Science fiction · Similar reads
Books like The Time Machine
The best books like The Time Machine are Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind, Homo Deus: A Brief History of Tomorrow, and Homage to Catalonia. The Time Machine by H. G. Wells is about class and inequality, evolution and degeneration, progress and its limits. If that's what drew you in, here are 12 books that share its DNA — each summarized on Superbook, and ready to chat with in the app.
- Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind
01
Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind
Yuval Noah Harari · History
Sapiens traces the full arc of human history from the emergence of Homo sapiens in Africa roughly 70,000 years ago to the present.
A kindred science fiction read.
Read the summary → - Homo Deus: A Brief History of Tomorrow
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Homo Deus: A Brief History of Tomorrow
Yuval Noah Harari · History
Homo Deus picks up where Sapiens left off, but turns to face the other direction.
A kindred science fiction read.
Read the summary → - Homage to Catalonia
03
George Orwell · Memoir
Homage to Catalonia is George Orwell's firsthand account of fighting in the Spanish Civil War, which he joined in late 1936 as a volunteer with the POUM militia — a Trotskyist revolutionary organization that was later suppressed by the Soviet-backed Stalinist wing of the Republican forces.
A kindred science fiction read.
Read the summary →
- The Selfish Gene
04
Richard Dawkins · Science
The Selfish Gene reframes evolution from the organism's point of view to the gene's.
A kindred science fiction read.
Read the summary → - A Brief History of Time
05
Stephen Hawking · Science
A Brief History of Time is Stephen Hawking's attempt to explain the biggest questions in physics — where the universe came from, how it behaves, and where it might be going — to readers with no scientific training.
A kindred science fiction read.
Read the summary → - 2001: A Space Odyssey
06
Arthur C. Clarke · Science fiction
2001: A Space Odyssey begins with prehistoric man-apes encountering a featureless black monolith that somehow catalyzes their cognitive leap from prey to hunter.
A kindred science fiction read.
Read the summary → - A Fire Upon the Deep
07
Vernor Vinge · Science fiction
The galaxy in A Fire Upon the Deep is zoned by the speed of thought: near the galactic core, the Slowness, where intelligence itself is limited; farther out, the Unthinking Depths; and further still, the Transcend, where entities of incomprehensible intelligence emerge and occasionally intervene in the affairs of the merely civilized.
A kindred science fiction read.
Read the summary → - A Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet
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A Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet
Becky Chambers · Science fiction
Rosemary Harper boards the Wayfarer under a false identity, hoping to escape a family history she cannot speak about.
A kindred science fiction read.
Read the summary → - A Memory Called Empire
09
Arkady Martine · Science fiction
Mahit Dzmare, ambassador from a small, semi-independent mining station to the vast Teixcalaanli Empire, arrives at the capital to find her predecessor has died under suspicious circumstances and the neural implant that was supposed to give her access to his memories and knowledge is three years out of date.
A kindred science fiction read.
Read the summary → - All Systems Red
10
Martha Wells · Science fiction
Murderbot is a SecUnit — part robot, part cloned human tissue — that has hacked its own governor module and is technically free, though it has chosen not to tell anyone.
A kindred science fiction read.
Read the summary → - Annihilation
11
Jeff VanderMeer · Science fiction
A team of four unnamed women — the biologist, the anthropologist, the surveyor, and the psychologist — enter Area X, a forbidden coastal wilderness where something has gone wrong for decades.
A kindred science fiction read.
Read the summary → - Blindsight
12
Peter Watts · Science fiction
Blindsight follows a crew of post-human specialists sent to intercept an alien object at the edge of the solar system in 2082.
A kindred science fiction read.
Read the summary →
Books like The Time Machine: quick answers
What are the best books like The Time Machine?
The best books like The Time Machine by H. G. Wells are Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind by Yuval Noah Harari, Homo Deus: A Brief History of Tomorrow by Yuval Noah Harari, Homage to Catalonia by George Orwell, The Selfish Gene by Richard Dawkins, A Brief History of Time by Stephen Hawking, plus 7 more below. Each was chosen for themes it shares with The Time Machine, such as class and inequality, evolution and degeneration, progress and its limits.
What should I read after The Time Machine?
A natural next read after The Time Machine is Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind by Yuval Noah Harari. A kindred science fiction read. Other strong choices are Homo Deus: A Brief History of Tomorrow by Yuval Noah Harari, Homage to Catalonia by George Orwell, The Selfish Gene by Richard Dawkins.
What books are similar to The Time Machine by H. G. Wells?
The Time Machine centers on class and inequality, evolution and degeneration, progress and its limits. Books with a similar feel include Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind by Yuval Noah Harari, Homo Deus: A Brief History of Tomorrow by Yuval Noah Harari, Homage to Catalonia by George Orwell, The Selfish Gene by Richard Dawkins, A Brief History of Time by Stephen Hawking, 2001: A Space Odyssey by Arthur C. Clarke — all free to read and chat with on Superbook.
