Narrator Emily Woo Zeller imbues this ambitious debut novel with meditative gravitas. In the year 2201, Luoying has returned to her home on Mars after spending five years on Earth as a student ambassador. Rather than being overjoyed at seeing her home planet, Luoying and her fellow ambassadors become disillusioned with their world, which is not the utopia they had thought. Zeller's measured narration mirrors Hao's elegant prose and deliberate pacing, allowing the story's careful revelations to unfold in their own time. Zeller's characterizations are consistent and multilayered, particularly in the case of Luoying, whose deepening maturity is conveyed in an intimate and reflective tone. A sophisticated and truly absorbing audiobook is delivered with thoughtfulness and care.
Pub Date: 2020
Duration: 21 hrs, 30 mins
DD ISBN: 9781797107776
Publisher: Simon & Schuster Audio
Review Posted Online: Jan. 22, 2026
Multiple award winner Card is one of the greatest practitioners of science fiction; here he delivers a history fantasy of the Wabash Valley circa 1800, a world of hexes and folk magic. This is the first book about Alvin Maker, the seventh son of a seventh son, who has remarkable psychic powers. Card is a very good narrator, expressive and well paced. One can hear the excitement of an author as he brings his own well described characters to life. There is one momentary technical glitch, the only slip up in an exemplary presentation. Highly recommended for fiction collections everywhere.
Pub Date:
Duration: 7 hrs
Publisher: The Literate Ear
Review Posted Online: Jan. 22, 2026
Asimov's sweeping tale of the disintegration and fall of the Galactic Empire has never been more relevant or poignant. In the third book of the original trilogy, Dan Lazar handles the material adequately. He uses his limited range of voices nicely, if sometimes amusingly--he sometimes sounds like a foreigner attempting to mimic American accents. Varying pitch and pacing make for a lively narration, and his reading of a precocious young woman, who is ultimately an important figure, is delightful. Technical and editorial problems plague the title. Hearing Lazar repeatedly mispronounce a word that the text itself explains how to pronounce is very frustrating. Intermittent fade-outs on one channel; inconsistencies when switching sides; and low, rumbling background noise mar the sound quality.
Pub Date:
Duration: 8 hrs
Publisher: Books on Tape
Review Posted Online: Jan. 22, 2026
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