Emotion check: Long live Murderbot.
Kevin R. Free drops listeners into the middle of a rescue mission aboard an enormous space station. In a defining performance, Free masterfully conveys Murderbot’s sardonic running commentary, deadpan and endearingly world-weary. Murderbot has installed a mental health module since its last adventure, so there are frequent “emotion checks.” The mission, of course, runs into several complications, and Murderbot finds itself with a growing party of humans to keep safe. As the sometimes perilous, sometimes zany rescue operation progresses, Free employs subtle accents to distinguish the human characters; Nanna Naja especially is a hoot. But it’s his Murderbot, who has grown and changed over eight installments, that will have listeners rapt.
Emotion check: Long live Murderbot.Pub Date: May 5, 2026
Duration: 5 hrs, 45 mins
DD ISBN: 9781705041031
Publisher: Recorded Books Inc.
Review Posted Online: April 27, 2026
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 1, 2026
An all-too-real take on AI’s quenching of queer creativity, told by a bold and captivating narrator.
Nancy Wu leads listeners through an interplanetary heist in a SF tale of queer pirates and childhood loss. On the planet Callisto, stories are owned by a generative AI conglomerate. Stories are watered down. Characters are one-dimensional. And storytellers like Kelli Reynolds are boxed into a singular style. When Kelli’s smuggler ex-boyfriend, Rowan, comes back into town requesting a favor, Kelli’s troubling past comes back to haunt her, and her narrow vision of storytelling gets blown wide open. Wu’s depiction of Kelli’s autism is compassionate and powerful, and she provides gender-expansive voices for various queer pirates.
An all-too-real take on AI’s quenching of queer creativity, told by a bold and captivating narrator.Pub Date: May 12, 2026
Duration: 12 hrs, 25 mins
DD ISBN: 9798899732737
Publisher: Recorded Books Inc.
Review Posted Online: June 23, 2026
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 2026
Zeller skillfully enhances this already riveting space odyssey.
There's a lot happening in this rollicking space opera. It's a good thing that narrator Emily Woo Zeller is around to serve as tour guide as the captain and crew of the starship Horizon find themselves stuck between a civil war and a rescue mission. After spending a decade caught in a gravity well, the Horizon has collected an eclectic cast of exotic passengers. But the talented Zeller is up to the challenge of imbuing each with a distinctive, engaging personality. This book reads like a sequel, with liberal use of flashbacks, but Zeller skillfully keeps the listener from getting lost during the journey. She turns what could have been a bumpy ride into smooth sailing.
Zeller skillfully enhances this already riveting space odyssey.Pub Date: April 21, 2026
Duration: 15 hrs, 38 mins
DD ISBN: 9781668163573
Publisher: Simon & Schuster Audio
Review Posted Online: June 9, 2026
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 15, 2026
© Copyright 2026 Kirkus Media LLC. All Rights Reserved.
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