The author, known primarily for his iconic graphic novels, is English, so it's not surprising that several narrators of this stunning short story collection have British accents. The speculative stories vary in length and feature, among others, a woman whose brain hemispheres are severed, aliens who are trying to stay hidden despite a peculiar experience with time, and Jesus inheriting property after the Rapture. The longest story, which takes up half the audiobook, is a fictional echo of the author's frustrations with the comic book industry. Each narrator delivers stories that are bizarre and beautiful. Stand-out performances include Samuel Barnett's "Cold Reading" and Matt Reeves's "What We Can Know About Thunderman." All the narrators connect with their characters in ways that enrich the narratives and fully immerse listeners.
Pub Date: Jan. 22, 2022
Duration: 17 hrs, 30 mins
Publisher: N/A
Review Posted Online: Jan. 22, 2026
These stories present extraordinary contemporary writing and create a rewarding listening experience.
Novelist Orange has selected a scintillating collection of stories that are thought provoking and well crafted. Among the many pleasures is how well the narrators have been paired with the short stories. Lee Osorio and Ines del Castillo capture the style and tone of the letter-writing father and daughter in Noel Quinones’ “This Time and the Next”; Peter Ganim inhabits the two very different narrators of Kevin Wilson’s insightful “All Stories” and William Pei Shih’s sendup of musical pretention in “The Masterclass”; Jen Zhao performs Guka Han’s haunting “Earshot” sensitively and eloquently.
These stories present extraordinary contemporary writing and create a rewarding listening experience.Pub Date: Sept. 29, 2026
Duration: 11 hrs, 38 mins
DD ISBN: 9798217406777
Publisher: Random House Audio
Review Posted Online: yesterday
Fans will welcome Free’s performance of this brief addition to the Murderbot universe.
Maintaining the same sardonic tone that works so well for the Murderbot Diaries audiobooks, Kevin R. Free narrates this story that, for once, isn’t told from Murderbot’s perspective. The crew of Perihelion, an intelligent research transport ship, is preparing for a mission aboard a space station. Peri sounds delightfully snotty in its interactions with Iris and the rest of the crew. The ship is implementing new strategies to keep its crew safe, and it’s being cagey about what inspired them—but we slowly realize that it’s because of Peri’s experience with a certain rogue SecUnit in a previous installment of the series. Sound effects, including beeping computers and whooshing air, add to the SF atmosphere.
Fans will welcome Free’s performance of this brief addition to the Murderbot universe.Pub Date: Sept. 1, 2026
Duration: 53 mins
DD ISBN: 9781250489241
Publisher: Macmillan Audio
Review Posted Online: Sept. 22, 2026
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 1, 2026
© Copyright 2026 Kirkus Media LLC. All Rights Reserved.
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