9 Science Fiction Books that Mix in Medieval Elements

Part of Willis’s Oxford Time Travel series, this book takes us back to the 14th century with a time traveler named Kivrin. Kivrin had simply planned on dropping into the medieval ages to get a first-hand glimpse at how pre-vaccine societies dealt with plagues, but then she gets stuck in the past. Stranded in a time of superstition, Kivrin becomes an unlikely source of hope for the medieval people she encounters, even as she is unsure if she will ever make it back to the future.

A novel of first contact, Eifelheim takes place in a German town in 1348. Local priest Father Dietrich is busy trying to keep the plague at bay when he becomes the first person to be contacted by aliens from a distant and advanced civilization. Seven hundred years later, a historian and a physicist uncover the lost tale of Eifelheim.

In 1345, Sir Roger Baron de Tourneville is preparing to join Edward III in the war against France when a large, silver ship descends from the sky and lands in northeastern Lincolnshire. Aboard the ship are the Wersgorix, aliens skilled at planetary invasion and takeover. The Wersgorix seek to control Sir Roger and the Englishmen, while Sir Roger wants to capture the Wersgorix and use their ship to defeat the French. Treachery, hilarity, and plot twists ensue.

This collection of speculative fiction includes plenty of time travel and first-contact stories for fans of those mini-genres. With a diverse group of characters and contributing writers, this anthology looks both toward the future and into the past, including the Middle Ages, to weave technology and folklore together.

This graphic novel series is a treat for fans of neomedievalism in their science fiction! Pan went from a simple life of working with her dad and watching freighter ships traverse the skies to going off the galactic grid and joining up with a band of knights crossing the stars. Along the way, she finds out secrets about her world, her long-lost friend, and what’s holding the universe together.

This alternate history/fractured folk tale of King Arthur is a wild ride set in a futuristic world. Ari Helix is a refugee who crash lands on Old Earth, pulls out Excalibur, and accidentally becomes a reincarnation of King Arthur. Together with Merlin (who has been magically aging backward into a teenager), she’ll have to wield the sword, confront the legend, and restore peace to humankind.

When Ambassador Mahit Dzmare arrives at the center of the multi-system Teixcalaanli Empire, she learns that a)the previous ambassador has died and b) she might very well be next. This futuristic, epic novel combines aliens and technological weapons with a medieval-esque empire that threatens to swallow up more and more of the globe.

Okorafor has spoken before about how the concept of global medievalism informs much of her work in terms of inspiring plotlines and characters. If you’re interested in how she combines those ideas with themes of Africanfuturism, check out her science fiction novel Noor, which is set in a futuristic Nigeria. There, a young woman named Anwuli Okwudili is on the run for her life. Anwuli, or AO, as she thinks of herself, was labeled “wrong” before she was ever born and was further injured in a car accident, which means she has several body augmentations. This has come at the cost of Anwuli’s acceptance in society and has made her an object of scorn and fear. The novel explores the ties between bodies, technology, and community.

The monastic setting of this story conjures up images of medieval monks, even as the story is set in a distant and apocalyptic future. Miller reimagines the idea of a Dark Age amongst the survivors of an atomic Flame Deluge. Humanity has turned against science, and only the Order of St. Leibowitz, alone in a desert monastery, maintains a connection to the knowledge of the past. A science fiction classic.