One thing that struck me about several of the novels we've read thus far is that their speculation is based on human biology; specifically, the attempt to alter and control it. In the past I came across a word for this; post-humanism, a nebulous and ill-defined term, but one ultimately centered around the concept of building better humans. There have been aspects of this in most of the books we've read, such as...

-- Starship Troopers: The soldiers rely even more on science than any in our history. The M-I are not so much foot soldiers as pilots for their suits, the equivalent of a second skin that enhances their durability and movement. The suits are much more personal than any conventional military vehicle, to the point where they move based on feedback from the pilot's body motion.

-- Neuromancer: Practically everyone is altered in some way; Case is described as a wasted human body whose utility is based primarily on his digital self. Molly takes a physical role, but she's full of various machines, such as her claws and her eyes. And there are characters like Wintermute and Neuromancer who act sentient, but that are hard to classify as human because they lack any biological components. Artificial intelligence, but hardly robotic...

-- The Handmaid's Tale and The Left Hand of Darkness: Much harder to classify as post-human, because they're more about the examination of sexual relationships than scientific ones; not mutually exclusive, but generally these books are more about exploring biology as it is than what it could be. Still, the characters are altered in various ways; the Handmaid's Tale shows an attempt to control reproduction ( more socially than scientifically ), and The Left Hand of Darkness has the hemaphrodite characters use drugs to accelerate/stunt their " kemmer " period.

-- Lilith's Brood: Probably the most post-human focused of all the books we've read, because it not only has humans being altered by alien technology, but the results of that alteration across the generations. The Oankali, with their biological machines, attach new genes that change the human body. Not just in terms of healing the sick, but strengthening the basic human structure; Lilith is the best example, as she gains enhanced strength, regenerative powers, the ability to interface with the walls of the ship, etc.

-- Stars in My Pocket Like Grains of Sand: I'm still working through this book as of this post, but the fact that " rats " ( humans altered to have enhanced capabilites and removed free will ) play so heavily into it suggests that similar ideas will come into play.

Seeing these patterns is quite interesting; I'll have more comments on the post-human connections later...