If you relished the way The Jagged Orbit weaves together a sprawling cast—like Matthew Flamen, Norma, and the Gottschalks—across a chaotic, near-future America, you'll love Stand on Zanzibar. This novel orchestrates dozens of interconnected lives in a media-saturated, overpopulated world, creating a vibrant tapestry of characters whose stories collide and echo off one another.

If you appreciated the political machinations between the Gottschalks, the media, and the power brokers in The Jagged Orbit, you'll be fascinated by The Dispossessed. Le Guin masterfully constructs two contrasting societies and delves into the personal and systemic consequences of political ideology, all while her protagonist, Shevek, navigates conspiracies and shifting alliances.

If you were drawn to the complex, morally conflicted characters in The Jagged Orbit, like Flamen and Lyla Clay, Flow My Tears, the Policeman Said will pull you in with its protagonist Jason Taverner—a celebrity suddenly erased from existence—who must navigate a bleak, authoritarian landscape where every ally and choice is suspect.

If you admired how The Jagged Orbit juggles intertwined storylines—media manipulation, corporate scheming, and personal quests—The Demolished Man will captivate you with its overlapping perspectives. It follows a cat-and-mouse game between a murderer and a telepathic detective, set in a society where no secret is safe, and narrative threads constantly cross.

If the grim vision of near-future societal collapse and the critique of violence and racism in The Jagged Orbit resonated with you, Parable of the Sower will offer a similarly powerful, harrowing journey. Lauren Olamina's trek through a devastated America exposes the consequences of social breakdown and systemic oppression, echoing Brunner's warnings.