Outland by Dennis E. Taylor is a post-apocalyptic dystopian fiction and part of the “Bobiverse” series. It was summer sessions at the University of Nebraska at Lincoln, and Kevin, a physics genius, had solved the math for a device. They suspect the device is going to create a portal to another world. It could be another dimension. He has theories, but he’s not a hundred percent sure.
So Kevin and his friend Richard have to recruit some people to help them build these because they’re physicists. They recruit Bill, who’s an engineering prodigy. Bill brings his friend, Matt, who’s a software developer. At first, they come together, and Richard and Kevin describe what they’re trying to do to Bill and Matt. So they’re all in on the project, and between the four of them, they build this portal, and there are all fun comments about Stargate.
They get unexpected results during their tests, so they bring in Matt’s girlfriend, Erin, a geologist. Aaron brings in her friend, Monica, who is a zoologist. The six-team of six make up the main characters of this book. Reading books like “Outland” or other science fiction and speculative fiction works can offer a range of benefits, both intellectual and emotional. These types of books explore ideas and worlds that are different from our own, which can help expand your imagination and sense of what is possible.
7 Books Like Outland (Science Fiction)
Outland is a great standalone listen for characters. The characters in the book invented the portal, but they didn’t describe the technology that went into building the portal. The whole portal concept is widely used in sci-fi.
So the funniest mix of technology is when they made the little portals and stuck the stick with the camera through. I am going to showcase 7 sci-fi books similar to Outland. Even though these stories are set in fantastical worlds, they usually explore universal themes related to human nature, behavior, and society. Let’s go for the adventure.
1. The Stand
The story is about how the world ends after a split-second computer error. It releases Captain Trips to the world, and the dreams in the east come. We have Mother Abigail and fields of corn, and in the west, the sound of worn-down boot heels walking through the night. This book is split into three sections. The first one is called Captain Trips, and in this one, we meet our characters and watch the plague spread throughout the world and the effect that this plague has on the world.
It feels quite different from the other two sections because the focus is the plague and not the more paranormal aspects. Dreams become more of the forefront at the end of this section. Then, we start to see the world and how it will change. Part two is on the border. The dreams in this one are much more important. We discover more about the two sides and watch people decide where their loyalties lie. This one has a much slower-paced feel than the other two sections.
The third section is called the stand, which is very fast-paced. In this one, the final confrontation has to take place. Also, the extended edition has an additional coda right at the end of the book. It’s only a few pages, and this coda darkens the tone of what happened at the end of the stand. So, as many people point out, this is a long book like Outland.
The world created is a real feeling from the start, and the spread of this plague feels organic and as though it could happen. As a tale of dark Christianity, Earth is the battleground, and humans are merely puppets. There are a lot of characters in this book, yet it never feels overwhelming. You never find too much information in one section, and the perspective switch is at the right time.
Author: Stephen King
Average Rating: 4.7/5
Category: Post-Apocalyptic Science Fiction
Available: Audiobook | Paperback | Hardcover | Kindle | Mass Market Paperback
2. Seveneves
The Moon blew up without warning and for no apparent reason. A catastrophic event turns the Earth into a ticking time bomb. It triggers a race against time to ensure the survival of humanity. Seveneves is stand-alone, hard science fiction, and quite epic in scope. It hooks you and sets the scene for the next 860 pages set up in three parts. The first part is the scramble to set up a viable colony in space, expanding the International Space Station. The next begins as the hard rain falls on Earth, the moon fragments raining down. The final part is set 5000 years later.
Each part reads quite differently. The pacing of the first part is unrelenting. There are a lot of characters to meet a lot of characters. Like Outland, the focus is purely on survival and cutting ties with Earth to survive mentally. But the Earth is always in the background, and they are watching this supposed hard rain for this constant stream of meteors burning up the atmosphere and the planet’s surface.
The mood of part two became darker and darker all the way through. Part three is slightly more hopeful; that the Earth is being colonized, but things will not be as simple as expected. The setting up of the new civilization was fascinating, but it felt like it had stopped. This book has a vast group of characters, and there’s only so much space to get to know everyone.
Author: Neal Stephenson
Average Rating: 4.1/5
Category: Genetic Engineering Science Fiction
Available: Audiobook | Paperback | Hardcover | Kindle | MP3 CD
3. The Rise Of Magicks
This book is book three in the series The Chronicles of the One. There’s been an evil seal broken, and a worldwide plague called the Doom kills most people on the planet. But many people who do develop magic powers so they have magic abilities they can shapeshift. There’s a variety of different powers. People become fairies and elves. Then, people have a variety of magical powers and abilities on top of that. There’s the evil government trying to capture and experiment on these magical beings.
There are also purity warriors, which are holy warriors that are almost racist in a sense. They’re trying to kill all kinds of magical beings, good and evil, worldwide. So, it creates a Walking Dead-type environment where raiders hoard supplies and kill people for fun. The heroes of that original story finally come together and build a town, New Hope. It is where the good and the light are trying to build a community. Also, it continues into the second book, where one of the founders of New Hope has a baby, and it’s the one. Fallon Swift is the savior of the light.
The community is getting stronger. Fallon’s coming into her powers. So, they are developing an army to take on the darkness. That’s what this book is about. Throughout this story, many battles and the light take on the big dark cities like Outland.
Author: Nora Roberts
Average Rating: 4.7/5
Category: Science Fiction & Fantasy, Paranormal Romance
Available: Audiobook | Paperback | Hardcover | Kindle | Mass Market Paperback
4. Station Eleven
This is a standalone adult science fiction novel, and it takes place on a future Earth where there has been a plague that has been a pandemic. That has wiped out 99.99 percent of the population. The book starts the night when the plague breaks but jumps forward in time and follows a Shakespearean troupe touring around many years after the plague. Everything has settled. Additionally, it will flashback to pre-plague times following a specific band of characters because they all interconnect, and everything goes from there.
It’s not about surviving the apocalypse but all of that drama surrounding it. It’s about life before and after, how things change, and everything else. So this world is very believable as Outland. That’s what’s so chilling about it: it’s not apocalypse by a paranormal event. It’s an entirely catastrophic disease and wipes people out very quickly. There’s no way to combat it. The way everything goes down is also authentic because you see how systems and technology still shut down.
Author: Emily St. John Mandel
Average Rating: 4.3/5
Category: Dystopian Science Fiction
Available: Audiobook | Paperback | Hardcover | Kindle | Audio CD
5. The Book of Koli
The Book of Koli is the first book in the Rampart Trilogy, and it’s adult science fiction like Outland. This book is set in Europe in a post-apocalyptic future where the apocalypse has been caused by trees developing a taste for flesh. It has caused humans to regress somehow, and now they live in villages that are spread far apart and are surrounded by walls to keep plants out. The story’s main character is Koli, who is about 17 years old.
There were some hints of how the killer trees came to be. That information will be revealed in future books. Even though this is a bit of a regressed society, there is still a lot of old technology left over from the past. However, these pieces of technology that are often weapons are not responsive to anybody. They will only turn on certain people, and those people are then selected to be protectors of the village. Koli’s dream is to become one of these protectors called Ramparts.
Author: M. R. Carey
Average Rating: 4.3/5
Category: Adventure Science Fiction
Available: Audiobook | Paperback | Kindle | Audio CD
6. The Stone Sky
This is the third and final book in The Broken Earth trilogy, a post-apocalyptic fantasy series. The world is so brutal and realistic for being like an apocalyptic world. Each book teaches us more about the seasons, past and current society, origins, and how their magic makes this world.
This book has more of a sci-fi twist to it. Almost everyone in the series is a person of color, and the main characters are female. So that speaks to you on a deep emotional level, and they are all complex characters who are all incredibly flawed. They are all making bad decisions, but it’s because they’ve all been forced into it. The plot and character are very relatable to Outland.
Author: N. K. Jemisin
Average Rating: 4.7/5
Category: Dystopian Science Fiction
Available: Audiobook | Paperback | Hardcover | Kindle
7. Cat’s Cradle
Cat’s Cradle is a string loop wound around your fingers to form a complicated pattern. So what is the story about? Like Outland, It’s about a scientist responsible for discovering this substance, known as ice-nine. It turns water into ice, and if you touch this frozen liquid, you die, meaning all water on Earth turns into this lethal substance. There’s no blue on Earth.
In the beginning, God created the Earth, and he looked upon it in his cosmic loneliness. One was artificial as man alone could speak. God leaned close to mud as the man set up looked around, and spoke. What is the purpose of all this? Everything must have a purpose, as God certainly said, man. The fanaticism of religion is marked in a subtle yet profound manner that makes you stop and read the passages twice.
Otto has created a utopia with the help of this religion of vocal nationalism, which declares downright that it’s made of harmless lies that bring peace. The followers of the religion perform acts of worship discreetly because no one admits to being devoted to the religion. Yet everybody is because what choice do they have to make sense of humanity and the world? At one point, one of the characters says, There’s no cat and no cradle.
Author: Kurt Vonnegut
Average Rating: 4.6/5
Category: Classic Literature & Sci-Fi
Available: Audiobook | Paperback | Hardcover | Kindle | Mass Market Paperback
These books deal with parallel universes and involve a group of college students who discover a way to access alternate Earths.
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