Here is a list of books that combine the sci fi thriller with mystery and other sub-genres.
The mystery genre is full of ways to seek the truth, and in many ways, so is science fiction. These books all fall under the speculative fiction umbrella but are mysteries. Read on to see what you should be adding to your science fiction mystery bookshelf this summer.
1. Altered Carbon by Richard Morgan: A cyberpunk mystery thriller.
This is one of my favourite science fiction books of all time.
Four hundred years from now, mankind is strung out across a region of interstellar space inherited from an ancient civilization discovered on Mars. The colonies are linked together by the occasional sublight colony ship voyages and hyperspatial data-casting. Human consciousness is digitally freighted between the stars and downloaded into bodies as a matter of course.
But some things never change. So when ex-envoy, now-convict Takeshi Kovacs has his consciousness and skills downloaded into the body of a nicotine-addicted ex-thug and presented with a catch-22 offer, he really shouldn’t be surprised. Contracted by a billionaire to discover who murdered his last body, Kovacs is drawn into a terrifying conspiracy that stretches across known space and to the very top of society.
This book begins with what looks like a simple murder mystery, but the man wanting the mystery solved is the victim… This story turns into an action-packed tense thriller immediately, all while exploring science fiction through the idea of eternal consciousness and being able to wear ‘sleeves’ that are either clones of your own body, or someone else’s. This book offers so much philosophy between the lines, and if you didn’t already question the amount of power and wealth billionaires accrue at the expense of everyone else, this book will get you there.
2. Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? by Philip K Dick. A science fiction novel that draws on classic noir detective tropes and mystery.
World War Terminus had left the Earth devastated. Through its ruins, bounty hunter Rick Deckard stalked, in search of the renegade replicants who were his prey. When he wasn’t ‘retiring’ them with his laser weapon,
he dreamed of owning a live animal – the ultimate status symbol in a world all but bereft of animal life.Then Rick got his chance: the assignment to kill six Nexus-6 targets, for a huge reward. But in Deckard’s world things were never that simple, and his assignment quickly turned into a nightmare kaleidoscope of subterfuge and deceit – and the threat of death for the hunter rather than the hunted …
This novel is a science fiction classic and was adapted for the film Blade Runner and Blade Runner 2049 which explored similar themes, exploring Deckard’s story further. It’s a metaphysical mystery novel that you’ll probably have heard of if you enjoy science fiction.
3. Solaris by Stanislaw Lem. A deeply psychological alien encounter.
In Solaris, there are elements of mystery but mostly deep introspection and first contact.
Psychologist Kris Kelvin arrives at a research station hovering above the planet Solaris to find the crew in a state of mental breakdown. The planet is entirely covered by a vast, seemingly sentient ocean. The ocean begins to probe the scientists’ minds, manifesting physical, living apparitions of their deeply repressed memories, including that of Kelvin’s dead wife.
This book begins as a mystery, Kelvin arriving at the Solaris space station to find the crew have lost their minds. He is not given much time before he is exposed to the hallucinations too. While this novel isn’t a classic sci fi creature feature or space adventure, it uses mystery elements to show us how humanity isn’t actually looking to find what’s ‘out there’, but instead wants to get a greater understanding of what’s inside.
I found this book quite harrowing, and it made me realise how many of us do carry around repressed memories. What would we do if we were forced to face them again?
4. Illuminae by Amie Kaufman and Jay Kristoff. A tense science fiction mystery thriller told through hacked files.
Kady thought breaking up with Ezra was the worst thing she’d ever been through. That was before her planet was invaded. Now, with enemy fire raining down on them, Kady and Ezra are forced to fight their way onto one of the evacuating craft, with an enemy warship in hot pursuit.
But the warship could be the least of their problems. A deadly plague has broken out and is mutating, with terrifying results; the fleet’s AI, which should be protecting them, may actually be their biggest threat; and nobody in charge will say what’s really going on. As Kady plunges into a web of data hacking to get to the truth, it’s clear only one person can help her bring it all to light: Ezra.
Told through a fascinating dossier of hacked documents, Illuminae is the first book in a heart-stopping, high-octane trilogy.
This is a unique story in that it is told through the discovery of hacked files. This novel blends found footage with mystery and thriller elements.
5. Oceanus. A mystery novel that seems calm on the surface, but what’s underneath is dark, fast-paced and thrilling.
A starship drifts, its crew gone. The planet it orbits has no name. Survivors are stranded on the surface. Exhausted. Hunted. Lost. The longer they stay, the less they can trust their own minds. Their captor is as patient as he is bent on revenge.
Some prisons have no walls.
This book begins as a mystery, starting with the cabin steward admitting he doesn’t know what’s going on when he starts recording his log. It tells the story through several points of view, including the survivors navigating a hostile jungle, the people who live on the planet, and the cabin steward trying to organise a rescue mission to get them home. This book explores what it is to be human in a world where science and morality fight for supremacy.
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