Mikey

I have a specific request that I was hoping some of you avid Sci Fi readers could help me with. I recently played the PC game System Shock 2, where you investigate an abandoned ship and discover ghosts and other things. I loved the storyline because it was truly scary and I enjoyed the unraveling of the mysterious nature of the disappearing colonists.

Therefore, I was wondering if anyone could point me towards some books (or short stories) that involve ghostly ships, abandoned space colonies, etc. Basically, any sci fi where a mystery is unraveled would be great.

Thanks!

Josh-da-man

Rendezvous with Rama by Arthur C. Clarke.
Eon by Greg Bear.

MonsterHunter

Dead Sea by Tim Curran - Lovecraft type horror where sailors are apparently thrust into a dimension that resembles the Bermuda Triangle. I say apparently because I haven't finished the book yet. The sailors do explore a ship and run into...things.

Edited to add: you probably meant spaceships. If so, please disregard.

Cathepsin

Three of my favorites are Player of Games and Use Of Weapons, both by Iain M. Banks (and largely unavailable in the States the last I checked - which was why I ordered the UK editions a while ago), and the Night's Dawn Trilogy by Peter F. Hamilton, which has been published in the US as the Reality Dysfunction Parts 1 and 2, the Neutronium Alchemist Parts 1 and 2, and the Naked God Parts 1 and 2.

Player of Games and Use of Weapons are set in Banks' Culture universe, and involve espionage agents working on behalf of a posthuman civilization manipulating the course of events in less civilized cultures. Both novels enjoy a forward progress but leave underlying questions open.

Hamilton's trilogy involves some horror elements mixed with a space opera setting - multiple worlds, with colonies that are administered by trading companies. One of the key settings of the first novel is a new colony.

You might also like Dan Simmons' pair of novels, Hyperion and the Fall of Hyperion. Hyperion is structured like the Canterbury Tales, if the characters in the Canterbury Tales were making a pilgrimage to meet the Devil instead of just going to Canterbury. Part of the fun is trying to figure out who the traitor is.

mgbfan

Hyperion is great. And the first of the substories (the priest) actually fits what you're talking about fairly well. I'll second that recommendation. It's not a haunted spaceship, but ... I can't think of a good haunted spaceship story. If you want erie mystery, there's plenty of that.

I'd also strongly recommend The Sparrow by Maria Russell. It involves what happened to a group of explorers on an alien planet. Really gripping stuff - a MUST read for any science fiction fan.

Mikey

Great reccomendations so far! I own a PC adventure game with the same title as the Rama book, although I never got around to playing it.

I goofed when I said the word ship. I should have said "space ship," although I will probably check out the Dead Sea title anyway. To further elaborate on scary ship stories, I would love to read something like the movie Event Horizon where a ship (or colony) has been abandoned, and the explorers must figure out why. The movie, Event Horizon, doesn't have a great story per se, but I just used it as an example.

Thanks to all of you who have helped so far.

Ozzy's Bat Head

Wow, great thread with some intriguing suggestions.

Mikey, System Shock 2 is one of my all time favorite games, for me, it was the apex of PC gaming. I've been looking forward to revisiting this gem, but I've read that it won't play under recent Windows (it's a 90's game). 2 questions; how did you get it to run and what took you so long to discover this PC masterpiece?!

mgbfan

Another abandoned spaceship story would be Jack McDevitt's Chindi.

Mikey

I will try to keep this thread on the topics of books not games. However to answer Ozzy's question, I used win 98, not XP, so that's my secret. I think that there is a Looking Glass forum online with a help section about how to run the game in XP.

Back to books - thanks again for all of the suggestions. Reading on Amazon about "Chindi", I see that "Rendezvous with Rama" is listed as a similar title. I must be on the right track! In regards to "Chindi, " has anyone read (and enjoyed) the sequels? I hate to start one book, only to find out that the sequels are bad. Of course, this didn't stop me from watching all of the Star Wars prequels either.

TimeandTide

I'll third the recommendation for Rendevouz. Great read.

Crichton's Sphere might also apply.

And a few horror novels that sort of fit the type of story you're looking for:

The Ruins by Scott Smith
The Terror
Cold Skies by Albert Pinol (very Assault on Precinct 13-ish)

mgbfan

As for McDevitt's Chindi - it's set in a universe that he uses frequently, but it is a stand-alone. You don't need to read anything else (although Engines of God, his first in that universe, is a very enjoyable read and a mystery in its own right). McDevitt is good about making sure you know all that you need to and not leaving loose threads that require reading other books in his universe.

I'm a fan of McDevitt. His style is light and centered on action, and he's the master of the end-of-chapter cliffhanger that makes you say "just one more chapter." Nobody is going to mistake him for a Herbert or a GRR Martin because he doesn't take himself nearly so seriously, but he's good summer reading by the lake.

mgbfan

Are you talking about Simmons' "The Terror?" That's what I'm reading at the moment. Has renewed my love affair with Dan Simmons. Damn that guy is versatile.

brainee

Some not mentioned:

John Varley's "Gaea" series (Wizard/Titan/Demon). While more light-hearted than what you might be looking for, it's great stuff and it seems to fit your plot description.

George RR Martin's "Nightflyers" is kind of a haunted space ship story. Yes, the movie was crappy, but the story was solid. Since it's a novella, it might be packaged in a larger short story collection.

Dean Koontz has written a number of horror/sci-fi books with a mystery to unsolve. "Phantoms" may be the closest to what you're looking for.

Not a sci-fi, but David Morrell's "Creepers" is a page-turner suspense/horror/thriller about a group of urban explorers in a creepy decaying hotel.

Be warned then ... I found the follow-ups to "Rama" pretty dreadful (in fact, all of Clark's Gentry Lee collaborations are pretty stinky). Don't let it deter you though. The sequels were written some time after the first book, which still stands alone

tane

Clarke's Rendezvous with Rama is definitely a classic, and is worth reading even if you don't read the sequels. Rama II was so bad I didn't finish it, and I didn't read the other novels in the series, but I still like the first book.

A few more enjoyable science fiction exploration stories:

Bob Shaw - Orbitsville. This had a couple of sequels - I've read the first sequel Orbitsville Departure, and it's not much good.

Frederik Pohl - Gateway. Also has some sequels. The first sequel Beyond the Blue Event Horizon is good, but I haven't read the later books in the series.

Brian Aldiss - Non-Stop (also published as Starship)

Nick Danger

Stanislaw Lem wrote a short story called Terminus, in the book Tales of Pirx the Pilot. After the crew died in a disaster, a space ship is put back into service. At night, Pirx can hear the dead crew tapping messages to each other in Morse code.

There is a lot of creepy stuff in Lem's works.