Simply The Best Audiobooks in Sci-Fi & Fantasy, Sci-Fi: Contemporary Popular Titles

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Title: FreeTopia, Part One

Subtitle: Contract Renewal

Author: John David

Narrator: Reel Audiobooks LLC

Format: Unabridged

Length: 51 mins

Language: English

Release date: 01-02-14

Publisher: John David

Genres: Sci-Fi & Fantasy, Sci-Fi: Contemporary

Publisher's Summary:

Life is different in the New United States.

The Cultural Purity and Reformation Act (CPRA) of 2025 has finally established the true value of citizenship. No longer will a simple accident of birth qualify you for membership in the world's most progressive Nation. Your past doesn't matter . . . and you may not have a future.

The rewards-based society is here at last.

You either move up . . . or out.

Contract Renewal is part one in the FreeTopia series of dystopic fiction from the mind of John David. At approximately 7500 words, or 34 Kindle pages, it is the perfect break or lunchtime read.

Do not expect to reach the end . . . FreeTopia is only just beginning.

This audiobook features an advanced formatting technique, including a multi-tiered table of contents. The story can be read in a linear fashion, chronologically, or by geographic location. There are multiple hyperlinks at the chapter headings and at the end of each chapter. The special formatting and graphics in Contract Renewal may not display correctly in the "preview" feature, but have been tested on multiple ereader and tablet devices, where the book displays exactly as intended.

Members Reviews:

~~"NUS" - New United States!~~

Welcome to the New Untied States! Previously in the US it was believed by many that society owed its citizens a free ride. In the year 2025, this feeling is long gone. Now, the NUS believes that a citizen's right to exist must be paid for in some way.

The Cultural Purity and Reformation Act was passed by the NUS. Any citizen that had accomplishments previously are not given any preferential treatment. Now, all is based on potential..

Oh, I forgot to mention that if a member is no longer beneficial to society, it is up to that member to remove themself! Quite a concept, right?

And, illegal immigrants from the NUS are sent to Mexico. The refuge camp has upwards of 250,000 people in it.

Great beginning and highly recommended..

Thought provoking...

John David launches the reader into a futuristic America by way of Part One-Contract Renewal. We have evolved; and in such, loyalties will be divided and relationships will be tested, as the totalitarian survival of the fittest is the hyper focus in Freetopia's modern society. Not a fan of spoiler reviews, I will mention only that this read contains suspense yet leaves enough meat on the bone to give the reader plenty to contemplate.

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Title: Asterice

Author: B. L. Bates

Narrator: Becky Parker

Format: Unabridged

Length: 11 hrs and 49 mins

Language: English

Release date: 01-02-14

Publisher: Eternal Press (a Division of Damnation Books LLC)

Ratings: 3 of 5 out of 1 votes

Genres: Sci-Fi & Fantasy, Sci-Fi: Contemporary

Publisher's Summary:

Drinking this ice from Heaven could open the gates to Hell. Ice from an asteroid brought in from the belt contains vitamins and minerals invigorating the human metabolism and bringing improved health. It becomes the newest nutritional fad, selling world-wide. The ice also contains an alien virus capable of altering human DNA, causing humans to lose their individuality, their will, and perhaps even their souls. Can four infected individuals find a way to stop the process before humanity is lost?

Members Reviews:

Book Review of AsterIce by Barbara Bates

Barbara Bates has a degree in electrical engineering and a fascination with human nature, ecology, alien invasion and extrasensory perception. All this has helped her write a fine novel in the sci-fi genre. Her book, AsterIce, can be called a sci-fi thriller with elements of romance. The latter, however, are economical, so if the reader is hoping for the usual love story, he will be disappointed.

Yet, AsterIce, has numerous other strong points that make it definitely worth reading. It is full of action and unexpected events. The very first pages grab the readerâs attention and make him turn the pages trying to find out what exactly is going on. Plunged right in the middle of a desperate situation, he is craving for more information. The glimpses are enough, though, to feel and imagine Bernard Du Bonneâs pain and determination.

The Du Bonne family is running enterprises of the same name. Tanya Du Bonne, Bernardâs wife, is the most full-blooded character of the set. She has everything: sensitivity, intellect, strength and loyalty. Her children, Brenan and Tina, popping up in various situations, appeal to the human longing for a stable and fruitful relationship. Such is the relationship of Richard and Elaine, Bernardâs brother and his wife. The latter is the only one not directly involved in Du Bonne Enterprises. She provides the reader with a peek of what law enforcement might be like in the future.

However, AsterIce is not a family saga. It has traces of the present-day competition between huge corporations with all its underhand methods for profit this may involve. Du Bonne Enterprises main competitor, Locus Solar Industries, has a well-chosen name as locust is the place where something is particularly known to exist, or which is the centre of something. In this case the Industries are the focal center that inadvertently assists an alien attack on humans.

All this is told by an omniscient narrator that helps the reader observe and empathize with every single character. Biological and technological data is easily understood even by laymen and adds to the credibility of the story. The authorâs language is clear, precise and enthralling.

To sum up, AsterIce is a novel to be enjoyed by people of varied interests who want to be entertained, educated, thrilled and satisfied.

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Title: Knight's Blood

Author: Julianne Lee

Narrator: Katina Kalin

Format: Unabridged

Length: 10 hrs and 10 mins

Language: English

Release date: 12-30-13

Publisher: Audible Studios

Genres: Sci-Fi & Fantasy, Sci-Fi: Contemporary

Publisher's Summary:

U.S. Navy Pilot Lt. Alex MacNeil and his wife Lindsay have returned from their adventure in fourteenth century Scotland - and given birth to a son. But the magic realm is not through with them yet...

The MacNeils' child has been kidnapped - presumably by Nemed, the elfin king and the couple's sworn enemy - and brought back into the past. Feeling responsible, Lindsay ventures to medieval Scotland on her own, in pursuit of Nemed. Once again in the guise of Sir Lindsay Pawlowski, she joins a company of rogue knights, led by a man who calls himself "An Reubair"...

It isn't long before her true identity is discovered, but Lindsay proves her worth among the bandits. As time passes, she finds herself drawn to their lifestyle - and to Reubair - and is torn between reuniting with her family and embracing her warrior's life.

And soon she will confront Alex, who has also returned to Scotland and resumed his place as laird. And her son, now a fully grown man and resentful of his parents' abandonment...

Members Reviews:

I enjoyed reading Knight's Blood

I enjoyed reading Knight's Blood. It had more sci-fi in it than anticipated but it was an enjoyable read nonetheless.

Interesting

LibraryThing Book Review

Alex MacNeil and his wife Lindsay recently returned to 21st century after being in 1315 awaiting the birth of their child but nothing is as it appears in the future. Alex and Lindsay's baby is kidnapped and replaced with a changeling. Both of them rush to return to the past in search of their son. Alex is confronted with a young man that eerily looks like his brother claiming to be his son. Trefor is an unknown quantity for both Alex and Lindsay. Lindsay wants her baby boy not this young man. Who is behind the kidnapping? Will Alex and Lindsay accept Trefor as their son? Your answers await you in Knight's Blood.

I really like books about time travel. I thought the characters and story were compelling and interesting too. I'll be honest I wasn't a fan of the son. I'll definitely read the next book in the series.

more action than the first+a bit more fantasy=more sinister!

Julianne Lee continues the adventure of Alex and Lindsey in the second book, Knight's Blood and gives it a twist that I honestly haven't seen coming.

This book might even have more action than the first, if that's possible and I frankly liked it a lot.

She also adds a bit more fantasy in this one, and it made the story a bit more sinister, which is a good thing.

What made me sad was the relationship between all the main characters as they tried to come to terms with their past, especially Lindsey.

Alex, this time around, looked like he handled the situations a bit better than before.

Like the earlier book, this will appeal to all time travel and medieval romance fans.

A good fantasy, third in the series

Although this book is evidently number 3 and I haven't read the first ones, I was able to pick up the situation pretty well. It's a fantasy about a Lord and Lady in Robert the Bruce's time who are actually from our time (I don't know why--must have been in previous books). The Lady is 1/2 Fae. She's kidnapped by a full Fae Lord who has had the hots for her since seeing her fight in previous books. Her husband sets out to rescue her and gets captured himself, along with his priest, and thrown in the Fae Lord's dungeon, grievously wounded.

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Title: Centerpieces

Author: Penelope Przekop

Narrator: Jonathan Pearl

Format: Unabridged

Length: 8 hrs and 5 mins

Language: English

Release date: 12-13-13

Publisher: Penelope Przekop

Ratings: 4 of 5 out of 1 votes

Genres: Sci-Fi & Fantasy, Sci-Fi: Contemporary

Publisher's Summary:

The life of an artist is hard, but being a vampire is even harder...

Vincent van Gogh fakes his death. Ellis Spenser longs to paint.

Holly Carter conceals a famous lineage. Theo van Gogh gains his health, but loses the woman he loves. Mimi Calais says she's a vampire.... Tom Spencer hatches a plan.

Ellis and Tom Spencer oversee the drug safety organization in one of the world's largest and most respected companies, Pratt Pharmaceuticals. Tom's deviant plan for their future begins to splinter when Ellis meets Holly Carter, a lonely Southern woman who has come to New York to pursue art while furthering her pharmaceutical career. Holly lives in a Greenwich Village apartment building owned by Mimi, a mysterious young woman whose claims of being a vampire remind Holly that life goes on.

As Ellis pursues Holly, the past and present begin to overlap. Dark secrets emerge amidst Mimi's bizarre bookstore, strip clubs, galleries, brownstones, corporate culture, and Starbucks ad nauseam.

Two sets of extraordinary brothers, and two very different women, struggle to carve out unique identities in a world where middle age is the beginning of the end; corporate puppets and dreaming immigrants rub shoulders in the hallowed burning halls of Ellis Island, and forever takes on new meaning.

Van Gogh only sold one painting during his lifetime. Based on extensive research, Centerpieces explores the miraculous explosion of Van Gogh's work shortly after his suicide and the death of his brother, Theo, six months later.

Join Vincent in a journey of self-discovery, friendship, betrayal, fantasy, corporate intrigue, and love. Find out what he sacrificed for art.

Members Reviews:

Intriguing

I really enjoyed this book because it was so different from anything else I'd read. Having worked in the pharma industry myself, I particularly liked the reflections on corporate life. The initial parallelism between van Gogh and the CEO of a pharma company made me think, as did the reflections on the roles of colour and emotion in the tapestry of life. I appreciated the endnote explaining where fiction departed from fact as I had been wondering as I read. Very original.

Centerpieces by Penelope Przekop

When I first decided to read this book, I did so based upon the fact that it had an interesting premise, a unique story to tell. That is one of the main criteria I use for picking many of the books I decide to read. It has to engage me in some way. Since I love art and history, I thought it was intriguing that the author chose to interweave the life of van Gogh with those of modern characters, namely Ellis and Tom Spencer, Holly Carter, who all work for a pharmaceutical company, and the mysterious Mimi, who owns a bizarre bookstore and thinks she's a vampire. So now we have an interesting premise, a mix of time, art and history, and some quirky characters. So far so good.

As I delved further into the story of these characters and how they connect with van Gogh, I couldn't help but to think, on many occasions, that this was the type of book Oprah would have loved to pick for her book club. I've read some of Oprah's picks and she has an affinity for the literary, the unusual, and the complex stories of complex people. Although this is a slim book, a mere 175 pages, it is filled to brimming with all the above.

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Title: Redemption

Subtitle: The Bloodlight Chronicles

Author: Steve Stanton

Narrator: Kyle Munley

Format: Unabridged

Length: 8 hrs and 33 mins

Language: English

Release date: 12-11-13

Publisher: Audible Studios

Genres: Sci-Fi & Fantasy, Sci-Fi: Contemporary

Publisher's Summary:

Presenting the thrilling culmination of the epic sci-fi series, this novel revisits a world where global economic activity is carried out in a virtual-gaming realm. A new blood-transmitted virus has become a black market staple due to its rejuvenating effects, forcing infected Eternals into a tightly knit underground where they must hack the V-net for food and shelter. When the leader of the Eternals, Helena Sharp, begins to lose her immortality, she flees to an old lover for strength and solace as the entire Eternal community is thrown into chaos. Meanwhile, the young clone Niko discovers the truth about her gifted daughter, who carries the future heritage of humanity in her augmented DNA. This knowledge forces Niko to confront her progenitor, Phillip Davis, with a litany of experimental abuseonly to discover that Phillip has fully integrated his persona with the AI Beast who controls V-space. With the aid of the charismatic avatar Philomena, he embarks on a program of manipulation and control that will redefine the boundaries of death and consciousness. Advancing the post-cyberpunk genre into new territory, this compelling series delves into intriguing questions of religion, God, family, and the universes central source of life.

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Title: Space Disasters

Author: Jordan K

Narrator: Trevor Palczynski

Format: Unabridged

Length: 23 mins

Language: English

Release date: 12-04-13

Publisher: Jordan K

Genres: Sci-Fi & Fantasy, Sci-Fi: Contemporary

Publisher's Summary:

Finally, after 14 years, it is finally here, painstakingly recreated and retyped exactly as it was back in the year 1999. Every typo, grammar error, and format choice in detail, Space Disasters makes its debut, now complete with a brand new cover design. Randall, part of the E.L.S.E. program is on a space mission and is sent back in time when his spaceship inadvertently flies through a black hole.

Members Reviews:

Space Disasters

This literary masterpiece will no doubt be a seminal work in American Literature! The author's descriptions of the pastoral background and use of excitement, in plot development, place him or her on par with the likes of Nathaniel Hawthorne and Truman Capote. I am hopeful that this author will produce such quality works in the future. His or her literary genius is truly a gift to posterity.

The purest form of brilliance

Space disasters is quite possibly the greatest story of a generation. It's not just a short story written by some naive, nearly illiterate, middle school aged kid, it's an exploration into a mind so advanced that the author is commonly believed to have telekinetic powers. Kursewicz's use of the English language is so profound and awe inspiring that on average the ten-page book takes four months to finish. Kursewicz really engages the reader, capturing his or her attention so immensely that without an avid supervisor many readers forget to manage bodily functions in a sanitary fashion. Those considering reading this ten-page experience should do so responsibly and use the buddy system.

A sixth grader wrote this????? Amazing!

The first few paragraphs featured in the free preview will have you salivating for more! Well worth your hard-earned 99 cents!

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Title: Snipe Hunt

Author: Carol Hightshoe

Narrator: Rish Outfield

Format: Unabridged

Length: 16 mins

Language: English

Release date: 12-04-13

Publisher: WolfSinger Publications

Genres: Sci-Fi & Fantasy, Sci-Fi: Contemporary

Publisher's Summary:

When a group of aliens land in the backwoods of Louisiana - a trio of "country boys" take them on a snipe hunt.

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Title: Caissa's Favor

Subtitle: The Two Moons of Rehnor

Author: J. Naomi Ay

Narrator: J. Naomi Ay, Kirk Hanley

Format: Unabridged

Length: 1 hr and 8 mins

Language: English

Release date: 12-03-13

Publisher: Jackie Ayzenberg

Genres: Sci-Fi & Fantasy, Sci-Fi: Contemporary

Publisher's Summary:

A Two Moons of Rehnor novella.

Space Cadet Katie Golden is on her way to the Allied Spaceforce Academy when the spaceplane is boarded by Talasian Pirates. Katie is forced to take evasive action to save her treasured chess pieces, the white queen and black king that were given to her years ago by a strange alien boy. Will Katie's actions doom her career before it even starts?

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Title: Kindred Spirits

Author: Julianne Lee

Narrator: Katina Kalin

Format: Unabridged

Length: 12 hrs and 30 mins

Language: English

Release date: 11-25-13

Publisher: Audible Studios

Ratings: 3 of 5 out of 3 votes

Genres: Sci-Fi & Fantasy, Sci-Fi: Contemporary

Publisher's Summary:

Shelby adores her new house, until she learns it's haunted by a grieving Confederate soldier. When a mystical spell in a hidden diary transports her to the nineteenth century, where she becomes the writer of the diary, she finds herself torn between wanting to go home and needing to stay. She realizes she is the only hope for the survival of the family she has come to love.

Editorial Reviews:

There are few things as momentous as moving into your very own house. Shelby absolutely loves her new home, but unfortunately it seems to also house the lost soul of a Confederate soldier. Rather than cowering in fear, Shelby finds her interest piqued, and after coming upon a mysterious diary, she finds herself transported back to the 19th century. Performed by the warm and gentle-voiced, Katina Kalin, Kindred Spirits is an engrossing tale of time travel, perseverance, and unexpected romance.

Members Reviews:

Engaging and well written

Having read the Son of the Sword series quite a few years ago I was impressed then as now with Kindred Spirits how well the author writes. It is becoming a bit of a rarity on Amazon to find a novel where the author truly has a gift for storytelling and can set it down with some sophistication and style. The story is engaging, well written and well researched. The main character is captivating and realistic. Would love to see some of the other books on Kindle to buy this authors whole collection.

Fantastic!

An absolutely fantastic novel! I loved the main character, Shelby, a strong, smart, and determined woman. I wanted to keep reading even when it was getting quite late, and couldn't wait to continue reading the next day. Needless to say, I am looking forward to reading more from Julianne Lee!

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Title: Tarbabies

Author: Allen R. Brady

Narrator: Allen R. Brady

Format: Unabridged

Length: 9 hrs and 12 mins

Language: English

Release date: 11-25-13

Publisher: Spore Press LLC

Ratings: 3 of 5 out of 4 votes

Genres: Sci-Fi & Fantasy, Sci-Fi: Contemporary

Publisher's Summary:

That thing on the porch won't go away.

I called the police, but I don't think they're coming. They've got their hands full with the Manhattan quarantine, so they can't waste their time on a nothing little town like Otterkill.

That means it's up to me and the neighbors, and there are fewer of us every day. Fewer of us, and more of them. Every person we lose is one more monster to deal with. The Spiller family, the folks from the Retirement Center, even the Mathises' Rottweiler are now stalking the streets, waiting for someone to get too close. A single touch is all it takes.

I don't know which of my neighbors became the thing on the porch, and I suppose it doesn't matter. I've got to get out of here, but the Tarbabies are already showing up in Albany, and Philadelphia, and Pittsburgh. There's nowhere left to run, and there's no point in hiding. Not when the shadows themselves are after you.

Members Reviews:

More YA Horror than Straight up Horror

The tarbabies, while it wasn't disclosed how they were created, where these shambling slow creatures that hide in the shadows during the day and come out only at night. Here's the interesting part, if you even so much as brush up against a tarbaby, suddenly all pain will leave you and a euphoric hilarity will overcome you, all while the sticky black tar consumes your body and you become on of them, living only to transform the next victim. With stories that boast themselves as a horror novel I really want or look forward to something that I can really sink my teeth into, I want edge of my seat tension, maybe some gory action scenes, a scary or evil villain or a freakishly horrifying monster. Sadly, for me, Allen R. Brady didn't deliver a horror story that I was expecting. However, he created a very interesting science fiction thriller story. I just didn't get sucked in as I have in other horror stories very minimal tense moments. There was one particularly violent action scene that made me want more and there was little else in the department. If you are looking for an easy listening, low stress and violence, sci-fi monster story you will like Tarbabies very much. I am looking forward to more from Bradey as he has a great imagination and a very easy going writing style that I could see creating something really great.

Audiobook provided for review by the author.

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