If you’re a fan of sci-fi that takes real-world, cutting-edge science, adds in a fantastical twist, and yet somehow maintains a grounded, character-driven heart to the story, then odds are, you’ve read one of Blake Crouch’s bestsellers. Dark Matter was the science fiction novel of 2014, hooking longtime fans of the genre and non-sci-fi readers alike. This week, the much-anticipated adaptation of this novel is coming to Apple TV+ starring Joel Edgerton and Jennifer Connelly. So whether you were into this multiverse page, his time travel hit Recursion (also with an adaptation in the works) or his most recent release Upgrade, these books will be the perfect reads after binging the new show.
Dark Matter by Blake Crouch
When Jason is kidnapped, strapped to gurney and surrounded by men in hazmat suits, he never could have guessed where he’d wake up next. In a new reality, one where his wife is not his wife and his son doesn’t exist. Soon, he finds himself in a battle to find his reality, shifting through infinite versions of his life in search of the one he was ripped from.
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A Quantum Love Story by Mike Chen
Crouch is known for his mind-bending time manipulation plots, and Mike Chen is an equally exciting author in this space. After losing her best friend, Mariana Pineda is ready to start over, leaving behind her job at a top secret particle accelerator. When Carter Cho shows up and tells her details he can’t possibly know, she discovers she’s stuck in a time loop with him. But as they adjust to their repeat life, Mariana discovers that Carter is slowly forgetting and in order to find happiness, she must help them both escape the loop.
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The Future by Naomi Alderman
Naomi Alderman and Blake Crouch both have a knack for fascinating, near future speculation. Similar to Upgrade, The Future is a story that explores the oncoming reality of AI and the world of a tech-billionaire run society. In this story, Martha Einkorn, a former member of an apocalyptic cult and now personal assistance to an uberwealthy Silicone Valley CEO crosses paths with Lai Zhen, an internet influencer dedicated to survivalism. Their worlds collide in the wake of a world cataclysm as the billionaires flee to their own assured survival.
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Version Control by Dexter Palmer
In this story that feels like a contemplative novel in the same vein of Recursion, a woman who suffered a tragedy and a scientist whose invention (which he prefer not be called a time machine) has made him a laughingstock are simply trying to navigate a life that isn’t quite what they expected. This reflection on technology and human nature as it is evolving is a quiet novel, but one with an ending you won’t want to miss.
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Flux by Jinwoo Chong
As of lately, tech companies that aren’t quite right is a big theme (hmm, I wonder why?). And in this one, we see the intersection of Bo, Brandon and Blue’s lives across time as they deal with their own personal tragedies. A secret technology, a now-defunct tech company and a criminal trial all swirl around this time-bending speculative thriller about an experiment gone awry.
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The Peripheral by William Gibson
This book was released the same year as Dark Matter and in a lot of ways, gives similar vibes. Also a relatively recent adaptation by Amazon, The Peripheral is the first book in a trilogy that deals in augmented reality, haptic technology, world cataclysm and tech-driven time travel. Now, the past and future are about to collide in a virtual world.
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Sea of Tranquility by Emily St. John Mandel
This book is a thrilling blend of science fiction subgenre favorites. From time travel, to space travel, to moon colonization to pandemics, this book is winding tapestry of tantalizing tropes. In a similar page-turning pace to Crouch’s novels, Sea of Tranquility leads readers on a mystery around an anomaly in the North American wilderness that has occurred over centuries.
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All Our Wrong Todays by Elan Mastai
Technology has created a utopian society, but Tom isn’t all that happy. So naturally, he tries to fix his life with a time machine and messes everything up. Instead of his idyllic timeline, he’s now in ours, which is horrible by comparison. As he tries to fix the error of his ways, he comes to know the world we live in and begins to adapt, and find love. Now he must choose, restore the world to its perfect order or leave things the way they are so he can stay with her.
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The Punch Escrow by Tal M. Klein
Over one hundred years into the future, Joel is an ordinary guy working on training AI. Teleportation is the main mode of travel and anti-aging is also a thing. Joel’s life is suddenly flipped upside down when a teleportation gone wrong clones him. Now, he must deal with the shady organization in charge of this mode of travel, a religious sect that seeks to destroy it and another version of himself running around. In the same vein of Dark Matter, this book of a duplicated main character is twisty, mind-bendy, hard science fun.
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The Possibilities by Yael Goldstein-Love
While Crouch’s books tend to have a male lead, he’s also careful to include a strong female character at their side. But in this story, the world of parallel universes and children lost across timelines is a singularly feminine story told in a similar vein. Motherhood isn’t exactly what Hannah was expecting. It’s been hard. Really hard. And now, she thinks she might be losing it entirely when her son blips out of existence. Desperate to convince her husband something real is happening and this isn’t just postpartum stress, she begins to slip into other realities. Some where her son exists, others where he doesn’t. Packing the beauty and heartbreak of parenthood into a multiverse setting, this novel is a beautiful depiction of motherhood in a sci-fi setting.
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Wrong Place, Wrong Time by Gillian McAllister
While possibly on the verge of not being sci-fi in the strictest of definitions, this book deals with time in a particularly unique way. But it also has the familiar and fantastic family dynamic people love Dark Matter for. Jen just witnessed her 18-year-old son murder a complete stranger. His life is over. Their lives are over. But then something strange starts to happen. Each day, she wakes up at some point in the past. Driven to solve the events of that night before they can happen, she must follow the clues alone while everyone else lives in a chronological way and she keeps waking up further in the past.
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