20 Best Sci Fi Audiobooks for Exploring New Worlds

20 Best Sci-Fi Audiobooks for Exploring New Worlds

There’s a certain magic in losing yourself in the imaginative world of science fiction. But when new landscapes and realities are paired with brilliant audio performances, the experience is more immersive than ever. We’ve curated some of the best science fiction audiobooks, ranked not only for their vividly constructed narratives, but also for the compelling, stellar narration that brings each selection to life. So grab your headphones, press play, and settle in as you enter another world.
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  • Brave New World cover art

    • Brave New World

    • By: Aldous Huxley
    • Narrated by: Michael York
    • Length: 8 hrs
    • Release date: 16-01-2008
    • Language: English
    • 4 out of 5 stars 1,669 ratings
    • Aldous Huxley’s Brave New World is widely considered to be one of the greatest novels of all time - and for good reason. Set in a futuristic World State, the story unfolds in a reality where all citizens are genetically engineered and born of artificial wombs. It’s an eerie and clinical world free of pain, age, disease, and discontent. But when unlikely hero Bernard Marx encounters a group of natural-born people for the first time, he becomes the sole citizen willing to question the status quo - regardless of the consequences. Two-time Emmy Award nominee Michael York imbues this chilling classic with new layers, skillfully flipping between characters that are in turns brooding, sarcastic, and sensitive. The result is a commanding performance that lingers long after the audio’s conclusion.

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  • Dune cover art

    • Dune

    • By: Frank Herbert
    • Narrated by: Scott Brick, Orlagh Cassidy, Euan Morton, Simon Vance, Ilyana Kadushin, Byron Jennings, David R. Gordon, Jason Culp, Kent Broadhurst, Oliver Wyman, Patricia Kilgarriff, Scott Sowers
    • Series: Dune Saga, Book 12, Dune, Book 1
    • Length: 21 hrs and 2 mins
    • Release date: 31-12-2006
    • Language: English
    • 4.5 out of 5 stars 6,099 ratings
    • Nothing says sci-fi quite like Dune. The 1965 classic is the first in a best-selling series that changed the face of the genre forever. And with a team of narrators accompanied by light music and sound-effects, Dune is more engrossing and fully-fledged than ever before. Herbert’s tale follows a family of farmers that supervise the harvesting of a spice-turned-drug called 'melange' from a barely habitable desert planet called Arrakis. Melange extends life and enhances intelligence, and its scarcity triggers conflicts around politics, religion, and environment that guide the protagonists in their struggle to protect Arrakis and themselves. Dune is an audiobook that listeners should be wary of - it’s the first in a twelve-book series, and once you start you may not want to stop.

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  • The Handmaid's Tale cover art

    • The Handmaid's Tale

    • By: Margaret Atwood
    • Narrated by: Amy Landecker, Ann Dowd, Bradley Whitford, Elisabeth Moss
    • Series: The Handmaid's Tale, Book 1
    • Length: 11 hrs and 22 mins
    • Release date: 30-04-2019
    • Language: English
    • 4.5 out of 5 stars 1,584 ratings
    • Now renowned both as a literary classic and a hit television series, The Handmaid’s Tale is a dystopian fiction that follows Offred, a handmaid in the totalitarian remains of the United States, now known as the Republic of Gilead. Handmaids, one of several social classes assigned to women in Gilead’s caste system, are tasked with breeding and forced to bear children for the infertile among the ruling class. Originally published in 1985, the book’s prescient themes of morality, sexuality, and politics have served as a lightning rod for debate for over 30 years. Delivered in a clear, deliberate cadence by Elisabeth Moss - the star of the hit TV series - Offred’s rage and frustration are rawer and more visceral than ever. The Handmaid’s Tale is a thrilling, suspenseful, and provocative listen that will have you engrossed within seconds.

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  • American Gods cover art

    • American Gods

    • By: Neil Gaiman
    • Narrated by: Neil Gaiman, Dennis Boutskiaris, Daniel Oreskes, Ron McLarty, Sarah Jones
    • Series: American Gods, Book 1
    • Length: 19 hrs and 36 mins
    • Release date: 12-04-2012
    • Language: English
    • 4.5 out of 5 stars 3,211 ratings
    • Neil Gaiman is among the most highly regarded sci-fi and fantasy writers of all time, and American Gods is one of his most acclaimed, ambitious works to date. In this audio rendition, a cast of exceptional talent (led by Gaiman and Audie Award-winning voice actor Ron McLarty) reimagine the mytho-magical landscape that made the English writer a household name. The plot revolves around a former convict named Shadow who is seeking something, anything to keep him grounded following his release from prison and a tragedy that leaves him utterly hopeless. So, when a mysterious, charming stranger named Mr. Wednesday offers him a job, he eagerly accepts. After all, there’s no possible way Shadow could know his employer’s true identity—or the unimaginable journey across places and planes of existence that lie ahead. With a full-cast performance, it’s impossible not to get lost in the complex, expertly constructed world that Gaiman weaves.

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  • We Are Legion (We Are Bob) cover art

    • We Are Legion (We Are Bob)

    • Bobiverse, Book 1
    • By: Dennis E. Taylor
    • Narrated by: Ray Porter
    • Series: Bobiverse, Book 1
    • Length: 9 hrs and 56 mins
    • Release date: 20-09-2016
    • Language: English
    • 4.5 out of 5 stars 3,824 ratings
    • Robert Johansson, a wealthy businessman, elects to have his head cryogenically frozen after death so that one day, technology permitting, he can be reanimated and pick up where he left off. But when he wakes up 117 years after succumbing to a fatal car crash, his consciousness has instead been installed as the AI of a computer matrix - the Bobiverse. Now the intellectual property of Applied Synergetics, Inc., Robert soon learns that he’s to be deployed as an interplanetary probe, hunting for life in the deepest realms of space. Named Audible’s Best Sci-Fi Audiobook of 2016 in the US, We Are Legion (We Are Bob) is an exciting, tongue-in-cheek interplanetary romp that’s wildly popular with listeners. And what’s not to love? With a wide range of characters, ever-evolving generations of Bob, and an absolutely unmatched narration by the brilliant Ray Porter, the first instalment in Dennis E. Taylor’s Bobiverse series is sure to leave you hooked.

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  • Ready Player One cover art

    • Ready Player One

    • By: Ernest Cline
    • Narrated by: Wil Wheaton
    • Series: Ready Player One, Book 1
    • Length: 15 hrs and 40 mins
    • Release date: 05-04-2012
    • Language: English
    • 4.5 out of 5 stars 7,721 ratings
    • Ready Player One is an absolute must-listen for any sci-fi aficionados. Ernest Cline’s futuristic tale doubles as a love letter to 1980s pop culture and a thrilling, twist-filled adventure. The fast-paced plot is matched by pitch-perfect narration from Star Trek: The Next Generation’s Wil Wheaton, making for a nonstop nostalgia ride that’s a blast from start to finish. It is the year 2045 and the world is overpopulated, leaving resources scarce. Much of the population lives in squalor and poverty but the virtual reality system offered by hyper-realistic gaming platform OASIS offers a reprieve, an escape from the difficulties of daily life. When it’s revealed that the program’s late creator has left behind three keys that, if found, will unlock ownership of the entire OASIS and a multibillion-dollar fortune, thousands of users log in, vying for the opportunity to claim the prize. Among them is our hero, 18-year-old Wade Watts, who uses OASIS as a way out of his difficult home life before embarking on an exhilarating quest to find the keys that stretches him and his gaming skills to the limit.

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  • The Fifth Season cover art

    • The Fifth Season

    • The Broken Earth, Book 1
    • By: N. K. Jemisin
    • Narrated by: Robin Miles
    • Series: The Broken Earth, Book 1
    • Length: 15 hrs and 27 mins
    • Release date: 19-11-2015
    • Language: English
    • 4.5 out of 5 stars 1,325 ratings
    • Winner of the 2016 Hugo Award for Best Novel, The Fifth Season is a supernatural fantasy set on a faraway planet with a single supercontinent called the Stillness. Life on the Stillness is relatively peaceful - that is, until the Fifth Season, a period marked by planet-altering climate change. But the powerful ties of nature extend to bloodlines as well; a race of citizens known as orogenes have the ability to harness and control energy. Orogenes are widely feared, hated, and hunted by other humans - so when Essun’s orogene daughter goes missing, she must set out on a dangerous journey to find the girl and face her past. Narrated with subtlety and skill by narrator Robin Miles in a performance that one Audible listener called 'powerful, and nuanced, and moving…worth the price of admission alone,' The Fifth Season will have you clamouring for the sequel immediately after the final words.

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  • Artemis cover art

    • Artemis

    • By: Andy Weir
    • Narrated by: Rosario Dawson
    • Length: 8 hrs and 57 mins
    • Release date: 14-11-2017
    • Language: English
    • 4.5 out of 5 stars 3,958 ratings
    • Set in the 2080s, Artemis is Andy Weir’s high-stakes heist follow-up to The Martian, his best-selling debut that became a blockbuster movie starring Matt Damon. Artemis follows trader and part-time smuggler Jazz Bashara’s black-market dealings in Artemis, the first city on the moon. When one of Jazz's regular clients offers her an astronomical sum to sabotage the city's oxygen supplier, she accepts - but soon finds herself entangled in a complicated power struggle for control over the city. Celebrated actress Rosario Dawson commands both the criminal swagger of Jazz and a litany of other characters, seamlessly moving from accent to accent with a whip-smart, lively, ferocious delivery.

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  • Red Rising cover art

    • Red Rising

    • By: Pierce Brown
    • Narrated by: Tim Gerard Reynolds
    • Series: Red Rising, Book 1
    • Length: 16 hrs and 12 mins
    • Release date: 28-01-2014
    • Language: English
    • 4.5 out of 5 stars 2,520 ratings
    • Author Pierce Brown’s debut Red Rising is set in a futuristic Mars colony, organised by a colour-coded class hierarchy in which the physically superior Golds rule over the lowly working-class Reds. Among the Reds is Darrow, a young man who is caught in a restricted area and sentenced to be hanged - only to find his life spared by the work of a rebel group called the Sons of Ares. On their suggestion, he agrees to be surgically transformed into a Gold so he can infiltrate the upper ranks and bring the system down from within. But in the process, Darrow finds his external transformation could make it difficult to remain true to who he is inside. Tim Gerard Reynolds’ natural brogue and exceptional storytelling skills give Darrow a genuine presence while his ability to craft distinct voices, cadences, and accents for each supporting character only add to the immersive experience of Brown’s dystopian world.

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  • Fear the Sky cover art

    • Fear the Sky

    • The Fear Saga, Book 1
    • By: Stephen Moss
    • Narrated by: R.C. Bray
    • Series: The Fear Saga, Book 1
    • Length: 20 hrs and 17 mins
    • Release date: 03-03-2015
    • Language: English
    • 4.5 out of 5 stars 1,731 ratings
    • British author Stephen Moss’ debut novel and the first in The Fear Saga trilogy was first self-published online before sci-fi fans discovered this exciting new voice. Fear the Sky is an alien invasion thriller with some innovative twists and a nod to some giants of the genre including Iain M. Banks, and Orson Scott Card. Mechanical agents from an alien race are dispatched to Earth in a meteor shower to pave the way for a formidable alien army with plans to take over the planet. Scientists Neil Danielson and Madeleine Kavanagh are the only ones to suspect that alien forces are present on Earth and their mission is to figure out a way to prevent the coming catastrophe. Narrated by the wonderful R.C. Bray, an Audie award-winning voice actor, his deep, gravelly tones convey the dramatic, impending sense of doom.

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  • The Calculating Stars cover art

    • The Calculating Stars

    • A Lady Astronaut Novel
    • By: Mary Robinette Kowal
    • Narrated by: Mary Robinette Kowal
    • Series: Lady Astronaut, Book 1
    • Length: 11 hrs and 41 mins
    • Release date: 03-07-2018
    • Language: English
    • 4.5 out of 5 stars 197 ratings
    • In an alternate timeline, a meteorite strikes the United States in 1952, devastating the eastern seaboard and bringing about a period of extreme climate change. Seeking somewhere habitable to establish colonies, America’s leading scientists - including Elma York, leading mathematician and pilot - are forced to expedite efforts to colonise the moon. But the International Aerospace Coalition is plagued with inequality, leaving Elma wondering why she can’t journey to the moon alongside the men in her division. Winner of the 2019 Nebula Award for Best Novel, The Calculating Stars is a story not just of space exploration, but of marginalised people working together to overcome the obstacles that stand in the way of saving humanity. Author Mary Robinette Kowal brings to life her own world exactly as she intended, carving out three-dimensional characters with her thoughtful delivery.

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  • Ender's Game cover art

    • Ender's Game

    • Special 20th Anniversary Edition
    • By: Orson Scott Card
    • Narrated by: Stefan Rudnicki, Harlan Ellison, Gabrielle de Cuir
    • Series: The Ender Saga, Book 1, The Enderverse, Book 6
    • Length: 11 hrs and 57 mins
    • Release date: 30-12-2001
    • Language: English
    • 4.5 out of 5 stars 515 ratings
    • Originally published in 1985, Ender's Game is a literary classic that has given way to several adaptations across media, from film to video games to comic books. In audio, however, Ender’s Game is an experience unlike any other, performed with three strong narrators who bring a vividness to the timeless tale of war and compassion. Set in the unspecified future, the novel imagines the late stages of an ongoing war between humankind and an insect-like alien species that humans call “buggers”. In order to fight invaders, the military trains an army of children, putting them through a series of war games in order to prepare them. As Andrew 'Ender' Wiggin progresses through his training, enemies within his school begin to invent increasingly complicated attempts to thwart his success, leading him down a path that is both tactically and morally challenging.

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  • Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy cover art

    • Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy

    • By: Douglas Adams
    • Narrated by: Stephen Fry
    • Series: Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, Book 1
    • Length: 5 hrs and 51 mins
    • Release date: 01-01-2012
    • Language: English
    • 4.5 out of 5 stars 3,678 ratings
    • Douglas Adams’s The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy is a genuine cult phenomenon, a hilarious, rollicking ride through space and time led by a most unlikely hero. The life of Arthur Dent, a hapless, anxious English everyman, is completely turned upside down when he’s faced with two peculiarities on the same day. First, his home is demolished without warning so the city can build a road. Then he finds out his best friend, Ford, is an alien - an alien who just happens to know that Earth itself is about to be demolished by a race called Vogons. As Arthur and Dent escape by hitching a ride on a Vogon ship, they start off on a whirlwind escapade through the universe. And the only narrator who could possibly bring to life all the mishap and mayhem that ensues is legendary English comedian/actor/intellectual Stephen Fry, who is sure to have you in stitches with his dry, droll delivery.

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  • The Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet cover art

    • The Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet

    • Wayfarers, Book 1
    • By: Becky Chambers
    • Narrated by: Patricia Rodriguez
    • Series: Wayfarers, Book 1
    • Length: 15 hrs and 41 mins
    • Release date: 13-08-2015
    • Language: English
    • 4.5 out of 5 stars 687 ratings
    • With various members of her family experts in the fields of bio astrobiology and aerospace engineering, Becky Chambers was destined to be a sci-fi writer. Her debut novel, the first in the Wayfarers series, tells the story of a motley crew and their adventures in space. Rosemary Harper joins the team aboard the Wayfarer to escape her troubled past and see some more of the galaxy. What she didn’t expect was the offer of the job of a lifetime and more money than she ever dreamed of, provided the ship can survive the long trip through war-torn interstellar space. Full of oddball characters like Sissix, the friendly reptilian pilot; Kizzy and Jenks, the chatterbox engineers who somehow manage to keep the ship running; and Ashby the noble captain, it’s no surprise the Wayfarers won the Hugo Award for Best Series in 2019.

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  • All Systems Red cover art

    • All Systems Red

    • By: Martha Wells
    • Narrated by: Kevin R. Free
    • Series: Murderbot Diaries, Book 1
    • Length: 3 hrs and 17 mins
    • Release date: 30-10-2017
    • Language: English
    • 4.5 out of 5 stars 1,159 ratings
    • In an era increasingly influenced by robotics and artificial intelligence, All Systems Red is a particularly relevant listen that’s utterly unpausable. Narrator Kevin R. Free delivers a mechanical cadence with an undercurrent of wry, crackling wit as he voices the protagonist—a robot that calls itself Murderbot, in reference to a rampage years ago when it hacked its own code to gain independence from its programmer. When the grouchy, reclusive Murderbot is sent on an exploratory mission to a new planet, the team stumbles upon the murdered remains of previous interplanetary explorers. Murderbot and a team of scientists must solve the mystery of what happened, all while fending off a new attack. A cyborg-led thriller with just the right amounts of intrigue, heart, and humour, All Systems Red is an excellent choice for a fast-paced, short sci-fi listen.

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  • The Girl with All the Gifts cover art

    • The Girl with All the Gifts

    • By: M. R. Carey
    • Narrated by: Finty Williams
    • Series: The Girl with All the Gifts, Book 1
    • Length: 13 hrs and 3 mins
    • Release date: 14-01-2014
    • Language: English
    • 4.5 out of 5 stars 622 ratings
    • This best-selling sci-fi audiobook entry doubles as a top choice for horror enthusiasts. Set in a time when a fungal disease has turned most of the human race into fast, flesh-eating zombies dubbed “hungries”, this breathtaking thriller centres on a ragtag group of survivors struggling to carve out an existence in their new, post-apocalyptic reality. Faced with environmental and ethical challenges, the group must make hard and heartbreaking decisions to survive. In a listen that one of our Audible Editors calls “one of the most imaginative, original, and deeply human takes on the zombie genre,” The Girl With All The Gifts is a tense, taut thriller ripe with twists and turns that will leave you guessing. Classically trained actress Finty Williams lends her voice to Carey’s world, delivering an electrifying performance that is both genuine and beguiling, with one of the highlights being her realistic, girlish voice for the young heroine Melanie.

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  • Space Opera cover art

    • Space Opera

    • By: Catherynne M. Valente
    • Narrated by: Heath Miller
    • Series: The Space Opera, Book 1
    • Length: 9 hrs and 45 mins
    • Release date: 12-11-2019
    • Language: English
    • 4 out of 5 stars 22 ratings
    • Catherynne Valente’s Space Opera opens with humans, unaware of the existence of life beyond Earth, who are invited by an alien race to participate in an advanced intergalactic civilisation. Before they can join, however, humans must earn their place in this space coalition by participating in a talent show called the Megagalactic Grand Prix. With the stakes higher than ever, the fate of mankind’s future depends on their ability to put on a show. Clever and sharp, Space Opera simultaneously pays homage to and lambasts some of sci-fi's most notorious tropes. Magnetic and marvellously over-the-top, narrator Heath Miller ensures that Space Opera does double duty as a sci-fi classic and a comedic marvel that will have any listener laughing from beginning to end.

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  • Children of Time cover art

    • Children of Time

    • By: Adrian Tchaikovsky
    • Narrated by: Mel Hudson
    • Series: The Children of Time Novels, Book 1
    • Length: 16 hrs and 31 mins
    • Release date: 02-05-2017
    • Language: English
    • 4.5 out of 5 stars 1,829 ratings
    • After Earth is finally unable to sustain human life, the last members of society depart in search of a new home and discover a completely habitable planet that was terraformed and subsequently abandoned by a previous generation. Though it seems like Eden, this new home has been occupied by a new race since it was abandoned: a community of huge, hyper-intelligent spiders that, after accidentally interacting with a manmade experimental nanovirus, have been evolving for thousands of years. Children of Time may seem ambitious in scope - spanning planets, centuries, and species to grapple with questions about gods, aliens, and what it means to be alive - but excellent writing coupled with out-of-this-world, captivating narration provided by actress Mel Hudson (watch out for the distinct, nasal drone she lends to the spiders) will keep you engrossed throughout.

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  • 1984 cover art

    • 1984

    • By: George Orwell
    • Narrated by: Andrew Wincott
    • Length: 12 hrs and 19 mins
    • Release date: 05-11-2015
    • Language: English
    • 4.5 out of 5 stars 1,965 ratings
    • Winston Smith is a low-ranking citizen in the government-controlled nation of Oceania, whose constituents' behaviours and thoughts are under constant surveillance by the seemingly omniscient Big Brother. History books, language, and media are strictly regulated and constrained and as Winston's distaste for the totalitarian governing Party deepens, he takes increasingly dangerous risks in small acts of rebellion. Though he gets away with them at first, he soon learns that Big Brother is always watching. While you may have read George Orwell’s 1984 in the past, hearing it in audio is an entirely different experience. The acclaimed English actor and award-winning narrator, Andrew Wincott’s measured but menacing delivery underscores the novel’s dark, looming feel - mimicking the presence of Big Brother himself.

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Audiobook lists are hand-picked by Audible editors; inclusion is based on a number of factors including
listener ratings, narrator performances, presence on Audible best seller lists and cultural relevance.


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