New Reviews: Science Fiction

Earl T. Kim performs a sci-fi story about an orb that appears in Seoul and absorbs any human it touches. Jeong-su watches as his neighbor is taken and somehow made to split, multiply, and spread across South Korea. Jeong-su is not a hero, but he's driven to reach and protect his elderly parents. Kim shifts among colorful voices that never edge into comical extremes. As the... Read More

Amara Jasper narrates an eerie horror story set aboard a spaceship carrying mostly frozen bodies. Halley hopes to escape a political scandal on Earth with a high-risk job as a glorified janitor on a massive spaceship carrying a cargo of cryogenically frozen humans. A trio of glitchy AI holograms accompanies her, and there seems to be something in the vents . . . always just out... Read More

Eunice Wong does an outstanding job of narrating this combination of dystopian fantasy, historical fiction, and sci-fi. She captures the atmosphere of each of the three timelines, and the result is an intimate, thought-provoking performance. First, the listener meets Maida in 2106; she has the ability to perceive the history of objects. Second, the listener is introduced to Li... Read More

This new space opera is narrated by Savy Des-Etages. Nimah has worked hard to excel as a cadet, and now she's ready to begin her job as an agent for the Stars Intelligence and Government Authority. But her future is threatened when people learn she's the granddaughter of a famous pirate who has been accused of terrorism. Nimah has little choice but to join the motley crew who... Read More

Barrie Kreinik narrates a sci-fi story that mixes alien politics with communication mishaps. Dalton is the first representative to join Unity--a galactic confederation of various species--but he fumbles through his first assignment with an alien soldier known as "Stickman." Kreinik moves smoothly through the varied accents of characters. Conversations between Dalton and the... Read More

Narrator Nicolette McKenzie conjures a stifled and decaying world in this unusual dystopian story. Aging sisters Evelyn and Lily have been alone together for longer than they can remember, tending their garden despite a growing dysregulation of time and the seasons. The appearance of a boy inside the supposedly secure wall surrounding their property throws everything about the... Read More

Jolene Kim narrates this sci-fi heist audiobook steeped in Hawaiian culture and language. Edie spent eight years in prison after their partner, Angel, sold them out. But Angel has one more job, and Edie's family back home on Kepler space station needs their support. Kim's voice is pleasantly low and unhurried, steeping listeners in the rich setting and slow-paced writing style.... Read More

Narrator Kirby Heyborne joins the Meskimen family--Jim, Tamra, and daughter Taylor--in energetically giving voice to a dozen new stories by the winners of the Writers of the Future contest. In this year's crop, AI features strongly with Heyborne creating a tone of schoolboy innocence in "The Boy from Elsewhen" by Barlow Crassmont. Taylor Meskimen finds a deceptively... Read More

Chris Andrew Ciulla narrates a thought-provoking story about a small team of observers who arrive at a dying planet and confront an unusual alien race. Warin's only job is to monitor and report on the final days of Retti 4, where an extinction-level virus is about to wipe the planet clean of the "rettys" that inhabit it. He learns the aliens aren't primitive but are vastly... Read More

Mary Robinette Kowal narrates her latest science fiction novel, putting her skills to excellent use in the fourth installment of the Lady Astronaut series. It's the 1950s, and Elma York has just landed on Mars to prep the planet for its first group of settlers. A pilot and mathematician, Elma has already paved the way for women in space, but now she faces unexpected hurdles:... Read More

Senn Annis narrates this sci-fi thriller. The principal storyteller is Raina. She and Cedric are genetic engineers who were blacklisted in the industry when technology they developed was misused. When an eccentric billionaire approaches them to genetically engineer a solution for the survival of humanity, Raina sees a way of regaining the respect of their peers and escaping... Read More

Indiana Jones meets "Quantum Leap" in this thrilling new science fiction series, splendidly performed by Roger Wayne. Twenty years after a failed attempt at going back in time to retrieve a long-lost gold menorah and leaving behind his mentee/partner, Aaron, Dr. Rabbit Ward tries again--this time in 535 C.E. Constantinople. Once there, he establishes some connections in the... Read More

Abigail Reno narrates a unique variation on the time-travel genre in which a woman travels to the past via her traumatic memories. Beth has built a machine that allows the human mind to travel back in time. But there are two caveats: The mind can travel only within its own lifetime and can observe the past for only 90 seconds. Reno imbues Beth with pathos as she deals with the... Read More

With his slightly raspy timbre and resigned tone, narrator Tim Lounibos hits just the right notes for this twisty cyber-whodunit. Lounibos plays his part straight, which is a wise move considering that the plot of this noir satire is fast and funny. Set in the 22nd century, the story features Orr Vue, who is investigating a murder that is part of a massive conspiracy. Think... Read More

Wil Wheaton narrates the newest comic sci-fi novel by John Scalzi. When the moon unexpectedly turns to cheese, humanity has to deal with the aftereffects. Wheaton chronicles the reactions of a sweeping cross-section of Americans during the first lunar cycle post-change: Scientists and government officials, billionaires and moguls, cheesemongers and retirees--literally everyone... Read More

It takes just the right narrator to weave a story of the world ending. Eunice Wong proves up to the task in this fascinating audiobook. In Nayler's gripping cybernetic thriller, governments across Europe start to crumble when their AI leaders begin to fail. Wong skillfully brings to life a handful of characters who get caught up in the turmoil of a deteriorating Europe. She... Read More