Science fiction · Similar reads
Books like Ubik
The best books like Ubik are Homage to Catalonia, The Trial, and The Man in the High Castle. Ubik by Philip K. Dick is about reality and illusion, corporate capitalism, death and entropy. 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.
- Homage to Catalonia
01
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 Trial
02
Franz Kafka · Literary fiction
On the morning of his thirtieth birthday, Josef K.
A kindred science fiction read.
Read the summary → - The Man in the High Castle
03
Philip K. Dick · Science fiction
It is 1962, fifteen years after the Axis won World War II.
A kindred science fiction read.
Read the summary → - Thinking, Fast and Slow
04
Daniel Kahneman · Psychology
Thinking, Fast and Slow is Daniel Kahneman's account of the two cognitive systems that govern human thought.
A kindred science fiction read.
Read the summary → - All Systems Red
05
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.
Both dig into identity.
Read the summary → - Blood Music
06
Greg Bear · Science fiction
Blood Music begins with Vergil Ulam, a maverick biologist who has been engineering intelligent lymphocytes — white blood cells he has modified to carry genetic information processors, effectively creating thinking microorganisms.
Both dig into identity.
Read the summary → - A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius
07
A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius
Dave Eggers · Memoir
Dave Eggers's debut memoir about losing both parents to cancer within five weeks and raising his younger brother Toph while trying to start a literary magazine in San Francisco in the mid-1990s arrived in 2000 with unusual self-consciousness about its own nature.
Both dig into identity.
Read the summary → - Adult Children of Alcoholics
08
Janet G. Woititz · Psychology
Adult Children of Alcoholics is Janet Woititz's clinical guide to the lasting psychological patterns that develop in children raised in alcoholic families.
Both dig into identity.
Read the summary → - Adventures of Huckleberry Finn
09
Adventures of Huckleberry Finn
Mark Twain · Literary fiction
Adventures of Huckleberry Finn begins where Tom Sawyer left off — Huck Finn, the outcast son of the town drunk, has been taken in and given a respectable life he doesn't want.
Both dig into identity.
Read the summary → - Agent Zigzag: A True Story of Nazi Espionage, Love, and Betrayal
10
Agent Zigzag: A True Story of Nazi Espionage, Love, and Betrayal
Ben Macintyre · History
Eddie Chapman was a safecracker, con man, and professional criminal who became Britain's most remarkable double agent during World War II.
Both dig into identity.
Read the summary → - American Nations
11
Colin Woodard · History
American Nations is Colin Woodard's argument that North America is not a single nation but a continent of 11 distinct regional cultures, each founded by different waves of settlers with different values, institutions, and political philosophies, and that understanding those foundational cultures is more useful for explaining American political conflict than the standard red-state/blue-state framing.
Both dig into identity.
Read the summary → - Atomic Habits
12
James Clear · Self-help
Atomic Habits is James Clear's framework for how very small changes — habits so minor they seem to make no difference on any given day — compound into remarkable results over months and years.
Both dig into identity.
Read the summary →
Books like Ubik: quick answers
What are the best books like Ubik?
The best books like Ubik by Philip K. Dick are Homage to Catalonia by George Orwell, The Trial by Franz Kafka, The Man in the High Castle by Philip K. Dick, Thinking, Fast and Slow by Daniel Kahneman, All Systems Red by Martha Wells, plus 7 more below. Each was chosen for themes it shares with Ubik, such as reality and illusion, corporate capitalism, death and entropy.
What should I read after Ubik?
A natural next read after Ubik is Homage to Catalonia by George Orwell. A kindred science fiction read. Other strong choices are The Trial by Franz Kafka, The Man in the High Castle by Philip K. Dick, Thinking, Fast and Slow by Daniel Kahneman.
What books are similar to Ubik by Philip K. Dick?
Ubik centers on reality and illusion, corporate capitalism, death and entropy. Books with a similar feel include Homage to Catalonia by George Orwell, The Trial by Franz Kafka, The Man in the High Castle by Philip K. Dick, Thinking, Fast and Slow by Daniel Kahneman, All Systems Red by Martha Wells, Blood Music by Greg Bear — all free to read and chat with on Superbook.
