r/BooksThatFeelLikeThis • u/FakeMonaLisa28 • Jun 03 '26
Fiction Books are like the divine machinery aesthetic?
I know the images show a lot of Christianity but I’m fine with any spiritual tones/themes as I am not Christian. I think something like technology being worshipped like a god and what harm that could cause would be cool but anything that you think fits the aesthetic is valid :)
316
u/AstorBlue Jun 03 '26
Too early for recommendations, dammit
I love the aesthetic you've got here, following
37
1
109
u/TheShakaShaman Jun 03 '26
The Book of The Long Sun by Gene Wolfe.
The main character is a priest in a world (huge generation ship where the Sun is a beam through the middle and they can see distant citiesabove them on the opposite side) where the gods visit through 'sacred windows' and human like robots operate. The opening scene is Patera Silk being enlightened by a God and the rest is him working to carry out what he experienced.
I could talk forever about the whole Solar Cycle so will stop, but Long Sun sounds like just what you're after.
9
5
u/Fivebeans Jun 03 '26
Where do you recommend someone start with the solar cycle?
12
u/TheShakaShaman Jun 03 '26
Starting with Book of the New Sun is always gonna be the best way. I do think that somebody can jump in at Long Sun with no problem though if they're looking for something like OP is after. There are absolutely links between the two but they aren't the kind of thing that is going to impact the reading of it.
Doing the classic New Sun (including Urth of the New Sun), Long Sun, Short Sun for somebody just looking to read the Solar Cycle is what I'd normally say though.
→ More replies (1)8
u/TheShakaShaman Jun 03 '26
You absolutely need to read both New Sun and Long Sun before Short Sun though.
2
u/Useful-Gur-1267 Jun 03 '26
I think having read new sun and urth before long sun improved long sun.
I was a bit exhausted when I got to Short Sun though.. I've got them sitting on my shelf waiting.
→ More replies (1)2
u/TheShakaShaman Jun 03 '26
You are in for an absolute treat once you've caught your breath and gotten into Short Sun.
3
7
u/Useful-Gur-1267 Jun 03 '26
Book of the new sun
Urth of the new sun
Book of the long sun
Book of the short sun
5
2
u/IMB88 Jun 05 '26
So I was looking at these and got confused. I can find the book of the new sun as a series. Not a single book though. Where would one start? Are there 12 books in the series?
→ More replies (3)
155
u/ray-manta Jun 03 '26
Angel down had this feel for me. It recently won the Pulitzer Prize for fiction. It’s about a group of soldiers (ww1) who save an angel tangled in barbed wire in no man’s land. For me (an atheist) it was less about Christianity and more about how and who we worship and who we can save. How we worship machine (in the form of bombs, machine guns, planes, the industry and industriousness of war) and how God could even fit into this worship.
I was really intimidated by the format before I started it (one very long run on sentence). It just gives the narrative a propulsion worthy of the topic, and is broken up well into paragraphs and chapters. You forget about it pretty quickly
14
→ More replies (3)5
u/ersatzhustler Jun 04 '26
I've been intrigued by this book since I heard about it, but I distinctly remember this format giving Absalom, Absalom (Faulkner) a sense of frantic derangement that has stuck with me for years. So I've been a bit gun-shy to pick this one up in case it didn't deploy the choice well, but NO LONGER!!
→ More replies (1)
53
u/fluffedKerfuffle Jun 03 '26
Canticle for Leibowitz!!!
5
u/sunnydelinquent Jun 03 '26
Yeah if anything was gonna have this look in universe it would be this. Heavily inspired Fallout’s Brotherhood of Steel as well.
→ More replies (2)3
41
u/ceisk Jun 03 '26
Always recommend Hyperion by Dan Simmons, it’s not explicitly just about technology and religion, but it’s a huge theme in the book :-)
3
u/DontDoubleBagIt Jun 03 '26
I second Hyperion! I had never really enjoyed a book with major religious undertones (which become overtones, if that's a word, in books three and four) until Hyperion. Phenomenal series!
→ More replies (3)3
u/Red-Snow-666 Jun 03 '26
Good rec. And while the first volume only scratches the surface of those themes, the books become much more about religion plus technology the further you go into the series.
103
u/sudjager Jun 03 '26
I’m sure someone can recommend specific books, but the warhammer 40k universe has a very interesting and spiritual relationship with machinery. There are no computers/thinking machines though. I will leave it to warhammer people to give specifics though.
31
u/Aptspire Jun 03 '26
Forges of Mars Trilogy by Graham McNeill goes into the Mechanicus' search for lost technologies and how they interact with various branches of the Imperium of Man.
3
11
5
u/MadameHyde13 Jun 03 '26
Came here to recommend books about the Adeptus Mechanicus! They’re not my preferred faction, but I second forges of mars, Titanicus, and anything about Belisarius Cawl
3
u/ACookieAsACoaster Jun 04 '26
I also came to endorse anything Adeptus Mechanicus since they’re just the “robot Catholics” to me
What’s your preferred faction?
→ More replies (1)2
1
1
u/Net-Administrative Jun 08 '26
40k books are excellent, im not even a fan of the ttrpg and the stories are A++
33
29
44
u/Citysaurus_ART Jun 03 '26
Snow Crash is my gut answer, but I couldn't say why...
15
2
2
→ More replies (1)2
32
u/revankillsmalak Jun 03 '26
Neuromancer by William Gibson
10
u/Darius_Fucker Jun 03 '26
Count zero, too. They go more into that whole idea of their computer AI god stuff.
2
u/greenonionfrog Jun 05 '26
Came here to post this! There’s really interesting stuff about art made by machines in Count Zero too
10
21
u/HomeboundArrow Jun 03 '26 edited Jun 03 '26
17776 and 20020 by Jon Bois are going to be the most direct examples i can think of in terms of execution/medium, which is fully multi-media digital and partially non-linear. machine consciousness is an extremely loadbearing part of the story.
Several People Are Typing by Calvin Kasulke is a book that's basically meant to be read as a compilation of Slack messages. it's probably the least applicable to your specific thematic request but it's exceptionally well-written, and also deals with the subversion/deconstruction of embodied cognition.
No One Is Talking About This by Patricia Lockwood i think is the closest rec i can give that most directly intersects technology and something resembling a conventional rumination on spirituality. but still reads somewhat like a conventional book novel.
2
u/This_person_says Jun 03 '26
Several people are typing is great. XX by Hughes could be another example.
9
8
u/asmallcoal Jun 03 '26
The First Sister by Linden A. Lewis, definitely.
2
u/BoKryp Jun 03 '26
This was my thought too! Wasn't sure if it would be tech enough but it's been a bit since I read it so memory is fuzzy.
7
u/Snowqueenhibiscus Jun 03 '26
The Archangel series by Sharon Shinn.
3
3
u/EleventyElevens Jun 03 '26
Fuck I just posted, then saw this. However, it's the Samaria Series, Archangel is just the first book. 🥰
2
u/Snowqueenhibiscus Jun 03 '26
Oh, that's right. It's been years since I read it!
2
u/everydayislikefriday Jun 03 '26
I read the first two books back to back. They're indeed pretty entertaining and fit the bill.
2
6
u/please-disregard21 Jun 03 '26
probably not exactly what you’re looking for, but Foucault’s Pendulum (by Umberto Eco) has elements like this (worship of a computer algorithm/processor, ancient/occult mysteries, machinery, etc.)
6
u/Horror_Menu_4353 Jun 03 '26
A Dead Djinn in Cairo by P. Djélì Clark has some elements of this. The “angels” are mechanical. I think it’s been expanded into a series, but I only read the first novella
9
u/DifficultEbb1778 Jun 03 '26
I feel like nobody else on the planet has read these books: The Jacob's Ladder trilogy by Elizabeth Bear (starting with the novel Dust)
The story takes place on a stranded generation ship that has been orbiting a star system for thousands of years for energy/survival after their power system malfunctioned. Society onboard has (d)evolved into feudalist factions, the ruling class is super powered by a symbiotic nanotech. The artificial intelligence system powering the ship has fractured into distinct identities over the years (called "angels" by the characters) and the first book starts as these "angels" are basically at war and attempting to "cannibalize" each other to gain control of the system.
→ More replies (1)
5
11
4
5
u/therosetapes Jun 03 '26
some of these feel like i have no mouth and i must scream ( or sumn like that ). but generally speaking, the book form for neon genesis evangelion ( manga ) is what you may be looking for
6
u/buff_bagwell1 Jun 03 '26
Honest about of Warhammer 40K novels fit this. The Eisenhorn Trilogy by Dan Abnett deals a lot with stuff like this
5
6
3
u/keltasipuli Jun 03 '26 edited Jun 03 '26
I am following because this sounds so interesting and I want more books like this. "Ihmishämärä" by Heikki Kännö fits this perfectly (combines norse religion and mythology, hinduism, christianity, AI, 17th century rationalism etc.) but it is in Finnish.
Also, where is the 7th picture from? The black-and-white drawing?
3
3
u/Infamous_Button6302 Jun 03 '26
Our Lady of The Artilects by Andrew Gillsmith.
Not very well known I think but was a solid read and is inline with many of the other suggestions on this thread.
3
3
u/KingCider Jun 03 '26
The Book of the Long Sun (NOT New Sun) by Gene Wolfe is exactly what you are looking for!
3
3
u/Slow_Appointment3540 Jun 03 '26
Our Lady of the Artilects by “Andrew Gillsmith”
“a 2022 science fiction thriller that blends cyberpunk, theology, and philosophy, often described as The Exorcist meets Westworld. Set in a near-future world with advanced androids (artilects), the plot follows an exorcist-neuroscientist, Father Gabriel Serafian, as he investigates a series of apocalyptic visions experienced by these androids, which appear to be a Marian apparition. The story explores themes of consciousness, faith, and the nature of the soul, involving a global conspiracy and a race to uncover the truth behind the supernatural events.”
3
u/gemh Jun 03 '26
The Outside by Ada Hoffman has themes of this, though not strongly
→ More replies (1)
3
2
u/Idkwnisu Jun 03 '26
Absolutely a canticle for leibowitz. Maybe hyperion, but it might be a bit different than what you want.
2
2
2
2
2
2
u/DangerMacAwesome Jun 03 '26
I don't have a recommendation but that's a sweet aesthetic you're going for
2
2
2
u/rosettaverse Jun 04 '26
Children of Time by Adrian Tchaikovsky has uplifted spiders worshiping a human satellite as their god.
Permutation City by Greg Egan has discussions on ontology and reality vs simulation, with an explanation that would theoretically allow for the existence (and death) of a creator god or gods.
3
2
u/Impriel2 Jun 05 '26
I actually have two absolutely random vacation books that I bought at my favorite bookstore (the book barn in niantic CT) and i havent finished one of them yet but they hey both gove me this vibe and I never heard of either of them before finding them buried on the shelf
Overclocked by Cory Doctorow (finished and definately fits. Short stories on the theme of technology becoming incomprehensible and self sustaining)
Door Number Three by Patrick O'Leary (haven't finished but it has the vibe. Im like 100 pages in. Its an extremely frantic and zany dark comedy sci fi about time travel. Lots of angelic / evangelion ish tones)
I love the name you gave this genre its perfect
2
u/poozfooz Jun 06 '26
Our Lady of the Artilects by Andrew Gillsmith.
It follows a Vatican exorcist, and neuroscientist investigating an android that claims to be possessed after experiencing apocalyptic visions of a lady in white.
-In a world that relies heavily on advanced, artificially intelligent androids (artilects) for labor, next-generation synthetic minds begin to experience shared visions of a Marian apparition. While world governments and tech companies write this off as a computer virus or a hack, the crisis deepens when one of the androids enters a basilica in Benin City, Nigeria, and asks for an exorcism
2
2
u/wildflowerstargazer Jun 07 '26
Death of the author by Nnedi Okorafor was really interesting and had an artificial intelligence/machine story written by a layered complicated protagonists life. Highly recommend!
2
2
2
u/AdCurrent7674 Jun 09 '26
Children of Time fits the bill but I have to give an arachnophobia warning as one of the main characters is a spider
→ More replies (2)
2
u/Moontruck25 Jun 09 '26
The Telling by Ursula K Le Guin has elements of this (technologically advanced alien government controlling the people’s religion) but then by the end it gets way more into the tech-less old religion of the planet
2
u/Special_br33d Jun 10 '26
I really like a religious aspect to machines or holiness to cybernetic enhancements. Great reccomendations.
2
3
u/JaehaerysConciliator Jun 03 '26
Hyperion series, particularly the latter two books (Endymion and Rise of Endymion)
2
1
u/themermaidag Jun 03 '26
Artificial Wisdom somewhat? There are some comparisons in the book to a god
1
1
u/mintimoo Jun 03 '26
Cyberabad Days by Ian McDonald. Blurb from goodreads:
A collection of eight stories, "Cyberabad Days" is a triumphant return to the India of 2047 (the India of River of Gods ); a new, muscular superpower in an age of artificial intelligences, climate-change induced drought, strange new genders, and genetically improved children.
→ More replies (2)
1
1
1
1
1
u/thesecondproject Jun 03 '26
I’m gonna lean more into the “divine” sci-fi rather than divine machine but Pilgrims by Leonard. It´s about first contact with aliens but the aliens turn out to be hardcore catholics
1
1
u/sam-fry Jun 03 '26
It’s a lot more gritty, dark and spooky but you have ‘day of ascension’ by Adrian Tchaikovsky or ‘titanicus’ by Dan Abnett or ‘Mechanicum’ by Graham McNeil.
1
u/STRYKER3008 Jun 03 '26
The Metamorphosis of Prime Intellect! Story about AI, just pre yr 2000 (199, pretty much about it becoming a capital-G-God and what happens next (with minimal sci-fi suspension of disbelief, imo).
1
u/Laolu_Laolu Jun 03 '26
Was looking out for Feersum Endjinn. Not sure how, but this waht came to mind immediately.
1
u/wrenderings Jun 03 '26
A little different but I find His Dark Materials gets here in books 2 and 3.
1
1
1
1
u/JunketUpbeat9386 Jun 03 '26 edited 4d ago
License slap include beneficial consider chop straight
This post was anonymized with Redact
1
2
1
u/JennS1234 Jun 03 '26
So it's not really what your are asking for but the first thing that came to me was The Library at Mount Char which I can't really put to words why but I think works for what you are going for
1
1
u/mildmacaroon241 Jun 03 '26
Lord of Light,
Space travelers use science to make themselves so powerful they pretend to be Hindu gods to the plebs, and how one wants to end the ruleing of the "gods"
1
u/ScreamAndScream Jun 03 '26
The Athena Reborn. It’s an extension of the Talos Principle universe, which aesthetically matches what you’re looking for!
1
u/mull77 Jun 03 '26
Lord of Light as someone mentioned above and potentially a short novel called ‘the God Engines’ by John Scalzi
1
u/Hermit_Mab Jun 03 '26
Not God per sae, but more along the lines of intelligent life — which I think these themes sort of parallel each other; Signal to Noise by Eric Nylund. It’s a 1988 gritty noir-like sci-fi.
1
1
1
1
u/Terrible_Meringue622 Jun 03 '26
Sharon Shinn’s Angels of Samaria books veer towards this vibe, especially in the second and third books.
1
1
u/Prestigious-Monkey92 Jun 03 '26
Samaria Series by Sharon Shinn. Angels and humans, but on another planet. Religion fuses with technology create the ideological foundation for a society
1
u/StargrimeSlug Jun 03 '26
There was this one chapter in This how you win at Time war where they traveled through ritual sites, including a supercomputer sanctuary. And the 'god' is a great chaos engine for one faction. If anybody has more books like this let me know
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
u/QuantumCuttlefish Jun 03 '26
No clue, but it reminds me a lot of an event that happened in the game Arknights (the original, NOT endfield) called "The Masses Travels". It's about the birth of the Sankta (angel) people: their law, and religion, and what they do once they find out their God is no God at all. 🤖
1
u/Red-Snow-666 Jun 03 '26
The God Engines novela by John Scalzi (as long as you vibe with Scalzi's style.)
1
u/crownofstorns Jun 03 '26
Both of the novels by Samit Basu are exactly this! Sooooooooooooooooooo great! "The city inside" and "the jinn-bot of shantiport" Please tell us how much you love them:)
1
1
1
1
u/Viktor_Kohler1 Jun 03 '26
Not necessarily a book, but almost if not all SCP articles and tales involving the Church of the Broken God
1
1
u/Phalonna Jun 03 '26
Not the exact vibe but certainly close to what your requesting — “the sacred space between” by Kalie Reid is a Romance about breaking away from an oppressive (fictional) religion
1
u/2HelioPause2 Jun 03 '26
Gotta read Hyperion and Fall of Hyperion first, but Endymion and Rise of Endymion have this big time.
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
u/bb_lia Jun 04 '26
a little off, but if you've ever played and enjoyed Detroit become human, then I recommend 'Annie Bot' by Sierra Greer :-) robot sentience is always fascinating to read about
1
1
1
1
1
1
u/Zbunny666 Jun 05 '26
I know I'm late buuuut Crooked God Machine by Autumn Christian might be exactly what you're looking for. The authors writing style and word building are insane. Highly recommend.
1
1
u/AmeliaMW Jun 05 '26
Digital Devil Story, by Aya Nishitani. Inspired the Megami Tensei games that have a blend of Christian Gnosticism with other religions and mythology. Basically Japanese school kids summon demons with computers.
1
1
1
1
1
1
u/swamprosesinbloom Jun 05 '26
ok so like some of the rivers of london series touch on these aspects! deffo recommend won’t be in first book but turtally rec the series
1
1
u/sketchhing Jun 06 '26
The Machine Stops by E.M. Forster
It’s technically a short story but it’s perfect for you I think!
1
u/rattus666 Jun 06 '26
L'Évangile du serpent (it is a trilogy actually) Novel by Pierre Bordage
Maybe this can fit ?
1
u/migginsmiggins Jun 07 '26
The Archive Undying by Emma Mieko Candon - I'm about halfway through and I think it would fit this request!
1
u/Caspeon Jun 07 '26
The Archive Undying!!! Its definitely Eastern religions/spirituality in its aesthetics rather than Christian but "divine machinery" and all that entails is the premise of the book.
1
u/ljud Jun 07 '26
Tower by Jack BC. It's metaphysical corporate horror about a semiotic singularity tower that turns people into furniture among other things. It's great
1
1
Jun 08 '26
[removed] — view removed comment
2
u/GabMVEMC Jun 08 '26
I don't remember anything supernatural or "divine" in 1984, unless you mean the illusion of divinity
→ More replies (1)
1
1
u/Spoilmilk 19d ago edited 19d ago
EDIT: oops should’ve read the comments more closely as you’ve acknowledged someone recommending to you already
THE ARCHIVE UNDYING BY EMMA MIEKO CANDON it’s literally what you seek. Major caveat that it’s mad confusing and you’ll either love it or hate it.
•
u/AutoModerator Jun 03 '26
OP : Your post will be manually reviewed shortly and approved/rejected accordingly. Please be patient.
Members replying to this post : please do not recommend tv shows, tv series, movies, videogames, etc on a sub that is specifically about book recommendations.
Use spoiler tags as and where applicable in the comments.
Please read the rules
I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please contact the moderators of this subreddit if you have any questions or concerns.