Books like Murderbot: 10 award-recognized picks
Murderbot works because of its voice: a socially anxious security android who would rather watch TV but keeps saving people anyway. These books share its AI characters, its humor or its found family.
If you read just one: Ancillary Justice by Ann Leckie, because it is the other great AI narrator, with a very different voice and the same loyalty to its humans.
Artificial minds with a point of view
1. Ancillary Justice
Won the Arthur C. Clarke, Hugo and Nebula Awards (2014) ·
A warship AI trapped in one human body, on a mission of revenge.
2. A Closed and Common Orbit
Finalist for the Arthur C. Clarke and Hugo Awards (2017) ·
A ship’s AI in a new body learns to live among people, with help from a friend.
3. Klara and the Sun
Finalist for the Arthur C. Clarke and Locus Awards (2022) ·
An Artificial Friend observes and loves the family she serves.
Good to know: Quiet and literary rather than action-driven.
4. A Psalm for the Wild-Built
Won the Hugo Award; finalist for the Locus and Nebula Awards (2022) ·
A robot and a tea monk travel together, asking what people need.
5. The Lifecycle of Software Objects
Won the Hugo and Locus Awards; finalist for the Nebula Award (2011) ·
Two people raise digital beings over years, and learn what they owe them.
Dry humor and found family
6. The Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet
Finalist for the Arthur C. Clarke Award (2016) ·
A found family of humans and aliens on a long trip across the galaxy.
7. The Collapsing Empire
Won the Locus Award; finalist for the Hugo Award (2018) ·
Snappy dialogue and corporate intrigue as an interstellar empire’s trade routes collapse.
8. Redshirts
Won the Hugo and Locus Awards (2013) ·
Junior crew on a starship notice that low-ranking officers keep dying on away missions. A comic riff on Star Trek.
9. Old Man's War
Finalist for the Hugo Award (2006) ·
Old recruits in new bodies, told with Scalzi’s wisecracking voice.
10. The Kaiju Preservation Society
Won the Locus Award; finalist for the Hugo Award (2023) ·
A laid-off delivery driver joins a team looking after giant monsters on a parallel Earth.
How we chose
Every book in this guide won or was a finalist for at least one of the Hugo, Nebula, Locus or Arthur C. Clarke awards. Each book page lists its full award history with sources. Page counts come from English print editions and vary by edition. 10 books in all.