Books like I Have No Mouth and I Must Scream

I Have No Mouth and I Must Scream by Harlan Ellison reads as bleak, terrifying. These 12 books share its genome — matched by how they actually read, not just their shelf label.

The Windup Girl

Paolo Bacigalupi · 2009

Shares the collapse thread

69% genome match

Neuromancer

William Gibson · 1984

Same sci-fi feel

83% genome match

Pale rider

Alan Dean Foster · 1985

Shares the collapse thread

69% genome match

Terminal World

Alastair Reynolds · 2010

Both explore post-apocalyptic & artificial intelligence

67% genome match

Akira

Katsuhiro Otomo · 1982

Shares the collapse thread

69% genome match

The real story

Stephen R. Donaldson · 1991

Both explore survival

62% genome match

The Simulacra

Philip K. Dick · 1964

Same sci-fi feel

48% genome match

Demons

John Shirley · 2002

Same horror feel

61% genome match

BLAME! Volume 1

Tsutomu Nihei · 1998

Shares the collapse thread

69% genome match

Permutation City

Greg Egan · 1994

Both explore artificial intelligence

57% genome match

Blade Runner 2 - the edge of human

K. W. Jeter · 1995

Both explore artificial intelligence

57% genome match

Flashback

Dan Simmons · 2011

Same sci-fi feel

57% genome match