Creekside
Creekside is, as its subtitle says, an archaeological novel, the latest in archaeo-fiction to hit my desk. Written by Eastern Kentucky University anthropology professor Kelli Carmean, Creekside interweaves a modern excavation story with the stories of the people whose home is being excavated.
Cold Earth
Counterpoint Press (c) 2010
Cold Earth is a novel about an archaeological expedition to the west coast of Greenland, which takes place during a world-wide flu epidemic. Following in the tradition of Neville Shute's On the Beach, and We Who Are About To... by Joanna Russ, Cold Earth focuses on the personal histories and interpersonal relationships of people under extreme conditions of isolation and (possibly) impending doom.
The Deserter
The Deserter of the title is, according to family history, Mary Morgan Kelly's great-great-grandfather Seth Morgan, who was at Gettysburg, the decisive battle of the American Civil War. In early July of 1863, a group of young men who had been jolly fellows of the Hasty Pudding Club at Harvard a few years before found themselves in a completely different kind of team effort--the battle of Gettysburg. Some were to die, some were to be forever changed, and one in particular--the class clown--was to skedaddle as far away from the fighting as possible, stealing the identity of a classmate in the process.
Xibalba Gate
Altamira Press (c) 2005
Xibalbá Gate relates an almost believable story of an archaeology professor who creates a cyberspace time portal that allows him to observe and even participate in the collapse of a fictional Maya city. The action is fast paced, the characters well drawn and quite realistic. I had a difficult time putting the book down even after learning the outcome by simply flipping to the last page, where the professor's son utters, "The Lords are out. They are here now. All Xibalbá (the Maya Hell) is going to break loose. (Richard Diehl, reviewer)
Kathleen O'Neal Gear and W. Michael Gear: The Anasazi Mysteries
Forge Press
Some of the hottest selling archaeology-related mystery novels are those of the Gears, retired archaeologists who have written nearly forty murder mysteries. Their series called "The Anasazi Mysteries" are a combination of science fiction and murder mystery, split between the Anasazi past and the cultural resource management present.
Amelia Peabody Mysteries
Amelia Peabody Emerson and her husband Radcliffe have been enchanting readers since 1973; there are now fourteen books by the best-selling novelist Elizabeth Peters on this turn-of-the-century pair of Egyptologists.
Suzette Haden Elgin
Linguist and writer Suzette Haden Elgin is probably best known for her books on the "Gentle Art of Verbal Self-Defense", but she has also written several compelling social science fiction books.
Kate Wilhelm
Science fiction writer Kate Wilhelm has frequently used social science topics--including anthropology and linguistics--as subjects for study in her novels
Octavia Butler
I love Octavia Butler, and was heartbroken when she died in March 2006. Butler's fiction was definitely in the social science fiction vein, and she wrote a couple of series, but my favorite has to be the Patternist series, that begins (within the logic of the series) with Wild Seed (1980).
Ursula LeGuin
Classic fantasy science fiction writer Ursula K. LeGuin comes by the social science brand honestly--she is the daughter of anthropologist Alfred Kroeber.
