This past week, the 2019 Electronic Entertainment Expo, better known as ‘E3’, was broadcast live across the globe to announce upcoming titles from major video game developers. E3 is always an exciting time for gamers, and this year was particularly breathtaking. However, now begins the long, arduous wait between the showcase and the actual release; often months or years away.

Thankfully, for every cyberpunk role-playing game and zombie-ridden first-person shooter that’s still just out of reach, there are countless books perfectly matched to scratch that science-fantasy itch. Sometimes these books are even the inspiration behind the games themselves.

Check out our favourite book recommendations based off some of the major video games from the past few years, as well as titles to get you hyped for the games announced at E3.

If you like Rust, The Last of Us, or zombie apocalypse and survival stories, try:

• The Road to Winter by Mark Smith
• The Road by Cormac McCarthy
• Station Eleven by Emily St. John Mandel
• Highway Bodies by Alison Evans
• The Knife of Never Letting Go by Patrick Ness
• The Girl With All the Gifts by M. R. Carey
• I Am Legend by Richard Matheson
• I Am Number Four by Pittacus Lore

If you like Cyberpunk 2077, Mass Effect or gritty or action-oriented sci-fi, try:

• Neuromancer by William Gibson
• Akira by Katsuhiro Otomo
• Snow Crash by Neal Stephenson
• Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? by Philip K. Dick
• Aurora Rising by Amie Kaufman and Jay Kristoff
• Altered Carbon by Richard Morgan

If you like The Witcher, Assassin’s Creed or city-based fantasies with historical and mythological vibes, try:

• Nevernight by Jay Kristoff
• Blood of Elves by Andrzej Sapkowski
• Assassin’s Apprentice by Robin Hobb
• The Final Empire by Brandon Sanderson
• The Lies of Locke Lamora by Scott Lynch
• The Name of the Wind by Patrick Rothfuss
• The Mists of Avalon by Marion Zimmer Bradley

If you like Seikiro: Shadows Die Twice, Ghost of Tsushima or feudal Japan and samurai fantasy, try:

• Across the Nightingale Floor by Lian Hearn
• The Romance of the Three Kingdoms by Luo Guanzhong
• Daughter of the Empire by Raymond E. Feist
• Rurouni Kenshin by Nobuhiro Watsuki
• Rashomon and Other Stories by Ryunosuke Akutagawa

If you like Destiny, Death Stranding, Anthem or far-future world-building and space opera sci-fi, try:

• Leviathan Wakes by James S. A. Corey
• Scales of Empire by Kylie Chan
• The Left Hand of Darkness by Ursula K. Le Guin
• Seveneves by Neal Stephenson
• Ancillary Justice by Ann Leckie
• The Martian by Andy Weir
• Illuminae by Amie Kaufman and Jay Kristoff

If you like Metro, Atomic Heart, Wolfenstein, Fallout or alternate history fantasy or sci-fi, try:

• The Man in the High Castle by Philip K. Dick
• Kindred by Octavia E. Butler
• Cat’s Cradle by Kurt Vonnegut
• 1984 by George Orwell