Books reading recommendations Five Science Fiction Stories About Investigating Enigmatic Artifacts “What is this thing, and where the heck did it come from?” is a great way to start any story! By James Davis Nicoll | Published on February 26, 2026 The Complete Venus Equilateral cover art by Rick Sternbach Comment 0 Share New Share The Complete Venus Equilateral cover art by Rick Sternbach Not very long ago, my attention was caught by an enigmatic fragment, which flew past me, just under knee-height, before deeply burying itself in a nearby snowdrift. It was clearly a small piece of a car, but did it come from the rear of a car, which was what initial evidence suggested, or the front of a second car I failed to spot? Alas, I was on my way to work1 and did not pause to investigate, although I did make time to collect my mysterious trophy on the way home. I suppose I will never know2. Photo credit: James Davis Nicoll Such enigmas are frustrating in real life. For authors, enigmatic artifacts can be the stuff of plot, allowing their characters to show off their intellectual and athletic prowess. Consider these five examples, drawn from across the decades. “Lost Art” by George O. Smith (1943) Enthusiastic engineers Barney Carroll and James Baler do not fully understand the forty-century old Martian device. However, the old Martians did believe in technical documentation, so the chums believe they are in possession of all the information they need to unravel the gadget’s secrets. This is why the pair elect to experiment with the relic in the middle of town. What the old Martians failed to predict is that certain facts considered by them so obvious that they need not be mentioned might be unknown to people from another, alien, civilization. Carroll and Baler lack the information needed to operate the gadget safely. After all, safety is not their primary concern3. It might seem odd that some core bit of information could be lost so thoroughly. But consider one of the world’s oldest known jokes: “A dog walks into a bar and says, ‘I cannot see a thing. I’ll open this one.’” We know that was a thigh-slapper back in Sumeria. We do not know why. World of Ptavvs by Larry Niven (1966) The 1.5-billion-year-old “Sea Statue” is clearly artificial. It is equally clearly not of human origin. Its reflective surface suggests an intriguing possibility. The apparent statue could be an alien within a time-freezing stasis field. If so, placing the statue inside another stasis field would nullify the original stasis field and free its occupant. A billion and half years ago, the galaxy was ruled by the Slavers, telepathic aliens whose formidable powers of mind-control almost made up for the fact that the Slavers themselves were all dolts. Every Slaver and all of their slaves died in the great uprising… all save one, the Slaver who has until now been imprisoned in stasis. The Slaver that curious humans are about to free. The first quarter of Known Space’s 22nd century was an interesting time from the UN’s perspective. First, humans stumbled over non-technological aliens in the Sirius System. Then they unleashed a would-be world-conquering alien. Then, a super-intelligent interstellar traveller with a penchant for genocide swung by for an extended visit. I imagine officials in the know were subject to severe on-the-job stress. Roadside Picnic by Arkady Strugatsky & Boris Strugatsky (1972) The aliens arrived on Earth, lingered briefly, then left without ever bothering to communicate with humanity. Disappointing. Humanity had to settle for poking through the alien’s discarded trash. Happily, the aliens were profligate litterbugs. Prudence demands cautious examination, under the watchful eyes of the International Institute of Extraterrestrial Cultures. Greed demands a more forthright approach. Stalkers grab what they can, and hope to survive the result. A few get rich. Others may pray for death. While I do own the old DAW translation of this classic, I recommend the more recent Chicago Review Press edition. The translation (by Olena Bormashenko) is better and the ancillary material fascinating. Blake’s 7: “Sarcophagus” — TV script by Tanith Lee (1980) By the ninth episode of season three of British SF television show Blake’s 7, Blake is gone, leaving cold, amoral Avon as captain of the starship Liberator. When Liberator encounters a derelict starship in deep space, Avon is sensibly cautious. Nevertheless, he, along with the craven coward Vila and telepath Cally, venture on board. The three find an ancient ship, a sarcophagus, a dead alien, and a timer counting down to an event for which the trio would be well advised to escape. Sensibly, despite impediments, Avon, Vila, and Cally manage to return to the Liberator. The only problem is that they’ve brought something back with them. Cold, amoral Avon did not pick Vila and Cally because they had the qualifications to conduct deep-space archaeology. He selected them because they were the two crew members least likely to stab him in the back while conducting deep-space archaeology. Camaraderie wasn’t really a thing on the Liberator. Vestiges by Laurence Suhner (2012) The Great Arch orbits quasi-habitable Gemma. The Great Arch is clearly artificial. Since no human made it, it is clearly alien. Beyond those facts, little is known. The aliens appear to be long gone and the Great Arch is, as far as anyone can tell, inert. Visionary scientist Ambre Pasquier believes she can uncover alien secrets down on the planet itself. Xenologist Seth Tranktak believes Ambre is on the right track. More importantly, he believes betraying her to an ambitious oligarch and the local militia is the key to his personal power. Revelations await! Few pleasant. The is the first of three installments. Rather frustratingly for monolingual me, while I found a translation of the first volume, the other two are, as far as I can tell, only available in French. There are surely more than five works that showcase insufficiently cautious characters investigating dangerous enigmas. Perhaps you have your own favorites examples. If so, please mention them in comments below.[end-mark] What would I have done had it hit me? Applied pressure to stop the bleeding (if any), limped home, changed, and caught the next bus. I plan for two significant service disruptions per commute, so in all likelihood I would have still been on time. Had the injury been more dire, I would have seriously considered seeking medical help despite the possibility that this might have left the theater short-staffed. ︎Unless I showed it to someone who knew one end of a car from another. But that would be extra work for which I would not get paid. ︎Jim’s sister, Christine Baler, watches the chaos and carnage escalate from a safe(ish) distance with the air of someone who has seen events very much like this play out before. I imagine her played by Myrna Loy, with an expression very much like Loy’s during The Thin Man’s airgun scene. ︎The post Five Science Fiction Stories About Investigating Enigmatic Artifacts appeared first on Reactor.