New Reviews: Science Fiction

Levar Burton's sonorous and soothing narration makes his 1997 novel, with a recent update, engaging because many of his predictions have come true. Burton is best known for playing Lt. Cmdr. Geordi La Forge on "Star Trek: The Next Generation" and for hosting the PBS program "Reading Rainbow." His sincere and forthright voice has just a bit more bass now as he ages. The story... Read More

Tanya Eby provides a smooth narration of this sci-fi saga. She develops a strong persona for Ichiko, an exobiologist who is on a mission to explore as much of the planet Canis Lupus as possible. Eby uses Scottish accents for the planet's colonists, who have been cut off from their home on Earth for centuries. She gives more subtle differences to the voices of Ichiko's... Read More

Greg Chun narrates this futuristic detective story in which humans regularly alter their bodies to stay young, strong, and famous. Chun's first-person portrayal of a professional baseball scout who is forced into doing some detective work harkens back to noir fiction of the 1940s. His deadpan delivery of many of the funniest lines lets listeners know that the main character is... Read More

Carlotta Brentan narrates a dystopian cyberpunk story in which megacorporations have taken over and divided the country. Two corporations have each claimed half of America--with the last remaining city straddling the division and serving as a horrific battleground. There, Mallory streams herself playing an online game based on the city and the war until an ally disappears and a... Read More

The first audiobook in The Rewilding Reports trilogy is set a thousand years in the future. Unchecked climate change finds 16-year-old friends facing harsh conditions in their village in the Pacific Northwest. Shaun Taylor-Corbett takes on the portrayal of Lynx, whose marriage feast is interrupted by a lion attack. Forced to go on a vision quest by the elders, Lynx is portrayed... Read More

A movie-like production with multiple narrators makes the latest Judge Dredd audiobook a pleasure to hear. Narrator Joseph Fiennes excels as the rough-hewn Judge Dredd, who lives in a ravaged future in which judges serve as police, jury, and executioners of those who resist a brutal dictatorship. The story holds true to the comic book series on which it is based. The people of... Read More

Wil Wheaton skillfully narrates this unrelenting and data-dense audiobook. His first-person portrayal of Mark Watney, an astronaut who is stranded alone on Mars for a year and a half, is nothing short of stellar. Wheaton elevates the listener's experience with a light-handed yet convincing delivery of an immense amount of technical material. Perfectly paced, this audiobook is... Read More

Narrator Peter Kenney brings another complex sci-fi/fantasy novel to life. Kenney skillfully voices characters with theatrical flair, convincingly depicting personalities that range from youthful innocence to chilling malevolence. In this multifaceted novel, Kenney portrays Vin, an interpreter of holy texts who must demonstrate the courage to maintain his convictions against... Read More

Narrator Emmett Grosland conjures the essence of a troubled soul in search of peace in this gentle audio. Tea monk Dex has devoted years of their life to easing the burdens of others while struggling to find their own greater purpose. A chance encounter with a robot named Mosscap sets both monk and robot on a journey of discovery about what people need. But the interplay of... Read More

Sophie Aldred narrates an intriguing new series about humanity in the aftermath of a war with an alien species. After the destruction of Earth, enhanced humans were engineered to combat the Architects until their sudden disappearance. The discovery of a technology abandoned in space kicks off a race to find out what happened to the Architects while avoiding utter destruction.... Read More

Narrator Marin Ireland has a gift for mimicry. She invests each character with a tone, inflection, and pace that establish their identity. Her Valley girls sound vapid and her stoners stoned, but each has slightly different gradations. Hollywood power types, the essence of corruption, are voiced expertly as greedy and affectless. In the darkening landscape of this dystopian... Read More

Narrator Vivienne Leheny brings to life the fun personalities in Cat Rambo's latest sci-fi adventure. This slightly wacky space opera is great for fans of Becky Chambers's Wayfarer series. Using her restaurant business as a means to escape the military's "Hive Mind," Niko and her crew have more to worry about than a bad review. They have enemies who are out for revenge. The... Read More