mistborn trilogy, Scadrial is now on the verge of modernity, with railroads to supplement the canals, electric lighting in the streets and the homes of the ... (Goodreads)

  28. The Farthest Shore

    by Ursula K. Le Guin
    A quest to save a magical kingdom from a mysterious force of darkness.

    A strange, inexplicable malaise is spreading throughout Earthsea. Magic is losing its power; songs are being forgotten; people and animals are sickening or going mad. Accompanied by Arren, the young ... (Wikipedia)

  29. Binti

    by Nnedi Okorafor
    A journey of self-discovery for a young African girl as she confronts xenophobia, racism, and alien cultures.

    A young woman named Binti is the first member of the Himba ethnic group on Earth (closely modeled on the Himba people ) , to be accepted into the prestigious intergalactic university Oomza Uni. Upon ... (Wikipedia)

  30. The Wise Man's Fear

    by Patrick Rothfuss
    Epic fantasy adventure of a young man's quest for knowledge, power and love.

    On the second day of his recounting the story of his life to Chronicler at the Waystone Inn, Kvothe continues the narrative commenced in, The Name of the Wind, , wherein a younger Kvothe pursues his ... (Wikipedia)