New Reviews: Science Fiction

Part of an Amazon Original collection of six stories, this work by DIVERGENT author Veronica Roth weaves a tale of memory and experience in the face of impending doom. Even as the Earth is about to be destroyed, the story remains understated, focusing on the little things that make us human. Narrator Evan Rachel Wood portrays Samantha in a soft, resigned tone that fits a story... Read More

Given her previous experience as a narrator, it's not surprising that author Mary Robinette Kowal expertly voices her own alternative- history sci-fi novel. After a meteorite blasts through earth's atmosphere, it destroys the eastern coast of the United States, setting off cataclysmic changes. Mathematician and former WWII WASP pilot Elma hopes to put her skills to use as an... Read More

Almarie Guerra narrates a space opera featuring a found family and psychic cats. When Captain Eva Innocente and her crew become embroiled in a complex plot involving an intergalactic crime syndicate, Eva's perfidious family, and a variety of dubious cargo, they must use their wits to survive. Guerra does an excellent job creating a range of believable characters for a variety... Read More

David Shih's earnest narration elevates humanity's attempts to save Earth from apocalyptic rogue technology. Maseo Kaytu escapes a criminal past by cheating his way into a military squad that controls AI-operated machines to battle bioweapons gone awry. Kaytu befriends a group of misfits as the battles escalate and the truth of his past threatens to come to light. Shih... Read More

Narrator Emily Woo Zeller reprises her role as the listener's guide through the beguiling postapocalyptic "Borne" world. While part of a series, the story is accessible as a stand-alone with its own protagonists. Chen, Grayson, and Morse, three inextricably linked figures, traverse genetically and ethically muddled timescapes in search of resolution and redemption. Zeller's low... Read More

Narrator Jason Isaacs's voice is the perfect mix of insistent, pedantic, and scornful as he portrays the AI inside the head of an "instrument" that is sent on a mission to gather valuable biological materials on what's left of Tellus--or Earth. Listeners are directly addressed by Isaacs as if they, too, are on this mission. They too experience alarm and curiosity as the AI... Read More

Listening to this audiobook is a visceral, bizarre, unsettling experience. After leaving earth, humans have settled inside giant space beasts, using them as habitat, sustenance, and ship. The story centers on two young women: Seske, the future matriarch of the ship, and her childhood friend, Adalla, one of the lowly beast-workers who keep it running. Both are caught in the... Read More

In alternating chapters, Laura Nichol narrates from the perspectives of a Riot Grrl in 1992 and as a time traveler from 2022. There is a group of villains who are trying to wipe out women's rights and a group of heroines who are trying to stop them. This audiobook is rife with tension and angst, which Nichol handles magnificently. She embodies the characters and brings them to... Read More

Natalie Naudus creates personas for a quirky cast of characters, most of whom have attitude. In the postapocalyptic world of the 22nd century, climate change has had a wide effect, and cultural change has been widespread. Enter Rubi, a star of multiplayer virtual reality games who has become a lawyer. In her role as public defender, she is defending a bad actor who is rude and... Read More

That the moon is different from H.G. Wells's description doesn't matter a whit while listening to this marvelous collection of five classic tales from the famously imaginative author. Introduced by self-described Wells fan-boy Eli Roth, the stories are each read by a different British narrator in a feat of perfect casting. David Tennant's glottal Scots accent suits the shock of... Read More

Drawing from her Asian-American and theatrical background, narrator Emily Woo Zeller brings a rare intimacy and an exotic toughness to a meticulously drawn world of assassins, warriors, and thieves. This collection of 21 linked cutting-edge science fiction stories completes the author's Machineries of Empire series. Ranging in length from flash fiction to a full-blown novella,... Read More

As we learned from the iconic thriller ALIEN--"in space, no one can hear you scream." But thanks to Megan Tusing's narration of this chilling audiobook, listeners CAN hear the terror of this space mission gone horribly wrong. The titular character is Sally Jansen. The disgraced ex-astronaut was commander of a mission to Mars that went awry when a crew member was accidentally... Read More

This audiobook presents a chilling near-future scenario in which the very nature of human consciousness is questioned. Steven Strait's dreamlike and at times mournful voice fully captures the protagonist's disorientation, sadness, and increasingly desperate need for answers. A man wakes up in a dark room with no memory of how he got there or who he is. His only company is a... Read More

In this sci-fi audiobook, two people, both portrayed by narrator Gabra Zackman, are trying to find their way back to each other. In the future, the global economy has collapsed, and the electrical grid has failed. Despite the chaos, Carson is travelling across the country to Beatrix, who is working to build a new way of life in her neighborhood. This is a hopeful... Read More

Traci Odom and Eric Michael Summerer narrate different stories in this collection, but they have something in common. They both are engaging storytellers. These 16 previously published stories gathered together in this audiobook form a disparate vision of the future. Each narrator adopts an easy conversational tone until the stories call for intensity, suspense, or some other... Read More

The warning in this atmospheric audiobook, the second in the Cas Russell series, is to be careful what you wish for. Portrayed by skillful narrator Lauren Fortgang, Cas, a math genius and a mercenary, is a mess. She even hears voices. Cas has the hubris to think she can cure an ultra-violent Los Angeles, which she helped to create through her actions in the series' first... Read More

Narrator Marc Thompson draws from a seemingly bottomless well of voices to portray the many characters of the Star Wars universe. This story picks up shortly after the events of THE LAST JEDI, following the few remaining Resistance fighters as they struggle to survive and rebuild their ranks. Thompson finds a good balance between straight- up impressions and subtle homages when... Read More

Narrator Karl Jenkinson takes listeners on an exciting adventure in this steampunk mystery. Steampunk is a subgenre of fiction that incorporates technology inspired by steam-powered industrial machinery invented in the late nineteenth century. Here the "Steam, Smoke & Mirrors" of the title are used by master magician Michael Magister and his brilliant assistant, Phoebe Le... Read More

Rosa Salazar provides a dead-on, almost eerie, performance of an AI in this short science fiction story. Part of the Amazon Original "Forward Collection," this is a tale of pushing boundaries and taking risks. Virtual game developer Riley pours her life into creating a character so advanced that it starts to exhibit its own free will: Meet Maxine. Salazar brings Maxine to life,... Read More

Feodor Chin is the perfect narrator to deliver this story. On a futuristic Earth, where the aftereffects of a dying star blast our planet with deadly radiation, only children 13 years and under will survive--and so the preparation begins. Astronomy enthusiasts will delight in the infusion of factual historical events (with a twist) as they hear a fascinating story of human... Read More

The brevity of Jeff VanderMeer's sci-fi tale belies its intensity and lingering effects on the listener's mind. Vikas Adam's performance as an unnamed protagonist who is employed as a writer heightens the listener's immersion into this richly imagined landscape. When an alien entity, referred to as a story-creature, burrows inside the writer, it initiates an unnerving,... Read More