Adjoa Andoh narrates a complex story about identity and belonging set in the Imperial Radch universe. Qven would have become a Presgar translator were it not for a terrible incident that set them careening toward the characters Enae Athur and Reet Hluid, and to the Radch Empire. Andoh expertly navigates the emotional depths of the three main characters, each of whom comes from a background in which they have not felt valued or part of their community. While Qven’s history includes shocking trauma and violence, which Andoh renders in a brutally powerful scene, Enae and Reet have also suffered and are given their due by Andoh. As all three claim their identities and start to heal, Andoh’s performance resonates in profound ways.
Pub Date: June 6, 2023
Duration: 12 hrs
DD ISBN: 9781549164835
Publisher: Hachette Audio
Review Posted Online: Jan. 22, 2026
Together, Butikofer and Gage keep listeners absorbed in a love story set among the stars.
After a four-year wait, fans can celebrate Chambers’ newest novel, sensitively performed by Norma Butikofer and Megan Gage. Life is tough for the inhabitants of the barren planet of Fortune. Signy, voiced by Gage, is a botanist who copes by bio-printing illegal medicine for those in need. Cora, voiced by Norma Butikofer, is a pilot who’s risking a mind bleed with her sentient spaceship. Butikofer’s Cora is clear and strong, and her rendition of the ship’s coursebook is the perfect personification of a smart computer. Gage’s Signy is gentler, as befits a botanist. Their personality differences guide their approaches to increasing danger.
Together, Butikofer and Gage keep listeners absorbed in a love story set among the stars.Pub Date: Oct. 13, 2026
Duration: 14 hrs, 28 mins
DD ISBN: 9780063519336
Publisher: Harper Audio
Review Posted Online: Nov. 4, 2026
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 15, 2026
The Bobs blaze entertainingly through the universe with Porter at the helm.
Luckily for listeners, narrator Ray Porter continues to perform Taylor’s Bobiverse series. The Bobs are sentient space probes that embody Bob Johansson, a software engineer whose mind was uploaded to a probe long, long ago. In this installment, the Bobs face challenges across space, including wormhole networks, abandoned spaceships, and refugees. Over time, replicative drift changes the Bobs, giving Porter ample opportunity to create distinct personalities, be they sincere, snarky, edgy, or comic. These Bobs audibly sigh, grouch, preen, and wrestle with intellectual conundrums. The multifaceted story does wander, so it’s helpful that the often droll writing is enhanced by Porter’s realistic pacing and imaginative portrayals of characters both human and alien.
The Bobs blaze entertainingly through the universe with Porter at the helm.Pub Date: Sept. 10, 2026
Duration: 8 hrs, 22 mins
Publisher: Audible, Inc.
Review Posted Online: Nov. 4, 2026
© Copyright 2026 Kirkus Media LLC. All Rights Reserved.
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