“What are the best books about Virtual Reality?” We looked at 160 of the top Virtual Reality books, aggregating and ranking them so we could answer that very question!
The top 11 titles, all appearing on 3 or more “Best Virtual Reality” book lists, are ranked below by how many lists they appear on. The remaining 125+ titles, as well as the lists we used are in alphabetical order at the bottom of the page.
Happy Scrolling!
Lists It Appears On:
In a near-future run by thousands of autonomous computer programs that control the world’s wireless networks, a dormant program activates in the wake of a legendary game designer’s premature death and launches a sinister effort to dismantle society and enforce a new world order
Lists It Appears On:
Andrew “Ender” Wiggin thinks he is playing computer simulated war games; he is, in fact, engaged in something far more desperate. The result of genetic experimentation, Ender may be the military genius Earth desperately needs in a war against an alien enemy seeking to destroy all human life. The only way to find out is to throw Ender into ever harsher training, to chip away and find the diamond inside, or destroy him utterly. Ender Wiggin is six years old when it begins. He will grow up fast. But Ender is not the only result of the experiment. The war with the Buggers has been raging for a hundred years, and the quest for the perfect general has been underway almost as long. Ender’s two older siblings, Peter and Valentine, are every bit as unusual as he is, but in very different ways. While Peter was too uncontrollably violent, Valentine very nearly lacks the capability for violence altogether. Neither was found suitable for the military’s purpose. But they are driven by their jealousy of Ender, and by their inbred drive for power. Peter seeks to control the political process, to become a ruler.
Lists It Appears On:
Erebos ist ein Computerspiel, das an einer Londoner Schule als Raubkopie von Schüler zu Schüler herumgereicht wird; wer es einmal spielt, wird “süchtig” danach. Die Spielregeln sind rigide: Jeder hat nur eine Chance, Erebos zu spielen; wer stirbt, fliegt raus und kann nicht wieder zurück ins Spiel; Spieler dürfen mit niemandem darüber reden und müssen immer allein sein, wenn sie spielen, und auch wer gegen diese Spielregeln verstößt, fliegt ohne die Chance auf Rückkehr in die virtuelle Welt von Erebos. Fortgeschrittenen Spielern stellt das Erebos Aufgaben, und die werden nicht in der virtuellen, sondern in der tatsächlichen Realität erledigt, und so verschwimmen die Fiktion des Spiels und die Realität mit zunehmender “Verweildauer” im Spiel. Nick is one of the students at the London School; he too gets into the virtual world of Erebos, and he too becomes addicted to it, but then the game orders him a very real murder …
Lists It Appears On:
In the virtual reality game Heir Apparent, there are way too many ways to get killed–and Giannine seems to be finding them all. Which is a darn shame, because unless she can get the magic ring, locate the stolen treasure, answer the dwarf’s dumb riddles, impress the head-chopping statue, charm the army of ghosts, fend off the barbarians, and defeat the man-eating dragon, she’ll never win. And she has to, because losing means she’ll die–for real this time.
Lists It Appears On:
Winner of the Hugo, Nebula, and Philip K. Dick Awards Case was the sharpest data thief in the Matrix, until an ex-employer crippled his nervous system. Now a new employer has recruited him for a last-chance run against an unthinkably powerful artificial intelligence. With a mirror-eyed girl street-samurai riding shotgun, he’s ready for the silicon-quick, bleakly prophetic adventure that upped the ante on an entire genre of fiction.
Lists It Appears On:
The Oculus Rift is an exciting next generation VR headset developed by OculusVR. Whether it’s in a game, an architectural walk-through, or a teaching simulation, the goal of any immersive virtual reality experience is making users feel like they’re in the middle of the action. With precise, high-quality optics and a flexible programmatic interface, the Rift provides real-life field of view and head tracking hardware for natural interaction that finally nails the feeling of being there. Oculus Rift in Action introduces the powerful Oculus Rift headset and teaches you how to integrate its many features into 3D games and other virtual reality experiences. You’ll start by understanding the capabilities of the Rift hardware. Then you’ll follow interesting and instantly-relevant examples that walk you through programming real applications using the Oculus SDK.
Lists It Appears On:
Robert Gu is a recovering Alzheimer’s patient. The world that he remembers was much as we know it today. Now, as he regains his faculties through a cure developed during the years of his near-fatal decline, he discovers that the world has changed and so has his place in it. He was a world-renowned poet. Now he is seventy-five years old, though by a medical miracle he looks much younger, and he’s starting over, for the first time unsure of his poetic gifts. Living with his son’s family, he has no choice but to learn how to cope with a new information age in which the virtual and the real are a seamless continuum, layers of reality built on digital views seen by a single person or millions, depending on your choice. But the consensus reality of the digital world is available only if, like his thirteen-year-old granddaughter Miri, you know how to wear your wireless access—through nodes designed into smart clothes—and to see the digital context—through smart contact lenses. With knowledge comes risk. When Robert begins to re-train at Fairmont High, learning with other older people what is second nature to Miri and other teens at school, he unwittingly becomes part of a wide-ranging conspiracy to use technology as a tool for world domination. In a world where every computer chip has Homeland Security built-in, this conspiracy is something that baffles even the most sophisticated security analysts, including Robert’s son and daughter-in law, two top people in the U.S. military. And even Miri, in her attempts to protect her grandfather, may be entangled in the plot. As Robert becomes more deeply involved in conspiracy, he is shocked to learn of a radical change planned for the UCSD Geisel Library; all the books there, and worldwide, would cease to physically exist. He and his fellow re-trainees feel compelled to join protests against the change. With forces around the world converging on San Diego, both the conspiracy and the protest climax in a spectacular moment as unique and satisfying as it is unexpected.
Lists It Appears On:
Solarversia is the story of an epic year-long game played by 100 million people inside a virtual world modelled on the real world Solar System. Given three lives, three vehicles, and told to master The Science of Solarversia to stand a chance of winning, players compete for the £10m grand prize, and the chance to help design the next game, starting in 2024. Nova Negrahnu and her friends Burner and Sushi cannot wait to start playing. But when an international terrorist organisation sets its sights on the game and it’s creator, Nova finds her life turned upside down, as the line between simulation and reality blurs. Can she navigate between playing the game, coping with all the issues an eighteen-year-old girl faces and avoid the very real and present danger mounting outside Solaversia?
Lists It Appears On:
The Diamond Age: Or, A Young Lady’s Illustrated Primer is a postcyberpunk novel by Neal Stephenson. It is to some extent a science fiction coming-of-age story, focused on a young girl named Nell, and set in a future world in which nanotechnology affects all aspects of life. The novel deals with themes of education, social class, ethnicity, and the nature of artificial intelligence.
Lists It Appears On:
As virtual reality approaches mainstream consumer use, a vibrant development ecosystem has emerged in the past few years. This hands-on guide takes you through VR development essentials for desktop, mobile, and browser-based applications. You’ll explore the three go-to platforms–OculusVR, Gear VR, and Cardboard VR–as well as several VR development environments, programming tools, and techniques. If you’re an experienced programmer familiar with mobile development, this book will help you gain a working knowledge of VR development through clear and simple examples. Once you create a complete application in the final chapter, you’ll have a jumpstart on the next major entertainment medium. Learn VR basics for UI design, 3D graphics, and stereo rendering Explore Unity3D, the current development choice among game engines Create native applications for desktop computers with the Oculus Rift Develop mobile applications for Samsung’s Gear VR with the Android and Oculus Mobile SDKs Build browser-based applications with the WebVR Javascript API and WebGL Create simple and affordable mobile apps for any smartphone with Google’s Cardboard VR Bring everything together to build a 360-degree panoramic photo viewer
Lists It Appears On:
In reality, Hiro Protagonist delivers pizza for Uncle Enzo’s CosoNostra Pizza Inc., but in the Metaverse he’s a warrior prince. Plunging headlong into the enigma of a new computer virus that’s striking down hackers everywhere, he races along the neon-lit streets on a search-and-destroy mission for the shadowy virtual villain threatening to bring about infocalypse. Snow Crash is a mind-altering romp through a future America so bizarre, so outrageous… you’ll recognize it immediately.
# | Books | Authors | Lists |
12 | AlterWorld: Play to Live. A LitRPG Series | D. Rus | Upload VR |
– | – | – | Goodreads |
13 | Armada | Ernest Cline | Haptic |
– | – | – | Goodreads |
14 | Augmented Human: How Technology Is Shaping the New Reality | Hub Stop | |
– | – | – | Briovr |
15 | Augmented Reality: Principles and Practice (Usability) | Hub Stop | |
– | – | – | Briovr |
16 | Bluescreen | Dan Wells | Goodreads |
– | – | – | Haptic |
17 | Brasyl | Ian McDonald | Haptic |
– | – | – | Upload VR |
18 | City of Golden Shadow | Tad Williams | Goodreads |
– | – | – | Upload VR |
19 | Disclosure | Michael Crichton | Haptic |
– | – | – | Upload VR |
20 | Donnerjack | Haptic | |
– | – | – | Upload VR |
21 | Elusion | Claudia Gabel | Goodreads |
– | – | – | Haptic |
22 | Epic | Conor Kostick | Haptic |
– | – | – | Goodreads |
23 | Feersum Endjin | Iain M. Banks | Upload VR |
– | – | – | Haptic |
24 | Halting State | Charles Stross | Haptic |
– | – | – | Upload VR |
25 | Headcrash | Bruce Bethke | Haptic |
– | – | – | Upload VR |
26 | In Real Life | Cory Doctorow | Haptic |
– | – | – | Goodreads |
27 | Insignia | S.J. Kincaid | Goodreads |
– | – | – | Haptic |
28 | Killobyte | Piers Anthony | Haptic |
– | – | – | Upload VR |
29 | Lock In | John Scalzi | Haptic |
– | – | – | Goodreads |
30 | Masters of Doom | David Kushner | 3D Coil |
– | – | – | QZ |
31 | Otherworld | Jason Segel | Goodreads |
– | – | – | Book Trust |
32 | Permutation City | Greg Egan (Subjective Cosmology #2) | Haptic |
– | – | – | Upload VR |
33 | Ready Player One | Ernest Cline | Goodreads |
– | – | – | Upload VR |
34 | Rim | Alexander Besher | Upload VR |
– | – | – | Haptic |
35 | Saga | Conor Kostick | Haptic |
– | – | – | Goodreads |
36 | Simulacron-3 | Daniel F. Galouye | Haptic |
– | – | – | Upload VR |
37 | Surface Detail | Iain M. Banks (Culture #9) | Haptic |
– | – | – | Upload VR |
38 | Tea from an Empty Cup | Pat Cadigan | Haptic |
– | – | – | Upload VR |
39 | The Eye of Minds | James Dashner | Goodreads |
– | – | – | Upload VR |
40 | The Fourth Transformation | Robert Scoble & Shel Israel | 3D Coil |
– | – | – | Briovr |
41 | The Futurological Congress | Stanislaw Lem | Upload VR |
– | – | – | Haptic |
42 | The Hacker and the Ants | Rudy Rucker | Haptic |
– | – | – | Upload VR |
43 | The Reality Bug | D.J. MacHale (Pendragon #4) | Upload VR |
– | – | – | Haptic |
44 | The Three Stigmata of Palmer Eldritch | Philip K. Dick | Haptic |
– | – | – | Upload VR |
45 | The Three-Body Problem | Liu Cixin | Goodreads |
– | – | – | Upload VR |
46 | The VR Book: Human Centered Design for Virtual Reality | Jason Jerald | Virtual Reality Pop |
– | – | – | 3D Coil |
47 | Tomorrow and Tomorrow | Thomas Sweterlitsch | Haptic |
– | – | – | Upload VR |
48 | Virtual Light | William Gibson (Bridge #1) | Haptic |
– | – | – | Upload VR |
49 | Virtual Reality Analytics | Joerg Osarek | 3D Coil |
– | – | – | ARPost |
50 | Virtual Reality For Beginners | Murray Ramirez | 3D Coil |
– | – | – | ARPost |
51 | Virtual Reality Insider: Guidebook for the VR Industry | ARPost | |
– | – | – | Briovr |
52 | Warcross | Marie Lu | Goodreads |
– | – | – | Book Trust |
53 | We Can Remember It For You Wholesale | Philip K. Dick | Haptic |
– | – | – | Upload VR |
54 | A Christmas Carol | Signature reads | |
55 | A Game of Thrones | Signature reads | |
56 | A Virtual Dream | Brent Roth | Goodreads |
57 | Accelerando | Charles Stross | Upload VR |
58 | An Elephant in our Garden | Appreal VR | |
59 | Animal Kingdom Education Book | Appreal VR | |
60 | Arena | Holly Jennings | Goodreads |
61 | At the Mountains of Madness | Signature reads | |
62 | Augmented Reality: A Practical Guide | Hub Stop | |
63 | Augmented Reality: Innovative Perspectives across Art, Industry, and Academia | Hub Stop | |
64 | Augmented Reality: Where We Will All Live | Briovr | |
65 | Awaken Online: Catharsis by Travis Bagwell | Book Trust | |
66 | Better than Life | Grant Naylor (Red Dwarf #2) | Upload VR |
67 | Better than Life (Red Dwarf) | Haptic | |
68 | Cardboard VR Projects for Android | Briovr | |
69 | Catalyst | S.J. Kincaid | Goodreads |
70 | Caverns and Creatures (4 books series) | Haptic | |
71 | Color Alive Series – Augmented Reality Coloring Books | Appreal VR | |
72 | Complete Atopia Chronicles | Haptic | |
73 | Count Zero | William Gibson | Goodreads |
74 | Dawn of the New Everything | Jaron Lanier | 3D Coil |
75 | Defying Reality: The Inside Story of the Virtual Reality Revolution | Briovr | |
76 | Developing Virtual Reality Applications: Foundations of Effective Design | Briovr | |
77 | Edge of Reality | Andrei Livadny | Goodreads |
78 | Everywhere But No Place | Mark Foster (Messages from the Unseen World #1) | Upload VR |
79 | For The Win | Haptic | |
80 | Getting Started with React VR: Build immersive Virtual Reality apps for the web with React | Briovr | |
81 | Ghosts of ARCADIA | Ramsey Isler | Upload VR |
82 | Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire | Signature reads | |
83 | Holistic Game Development with Unity: An All-in-One Guide to Implementing Game Mechanics, Art, Design and Programming | Virtual Reality Pop | |
84 | Horrible Hauntings: An Augmented Reality Collection of Ghosts and Ghouls | Appreal VR | |
85 | House of Leaves | Signature reads | |
86 | Human Plus | David Simpson (Post-Human #4) | Upload VR |
87 | Inferno: Play to Live. A LitRPG Series | D. Rus | Goodreads |
88 | Infinite Jest | Signature reads | |
89 | Infoquake | David Edelman (Jump 225 #1) | Upload VR |
90 | Introduction to Virtual Reality | Briovr | |
91 | iStorm: Wild Weather and Other Forces of Nature | Appreal VR | |
92 | Jack Hunter: The French Connection | Appreal VR | |
93 | Making Sense of Space: The Design and Experience of Virtual Spaces as a Tool for Communication (Chandos Information Professional Series) | Briovr | |
94 | Marketing New Realities: An Introduction to Virtual Reality & Augmented Reality Marketing, Branding, & Communications | Briovr | |
95 | Mirror World (3 book series) | Haptic | |
96 | Mortality Doctrine (3 book series) | Haptic | |
97 | Mountain of Black Glass | Tad Williams | Goodreads |
98 | Murder on the Orient Express | Signature reads | |
99 | Otherland (4 book series) | Haptic | |
100 | Phantom Server (3 book series) | Haptic | |
101 | Play To Live (7 book series) | Haptic | |
102 | Practical Augmented Reality: A Guide to the Technologies, Applications and Human Factors for AR and VR (Usability) | Hub Stop | |
103 | Presence | Haptic | |
104 | Project Daily Grind | Alexey Osadchuk | Goodreads |
105 | Reamde | Neal Stephenson | Upload VR |
106 | Red Cell, White Cell: A STEM Based Augmented Reality Book | Appreal VR | |
107 | River of Blue Fire | Tad Williams | Goodreads |
108 | Rocks In My Socks: Children’s Story Book with 3D Augmented Reality Activities | Appreal VR | |
109 | Schismatrix | Bruce Sterling | Upload VR |
110 | Schismatrix Plus | Haptic | |
111 | Sea of Silver Light | Tad Williams | Goodreads |
112 | Seveneves | Haptic | |
113 | Sleep Sweet | Appreal VR | |
114 | Storytelling for Virtual Reality: Methods and Principles for Crafting Immersive Narratives | Briovr | |
115 | Survival Quest | Vasily Mahanenko | Goodreads |
116 | Tagme3D: Augmented Reality Books | Appreal VR | |
117 | Terminal Connection | Haptic | |
118 | The Atopia Chronicles | Mathew Mather | Upload VR |
119 | The Battle | D. Rus | Goodreads |
120 | The Clan: Play to Live. A LitRPG Series | D. Rus | Goodreads |
121 | The Demi-Monde: Winter | Haptic | |
122 | The Dragon’s Wrath (3 book series) | Haptic | |
123 | The Dueling Machine | Ben Bova | Upload VR |
124 | The Duty: Play to Live. A LitRPG Series | D. Rus | Goodreads |
125 | The Fellowship of the Ring | Signature reads | |
126 | The Game | Terry Schott | Goodreads |
127 | The Game of Lives | James Dashner | Goodreads |
128 | The Great Gatsby | Signature reads | |
129 | The Judas Mandala | Damien Broderick (The Faustus Hexagram #2) | Upload VR |
130 | The Kartoss Gambit | Vasily Mahanenko | Goodreads |
131 | The Leveller | Julia Durango | Goodreads |
132 | The Metaphysics of Virtual Reality | Michael Heim | 3D Coil |
133 | The Rule of Thoughts | James Dashner | Goodreads |
134 | The Shining | Signature reads | |
135 | The Terminal Connection | Dan Needles | Upload VR |
136 | The Three Body Problem | Haptic | |
137 | The Ultimation | D. Rus | Goodreads |
138 | The VR Book: Human-Centered Design for Virtual Reality | Briovr | |
139 | The War: Play to Live. A LitRPG Series | D. Rus | Goodreads |
140 | The Way of the Shaman (4 book series) | Haptic | |
141 | Trading Reality | Michael Ridpath | Upload VR |
142 | True Names | Verner Vinge | Upload VR |
143 | Understanding Augmented Reality: Concepts and Applications | Briovr | |
144 | Understanding Movies | Raphael Sharge | QZ |
145 | Unity Virtual Reality Projects | Virtual Reality Pop | |
146 | Upload | Mark McClelland | Upload VR |
147 | User Unfriendly | Haptic | |
148 | v | Haptic | |
149 | Virtual & Augmented Reality For Dummies | Briovr | |
150 | Virtual Reality and the Built Environment | Briovr | |
151 | Virtual Reality Blueprints: Create compelling VR experiences for mobile and desktop | Briovr | |
152 | Virtual Reality Insider | Sky Nite | 3D Coil |
153 | Virtual Reality: Future Of Health Care | Lynne Edgar | 3D Coil |
154 | Virtual Reality: Representations in Contemporary Media | Melanie Chan | 3D Coil |
155 | Virtual Reality: The Revolutionary Technology of Computer-Generated Artificial Worlds and How It Promises to Transform Society | Howard Rheingold | 3D Coil |
156 | Vortex | S.J. Kincaid | Goodreads |
157 | Vurt | Jeff Noon | Upload VR |
158 | Ways of Seeing | John Berger | 3D Coil |
159 | Wildcard | Marie Lu | Goodreads |
160 | Winter | Rod Rees (Demi-Monde Saga #1) | Upload VR |
Source | Article |
3D Coil | Best VR and AR Books |
Appreal VR | 10 Augmented Reality (AR) Books That Will Blow Your Kid’s Mind |
ARPost | Four Books to Give You an Insight into Virtual Reality |
Book Trust | 5 virtual reality books for your gaming-mad tweens and teens |
Briovr | Top 17+ Books To Learn Augmented & Virtual Reality |
Goodreads | Popular Virtual Reality Books – Goodreads |
Haptic | 60+ science fiction books on virtual reality |
Hub Stop | Augmented Reality (AR) Books to Add to Your Reading List |
QZ | These five books will help you understand the future of virtual reality |
Signature reads | 10 Novels Perfect for Virtual Reality |
Upload VR | Reading List: 50 Scifi Books Featuring AR and VR Technology |
Virtual Reality Pop | Five essential books for Virtual Reality coders |
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