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Top 25 Best Science Fiction Mystery Books

Mysteries in a Science Fiction Setting

Welcome to the wonderful world of 'the mystery' meets 'science fiction', a blend of genres that, when done right, can produce some of the most compelling Science Fiction reads.

You might call this hybrid of Mystery and Science Fiction as 'Mystery Science Fiction' or 'Noir Science Fiction' or Whodunit Science Fiction', 'or Detective Science Fiction' or any number of names.

It's a loose categorization of a type of SF that's hard to put a definite label on, unlike some of the other subgenres. What makes it even harder is that many SF subgenres include elements of the mystery genre. 

For example, Cyberpunk SF often includes a strong mystery element as part of the plot with a protagonist (sometimes a Detective or Cop type) who must solve the mystery.

There's definitely some outstanding Science Fiction with strong mystery elements in them. Sometimes, mysteries are part of the story and sometimes solving them they ARE the story. Like many of the SF genres, science fiction mysteries can take many shapes.

I would argue that some of the best SF novels have a mystery that needs solving. As such, Mysteries touch almost every SF story out there at least partly. 

The best mystery books always have a mystery that needs unraveling. but it's in the telling of how the characters solve that mystery that separates a good mystery novel from a bad one. 

However, the purview of this list is to select some of the more stand out SF works that could solidly be slotted into the 'Mystery' genre. That is, unraveling a mystery is a core part of the plot.  

Welcome to our Top 25 Best Science Fiction Mystery Book lists.

We've listed our picks for some of the best mystery science fiction stories. Some of these science fictions stories feature a mystery that needs to be solved at the center of the story, while others are more noir SF which featuring a down and out detective / cop who needs to solve a whodunit in a futuristic world.

Note: If you like mystery books, then make sure you check out our sister site bestmysterybooks.com which is dedicated to helping you find the best of the best mystery novels. Also check out Top 25 Best Science Fiction Mystery Novels on the sister site for more recommendations.

01

Do Androids Dream Of Electric Sheep?

(Philip K. Dick)
Set in a post-Nuclear War society, the future is pretty bleak. People are being encouraged to leave the planet for parts unknown and are being given an incentive, their own personal android, to get out of here. Some of these androids escape, return to earth, and assume the identities of their former owners. Rick Deckard is a bounty hunter who chases down these androids, who are presumed not to be able to feel human emotions. His story is contrasted with that of a human irreparably damaged by the war who cannot leave Earth and decides to help the androids escape. Why It Made the List The book is best known as the film Blade Runner, which was a huge hit that starred Harrison Ford. Yet the film didn’t use much of the material from the book. Ironically Dick never saw the movie. A science-fiction author who has enjoyed a personal renaissance in recent years with other movies made from other novels. Dick is also known for his other works which were made into Total Recall and The Minority Report. He’s definitely an under-appreciated author these days. Read It If You Like post-apocalyptic societies, robots, police procedurals

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Kristine Kathryn Rusch,

02

The Disappeared: A Retrieval Artist Novel

(Kristine Kathryn Rusch)
Rusch writes about a new world, set in the future, where the humans and alien races try to coexist in a new society. Thereâs a certain level of tolerance being taught between the beings, including a respect for the laws of the other races when visiting their worlds. Itâs an awkward balance between the species. However, the penalties can run high, including the loss of life or losing your children, while the laws can be confusing. Thatâs where Miles Flint comes in. Heâs a âretrieval artistâ (which is where the series gets its name) who brings back these people who have run away rather than face these consequences. Yet heâs torn by the demands of his police job and his own sense of personal justice. That pull will be the source of the conflict throughout the series. Why It Made the ListRusch is a talented writer whose works cross the span of genre fiction. Sheâs been nominated for science fictions awards including the Endeavor this book and has won the Hugo, and her short works have been nominated for the Edgar from the Mystery Writers of America. The books where she cross the genres are among her best. Read It If You Likecop novels, alien races, futuristic societies

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Philip K. Dick

03

Gun, With Occasional Music

(Jonathan Lethem)
Set in the future, the humans of the world interact with animals who have developed the ability to speak and interact in society. Inevitably some of them have become bad bunnies. However, this is not the world of Roger Rabbit. Some of the animals are gangsters and stone-cold killers. Society, as a whole, has decided to accept things as they are. People are given medications to make them more compliant and more forgetful. Only the police and PIs are permitted to ask questions. Itâs too disruptive otherwise. In a classic private eye set-up, Conrad Metcalf is following the beautiful wife for his client, when the client ends up dead. The officials want to talk to Metcalf, but so do some of the local gangster elements as well. Why It Made the List Lethem is a well-known author of seven novels. Heâs won the Novel of the Year awarded by Esquire magazine, won the National Book Critics Circle Award, the Salon Book Award, and the Golden Dagger from the Crime Writers Association. Heâs a founding editor of a magazine as well. His works are always highly anticipated events. Read It If You Likeanimals as characters, private eye novels, thought control
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A. Lee Martinez, Lois McMaster Bujold

04

To Say Nothing Of The Dog

(Connie Willis)
This is the first of Willisâ time traveling historians. Ned Henry is looking for something called the bishopâs bird stump in the 1940s, despite the fact that he lives in the 21st century. He needs it as part of a plan to restore a cathedral destroyed by Nazi bombing. The time travel devices are good for little else, as they have mechanisms built into them that deny travelers any possibility of changing the past or even visiting certain controversial events. That means that corporations have no use for the machines, leaving them in the hands of historians. Verity Kindle (no relation to the eReader) brings a domestic house cat back to their present (2057) from Victorian England and now Henry must replace it in its rightful place, before all of history is rewritten by the act. The book is written in a true Victorian style with asides to the reader and repeated references to mystery authors like Wilkie Collins and Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. Why It Made the List This book won the Hugo and the Locus awards and was nominated for a Nebula. Willis has won multiple Hugos for her work which are guaranteed to tickle the funny bone. Read It If You Likecomedic mysteries, time travel

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Jaspar Fforde for his Thursday Next novels

05

A Philosophical Investigation: A Novel

(Philip Kerr)
Set in the “near future,” scientists have discovered the genetic disposition that makes men more likely to exhibit violent behavior. The breakthrough is in response to an outbreak of serial killers all over the world. However, just as all genetic features do not mean that the genetic condition will occur, some men with the marker don’t display violent behavior. However, that nuance doesn’t matter to a serial killer named “Wittgenstein,” who has decided to wipe out the men with this disposition. Chief Inspector Isadora ``Jake'' Jakowicz is tasked with finding this serial killer, before he gets to her, since she is also on the list of people with violent tendencies. Why It Made the List It makes you feel old when the science fiction book set in the future is now actually set in the past. This book takes place in 2013, some years behind us now. Even so, it’s interesting to watch an author weave a futuristic society that has come and gone. The book can go a little bit far with the philosophy and the discussions of the morality of such acts, but it never hurts a reader to think a little while enjoying a good chase. Read It If You Like serial killers, cat-and-mouse investigations, futuristic societies
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Philip K. Dick (The Minority Report)

06

The Caves Of Steel

(Isaac Asimov)
Earth is overpopulated a thousand years from now. Planets outside of our solar system have been colonized and development of robots through the âpositronic brain.â In this new society, only some of humans live in New York City including Detective Elijah Baley, who is not a big fan of the robot. However, heâs teamed up with a robot to solve a murder case far from planet Earth. The robot sidekick is bad enough until Baley learns that the robot is an exact replica of the murder victim. Asimov does mystery and science fiction well, and this is the first book in his Robot series, which is well-loved and critically acclaimed. Why It Made the List Asimov is a master of the genre. Heâs been republished and collected and filmed more than most of the authors on this list combined. Heâs garnered multiple awards and been nominated more times than most of us can count. Heâs one of the giants of the genre, and when he wasnât prolifically writing science fiction, he wrote mysteries including the well-known Black Widower stories. Read It If You LikeNew York City mysteries, police procedurals, robots

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Any of Asimovâs other books. You need to read far more of them than you have.

07

The Automatic Detective

(A. Lee Martinez)
Mack is some kind of detective. He’s a robot that was built to take over the world, but he decided that wasn’t his thing. So he drives a cab in Empire City. It’s only when his neighbors go missing that he decides to get involved in their lives. It turns out that one of the kidnapped people has the key to something that could spell the end of the Earth. Mack is made to storm any fortress, but it’s not that easy, because others start playing with his internal mechanisms to turn him back into that world-dominating machine. He meets a beautiful, potential love interest that helps Mack in his quest to stay on his path for a better life and to find and save the neighbors. Why It Made the List The book is a classic in the genre, a well-received novel by a fan-favorite author. It’s worth the time to find it and read it. It has the old-fashioned wise-cracking private eye in the same vein as Spade and Marlowe, which brings a smile to the reader while reading a fast-paced book. Read It If You Like robots, thrillers, private eye novels
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Raymond Chandler wrote the knight errant of wise-cracking detectives, Philip Marlowe.

08

Altered Carbon

(Richard K. Morgan)
The concept for the book is rather involved. Peopleâs souls and memories can now be digitized and stored. Once stored, if something happens to you, the soul and memories can be put into a different body, which is now called a sleeve (and explains the title). Not everyone is in favor of eternal life in different bodies. The problem is that much like a computer back-up, the last few hours of data is lost since it has not been backed up as of yet. Thatâs the situation for Laurens Bancroft, whose death is labeled a suicide, but he thinks that someone deliberately killed him. He hires Kovacs who has been trained as a member of an elite military group and now works as a detective. The book is violent, since Kovacs was trained to take a beating, but the bookâs hook is worth the violence. Why It Made the List For starters Netflix announced that this will be a 10 episode series in 2016. It also won the Philip K. Dick Best Novel award when it was released. Read It If You Likecyberpunk, dystopian societies.

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I would suggest the works of Philip K. Dick, since this book won the award named after him. Dick had numerous dystopian societies.

09

A Talent For War

(Jack Mcdevitt)
Jack McDevitt’s wonderful science fiction mystery rides the line that defines Military Science Fiction very tight. The story, about Alex Benedict’s search for the nature of his uncle’s secret, takes place nearly 10,000 years in the future, and while Alex unravels his life’s mystery, we are shown a world where there’s a great war waging that is a part of a deep history of humanity and alien cultures. McDevitt, an absolute master of the genre, pulls the threads of mystery, both grand and personal, and the wide-ranging history of the universe and its inhabitants. He deftly moves between the present day activities of Benedict’s searching and the long history of the world as it had evolved up to that point. The entire novel is a masterpiece of interactions between the present and past, between the personal and the grand scheme. It’s a big picture novel that manages to never lose the personal aspect.  That’s not easy, and to make it as incredibly engaging is even more difficult! Why it’s on the list McDevitt is a master storyteller, and A Talent for War might be the most ambitious of all his works.

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Peter F. Hamilton, Greg Bear, Ann Leckle

10

Bimbos Of The Death Sun

(Sharyn Mccrumb)
When a scholar, Dr. James Owen Mega, has his book accepted for publication, he never realizes that his academic tome is about to become a best-seller through the unfortunate name change of his book to the title of this book. The publisher also dubs him as Jay Omega to match the title. To promote the book, he, and another scholar, attend a science fiction conference where of course murder happens. The ultimate irony is that McCrumb won the Edgar for this book, and now has that this title on her own book covers. Why It Made the List Before The Big Bang Theory came to be, there were McCrumbâs renditions of what the culture of a science fiction convention looked like. She caught the spirit of the people involved and portrayed them carefully, yet humorously. This book and its follow-up, Zombies of the Gene Pool, are well-worth looking up. Read It If You Likehumorous, conference mysteries

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Thereâs a whole subgenre of conference mysteries. There are mystery and writing convention-related mysteries such as Murder at the ABA, and books like Sci-Fi by William Marshall for science fiction conferences. Try Rocket to the Morgue for a self-referential look at science fiction authors.

11

Kop

(Warren Hammond)
Junoâs family moved to Lagarto, promised as a futuristic utopia for citizens of the overcrowded earth. However, the economy on Lagarto depends on a single export, and that export was replaced with a cheap knock-off. After that, Lagarto became a planetary slum and its residents suffer extreme poverty. Juno works as a cop, but heâs corrupted by bribes from the organized crime elements on Lagarto. Then heâs given a new partner, who wants to seem to set him for an arrest and conviction. Why It Made the List Itâs the first in a great series of books about Juno Mozambe. One of the best things to come from science fiction is the ability to bring out the worst in current society and display it taken to the extreme in a futuristic society. The themes of corporate greed and the loss of the middle class are resoundingly important today and the book will give you plenty to think about. The fact that this was the first novel by the author should tell you to go buy more of the authorâs books. Read It If You Likedystopian society, corrupt societies, cops on the take

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Red Harvest by Dashiell Hammett for the mystery elements, and the Maze

Runner series for a pretty bleak look at the future.

12

Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency

(Douglas Adams)
Dirk Gently, who was a minor character in one of Adamsâ other works, becomes a private eye in this novel. The character is not the type who checks DNA and looks instead for the way in which seemingly unique things like poets and pizza are interconnected. Hence the name âholistic detective agency.â As expected the events are shown through the eyes of many characters and in such a fashion as to seem disjointed until Gently explains the relationships. There are definitely some science fiction elements in the book, like time travel, but there are also ghosts, which pushes it towards fantasy as well. Definitely a book for those who have read and enjoyed the other books by this author. Why It Made the List This book is labeled a science fiction mystery comedy. Itâs by the same author who wrote The Hitchhikerâs Guide to the Galaxy, which is a fan-favorite in the science fiction genre. Dirk only appeared in two novels, but theyâre both worth finding and reading. Adams was working on a third when he passed away, and itâs not been released. Read It If You Likeoff-beat and quirky character, personality rather than clue based solutions, time travel.

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The Hitchhikerâs Guide to the Galaxy by the same author.

13

When Gravity Fails

(George Alec Effinger)
Marîd Audran is something of a lone wolf in this futuristic book. The current superpowers have foundered and the Middle East is now prospering. The story is set in this area. Audran makes his living from hand-to-mouth, but at the beginning of the book, heâs suspected of being a sadist serial killer. A mob boss wants to execute Audran, but instead uses significant modifications to Audranâs brain. As Audran adjusts to the changes, the serial killer gets closer and closer to Audran himself by killing off the manâs acquaintances. Audran is not the best of investigators, as he stumbles into more situations than he deduces or even intuits. The situation deteriorates until Audran is captured by the serial killer, who plans on making him the next victim. Why It Made the List The book was nominated for the Hugo and the Nebula awards. Itâs the first in a series that included two other novels and a series of short stories as well as an unfinished novel. The book is one of the first to use transgender characters, in the person of Yasmin, Audranâs sometimes girlfriend. Read It If You Likecyberpunk, serial killers, genetic modifications
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Other than its cyberpunk elements, the book is fairly unique in science fiction.

14

Tea From An Empty Cup

(Pat Cadigan)
Japan, in the future, has been destroyed by a cataclysmic event. The older generations that remember how things used to be have died off, and all that’s left are the people who have only known this wasteland. To make life more tolerable, a better Japan has been made via artificial reality. The technology has become so pervasive that many people spend all their time in AR. Homicide detective Dore Konstantin has to solve a murder that occurred in an AR parlor, where people go to use the artificial reality technology. In this particular case, the victim was killed in the same manner in real life and AR. The coincidence shocks the detective, but gathering evidence and testimony is difficult, since no evidence is accepted given that so much time is spent in a world where nothing is real. Why It Made the List The book is a fascinating look at what happens when a generation becomes addicted to technology. Nothing can be taken at face value, and everything is suspected of being false. Cardigan is often called the Queen of Cyberpunk and is a two time Arthur C. Clarke award winner. Read It If You Like artificial reality, dystopian societies, Japanese settings
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Greg Bear, Laird Barron

15

The Plutonium Blonde

(John Zakour)
This novel is set in 2057, though it easily could have been set 100 years before. Itâs a fairly classic private eye novel with science fiction and humor galore. Zachary Nixon Johnson calls himself the last private eye on earth. While itâs not quite true, he does get his share of odd cases. The world has only grown more pop-star crazy in the intervening years and Johnson is something of a celebrity given his status as the last private eye. Heâs hired by the former stripper who now runs a massive global corporation to find her renegade clone. Johnson is paired up with a sentient AI named HARV. Of course, the seemingly minor case turns out to worldwide ramifications that could get dangerous for Johnson. Why It Made the List Itâs clear that Zakour is also a humorist, a fact that he doesnât try to hide. The book is laugh-out-loud funny in place and smirk-worthy in many others. The weird combination of characters and events will keep the reader guessing and smiling up to the last page. Read It If You Likehardboiled private eyes, future settings, humor

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SJ Delos, Thomas Wright

16

The Elysium Commission

(L. E. Modesitt)
As this galaxy becomes more crowded, scientists begin to look for other ways to allow population to continue to grow. They create a universe next to our own; however, in order to fully function, that galaxy has to nibble away at the edge of our galaxy, raising the question of how much of its resources should Earth donate to this alternative world. More questions are raised because the project is being financed by an entertainment firm. Private investigator Blaine Donne begins to investigate several cases that seem to have nothing to do with that situation. He starts one investigation into a woman who seems to have no past. However, as with most private eye novels, the cases begin to converge into one, and Donne learns about the scientists and the ramifications for Earth with this new galaxy. Why It Made the List For starters, the author has tucked in many references to other science fiction works and authors. So the story has Easter eggs that can be found by the close readers. The book received favorable reviews from all the major review outlets. SyFy has named it an essential book. Read It If You Like dystopia worlds, life in other galaxies, private detectives
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Jamie Sawyer, Eric Flint

17

The Demolished Man

(Alfred Bester)
In a future society, extrasensory perception exists in a fraction of the world’s population. There are 3 levels of ESP (or espers as they are called in the book.) They go from mild to those who can intuit future actions and thoughts of an individual. Of course, these Level 1 espers are most likely to be on the police force. So when Ben Reich decides to kill a competitor, based on his own misinterpretation of the situation, he hires a “mental bodyguard,” a Level 1 esper who doubles as a psychiatrist. The bodyguard also believes that espers should rule the world, so he’s a dangerous ally to have. Additionally, Reich develops weapons and a song that destroys the concentration of the espers. These tools help him to cover his tracks. A very good introverted mystery has missteps that can doom the killer, and in this case, the victim’s daughter is a witness to the crime. The police prefect is also a Level 1 esper, which is not good for Reich. He discerns easily that Reich is guilty, but the game begins of trying to find the witness before the other. Why It Made the List The critics raved about this and it won the Hugo in 1953. Inverted mysteries are not all that common, and a great example of one is rare. Bester seemed to easily and flawlessly combine this sub-genre of mystery with science fiction to come up with a one-of-a-kind novel. This book is not to be missed. Read It If You Like future societies, ESP, police procedurals, inverted mysteries
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Larry Niven, Clifford Simak

18

Pattern Recognition

(William Gibson)
One of the few books on this list that is set in the current day, Cayce Pollard reacts to logos and corporate advertising in an allergic fashion. So itâs no surprise that sheâs hired by a marketing firm When a graphic designer becomes angry with Cayce, itâs obvious that thereâs more to this anger than simple some Photoshop. The designer is aligned with the Russians, who have been spying on case. Cayce has been investigating some odd video clips on the Internet. She teams up with a stranger who goes by the name of Parkaboy to solve this. Parkaboy learns of a watermark on one of the clips can be identified. Cayce goes to Japan to learn more, but she and a friend learn that the trail leads them to London and the US. The trail gets hot after that as they try to learn more. Why It Made the List This is an interesting book that doesnât fit the rest of the list, though it very much is a science fiction mystery. The background and the current day make it unique, but in the same way, the book makes the reader look at various marketing techniques and the uses of the Internet. Itâs definitely a book that will make you think â and not want to put it down. This was the authorâs first use of a present-day setting and it works well. Read It If You LikePresent day, technology oriented, worldwide thrillers

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Neal Stephenson, Pat Cadigan

19

The Mountains Of Mourning

(Lois Mcmaster Bujold)
Miles Vorkosigan, the scion of the clan, is sent to a society that puts a price on physical perfection. A baby in the society has been murdered, one with physical defects. The custom has been outlawed for years and sending a member of the clan to solve it is sending a message to the village that this needs to cease. The case seems like it should be an easy solution, but of course, in a mystery thereâs no such thing. The Village Speaker is determined to hide the truth â as much as Vorkosigan is determined to uncover it. The team lead by Vorkosigan does have some benefits over current day investigators including a healthy supply of truth serum that can be used on the populace. Even so, the case takes all of Vorkosiganâs intellect to solve. Why It Made the List This is a Hugo and Nebula award winner. The story is part of a long series Miles Vorkosigan series which had won numerous awards. And of course, the author, Lois McMaster Bujold, is well known to science fiction readers. Definitely worth picking up one of her best stories. Read It If You Likealternate cultures, dystopian societies, outside investigators

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You really canât go wrong with anything by this author, including the many books and novels in the Miles Vorkosigan series.

20

Red Planet Blues

(Robert J. Sawyer)
Set on Mars, the book tells of a futuristic society set in New Klondike, a domed city on the Red Planet. Just like its namesake, the town was built to profit from a rush of miners who want to get fossils that sell for a lot of money on earth. However, also like its namesake, the town goes bust when most of the fossils are gone and the prices don’t support the life there. The original miners who started the rush were murdered and Alex Lomax, a traditional private eye, has to find out who killed them. While he’s doing that, he might find the original cache of fossils which are worth millions. Why It Made the List The author is a Hugo and Nebula winner and a long-time fan favorite. The original novella “Identity Theft,” which won both of those awards, was enlarged to make this book. It’s an old-time private eye novel with tons of references to some of early PI movies and books. Read It If You Like classic private eye novels, books set on Mars, award winners, dystopian societies.
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Dashiell Hammett and Raymond Chandler for traditional private eye novels, check out Sawyerâ??s other titles (and there are many) for some good reads.

21

Doorways In The Sand

(Roger Zelazny)
The book reads more like a science fiction caper, where art is stolen and must be retrieved. In this case alien civilizations have swapped their star-stone for some of the great works of Western civilization, including the Mona Lisa and the gems of the British royalty. One problem, the star-stone vanishes without a trace. Fred Cassidy becomes the object of interest for nearly every civilization, since he was the last person, other than the thieves, to see the star-stone. He is pursued around the globe, going as far as entering alternate realities to escape. Fred has no choice but to find the star-stone for himself and prove these people wrong. Except they aren’t wrong and Fred learns that the star-stone is a little closer to home that he would like. That knowledge raises the stakes, and Fred’s life is in danger. Why It Made the List The book was nominated for both the Hugo and Nebula. It was originally serialized in Analog magazine, and the author told how he wrote the book in one draft without revisions, making it one of the few books on any list to boast such an accomplishment. Read It If You Like humor, art, aliens
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Donald Westlake is the king of capers, and he has a wicked sense of humor.

22

The Mandel Files, Volume 1: Mindstar Rising & A Quantum Murder

(Peter F. Hamilton)
Greg Mandel is an ex-Army officer in Britain. He was part of an experimental group that provided members with intuition and psychic powers. Now out of the Army, Great makes a living as a psychic detective. Thereâs not much of Britain left at this point in the future. A brutish government destroyed the nationâs economy and then collapsed itself, leaving chaos and ruin in its wake. One of the firms to survive in this new England is Event Horizon, a firm Julia Evans runs with her grandfather. The firm is experiencing internal sabotage, and she wants to find out who is behind the acts. She hires Mandel to find out. Then the crimes become more serious as her grandfather is attacked and killed, and the crimes become more personal. Of course, along the way, Mandel and Evans become attracted to each other. Why It Made the List The author only wrote a handful of science fiction novels before going on to write other types of fiction. His work has won awards, and this trilogy started Hamiltonâs career. Read It If You LikeESP, intuition, dystopian societies, private eyes

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This author has a large body of work and the other books in this series are a great place to start.

23

Hal Clement's Needle

(Hal Clement)
The Hunter is a small gel-type creature that lives inside of its host. Two such creatures have crashed their ship on Earth. They escaped separately and now the Hunter, who has taken up residence in a teenaged boy, is looking for the other of his kind. The hunter is sent far afield, when the kid is sent to boarding school thousands of miles away from home. At that point, the Hunter decides to come clean and communicates with the boy, Bob. Needless to say, the boy freaks out. The administrators feel that this is due to homesickness, and Bob goes home again. There the two of them begin a search for the other creature. This other creature is far closer to home than he thinks and the risks to get the creature out of its host are great. Why It Made the List The book was the first of its kind to present a lifeform that was not a threat to its host. This was in the age of pod people and a non-threatening lifeform was something new to science fiction. As one of the oldest books in this list, the book is a classic tale, and well worth finding. Read It If You Like Classic science fiction, symbionts,
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Anthony Boucher, L. Sprague de Camp, and early Ray Bradbury

24

Hard-boiled Wonderland And The End Of The World: A Novel

(Haruki Murakami)
This book, originally published in Japanese, tells two distinct narratives. The science fiction narrative is told by a human with data processing capabilities. This merger of man and machine is called a âcalcutecâ who uses his own subconscious to encrypt data for the System, the government organizations tasked with protecting the data from those who would wish to steal it. The calcutec, in this case, has been working with a scientist on a secret project. During the course of the story, the calcutec learns that he only has 36 hours to live before the world ends. At this point, the two narratives begin to merge for a different type of ending. Why It Made the List The book is an amalgam of science fiction and fantasy. The chapters alternate between the science-fiction cyberpunk universe and a unicorn universe of fantasy. The novel was originally published in Japanese in 1985 and in an English edition six years later. Interestingly none of the characters are given proper names, being only a matter of their function rather than their character. Read It If You Likecyberpunk, unicorns, robots
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The author has mentioned the works of Raymond Chandler during interviews, so weâll recommend The Long Goodbye as a recommendation.

25

Chasm City

(Alastair Reynolds)
Chasm City is the story of what happens when utopia is hit by an epidemic. The story is told through the eyes of Tanner Mirabel, who decides to travel to the city, to avenge the death of a clientâs wife. It seems like an easy job, since he knows who killed her. The murderer is a âpostmortal,â someone who has extended their life through technology. However, when Mirabel arrives in Chasm City, he finds chaos and destruction, hardly the hallmarks of utopia. He soon learns that a virus has struck both humans and machines and brought the city to its knees. Of course, he too is struck by the virus, and Tanner begins having hallucinations about the hero of his own society, which reveal some of the terrible things this man did to build up Tannerâs own society. Why It Made the List It won the British Science Fiction Association award in 2002. Itâs one of the few non-American books on the list. So if you want something more international, this might be the book for you. Read It If You Likeforeign civilizations, revenge plots, mysterious illnesses

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Robin Cook does catastrophic illnesses better than any writer out there. Peter F. Hamilton, James SA Corey.