"China Miéville's detective story The City And The City is well on its way to being the award-winningest novel of the year. But it's not the only great novel about science fiction/fantasy sleuths. Here are 10 other SF detective classics.
Speculative fiction and detective fiction have a lot in common — they're both about digging down to the truth of matters. Fictional scientists and explorers, like detectives, follow clues and act on hunches. The truth is enshrouded in an ocean of red herrings and false trails. Plus, a lot of great science fiction authors, like Ray Bradbury and Robert Silverberg, also wrote detective novels, for money or as a change of pace."
A Philosophical Investigation by Philip Kerr
The Retrieval Artist novels by Kristine Kathyrn Rusch
When Gravity Fails by George Alec Effinger
Tea from an Empty Cup by Pat Cadigan
The Automatic Detective by A. Lee Martinez
Altered Carbon by Richard K. Morgan
Gun, With Occasional Music by Jonathan Lethem
Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency by Douglas Adams
The Yiddish Policeman's Union by Michael Chabon
The Caves of Steel by Isaac Asimov
Read the entire article HERE.
What a great list! I was about to suggest ALTERED CARBON, but it's already there. Also, for a modern urban fantasy detective, I might suggest Child of Fire by Harry Connolly. Not only a great read, but a fun guy to talk to (I just interviewed him not too long ago). The sequel is coming out soon, too!
ReplyDeleteThanks for the info on Altered Carbon. I'll look for it. Do you have a link to your interview?
ReplyDeleteFor the newer things, the Retrival Artist novels are my favorite, they are really good. Too bad Roc isn't keeping them in print! They're getting hard and expensive to find, or at least a couple of them are. Anyone who wants to read them - and you should - would be well advised to get copies of the set as quickly as possible.
ReplyDeleteOf the older books, the Asimov Robot novels are the standout.
Richard R. is correct about Asimov. I think The Caves of Steel and the other two robot detection novels by Asimov should be required reading for the world. We are now living the civilization he portrayed in those books.
ReplyDeleteRetrieval Artist sounds good. I have Gun, With occasional Music and found it difficult to get into. But will try again.