New Reviews: Science Fiction

Ben Allen performs a thought-provoking science fiction story about a political dissident who is trying to survive on an alien planet that serves as a tyrannical empire's prison. Anton arrives on the planet nicknamed Kiln to discover humanity was not the first sentient lifeform to visit. Kiln's ecosystem is chaotic, hungry, and hiding several enticing secrets. Anton not only... 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

A bevy of talented narrators delivers an iconic science fiction anthology. Ellison's legendary short stories once kicked off a new sub-genre known as New Wave Science Fiction. Thirty-three stories from thirty-two legends in the sci-fi genre are narrated by a selection of talented narrators. A few standouts include Mara Wilson and Edoardo Ballerini. Jim Meskimen shoulders most... Read More

Narrator Joel de la Fuente brings listeners to Space Habitat Altaire for the 25th reunion of the exclusive Rochford Institute's Class of 2064. While the prep school classmates compare their potential eligibility for Mars colonization, and generally hook up as much as possible, the staff of the luxury resort, almost all immigrants to the U.S., scheme to reclaim Earth and space... Read More

Lindsey Dorcus narrates a sci-fi mystery set on Jupiter and its moon Io. Investigator Mossa and scholar Pleiti work together on a complicated new case involving multiple missing people, as well as new treachery at Valdegeld University. Dorcus portrays Mossa as brisk and straightforward; however, she captures Mossa's occasional hesitancy when it comes to her relationship with... Read More

Narrators Andrea Emmes and Tim Fannon take listeners on an action-packed journey through time and space. From her ship in orbit, Lieutenant Selene Genji has a horrific view of Earth's destruction, brought about by decades of factionalism over alien contact. When she awakens in a strange ship to discover she's been hurled back in time by the blast, she realizes she may change... Read More

Le Guin's thought-provoking classic can be a challenge for any narrator. Her ahead-of-its-time narrative is a crazy quilt of excerpts from anthropological reports, cultural myths, and even a personal journal. Yet that doesn't seem to faze Golden Voice Michael Crouch in this gripping audiobook. Using a variety of accents, he brings to life the difficult mission of a human envoy... 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

Sunny Lu, Keong Sim, and Charlie Thurston narrate a mesmerizing thriller about a woman who must confront the unreliability of her own memory. Hope's memories of her life before her time at a facility designed to reconsolidate lost memories are spotty. Each treatment is slow to bring order to the chaotic remnants of her past. But as secrets come to light, she begins to doubt the... 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

Gabra Zackman performs this ambitious novel, which attempts to turn the legend of King Arthur on its head. In an alternative future 11 thousand years from now, an orphan boy named Ariel chooses not to pull the sword from the stone. Instead, he finds a different sword, an ancient artifact that carries with it a sentient AI that tells him of times past. From there, Ariel starts... Read More

Ray Porter performs a Lovecraftian take on a military science-fiction thriller. When an entire space station orbiting around Jupiter vanishes, its inhabitants find themselves trapped in a realm of cosmic horror. The only way home involves a legendary weapon and spaceships that require dead pilots. Porter narrates in a gleefully theatrical tone. Monsters' and villains' voices... 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

Adrian Tchaikovsky again proves himself a double threat. Not only has the British author written a wide variety of science fiction over the past two decades, he's also quite effective serving as his own narrator. His latest audiobook is set in a dystopian future Britain in which humans are dying off because robots have taken over doing everything that is meaningful. This allows... 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

In one of the most delightful science fiction stories of the year, Katharine Chin performs an Indiana Jones-like adventure that's perfect for lovers of great heist stories. After ten years of stealing artifacts across the galaxy, Maya Hoshimoto has retired to Earth to be a graduate student in anthropology. But when her best friend asks her to do one last job, she reluctantly... Read More

Eva Tavares provides a warm narration of this dystopian novella. She brings drama and empathy to her depiction of 19-year-old Reid Graham, who is chronically ill as she sets out on a quest to find the postapocalyptic safe haven she's heard about. To get there, she must battle the climate-ravaged terrain of the Alberta Rockies. When at last she reaches the near-mythical "dome"... Read More