New Reviews: Science Fiction

With a riveting pace and an enthralling voice, Bronson Pinchot takes listeners on three terrifying expeditions into the unknown with this fourth novel in the Southern Reach series. This time around we go back to the beginning and learn some of the truths, illusions, and horror that surround Area X. Pinchot embodies each member of each expedition and takes us through their... Read More

Chanté McCormick narrates this queer, anti-colonial sci-fi novella. Virika struggles to thrive on a colonized space planet under the control of an empire in the same way that her ancestors struggled to get ahead when the British Empire ruled the British West Indies. She worked hard to succeed in the Merchant Marines, but when her captain dies, she is convicted of treason for... Read More

This audiobook delivers sci-fi horror at its best, and Brandon J. Peterson's narration adds a chilling layer to the experience. As the crew of the ODYSSEY searches for the legendary "horizon"--a phenomenon promising a return to one's happiest moment--they face a journey through the dark, empty Expanse, where unseen dangers lie in wait. Peterson's voice captures the tense,... Read More

Narrator Jack de Golia wields impressive vocal skills to create vivid characters in this sci-fi audiobook. James is a typical high school student who is crushing on a cute girl and drawing comics with his friend. But after an accident, his dreams become full of alien wonders, he hears voices, and his drawings look more like schematics than comic characters. Fearing he could be... Read More

Stellar narrator Jefferson Mays and bestselling author James S.A. Corey are in warp drive as they launch the first book of a planned trilogy set in the far future. This loose reinterpretation of the Book of Daniel begins on a planet settled long ago by humans. When the planet is invaded by a hostile force interested only in utility, selected people are transported to an alien... Read More

Narrator Jack de Golia tells the story of a bleak future on Earth in which most of the population has fled to another planet after the "oil wars." Few people remain. De Golia's laid-back voice conjures cowboys and the Wild West, rather than spacemen and rockets, but is perfectly appropriate for a desolate planet on which horses and muscle are in vogue once again. If there is... Read More

Ray Porter narrates the four short stories and one novella in this amazing science fiction/dystopian audiobook. Set in a believable future, these works range from lovers seeking the truth behind their relationships, to people on trial for using martial arts, to human explorers attempting to contact a humanoid but alien race. All stories involve a main character who is exploring... Read More

Daniel Henning narrates a prequel to IN THE LIVES OF PUPPETS. Douglas, or Android P-23, is given a week of relative freedom after working 10 years in the factory that made him. He learns many things and must make a hard choice when the week is over. Henning gives Douglas a somewhat flat and emotionless portrayal to start with, but as Douglas's week of freedom progresses,... Read More

Scott Brick can be relied upon to deliver intensity in every audiobook he narrates, but he outdoes himself in this story of a family on the run in a world gone mad. Jack Colclough doesn't know why Americans started killing one another in a pointless frenzy of rage and violence, but it's up to him to keep his faithless wife and two loving children safe, and that means they need... Read More

Yetide Badaki narrates this audio novella about Najeeba, who was introduced in the author's previous novel, WHO FEARS DEATH. Years before that story takes place, Najeeba is a 13-year-old girl who receives the call to the Salt Roads, an experience usually reserved for men. With her smooth voice and precise pacing, Badaki allows the details to linger in listeners' minds as the... Read More

Heath Miller returns as narrator for this sequel to SPACE OPERA. The heroes of this audiobook have saved Earth from destruction because they didn't finish in last place in the Metagalactic Grand Prix. Now it's time for another song contest, and they're trying to help some aliens figure out what they need to do. This is a story that begs to be read aloud, and Miller's sardonic... Read More