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Posted By: SirJill May 14, 2003 - 04:21 pm

Yes, my twisted little mind has gotten to thinking and I was wondering if anyone has heard of a mystery that is set in a SF setting. I'm just wondering because my newest mystery isn't as thrilling as the other ones in the series...yeah.

So any authors/books would be appreciated!

Jill

Posted By: Bmat May 14, 2003 - 04:37 pm

Asimov has at least one.

Posted By: RongFo May 14, 2003 - 06:41 pm

Check out Niven's book about Gil "The Arm" Hamilton, _Flatlander_. It's a collection of short stories and novellas, but it reads like a picaresque novel. The Arm is a UN police investigator in a near-future world, and the stories are all essentially high tech mysteries. Murders, organleggers, and corporate espionage on Earth and the moon: cool stuff.

Plus, Niven simply rules as hard SF writers go--if you like _Flatlander_, try _The Integral Trees_, _Footfall_, and _Ringworld_. (None of those are exactly mysteries, but as I noted, Niven rules.)

Posted By: SirJill May 15, 2003 - 04:59 pm

Now that I've made a comeplete fool of myself posting this twice (Thank you Bmat) I have finally found this.

I take it, RongFo, that you like Niven? I'll be sure to try *The Arm*. I must say it intreages me.

Posted By: RongFo May 15, 2003 - 07:54 pm

Yeah, the book is called Flatlander, but most of the stories were published as serials in (I think) Asimov's. Gil gains his nickname b/c after losing his real arms in an accident or something, he develops limited telekinesis in the form of a ghost arm. Even after he has bionic arms installed, he can still use "the arm" as an invisible third hand. Did I mention that Niven rules?

<Niven Rant>
It's actually kinda strange that so few sing his praises. I guess it's that he's considered a "hard" SF writer, and all that "science stuff" turns off folks who would love his work. The first time I read The Integral Trees and The Smoke Ring, I flipped. (Not the point of this thread but,) these two books are about a colony of people who live in a freefall environment on floating trees and fly around with flippers. The people are decended from human colonists who mutineed and over the centuries forgot that they ever lived anywhere else. The big mystery for the characters (Hah, there's that topic!) is figuring out where they came from, while the reader knows it all along.

Niven is considered "hard" b/c all his science is credible, but his characters and stories are as rich as his worlds.
</Niven Rant>

I think I also mentioned Who Killed Roger Rabbit? to someone else on this board. First, it's freaking funny. Second, it's a great mystery. And third, it's way darker than the movie. The book begins with Roger's "double" hiring Eddie. In the book, toons aren't immortal, but rather they can create "stunt doubles" for their death scenes. The double will last only for a few days, and so Eddie has to solve Roger's murder to give his double closure before he disappears. I wish I could remember the author.