Hiveminds

I'm fond of fictional hiveminds, parasites, and other such things. This is just a list of some I've seen and liked.

Code:
Categorizations are based on memory and may be inaccurate.

• * indicates the story contains no NSFW (sexual) content.
• = indicates the story contains brief NSFW content or references to it.
• == indicates the story contains more than brief NSFW content.
• === indicates the story contains a lot of NSFW content, or extreme NSFW content.

Paid Stories

Stories that can't legally be read for free online (unless you use libgen.is or libgen.li or Anna's Archive, which is illegal). Mostly published books. Stories I like most are at the top.

• === A Song for Lya by George W. W. Martin: 1974 novella, featuring the ambiguously benevolent hivemind of the Greeshka parasite. Also a meditation on the loneliness of humanity and the impossibility of true love.
• = Annihilation by Jeff Vandermeer. 2014 novel. Unclear whether there is really any hivemind or parasite involved, but some sort of alien phenomenon exists and eventually affects the protagonist. A strange and subtle novel about what cannot be understood. I like the sequels less and still haven't read Absolution, but they may be worth reading if you like the first one.
• == The Seep by Chana Porter: 2020 novel. Features the titular Seep, a benevolent alien entity that connects all of humanity into a global hivemind and creates world peace. Follows the main character as she tries to adjust to life in utopia. Very fun.
• === Vacuum Flowers by Michael Swanwick: 1987 novel. Features the ethically ambiguous Comprise, a hivemind of former humans, which has entirely assimilated Earth. Eventually the main character meets them, and they play a significant role in the plot. Dated in certain ways, but contains an odd beauty.
• === Leech by Hiron Ennes: 2022 novel. The protagonist begins as part of a mostly villainous parasitic hivemind, and gradually becomes separated from it during the story. Initial chapters are written from the hivemind's perspective.
• == Shriek: An Afterword by Jeff Vandermeer. 2006 novel. A fictional memoir exploring time and memory, set in a bizarre fantasy city with an eldritch fungal hivemind waiting beneath. Enjoyed this book but heavily disliked the sequel, Finch, which I don't recommend.
• * Weather by Alastair Reynolds: 2006 short story. Features a former member of the Conjoiner hivemind, who was taken unwillingly from the collective. Reynolds has written other Conjoiner stories, but this is the only one I really like, from what I've read.
• == Blood Music by Greg Bear. 1985 novel. A scientist's genetically modified hyperintelligent unicellular organisms infect humanity with their debatably benevolent hivemind. Has some strikingly described visuals, though the story was nothing special.
• * A Wrinkle in Time by Madeleine L'Engle: 1962 children's novel. Has a few chapters about the villainous hivemind that has taken over the planet Camazotz, controlled by a living brain called IT. I haven't read this book for years but liked it as a kid.
• = Children of Ruin by Adrian Tchaikovsky: 2022 novel. Features an alien hivemind parasite. Physically present in only a few chapters, but there is one really cool chapter. The rest of the book interested me less. = Children of Time has less focus on hiveminds, as the ants aren't conscious enough to really count in my eyes, but I liked it far more than any of the other books in the series. The * Children of Memory protagonist doesn't qualify as a hivemind to me, as she only copies without assimilating.

Free Stories

Can all be read for free online.

If you don't know what the SCP Foundation is, I recommend it as an enormous archive of free weird fiction. The Wikipedia page has an introduction to the setting.

• * SCP-3003 (The End of History) by Akumeoy: 2017 short story and SCP Foundation entry. Concerns an alternate-universe Earth where humanity has been taken over by a hivemind of parasitic bugs.
• * SCP-001 Proposal (When Day Breaks) by S. D. Locke: 2017 short story and SCP Foundation entry. The sun's rays suddenly become deadly, melting all organisms into an eldritch flesh hivemind. I enjoyed this story much more than the others in the "Daybreak" setting and think it works best as a standalone.
• * This World is Full of Monsters by Jeff Vandermeer: 2017 short story. Surreal, post-apocalyptic weird fiction in a world where something alien has drastically altered all of Earth. Unclear if it's a hivemind, parasite, or something else entirely.
• * Kindred Spirits by Queen_Iacomina: 2023 novella-length fanfiction for Star Trek. I read it with hardly any knowledge of Star Trek beyond the existence of the Borg. Picks up around Chapter 5.
• * The Verdant Ones by love: Short story. In a world of talking animals, a coyote willingly joins an alien hivemind.
• * The Voice in the Night by William Hope Hodgson: 1907 short story, now public domain. Readable here. Horror story about sailors and parasitic fungi.
• * I by Philip Goetz: 1997 short science fiction story about the last individual, named I, on a future Earth controlled by an AI hivemind.
• * CORDYCEPS MORTALIS by caeth: 2014 short interactive fiction game. Parasitic cordyceps fungi grow inside the protagonist's body.
• * 1 4 the $ by Charm Cochran: 2024 short interactive fiction game. Involves a parasitic fungal hivemind.
• == Kill Six Billion Demons by Abbadon: Ongoing webcomic, began publication in 2013. Features the character Gog-Agog, a nigh-immortal demiurgic hivemind comprised of billions of worms and people. She appears mostly in Book 4 and after.
• * A Miracle of Science by Jon Kilgannon and Mark Sachs: Finished webcomic published from 2002-2007. Light-hearted scifi detective story about future humanity. Protagonist's partner is a member of a benevolent hivemind utopia on Mars. The art is rough, but nonetheless a fun read.

Fun fact: about 40% of all animal species are parasites.

Source: "Animals Have Evolved Into Parasites At Least 200 Times" by Ed Yong, National Geographic Magazine, 2016.