If the mix of amazing writing talent like N.K. Jemisin, Charles Yu, and Seanan McGuire doesn't convince listeners to devour this futuristic audio anthology, then the overflow of narrator talent should. LaValle and Adams's anthology of complex technological futures features characters who are marginalized people and even some silver linings. The narrators include talented folks like Nancy Wu, Darrell Dennis, and Soneela Nankani, most of whom take on at least one story. The only elements that feels out of place are the occasional background music and sound effects that are used in some stories and not others. Overall, the caliber of works is both engaging and exciting, especially as delivered by narrators who know how to bring dynamic characters to life.
Pub Date: 2019
Duration: 15 hrs
DD ISBN: 9781984832276
Publisher: Random House Audio
Review Posted Online: Jan. 22, 2026
American colleges are favorable locales for ghastly event and hair-tearing circumstance. There is, for instance, a good deal of pleasure to be had out of professor and past-prodigy Grady Tripp's awful life, as portrayed by Michael Chabon in WONDER BOYS. There is a certain amount of slapstick here, but it's balanced by Chabon's superb portrait of a gale-force mid-life crisis, a soul-destroying albatross of an unfinished novel and the mind-numbing inconsequence of writers' conferences. David Colacci sounds a little starved for oxygen in his reading, but that's not exactly out of keeping with Grady Tripp's personal gestalt.
Pub Date:
Duration: N/A
Publisher: Brilliance Audio
Review Posted Online: Jan. 22, 2026
As a group of men bring their own emotional baggage to their football-obsessed reunion, R.C. Bray delivers his usual solid narration. He shifts his tones slightly but enough to put the listener in the motel with the men, revealing their foibles as the story progresses. The narrator's role in this book is a descriptive one, and Bray is a good guide. His narration becomes extra important because this is a rare instance when there almost isn't a protagonist. The author's well-written story--which alternates between serious and laugh-out-loud funny--uses quarterback Joe Theismann's 1985 injury, a broken leg, as a McGuffin.
Pub Date:
Duration: 5 hrs
DD ISBN: 9781681680057
Publisher: HighBridge Audio
Review Posted Online: Jan. 22, 2026
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