What to read if you miss the sci-fi in 'Black Mirror' season 6

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published 26 June 2023

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Popular dystopian anthology series "Black Mirror" returned in June with a sixth season after a four-year hiatus, but for some fans, the show seemed a little unfamiliar. Though it's known as a science-fiction show that paints a grim picture of the perils of technology, the latest season was more supernatural than futuristic and turned its attention to the past.

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Atwood is no stranger to writing eerily spot-on speculative fiction as the mind behind "The Handmaid's Tale." Her 2003 novel, "Oryx and Crake," is the first book of a dystopian trilogy set in a world ravaged by a plague. The story features Jimmy, who believes he's the sole survivor, and a breed of humanoids called the Children of Crake. The "hollowed-out, haunted future world" in Atwoord's "ingenious and disturbing" novel is a result of "environmental unconcern, genetic engineering and bioterrorism," Kirkus Review stated when the book debuted. The "landmark work of speculative fiction" was "comparable to 'A Clockwork Orange,' 'Brave New World' and Russian revolutionary Zamyatin's 'We,'" Kirkus concluded. Order here.

Regarding sci-fi classics, Dick's 1968 novel "Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?" is worth revisiting if you want to fill the sci-fi void. It inspired the "Blade Runner" and "Blade Runner 2049" films, though some aspects of the novel were changed. The book follows Rick Deckard, a bounty hunter on a mission to kill a group of rogue androids. The story is set in a post-apocalyptic 2021, technically the past. In the wake of a nuclear war, living animals are highly coveted, as most are endangered or extinct. Order here.

A short story collection is a good stand-in for an anthology series, and Weinstien's "Children of the New World" is thematically reminiscent of past seasons of "Black Mirror." The "disturbing, ludicrous and darkly humorous" stories feature future technology in a somewhat utopian future, Book Riot stated. There are companies manufacturing fake memories, humanoid robots and fatally immersive VR video games in Weinstein's "resonant and thought-provoking" tales. "Weinstein offers a thought-provoking take on a near future about how advancement in technology will impact the way we live and connect as humans," Book Riot mused. Order here.

Liam Brown's 2019 novel, "Broadcast," also fits the mold of eerie science fiction that reflects the dangers of technology running amok. David Callow, an influential video blogger, is the central character of this sci-fi gem. After agreeing to be the face of a revolutionary technology called "MindCast" that broadcasts all his thoughts 24/7, he becomes a viral sensation. David reaches unprecedented fame, but his newfound celebrity comes at a price. He soon realizes that his thoughts are being manipulated by the company behind the innovative tech. "'The Truman Show' meets 'The Circle' in this claustrophobic story about corporate culture and social media," Book Riot commented. Order here.

Butler is a renowned science-fiction author, and this collection of short stories is a cornucopia of what she does best. The book includes a selection of her award-winning short stories, including "Bloodchild," the winner of both the Hugo and Nebula Awards, and "Speech Sounds," the winner of the Hugo Award. The former shows a world where humans are trafficked as breeders for a colonizing alien race, and the latter imagines a dystopian world where human beings have lost the ability to speak or read. In a 1995 review, The New York Times called the collection a "fine example of how science fiction, by subverting expectations, can jar us into a new appreciation of familiar truths." Order here.

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Theara Coleman has worked as a staff writer at The Week since September 2022. She frequently writes about technology, education, literature and general news. She was previously a contributing writer and assistant editor at Honeysuckle Magazine, where she covered racial politics and cannabis industry news.