10 Best Sci-Fi Reads Better Than Black Mirror

Published Nov 13, 2026, 8:00 PM EST

Yuliya Geikhman has been writing professionally for over 17 years. She started out in the MMO scene with Pando Media Booster and now dives into everything gaming at Screen Rant. She's a lifelong gamer, a relentless industry sleuth, and a passionate follower of everything happening in the games industry.

Charlie Brooker's Black Mirror is technically science fiction, but it's so much more than that. It shines a light on our society and technology in a way that's disturbingly relatable. Watching it feels uncomfortable because, as unsettling as the stories it portrays are, sometimes they're not too far off from the lives we actually live.

If you've binged the entire show and are still looking for more content with the same vibes, there are many science fiction books that feel like reading a Black Mirror episode. They coat social commentary in a tense and unsettling atmosphere. After reading these, you might come away understanding society a bit better than when you started... for better or worse.

Tender Is The Flesh

By Agustina Bazterrica (2017)

Every day, there's an increasingly large number of mouths to feed. In Tender Is the Flesh by Agustina Bazterrica (available for purchase here), the problem becomes even worse when a vius makes all animal meat poisonous to humans.

The solution that the government in the novel comes up with is raising humans as livestock. The protagonist, Marcos, works at a processing plant for this "special meat." When he's gifted a live woman for his consumption, he starts to warm up to her and begins to do the unthinkable: Treat her like a human being.

Annie Bot

By Sierra Greer (2024)

We live at a time when human beings are increasingly looking to artificial intelligence for companionship. Annie Bot by Sierra Greer (available for purchase here) gives a fresh take to the concept of the perfect computer-powered girlfriend, which has been seen in media and movies plenty of times.

The story is told from the point of view of Annie Bot, the AI woman who was created to be the perfect companion for Doug. She sees to his every whim, keeps the house clean, and tries to give him what he wants.

But the more human she becomes, the less perfect she gets. Slowly, it becomes apparent that Doug might not really know what he even wants, and that Annie Bot might be able to look beyond her role as companion.

The Memory Police

By Yoko Ogawa (1994)

Everyday things have been disappearing in The Memory Police by Yoko Ogawa (available for purchase here). It starts with small things, like hats, roses, birds. These objects don't just vanish from the world, but even from people's memories, like they never even existed in the first place.

The protagonist is a young woman who's one of the few with the power to remember the lost objects. This puts her at risk from the overbearing Memory Police, who exist to make sure that the forgotten remains forgotten, at any cost.

Little by little, more serious things start to disappear with horrible repercussions. All the protagonist can do is watch as life changes completely, while everyone around her remains oblivious that anything wrong is even happening: a situation that would feel right at home on Black Mirror.

Do Androids Dream Of Electric Sheep?

By Philip K. Dick (1968)

When considering how technology interacts with society, it's impossible not to mention the classic Do Androids Dream Of Electric Sheep? by Philip K Dick (available for purchase here). This sci-fi novel inspired the Blade Runner series and remains one of the most beloved sci-fi novels.

The book takes place in a post-apocalyptic world that's shrouded in a cloud of radioactive dust, and most of humanity has escaped to Mars. Rick Deckard remains on Earth with his pet electric sheep to do a job: He's an android killer who tracks down and kills rogue robots for the police.

His latest assignment is to track and destroy six androids on the run from authorities. The only problem is that these androids are very smart, and they look and sound exactly like regular people.

There Is No Antimemetics Division

By qntm (2020)

There Is No Antimemetics Division by an author known only as qntm (available for purchase here) is an SCP novel. If you're unfamiliar, the fictional SCP Foundation secures, contains, and protects anomalies and strange supernatural phenomena and entities.

The titular Antimemetics Division is a branch of the SCP that deals with anti-memes, or ideas that can't be remembered or spread. These entities mess with people's minds and prevents them from remembering or sharing information about them, obviously making it extremely difficult to trap or contain them.

The story is told over the course of several seemingly unconnected short stories. Eventually, you realize two things: everything is connected, and there's a horrible threat looming over humanity, but no one can remember that it exists. This is a strange and unsettling read that comes together in a very satisfying way and explores the way human beings think and act, much like an episode of Black Mirror.

The One

John Marrs (2016)

Many of the novels by John Marrs are Black Mirror-esque and explore a world where technology and science are just a little too far advanced for its own good. The sci-fi novel The One (available for purchase here) is the first entry in the Dark Future collection, and a great place to start if you're looking for your next realistic dystopian fix.

In The One, a new service has rolled out genetic matchmaking. A new DNA test can match you to your perfect partner, who you're the most genetically compatible with. The book follows five people from all walks of life who find out that being matched to their soul mates might not be all it's cracked up to be.

Dark Matter

By Black Crouch (2017)

Blake Crouch is a much more action-focused sci-fi novel than many of the others on this list, but Dark Matter (available for purchase here) still feels very much like a story straight from Black Mirror. Jason Dessen is a physics professor on his way home when he's knocked out by a mysterious person. When he wakes up, he discovers that his life is completely different.

His wife isn't married to him, his son doesn't exist, and his work is a lot more significant than his teaching was. In this world, Jason has done something impossible, but he doesn't want the fame and status. All he wants is to go back home to his wife and son. This sends him on an incredible journey, pursued by an enemy that might be indestructible.

The Test

By Sylvain Neuvel (2019)

The Test by Sylvain Neuvel (available for purchase here) is a short read, but it's one that will stay on your mind long after you've finished it. Written by one of the contributing writers for Black Mirror, The Test asks what it takes to be a good contributing member of society.

The book's protagonist, Idir, is facing the British Citizenship Test: a brief questionnaire of just 25 multiple-choice questions. It begins simple enough, with a few easy questions. But before long, the testing descends into a dystopian life or death situation that will make you question how you value life and what makes a good citizen.

Exhalation

By Ted Chiang (2019)

Exhalation by Ted Chiang (available for purchase here) is an anthology consisting of nine short stories. Each tale has the dreamy, slightly "off" feel of a Black Mirror episode, and scenarios that feel like you get not one but nine whole new episodes.

The collection explores moral and philosophical questions. If you had the option to go back in time and fix some mistakes, would you? How would multiple universes change the way we see free will and choice? These profound and speculative stories will make you reexamine what you think about the world and human nature.

Never Let Me Go

By Kazuo Ishiguro (2005)

The movie version of Kazuo Ishiguro's Klara and the Sun—a story about a solar-poweed, child-like companion android—has recently brought the author's dream-like writing to the public eye. Never Let Me Go (available for purchase here) is another story worth checking out for fans of Black Mirror.

In this book, we spend some time learning about Kathy, a 31-year-old woman with fond memories of her exclusive private school. As she remembers her life as a student, the memories are tinged with nostalgia and an air of unease.

There's something very wrong about the school, that has unsettling ramifications for Kathy's future. If you're a fan of the eerie atmosphere of Black Mirror, this one might be just right for you.