Ask HN: Dystopian Sci-fi books that take place in San Francisco to recommend? • Hacker News Board

"The Man In the High Castle" by Phillip K. Dick takes place in an alternate reality San Francisco where the Japanese and Germans won World War II. The main character is a Jew hiding from extermination who runs a shop selling Pre-World War II American memorabilia. There are a few sci-fi things like global rocket travel in there, and definitely plenty of dystopia.

Re: Ask HN: Dystopian Sci-fi books that take place in San Francisco to recommend?

#17

Post by theGeatZhopa » Sat, Jan 27, 2024, 3:06 PM UTC

lxgr wrote: post #8

theGeatZhopa wrote: post #3

"Altered Carbon" by Richard K. Morgan: primarily takes place in a futuristic Bay Area, including San Francisco. explores a world of technology, body swapping, and cyber intrigues. "The Diamond Age" by Neal Stephenson: a setting in a future San Francisco, handle topic nanotechnology "Counting Heads" by David Marusek: futuristic vision of San Francisco, focus on technology and AI. "Autonomous" by Annalee Newitz: not ex…

Diamond Age was great, but isn’t that mostly set in/offshore of Shanghai?

Depends on the map your looking onto :)

I remember, but, may have forgotten. Time to take another approach.. thx

Re: Ask HN: Dystopian Sci-fi books that take place in San Francisco to recommend?

#18

Post by bigyikes » Sat, Jan 27, 2024, 3:08 PM UTC

Phillip K Dick has many short stories that take place in SF. The Minority Report collection is a good read. The titular story is not in SF, but several others are.

Re: Ask HN: Dystopian Sci-fi books that take place in San Francisco to recommend?

#19

Post by rhyme-boss » Sat, Jan 27, 2024, 3:10 PM UTC

Earth Abides by George R. Stewart is a more gentle post-apocalyptic story, but very beautiful. Not really much in the way of hackers. I like how it chronicles a procession of animal population boom and bust cycles that would naturally happen in the wake of humans disappearing.

Re: Ask HN: Dystopian Sci-fi books that take place in San Francisco to recommend?

#20

Post by janetacarr » Sat, Jan 27, 2024, 3:13 PM UTC

noirbot wrote: post #7

blululu wrote: post #6

The Bridge Trilogy by William Gibson (technically cyberpunk but close enough). Virtual light and all tomorrow’s parties in particular.

Parts of his new series takes place in SF - The Peripheral and Agency. I'd be more specific, but it's somewhat spoilers.

Only thing is, Agency isn't really dystopian imo.