So I'm working on a story about a world with overpopulation and highly advanced medicine, like mostly anything is curable. Does anybody know of books with similar themes? I've already picked up The Postmortal and I'm just looking for a few more.
I too have a story in the works involving similar ideas. William Gibson's Neuromancer explores these themes a bit, but not as heavily as others like A.I. and cyberspace. Still a recommended read though.
There's a great short story you can read for free online at Lightspeed Magazine, called "Jenny's Sick," by David Tallerman. One of the best short stories I've read in the past couple years.
Excerpt:
It’s a cold day in February, and Jenny’s sick again.
I ask what it is this time and she just looks at me with ghastly eyes, staring out from over swollen, purpling flesh. She’s sitting bolt upright, propped by pillows, and there’s so much sweat everywhere that it’s like condensation in a steam room. I’ve seen her look bad before but never quite this bad. Where did she get this shit? How long is it going to last this time?
I can’t be the one to deal with this. We’ve been living together for maybe two years; we started sleeping together and ended friends, but mainly we just hit it off, and sharing a place seemed a good idea. I thought we had things in common then, that maybe we were going the same places. But I’m looking to finish studying as soon as possible, to carve out a career, and I have no idea what Jenny wants.
Maybe she just wants to die.
This is highly advanced medicine.
http://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/news/world-first-paraplegic-man-walks-a...
You could always go the eugenicist route, i.e. Gattaca. I thought of taking a Darwinian world view over the cliff. It would be an evil, sick, twisted, fun read.
Another example would be Idiocracy. Enders game is a little similar, so is Brave New World by Huxley.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Welcome_to_the_Monkey_House_(short_story)
