30 books you’ll want to read if you loved Westworld

As an astrophysicist and published sci-fi/speculative fiction author and editor who was introduced to Asimov and Clarke by age four, Westworld resonated with me on a number of levels. Check out the following guide on what to read until Season 3!

And don’t worry Westworld fans—this won’t be like every other list you read. You won’t find any basic Hitchhiker’s Guide, Ender’s Game, or Brave New World here. We go for the innovative. The following novels are presented in no particular order. Enjoy!

Don’t be afraid to check some of these titles out while we’re in a Westworld drought aka the dreadful hiatus. Anything we can do to pass the time until season 3, right?

Foundation – Isaac Asimov

History, science, and mathematics combine to describe and predict human behavior alongside one man’s battle to rebuild civilization in a massive classic of the genre. I also recommend Asimov’s The Caves of Steel and The Gods Themselves.

The Three-Body Problem – Liu Cixin

An acclaimed hard-science pick that explores the nature of human behavior on a planet orbiting three suns.

Babel-17 – Samuel R. Delaney

This is not to be missed by fans of Westworld’s neurocognition themes. What can AI do to expand the human brain and abilities? A lot, it seems. This exciting thriller will keep you on your toes.

The Moon is a Harsh Mistress – Robert Heinlein

Another classic. Supercomputer gains sentience and self-awareness (and a conscience) and aids humans in a revolution against their corrupt governmental system.

Sphere – Michael Crichton

The director of the original Westworld gives us an underwater futuristic struggle between machine intelligence and fragile human imagination that you won’t forget. And for those who haven’t seen the 1998 film adaptation of the novel starring Dustin Hoffman, Sharon Stone, and Samuel L. Jackson–you’re missing out!

Sailing to Byzantium – Robert Silverberg

Inspired by a Yeats poem of the same name (and remember the history of Yeats’s poetry in Westworld), this time-travel futuristic novel deals with concepts of immortality and time itself. Is immortality worth it? What are the consequences?

Dune – Frank Herbert

One of the great novels of science fiction, Dune has everything you’re looking for. It’s a must-read.

Gateway – Frederik Pohl

Exploring the idea of making conscious choices and their outcomes, the award-winning 1977 Gateway is a must-read that will have readers thinking long after putting it down.

The Player of Games – Iain M. Banks

A human/AI combined society and a mysterious game will definitely quench your Westworld cravings.

Accelerando – Charles Stross

Molecular nanotech, AI surpassing and overtaking the human race, and human survival in this new reality. Honestly, I recommend just about anything by Stross, including Neptune’s Brood and his Laundry Files series.

The Time-Swept City – Tom Monteleone

A lesser-known pick by a great author. This book takes us through eons of human history, tech advancements, and AI development all the way to humanity’s end and the world’s ultimate purpose as a machine utopia.

Blindsight – Peter Watts

Machine-human hybridization, the supernatural, and interstellar warriors combine to discover the source of a mysterious signal far from Earth.

Credit: Philip K. Dick

Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? – Philip K. Dick

Classic novel, classic film (Bladerunner inspiration). What does it mean to be human in a futuristic world?

Ubik – Philip K. Dick

In a future with cryogenic preservation, multiple lives, both true and false memories, and worldwide telepathy, are we truly alive or are we dead?

The Quantum Thief – Hannu Rajaniemi

A much-loved sci-fi/fantasy novel of this century, this piece has everything you could want, from
AI, time travel, overlapping timelines, and multiple lives to navigate. Imagine having to kill a
future variation of yourself every morning just to preserve reality.

The Liberation – Ian Tregillis

Speculative fiction looks at an entirely machine-being-run world to examine the nature of free will.

Childhood’s End – Arthur C. Clarke

This acclaimed classic brings alien super-beings to Earth to create a utopia that may not be what it appears. I also recommend Clarke’s short story collections.

First Lensman – Edward “Doc” Smith

Love Maeve’s mysterious “Voice”? The protagonist in this series gains a device that gives him similar powers on a wider scale.

Galapagos – Kurt Vonnegut

You’ll find this one shot down by many critics, but a book narrated by a being that observes the evolution of human behavior and neurology for the last million years of humanity’s presence on Earth is too good to pass up. I loved it. I also recommend Vonnegut’s The Sirens of Titan, a lesser-known masterpiece that combines World War II history, time-travel, and futuristic tech to illustrate the dark side of human behavior and free will.

Before Mars – Emma Newman

A scientist deals with untrustworthy AI and the true nature of reality and memories. Very much Arnold’s game.

The Stars My Destination – Alfred Bester

A classic of sci-fi written in the 1950s, this space opera packed with thrills and the unexpected is essential.

Provenance – Ann Leckie

Robots, aliens, and humans combine to build a futuristic world facing the complex mixture of cultures and species.

The Expanse series – Dan Abraham and Ty Franck

The books that inspired the TV hit The Expanse are action-packed, well researched, and will delight fans of shows like Firefly with their complex world-building.

Seed to Harvest – Octavia Butler

Ancient myths, futuristic AI, and alien invasion combine to create a complex world where the future and the past collide while humans ready themselves to do battle for their planet.

Annihilation – Jeff VanderMeer

Like a bit of speculative horror with your science? Jeff VanderMeer’s Southern Reach trilogy will blow you away and leave you gasping. The movie is great but doesn’t do the books justice. Enter Area X at your own peril.

Speak – Louisa Hall

Hall’s examination of reality, language-building, memory, and the beginnings of AI are a perfect companion piece for Westworld fans. One of my personal top picks.

The Time Machine – H.G. Wells

A true classic of the genre, this is essential reading for any science-fiction lover.

The Forever War – Joe Haldeman

Interested in the true nature of relativity in a futuristic world? Halderman doesn’t hold back on the science and you may learn some things about relativistic physics that are darker than you imagined.

We – Yevgeny Zamyatin

It may have been written in 1924, but this future dystopia inspired Orwell’s 1984 and is just as successful in its themes of freedom and revolution.

Manifold: Time – Stephen Baxter

Hard sci-fi that explores humanity’s inevitable future decline along with that of our planet. A great future dystopia. Other great books in this vein include The Handmaid’s Tale (Margaret Atwood), Oryx and Crake (Margaret Atwood), and The Windup Girl (Paolo Bacigalupi).

Other great books to check out:

• Ringworld – Larry Niven
• The Dispossessed – Ursula K. LeGuin
• I Have No Mouth and I Must Scream – Harlan Ellison
• The Martian Chronicles – Ray Bradbury
• The Illustrated Man – Ray Bradbury
• Tales of the Dying Earth – Jack Vance
• Hyperion – Dan Simmons

Do you have any books you would recommend or are any of the above amongst your favorites? Share your thoughts with us in the comments!

Keep tuned to Beyond Westworld for recommendations, articles, interviews, scene breakdowns, predictions, and more!