SciFi and Fantasy Book Club discussion

I am looking for sci-fi books that are not hard reads, don't deal with space exploration, and contain conspiracy/mystery. My favorite sci-fi novel this year has been Absence by Andrew Dana Hudson.

Try “The Last Policeman” by Ben H Winters.

You may like Oryx and Crake. The author is most famous for The Handmaid's Tale. More conspiracy than mystery. Like Handmaid's Tale, it's a future most people would not like to live in.

Altered Carbon is really just a mystery novel that happens to be set in the future. Plenty of sci-fi stuff though. (This novel was made into the first season of the Netflix series of the same name).

I put Absence on my to-read list -- it looks really good!

I tried to like Altered Carbon, but it felt kind of confusing to me. Do remember liking the first season of the Netflix verson though.
Put Oryx and Crake on my TBR list. Thanks!

A recent book of the month, All That We See or Seem by Ken Liu, might work.

Interior Chinatown by Charles Yu maybe, but the style of that one is unique.

The Windup Girl by Paolo Bacigalupi. Long, but worth it.

Patrick wrote: "J wrote: "I am looking for sci-fi books that are not hard reads, don't deal with space exploration, and contain conspiracy/mystery. My favorite sci-fi novel this year has been Absence by Andrew Dan..."
Added to my list! I think they made Interior Chinatown a tv series on Hulu

Asimov's robot books are worth checking out.

Building on the previous recommendation, this could be an interesting paired read: I, Robot by Isaac Asimov (the 1950 book, not the movie!) and Service Model by Adrian Tchaikovsky. Very disparate views coming 74 years apart.

I'm currently reading "Paradox Lost" by V. R. Ling and I really recommend it. It's like a cross between Terry Pratchett and Douglas Adams. Theres humour, mystery, unconventional aliens, and murders to solve. Actually it's a bit Doctor Who aswell. I'm just starting my second read and would really like to find someone or a few people to read it with this time. Theres some great social observation and although this author isn't well known she has a reputation for putting lots of easter eggs into stories for her readers to find so id really like to have people to discuss that with too.

The Illustrated Man by Ray Bradbury is a good one.

Hi J, I can definitely recommend you reading Savior about a 1960s scientist who wakes up in 2091, revived by a powerful corporation that needs him to save the world, but of course, they're keeping lots of secrets.

I also read the ARC of the upcoming sequel Complex that focuses on a woman who's lost her father to that same corporation and sets out to expose what they're hiding.

You might enjoy All Systems Red by Martha Wells, the first book in The Murderbot Diaries. It's a short, easy read with a mystery involving sabotage, missing information, and a conspiracy surrounding a scientific expedition.

It does take place on an alien planet being surveyed, but the focus is more on figuring out what's happening and who's behind it than on space exploration.

What I enjoyed most was Murderbot itself. The character has a unique, funny personality that made the book memorable for me. The mystery was interesting, too, so it might be worth checking out based on what you're looking for.

I recommend There is No Anti-Memetics Division by QNTM:

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/5...

Very quick, fun read.

Maybe try


Sleeping Giants by Sylvain Neuvel keep in mind it is a trilogy
Little Eyes by Samanta Schweblin
Warcross by Marie Lu

Dark Matter by Blake Crouch might fit! Its description sounds like the sci-fi mystery you’re looking for.