SciFi and Fantasy Book Club discussion

I'm curious if anyone can suggest stories which are both sci-fi and mystery in genre. I know that sci-fi stories often contain elements of mystery, but I am looking for a full blown whodunit in a sci-fi setting. Ideally, it would contain both an interesting detective character and intriguing sci-fi concepts.

The closest thing I can think of is a few of the stories from Asimov's robot short stories. I appreciate any suggestions!

LOL, I was just going to suggest Asimov. . . you mention the short stories. . . have you read the full-fledged mystery novels featuring Elijah Bailey and R. Daneel Olivaw? (The Caves of Steel and The Naked Sun and The Robots of Dawn)

Other than that. . . try Altered Carbon, by Richard K. Morgan; Wrapt in Crystal, by Sharon Shinn (though there's fewer SF concepts in this one -- it's more about religion, the mystery, and a romance); and if you like alternate history try Farthing, by Jo Walton -- it's a British country house mystery set in an alternate 1949 England that made peace with Hitler.

The Asimov novels already mentioned are the most obvious ones.

If you can stand some romance novel aspects (not bodice-ripper, more medium/light level romances) you could try the J.D. Robb (i.e., Nora Roberts) In Dead series (starts with Naked in Death), which are science-fiction/mystery/romances.

The Mountains of Mourning by Lois McMaster Bujold is a mystery novella set in the Miles Vorkosigan saga.

The Thursday Next series (starting with The Eyre Affair) by Jasper Fforde are kind of mysteries and kind of science fiction (they're really hard to categorize).

Greenthieves by Alan Dean Foster is a science fiction mystery.

The Turing Hopper mystery series (starting with You've Got Murder) by Donna Andrews is sorta-science fiction. It takes place in modern times, but the primary detective is an artificial intelligence.

While not quite what you asked for, Bimbos of the Death Sun is a murder mystery set at a science fiction convention.

Kiln People by David Brin is a science fiction mystery.

Altered Carbon by Richard Morgan is what you are describing.


Bryan wrote: "I'm curious if anyone can suggest stories which are both sci-fi and mystery in genre. I know that sci-fi stories often contain elements of mystery, but I am looking for a full blown whodunit in a s..."

Ooops. I see that was already suggested. Sorry.

The City & The City by China Miéville is a science fiction mystery.

Also, check out this page on science fiction mysteries. It is part of a resource page for school librarians, but it doesn't appear to have a bias towards young readers.

That's a good website! I thought of a couple others:

Chasm City and The Prefect, both by Alastair Reynolds. They're set in the same universe as his major trilogy, but stand-alone mysteries. Chasm City is better than The Prefect, and Reynolds' style is a little dense, but he can craft some pretty interesting set pieces and the mysteries are pretty convoluted (but fair).

I can suggest my own book, Under the Amoral Bridge: A Cyberpunk Novel. Though the main character isn't a detective, it takes a lot from noir style detective fiction. It's a cyberpunk tale about an election in a corporate-controlled Los Angeles of 2028. Bridge is an acerbic character with a sharp wit, and there is a bit of mystery as well, though it's not a whodunit so much as a why? You can grab the Kindle version ( http://www.amazon.com/Under-Amoral-Br... ) or other eBook versions ( http://www.smashwords.com/books/view/... ) for only $.99 cents.

Hey Gary,

I bought and read your book just last month. Good work.

Jed

The Surrogates by Robert Venditti is a graphic novel/detective story. I found it really interesting how with the surrogates, the detectives have become outmoded and how they cope when they are suddenly needed... Of course Watchmen is another graphic novel/sci-fi/fantasy whodunnit classic.

And then there's another sci-fi detective classic: Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? by Philip K. Dick.

Cool topic!!

Thanks for the great suggestions. By coincidence, I happened to pick up Chasm City at a used book store yesterday, just hours before it was suggested here!

I found another possibility while reviewing my to-read list: Queen of Angels by Greg Bear.

Oh yeah, I've read Queen of Angels & Slant. Would certainly fit the bill - the lead detective is a pretty fascinating character.

There's also Bear's new Quantico series, but I'm not sure how much Sci is in the sci-fi since I haven't read them.

An *excellent* SF/mystery series is the Retrieval Artist series by Kristine Kathryn Rusch, beginning with the title story in The Retrieval Artist and Other Stories, and then the series continues with the books starting with The Disappeared.

If you are okay with humor and tongue in cheek writing, the Hair Color books by John Zakour are really fun sci fi takes on old hard boiled detective novels. I love them.

A fairly light "cozy" fantasy-mystery would be Mercedes Lackey's "Four and Twenty Blackbirds" in the Bardic Voices series.

Jack McDevitt's Alex Benedict novels are essentially SF mysteries.

I've got the Alex Benedict novels on my TBR stack. . . but I was under the impression that, yes, they're mysteries. . . but they're more archaeological mysteries than murder mysteries. . . ;)

Hmmm...murder and dead bodies. Well, it's more of a SF spoof, but The Sheriff of Yrnameer: A Novel by Michael Rubens does start out that way.

A good mystery/scifi crossover is Pollen by Jeff Noon.

The Long Arm of Gil Hamilton - Larry Niven

This was always one of my favorites in the Known Space stories. This is a collection of shorts. There's also a novel called The Patchwork Girl, but they both look to be very out of print. Both are worth searching for, however.

Try Douglas Adams Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency - BBC did a fun audio version of this one.

There are a number of science related, fantasy thrillers out there like the Preston / Child books example - Relic. Or the James Rollins books ex - Map of Bones. However they tend to be more Indiana Jones like.

A classic who-dunnit and a Sci Fi Classic is The Demolished Man by Alfred Bester.

More up to date, you could try the Arabesk trilogy by Jon Courtenay Grimwood that starts with Pashazade.

In the same vein, When Gravity Fails by George Alec Effinger is a gripping atmospheric mystery thriller.

I've got to throw in my personal favourite, Gun, with Occasional Music by Jonathan Lethem, not to everyone's taste, but a fantastic weird take on the Raymond Chandler Detective Noir.

Bryan, I just thought I'd bring to your notice that one of the books I mentioned has just been reviewed here on Goodreads, should you be interested..

Check out Night Train to Rigel. Along with writing Star Wars sagas, Timothy Zahn has some mysteries in the Quadrail series. He's a GR Author, too.
Almost forgot Jack McDevitt Alex Benedict books, e.g. The Devil's Eye: An Alex Benedict Novel

I recently completed Time Out by Pat Whitaker -- definitely scifi mystery. Pat also has two other similar books, Bad Blood and Raw Spirit.

On Basilisk Station by David Weber.

Arthur C Clarke and Paul Preuss Venus Prime series - not murder mystery, but I think they qualify.
There is a dormant group Sci-Fi Mysteries - maybe this discussion could transfer there?

Lee Killough wrote three mysteries in the Brill/Maxwell series of mysteries. Set in the near future, about 2090, they are a blend of SF and mystery. Each novels stands by itself and can be read in any order.
They are :
The Doppelganger Gambit
Spider Play
Dragon's Teeth.

I have read and enjoyed all three.

Some of Loid McMaster Bujold's Vorkosigan series would fall into a Mystery/SF mix.
Specifically Cetaganda, Memory, Komarr, and Diplomatic Immunity.

Deep Quarry by John Stith is a detective story set on an alien world where humans and an alien race coexist. I prefer some of his straight up science fiction better, particularly Manhatten Transfer, but this wasn't bad and combines both the SF and the mystery elements. I think he wrote some other SF mysteries, but I haven't read those.

I'm not sure if it's been mentioned already, but I would recommended Nick Sagan's "Idlewild" which I have recently reviewed on my blog at http://newsbook.hostoi.com

You can also read the presently completed chapters of my own SF-cum-whodunnit at http://newsbook.hostoi.com/?p=90

So many great suggestions :)

I just finished Slain in the Spirit by Walt Rosenfeld. I'm rather new to this genre, but it was quite good in my opinion.

http://www.amazon.com/Slain-Spirit-Wa...

I'd recommend to try Adam Roberts's Jack Glass. It's a bit different than your normal scifi mystery whodunnit, but definately worth a read.

Lock In by John Scalzi is a mystery

The Automatic Detective by A. Lee Martinez

Bryan wrote: "I'm curious if anyone can suggest stories which are both sci-fi and mystery in genre. I know that sci-fi stories often contain elements of mystery, but I am looking for a full blown whodunit in a s..."

Try this : goo.gl/PScQmy.
The ink is still wet, so careful how you turn the pages.
This is a shameless plug, so will probably be taken down. However, you did ask the question!

Bryan wrote: "I'm curious if anyone can suggest stories which are both sci-fi and mystery in genre. I know that sci-fi stories often contain elements of mystery, but I am looking for a full blown whodunit in a s..."

Have you read Leviathan Wakes? It's sci-fi with a mystery aspect to it... it's part adventure story, and part whodunnit, and all awesome, IMPO. :)

You should try Red Planet Blues. Pot Boiler mystery on Mars. Lots of fun. If you are either a Mike Hammer or Mickey Spillane fan, then you should love this book.

I wrote a novel which, if you drew a Venn diagram with the circles labeled Mystery, Fantasy and Horror, the book would be in the intersection. It is titled SPEAK TO OUR DESIRES.

John G. Hemry's Burden of Proof and Rule of Evidence

I do recommend reading the first book in the series, A Just Determination, even though it's not a mystery but a pure courtroom drama. In the US Navy in space.

Sundiver also by David Brin is a Sci/fi mystery. It's also probably my favorite I've read so far in the Uplift Saga.

The "Peter Grant" Novels by Ben Aaronovitch
Midnight Riot
Moon Over Soho
Whispers Under Ground
Broken Homes
Foxglove Summer

Diane wrote: "The "Peter Grant" Novels by Ben Aaronovitch
Midnight Riot
Moon Over Soho
Whispers Under Ground
[book:Broken Homes|18..."

More Urban Fantasy and Detective work. But kudos on this series actually being this instead of just starting with that as the premise and throwing it out the window by 100 pages in like most urban fantasies.

John Murphy's "Claudius Rex" novella in Alembical 3: A Distillation of Three Novellas.

some interesting recommends here!

The Barbie Murders by John Varley. I highly recommend picking up his greatest hits collection because A) it's incredibly good and B) there are a couple other SF Mysteries in it.

Looking at my to-read pile, I see that Charles Stross' Halting State and sequel Rule 34 are police procedurals.

If you can find them, Ed Naha's The Paradise Plot and The Suicide Plague fit the bill, except the detective is a reporter working for the last printed newspaper in America. (Which was pretty prescient for 1980.)

It's surprising there aren't more mystery scifi books!

I really like the Reynolds' Chasm City and The Prefect I wish he would write more like this.

His new series, Blue Remembered Earth have mystery/puzzle and thriller elements in the context of a near-future space faring Earth.

Also, did anyone mention Tobias Buckell's Arctic Riding and Hurricane Fever as two scifi/mystery crime thriller books that feature a dreadlocked retired spy named prudence jones? Loads of fun!

Hey I forgot to mention one of my favorites - Great North Road by Peter Hamilton.