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Techno-thrillers (or technothrillers) are a hybrid genre, drawing subject matter generally from spy thrillers, war novels, and science fiction. They include a disproportionate amount (relative to other genres) of technical detail on its subject matter (typically military technology); only science fiction tends towards a comparable level of supporting detail on the technical side. The inner workings of technology and the mechanics of various disciplines (espionage, martial arts, politics) are thoroughly explored, and the plot often turns on the particulars of that exploration.
Techno-thrillers tend to have a broad scope in the narrative, and can often be regarded as contemporary speculative fiction; world wars are a common topic. Techno-thrillers often overlap, as far as the genre goes, with near-future science fiction. To the extent that technology is now a dominant aspect of modern global culture, most modern thrillers are 'techno-thrillers', and the genre is somewhat diffuse. The category of technothriller blurs smoothly into the category of hard science fiction; the defining characteristics of technothriller are an emphasis on real-world or plausible near-future technology and a focus on military or military-political action.
Michael Crichton and Tom Clancy are considered to be the fathers of the "modern techno-thriller;" Crichton's book The Andromeda Strain and Clancy's book The Hunt for Red October set out the type example which defined the genre, although many authors had been writing similar material earlier. Nigel Balchin wrote earlier examples of similar stories during the 1940s. Other early examples of techno-thriller, written before the category had been well defined as a subgenre, include Moonraker by Ian Fleming, Fail-Safe (1962) by Eugene Burdick and Harvey Wheeler, The Penetrators (1965) by Hank Searls (writing as Anthony Grey); Tree Frog by Martin Woodhouse (1966), North Cape (1969) by Joe Poyer, and Firefox by Craig Thomas' (1977), later made into a movie, and Shuttle Down, by G. Harry Stine (writing as Lee Correy) (1981).
Significant techno-thriller authors and works
- Tom Clancy
- The Hunt for Red October — submarine technology, espionage
- Red Storm Rising — a (conventional) third world war fought in Europe between NATO and Warsaw Pact forces, military technology
- Rainbow Six — modern counter-terrorism operations
- Joe Buff
- Deep Sound Channel — advanced, ceramic-hulled submarine battles including nuclear-tipped torpedoes and cruise missiles exchanged between the Allied powers of the United States and Britain and the Axis powers of Germany and South Africa.
- Thunder in the Deep — advanced, ceramic-hulled submarine battles including nuclear-tipped torpedoes and cruise missiles
- Crush Depth — advanced, ceramic-hulled submarine battles including nuclear-tipped torpedoes and cruise missiles
- Tidal Rip — advanced, ceramic-hulled submarine battles including nuclear-tipped torpedoes and cruise missiles
- Staits of Power — advanced, ceramic-hulled submarine battles including nuclear-tipped torpedoes and cruise missiles
- Seas of Crisis — advanced, ceramic-hulled submarine battles including nuclear-tipped torpedoes and cruise missiles
- Larry Bond
- Red Phoenix — a specualitve military fiction novel about a Second Korean War, as told from the differing points of view of various American servicemen.
- Vortex — a South African war that spreads to neighboring nations and ultimately involves Cuba and the United States.
- Cauldron — a French and German led European Confederation go to war with the US, Great Britain and several Eastern European countries over the Polish, Czech and others refusal to join the European Confederation - satellite weapons, military aircraft and nuclear weapons.
- Patrick Robinson
- Dale Brown
- Flight of the Old Dog — laser technology
- Day of the Cheetah — fighter aircraft technology, espionage
- The Tin Man — body armor technology
- Dan Brown
- Deception Point — about a discovery of a meteorite with proof of extraterrestrial life, microbotics, weapons technologies
- Digital Fortress — computer technologies
- Stephen Coonts
- Stel Pavlou
- Eric L. Harry
- Arc Light — a third world war including a large-scale nuclear exchange and the limited use of chemical and biological weapons.
- Invasion — a conventional Chinese invasion of the United States, infantry warfare.
- Philip Kerr
- The Grid — architecture, smart-building technology, feng shui
- A Philosophical Investigation — speculative neuropathology, philosophy, gender and criminal investigation
- The Second Angel
- Michael Crichton
- The Andromeda Strain — alien micro-organisms, microbiology, medicine
- Jurassic Park, The Lost World — cloning, dinosaurs, chaos theory
- Prey — nanotechnology
- State of Fear — eco-terrorism
- Timeline — quantum mechanics, medieval history
- Next (novel) — genetic research, criticism of patents
- Douglas Preston and Lincoln Child
- Jonathan Maberry
- Patient Zero
- The Dragon Factory
- The King of Plagues
- David Hagberg
- James Clancy Phelan
- Clive Cussler
- Robert Ludlum
- Harold Coyle
- Caleb Carr
- Killing Time (set in mid-21st century)
- Ralph Peters
- Leonard Crane
- Ninth Day of Creation — biotechnology, germ warfare, protein folding
- Matthew Reilly
- James Rollins
- The Judas Strain
- Black Order
- Map of Bones
- Sandstorm
- Ice Hunt
- Amazonia
- Deep Fathom
- Excavation
- Subterranean
- Jake Thoene
- Bill DeSmedt
- Victor Grippi
- The Butterfly Virus: A Thriller — biotechnology, genetics, biology
- The Ninth Cube — physics, time travel, quantum mechanics, terrorism
- Cory Doctorow
- Little Brother:A Techno thriller with actual hacker technologies and government conspiracy Hacking, terrorism, government conspiracy
- Daniel Suarez
- Daemon: Techno thriller hacker technology realized Hacking,
- Neal Stephenson
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