This list is part of our Best of the Year collection, an obsessively curated selection of our editors' and listeners' favorite audio in 2022. Check out The Best of 2022 to see our top picks in every category.
This year’s sci-fi didn’t shy away from heavy, timely topics like climate change, pandemics, and social justice, but even as the subject matter hit close to home, the listening reached to new heights. Several stunning multicast productions make up this list—as well as narrators we can’t hear enough of. In a world that seems increasingly science fictional by the year, the bar is only set higher for creators in this genre—and this year’s list dares it to inch up just a little more.
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Audible's Sci-Fi Audiobook of the Year, 2022
For me, no listen quite matched the innovation and immersion of Upgrade Soul, the audio adaptation of Ezra Claytan Daniels’s award-winning graphic novel. Adapting a visual story to an audio medium is a feat in itself, and rather than simply match frame-for-frame, the author took the opportunity to evolve the story by pushing the boundaries of voice and sound. The production value is stunning, and the cast—Marcia Gay Harden, Wendell Pierce—puts on a masterful performance, quite literally transforming their delivery alongside their characters’ journeys. It’s a listen for sci-fi fans, horror fans, and anyone who has ever felt the fear of being left behind. —Sam D.
This is ambitious sci-fi listening at its most challenging and rewarding, featuring multiple stories, characters, and places that interconnect in complex and satisfying ways. If you tend to find yourself digging deeply into the lore of whatever you read, watch, or listen to, then this title is exactly what you’re after; I’m excited for my second time through just to see what I missed. The star-studded full cast, including Julia Whelan, drew me even deeper into the tangled narrative web that Nagamatsu has woven, making it a personal favorite of mine. —Sean T.
An incredible multicast that includes the voices of Kevin R. Free, JD Jackson, and more adds incredible dimension to Tochi Onyebuchi’s debut adult novel. This sci-fi dystopia feels just familiar enough to be plausible, yet otherworldly enough to satisfy that age-old sci-fi question: What if? I’m a sucker for a multicast, and these performances give this story the gravitas it deserves. —S.D.
With each new entry into this dark, labyrinthian series, I wonder how Tamsyn Muir manages to accomplish it again and again—as I always say, she bewilders me in the best way. Another valid question is how narrator Moira Quirk just keeps getting better and better, even as new mysterious characters (and alternate versions thereof) are introduced to this wildly entertaining, unpredictable series. —S.D.
Action, adventure, and a strong new heroine to root for—N. E. Davenport’s debut science fantasy novel (the first in a duology) drops listeners right into the perils of her richly imagined world and doesn’t let up until the end. Jeanette Illidge delivers a performance that is so layered and versatile that one listener said, “at times, I forgot there was only one audiobook performer.” With a debut this formidable, I predict we can expect more exciting things from this author in the future—and I’m here for it. —S.D.
Mary Robinette Kowal has taken a quick jaunt from her beloved Lady Astronaut series this year to give us this delightful sci-fi mystery. It’s not every author who has a calling to read their own work, but Kowal is positively prolific as a professional narrator, and her performances of her own audiobooks are particularly special. She brings style, humor, and an indescribable flair to her words, and this retro whodunit is no exception. —S.D.
Sylvain Neuvel has a knack for writing short tales that pack a long-lasting emotional punch (see "The Test," which still haunts me), and this story is no exception. But it’s the talented ensemble cast and the means through which they deliver their performances that make this story extra special—jumping between retrospective interviews with the main characters and flashbacks as they try to solve a first-contact mystery. Listening is like being a fly on the wall during one of the most fascinating conversations that could take place in science. —S.D.
My favorite horror novel in a year that was positively crawling with them, Leech is the weird and wild debut of Hiron Ennes (they/them), a writer and med student specializing in infectious diseases. Their scientific expertise underpins the parasitic peculiarities and body horror at play but does little to prepare you for the utter originality of the narrative. Told from the perspective of the parasite—a multi-bodied and -brained representative of the shadowy “Institute”—the action takes place in a crumbling chateau situated somewhere between a postapocalyptic future and the Gothic visions of Mary Shelley and Emily Brontë. British YouTuber Abigail Thorn voices Leech’s distinct dialect and creepy characters (from a decaying old baron to the most unsettling twins since The Shining) in an exquisitely chilling performance. —Kat J.
Queer Cleopatra in space. Enough said. Emery Robin’s ambitious debut space opera—inspired by the lives and romances of Cleopatra and Julius Caesar—is an absolute triumph. The worldbuilding is immersive—fully realized, cinematic, even—and the sharp, stylish language adds to the effect. Esther Wane and Tim Campbell were perfect choices for the shifting perspectives, each complementing the other so that the story flows effortlessly. —S.D.
The latest installment in the Dispatcher series puts a timely spin on its dead-is-never-dead premise by taking us to a post-pandemic world where, much like us, dispatcher (a.k.a. benevolent killer-for-hire) Tony Valdez finds his working conditions have changed. The highlight is narrator Zachary Quinto, who has been at the helm of this series since the beginning and brings a noir swagger to John Scalzi’s transporting words. —S.D.
Hopeful, feel-good sci-fi—is there anyone who does it better than Becky Chambers? The Monk and Robot series continues to feel like a warm cup of tea on a cold day. The author’s specialty is characters that burrow into your hearts, leaving her narrators with no small task, but Em Grosland proves that they are once again up for the job, imbuing both human and robot characters with enormous heart and soul. —S.D.
Emily St. John Mandel made a name for herself in the realm of literary sci-fi with her 2014 novel Station Eleven, and it seems with each new novel, she further cements her status as a luminary in the genre. Sea of Tranquility takes on time travel, space exploration, metaphysics and other big sci-fi concepts and, as this author is so adept at doing, grounds them in reality via unforgettable characters. As a listening experience, it may be her best novel yet—existing fans will recognize the voices of Kirsten Potter (Station Eleven) and Dylan Moore (The Glass Hotel). They’re joined by Arthur Morey and John Lee to round out an outstanding cast of performers worthy of these rich characters. —S.D.
