# Help. I can't remember the title or author of this sci-fi trilogy **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [August 20, 2011, 6:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-i-cant-remember-the-title-or-author-of-this-sci-fi-trilogy/593458 "2011-08-20T18:59:09Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 5\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Catherince\_68](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/b5a626/32.png) [@Catherince\_68](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Catherince_68)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2011, 6:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-i-cant-remember-the-title-or-author-of-this-sci-fi-trilogy/593458/1 "2011-08-20T18:59:09Z")
I am trying to remember the name and author of a science fiction detective trilogy that I read sometime in the past 10 years. The main character is a detective who uses meditation to solve cases. He lives in a city that moves slowly across the ground consuming matter and creating new buildings and items. At the tail end of the city everything decays back into the landscape. Early in the first novel the detective goes to the decaying area and meets a female teenager who becomes his partner throughout the rest of the trilogy. The female character reminds me of Lisbeth from “The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo”. socially withdrawn but good with technology. In the later novels the pair travel to another planet on a archaeological investigation involving alien buildings and technology. Other than that I don’t remember much about the plot. The books were alright, not great but good enough for bedtime reading. Anybody have any clues? C ---
**Author:** ![kjbrasda](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/74df32/32.png) [@kjbrasda](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kjbrasda)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2011, 6:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-i-cant-remember-the-title-or-author-of-this-sci-fi-trilogy/593458/2 "2011-08-21T06:26:17Z")
That sounds familiar. Like I read an overview of it before but not the book. Maybe something by Barbara Hambly? ---
**Author:** ![Wendell\_Wagner](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/8491ac/32.png) [@Wendell\_Wagner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wendell_Wagner)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2011, 1:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-i-cant-remember-the-title-or-author-of-this-sci-fi-trilogy/593458/3 "2011-08-21T13:22:09Z")
There’s a moving city in _Inverted World_ by Christopher Priest, but there’s no detectives in it. There’s also a moving city and a detective in _The Quantum Thief_ by Hannu Rajaniemi, but it’s hard to tell if that’s the book you describe. There’s a series of books by Philip Reeve about moving cities: > **[Mortal Engines Quartet](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mortal_Engines_Quartet)** > > The Mortal Engines Quartet (Hungry City Chronicles in the United States), also known as the Predator Cities Quartet, is a series of epic young adult science fiction novels by the British novelist and illustrator Philip Reeve. He began the first volume of the series, Mortal Engines, in the 1980s, and it was published in 2001. Reeve then published three further novels, Predator's Gold (2003), Infernal Devices (2005), and A Darkling Plain (2006). The series is set thousands of years after t A co... There are various fictional works mentioned in this Wikipedia entry about moving cities: > **[Walking city](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Walking_city)** > > A walking city is a type of city that is created to avoid internal transportation, and therefore be small enough that a person can use walking to navigate the city. It is characterized by narrow, often winding streets. Its transport system is inherently egalitarian, with no one being disadvantaged by a lack of transport, unlike modern automotive cities. Walkability within areas positively impacts equity, sustainability, health, social benefits, less demand on other modes, economic developme Befor... ---
**Author:** ![Harmonious\_Discord](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/74df32/32.png) [@Harmonious\_Discord](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Harmonious_Discord)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2011, 1:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-i-cant-remember-the-title-or-author-of-this-sci-fi-trilogy/593458/4 "2011-08-21T13:55:59Z")
Perhaps Pilgrimage by Drew Mendelson. ---
**Author:** ![audiobottle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/bc8723/32.png) [@audiobottle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/audiobottle)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2011, 2:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-i-cant-remember-the-title-or-author-of-this-sci-fi-trilogy/593458/5 "2011-08-22T02:50:37Z")
It’s not _The Quantum Thief_, unless the OP is misremembering the partnership. It does involve some detective work and a moving city, but I’m pretty sure that the book only recently came out and there are no sequels yet.