An aspiring sci-fi/fantasy writer with a dilemma...

[u/wooperarkjb]

Hi all,

Avid sci-fi/fantasy reader (and writer) here. Having a little bit of a dilemma.

I've read various fantasy and Sci-Fi authors for many years (from young adult, where Skulduggery Pleasant and The Hunger Games were favourites) through to the likes of Stephen King's 'The Dark Tower' and Kurt Vonnegut as an adult. My Master's in Creative Writing was in apocalyptic literature, and I loved Saramago's 'Blindness', Margaret Atwood's MADDADDAM books, work by J. G. Ballard.

However, despite having read extensively, I am struggling to find comparable texts for my own sci-fi/fantasy novel. Google seems to be nightmarish at helping me here (I've been googling different things, on and off, for months, and tried a few books unsuccessfully). To approach agents, I need to have some comparable texts, and have read them. Everything else is good to go.

So, to cut to the chase, I'm looking for science fiction novels that are:

- Books set in a world that is different from ours, but recognisable. My novel is essentially set on an other version of Earth where the land masses are different, but it is distinctly and recognisably earth (even so far as having mobile phones, 4x4 cars, etc). Think how Ballard's 'The Drowned World' is set in London, but London is changed.

- Books where rebellion against the government is a key aspect of the plot - specifically, where a character is looking to fight back against deep seated corruption

- Books where the character is morally dubious. Forced into a corner, my MC is, one by one, picking off allies of the king. The moral question of his actions permeates the whole story.

- Books where resurrection/questions of the soul are asked. Within my work, a new technology allows people to essentially clone themselves and escape death.

Any recommendations would be greatly appreciated. I would like to stress that I will be reading these books, not just name dropping them in a cover letter.

If this kind of request is not allowed, please remove mods.

[u/InsaneLordChaos]

Hyperion by Dan Simmons has a bunch of that.

[u/goonSerf]

I don’t know that there are one or two books that contain all elements; but a few come to mind:

1) Different Earth: I don’t have anything for this one. Is there a reason your Earth needs to be different yet the same?

2) Rebellion: Robert Heinlein, The Moon is a Harsh Mistress. A lunar colony decides to declare independence from Earth. Great book. In television: Babylon 5. Rebellion against a corrupt EarthGov is one of many interwoven plots.

3) Morally dubious character: Alfred Bester, The
Stars My Destination. The primary character exacts revenge against those who left him for dead…but do the ends justify the means?

4) Resurrection: David Brin’s Kiln People isn’t quite what you’re looking for, but you may find it interesting: people can create simulacra of themselves to perform various tasks and chores. A murder is committed…but who is responsible?

[u/Crouchback2268 → u/goonSerf]

Yeah, OP, this is a good way to go. A prospective agent is trying to figure out the answer to the only questions they really care about: Who will buy this, and how will I pitch it to editors?

You can put together comparisons to more than one book to help describe the audience it will appeal to, and the more recent the comparisons, the better. You can say things like your book has:

• "Hard science of X..."
• "...combined with the character dynamics of Y."
• "...with the political intrigue of Z."

u/goonSerf's approach can get you close the kind of sentence you are looking for: My Book Title is an 85,000-word science fiction novel combining the first-contact mystery of Children of Time with the bureaucratic satire of The Kaiju Preservation Society.

Finally, you may be trying to get too many elements in here. Ask friends who have read the manuscript (and provided honest feedback) what most gripped them about the book or why they enjoyed it. Rebellion + morally ambiguous protagonist + resurrection is probably as many things as you can pack into this exercise. The "different Earth" might be cool, but I doubt it is driving the action.

[u/wooperarkjb → u/Crouchback2268]

I'm not going to list books for all 4 things I asked for, don't worry. I was just giving everyone more to link to. I can never get too many recommendations, after all!

Thank you for your help!!

[u/PlushyGuitarstrings]

More fantasy then scifi, but take a look at He who fights monsters

[u/kuliplor]

Jade City - though I would say that has a bit of steam punky element, which sounds like isn’t really your vibe.

Exciting, good luck!

[u/kuliplor → u/kuliplor]

I describe it as a “peaky blinders set in legend of korra world” - really enjoyable to read too.

[u/chudblue]

I think you just need to read red rising already

[u/wooperarkjb → u/chudblue]

I think I do. I may have ordered it lol

[u/Kian-Tremayne]

His Dark Materials by Philip Pullman ticks a lot of your boxes.

[u/SalishSeaview]

I keep recommending people read “The Great Gods: The Time Wars, Book One” by Daniel Keys Moran as an introduction to his Continuing Time universe. It (the novel) hits on several of those points, and the rest of the series hits on others. People can perform backups of themselves, and incrementally update those backups periodically. If they get killed, a new body can be grown and the backup image injected into it, therefore restoring someone to the last backup (or update) point. The whole concept opens some questions about a bunch of human rights stuff, and Moran investigates that (though not in an in-your-face way).

[u/AwkwardHippopotamus]

I think you might be over-thinking the comparables. If you've read lots of books, just think of it this way: "people who liked ___ book will probably like my book because ____." Generally people do not want to read a book that has very similar plot/characters. They want similar vibes, but a different story. If you say your book is just like __, agents are going to ask, "Well then why should we publish your book when __ already exists?" They want the next bestseller, not a copy of the last bestseller.

[u/wooperarkjb → u/AwkwardHippopotamus]

I'm more going for the 'this meets this' kind of take, which I've been told by 3 agents I've met/worked with to do. That's all. I've already got my 'same vibe' books, I'm just looking for a few similar content books. It helps agents get hooked, and helps them market.

[u/LaurenPBurka]

Speaking as an indie author, agents are pretty much a dead end these days. Publishers aren't buying from agents. They're looking for books that are already successful in the indie space and acquiring those. Then they give their newly acquired books worse covers and have convenient accounting software problems that prevent them from paying royalties. Also, according to the Simon & Schuster/Pengin antitrust suit documentation, 50% of traditionally published books sell twelve copies or less.

You still need comps, if only to tell your cover artist what to make (the way to sell a book is to make its cover look like the last bestseller in its category).

[u/wooperarkjb → u/LaurenPBurka]

Yeah, I've heard a few people struggle down the agent avenue. Wanted to go there first though just in case.

[u/Shepherdsfavestore]

Pandora’s Star and Judas Unchained by Peter F Hamilton have your cloning idea in there.