AI uprisings. The desolation of space. Echoes of Lone Wolf and Cub. Lunar exploration. Kid robot adventures. You name it and Pragmata, Capcom’s upcoming sci-fi action adventure game, seems to have something for everyone.
The main storyline in Pragmata takes about 10–12 hours to complete — lots to chew on, but you may want more? That’s where a deep well of science fiction writing comes in.
If you’re in the mood to read a book that feels as action-packed and heart-string-tugging as Pragmata, then look no further. Here are five books that anyone who rolls credits on the game will enjoy.
5
Illuminae by Amie Kaufman and Jay Kristoff
Told through an extensive dossier of redacted documents, interviews, ship schematics, military reports, and surveillance footage, Illuminae begins with a bang — literally — when an illegal mining colony is attacked by a power-hungry mega-corporation known as BeiTech.
Survivors of the attack flee the planet in hopes of reaching safety before they are completely annihilated. It becomes quickly evident that BeiTech is the least of their worries as they contend with a swiftly mutating virus and an AI system with questionable (and murderous) intentions.
While Illuminae is a heftier book, we dare you not to finish this one in a day (or 10–12 hours, like the game). It’ll have you on the edge of your seat, in no small part due to its unique storytelling.
Illuminae is available for as low as $8.01 at Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and Bookshop.org
Written in chapters that alternate between the present and 20 years in the past, Ancillary Justice tells the story of Breq, Justice of Toren, the merciless artificial intelligence aboard a starship carrying thousands of ancillaries (human bodies that are under the ship’s control). But when once Breq was thousands, capable of being anywhere and everywhere all at once, it has now been reduced to a single, fragile ancillary.
Betrayed and utterly alone, Breq sets out on a ruthless quest for revenge that spans the course of three incredible, action-packed novels. Despite being broken — both emotionally and physically — into pieces, Breq finds a way to persevere, and readers will find themselves rooting for her as Leckie’s trilogy progresses.
Ancillary Justice is available for as low as $15.85 at Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and Bookshop.org
In a future where we’ve become almost entirely dependent on artificial intelligence (domesticated robots, specifically) to get through our day-to-day life, humanity as we know it is rapidly falling apart. With humans dying out, a new robot-based ecosystem is quickly on the rise.
Service Model tells the story of UnCharles (formerly known as just “Charles”), a robot valet who murders their master and sets out across a vast, dystopian wasteland to try and discover their true purpose. You’ll undoubtedly find yourself rooting for Charles, as players will root for Diana on her own personal journey.
Service Model is available for as low as $16.10 at Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and Bookshop.org
2
Descender written by Jeff Lemire and illustrated by Dustin Nguyen
If you’re in the mood to read something that will shatter your heart into a million pieces (like Hugh and Diana’s father-daughter-esque arc does if you’re human!), then Descender should definitely be on your list.
Ten years after the people of Niyrata are attacked by planet-sized robots known as Harvesters, TIM-21, a companion android that looks like a young boy, wakes to discover that the government has outlawed all artificial intelligence. Hunted by the United Galactic Council and accompanied by an adorable robot dog named Bandit (yes, he’s a very good boy), a mining bot called Driller, TIM-21’s creator, and the crew that was sent to rescue him, TIM-21 must navigate a galaxy that wants him dead and learn what exactly it means to be human along the way.
The Descender Compendium is available for as low as $40.84 at Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and Bookshop.org
If space travel and time travel existed at the same time, where else would the U.S. Navy put the base for the time travel division but on the moon?
Set in Pennsylvania in 1997, and in a world where time travel is possible and regularly occurs (though only forwards through time , with dangerous results), Shannon Moss, an NCIS agent, is tasked with investigating the deaths of a missing Navy SEAL’s family and the disappearance of the SEAL’s daughter. As the pieces begin to fall into place, Shannon discovers that he was an astronaut on the ill-fated U.S.S. Libra, a ship that was thought to be lost forever to Deep Time.
Determined to find his daughter before it’s too late, Shannon travels to the future to search for further clues, only to discover that humanity is barreling towards a harrowing end known as the Terminus, and that she might be the only one able to prevent it from happening.
The Gone World is available for as low as $17.29 at Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and Bookshop.org
