The Year's Top Short SF Novels 2
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Narrated by:
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Tom Dheere
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Adam Epstein
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Vanessa Hart
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Nancy Linari
About this listen
Short novels are movie length novels that may well be the perfect length for science fiction stories. This unabridged audio collection presents the best-of-the-best short science fiction novels published in 2011, by current and emerging masters of this form.
In "The Ice Owl", by Carolyn Ives Gilman, an adolescent, female, Waster, in the iron city of Glory to God finds an enigmatic tutor who provides her with much more than academic instruction while a fundamentalist revolt is underway.
In the Hugo Award winner, "The Man Who Bridged the Mist", by Kij Johnson, an architect from the capital builds a bridge over a dangerous mist that will change more than just the Empire.
In "Kiss Me Twice", by Mary Robinette Kowal, a detective, with the assistance of the police department's AI - who takes on Mae West's persona - solves a murder with all the flair of an Asimov robot story.
"The Man Who Ended History: A Documentary", by Ken Liu, is a moving chronicle of attempts to witness the history of Japanese atrocities against the Chinese in a World War II prison camp by traveling back in time using Bohm-Kirino particles.
In "The Ants of Flanders", by Robert Reed, a teenage boy, incapable of fear, takes center stage in an alien invasion of Earth that pits alien foes against each other in a war that has no regard for mankind's existence.
Finally, in "Angel of Europa", by Allen M. Steele, an arbiter aboard a space ship, exploring the moons of Jupiter, is resuscitated from a hibernation tank to investigate the deaths of two scientists that took place in a bathyscaphe underneath the global ocean of Europa.
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- Narrated by: Stefan Rudnicki, Mary Robinette Kowal, Justine Eyre
- Length: 15 hrs and 38 mins
- Unabridged
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Mad scientists have never had it so tough. In super-hero comics, graphic novels, films, TV series, video games, and even works of what may be fiction, they are besieged by those who stand against them, devoid of sympathy for their irrational, megalomaniacal impulses to rule, destroy, or otherwise dominate the world as we know it. It’s just not fair. So those of us who are so twisted and sick that we love mad scientists have created this guide.
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HAND DANCING
- By Jim "The Impatient" on 05-30-15
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METAtropolis
- By: Jay Lake, Tobias Buckell, Elizabeth Bear, and others
- Narrated by: Michael Hogan, Scott Brick, Kandyse McClure, and others
- Length: 9 hrs and 7 mins
- Unabridged
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Armed camps of eco-survivalists battle purveyors of technology in this exclusive, original production featuring five sci-fi masters and five all-star narrators.
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Not a wasted credit
- By james on 10-27-08
By: Jay Lake, and others
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The Astounding, the Amazing, and the Unknown
- A Novel
- By: Paul Malmont
- Narrated by: Christopher Lane
- Length: 16 hrs and 14 mins
- Unabridged
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In 1943, when the United States learns that Germany is on the verge of a deadly innovation that could tip the balance of the war, the government turns to an unlikely source for help: the nation’s top science fiction writers. Installed at a covert military lab within the Philadelphia Naval Yard are the most brilliant of these young visionaries. The unruly band is led by Robert Heinlein, the dashing and complicated master of the genre. His “Kamikaze Group,” is tasked with transforming the wonders of science fiction into science fact....
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Pulp Perfection!
- By Jim N on 08-31-12
By: Paul Malmont
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Unwind
- Unwind Dystology, Book 1
- By: Neal Shusterman
- Narrated by: Luke Daniels
- Length: 10 hrs and 9 mins
- Unabridged
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After America’s Second Civil War, the Pro-Choice and Pro-Life armies came to an agreement. According to their Bill of Life, human life may not be terminated from the moment of conception until the age of thirteen. But between the ages of thirteen and eighteen, the child may be gotten rid of by their parent through a process called “unwinding.”
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Chilling, Scary, Difficult to Read
- By Joe on 11-11-20
By: Neal Shusterman
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Angelmaker
- By: Nick Harkaway
- Narrated by: Daniel Weyman
- Length: 18 hrs and 11 mins
- Unabridged
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Joe Spork repairs clocks, a far cry from his late father, a flashy London gangster. But when Joe fixes one particularly unusual device, his life is suddenly upended. Joe's client, Edie Banister, is more than just a kindly old lady - she's a former superspy. And the device? It's a 1950s doomsday machine. And having triggered it, Joe now faces the wrath of both the government and a diabolical South Asian dictator, Edie's old arch-nemesis.
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A cure for the modern cynic
- By Maine Colonial 🌲 on 08-28-12
By: Nick Harkaway
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Superheroes
- By: Peter S. Beagle, Daryl Gregory, James Patrick Kelly, and others
- Narrated by: Oliver Wyman, Joe Barrett, Christina Delaine, and others
- Length: 17 hrs and 5 mins
- Unabridged
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Modern gods and goddesses, remote, revered - and like the pantheon of heroes and heroines of ancient myth - possessing great power tempered with flaws. Now, find within this anthology great tales by gifted and award-winning authors who move superheroes from the four-color panels of comic books to the fantastic pages of fiction, stories that will remind anyone who ever wanted to wear a cape or don a cowl of the extraordinary powers of the imagination!
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Pretentious tired old concepts
- By BookofJoy on 12-29-14
By: Peter S. Beagle, and others
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The Event
- By: Nathan Hystad
- Narrated by: Luke Daniels
- Length: 6 hrs and 33 mins
- Unabridged
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Cities all around the world reported strange alien vessels descending. Some saw them as the heralds of a new age; others fired everything they had at them. All were taken as the beams lashed down and drew them into the sky. Dean was left behind, seemingly the last man on Earth. A trail of clues left by his dead wife guides Dean on a perilous journey across America and beyond to learn the truth behind the mysterious ships and save humanity from its doom.
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Did not inspire me to get the next book.
- By MD on 12-13-18
By: Nathan Hystad
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Lockstep
- By: Karl Schroeder
- Narrated by: Jonathan Todd Ross
- Length: 13 hrs and 20 mins
- Unabridged
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When 17-year-old Toby McGonigal finds himself lost in space, separated from his family, he expects his next drift into cold sleep to be his last. After all, the planet he' s orbiting is frozen and sunless, and the cities are dead. But when Toby wakes again, he' s surprised to discover a thriving planet, a strange and prosperous galaxy, and something stranger still - that he' s been asleep for 14,000 years. Welcome to the Lockstep Empire, where civilization is kept alive by careful hibernation. Here cold sleeps can last decades and waking moments mere weeks.
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A Great Idea, Poorly Served
- By D. M. ROBISON on 04-01-14
By: Karl Schroeder
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City of Stairs
- By: Robert Jackson Bennett
- Narrated by: Alma Cuervo
- Length: 17 hrs and 50 mins
- Unabridged
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The city of Bulikov once wielded the powers of the gods to conquer the world, enslaving and brutalizing millions - until its divine protectors were killed. Now Bulikov has become just another colonial outpost of the world's new geopolitical power, but the surreal landscape of the city itself - first shaped, now shattered, by the thousands of miracles its guardians once worked upon it - stands as a constant, haunting reminder of its former supremacy. Into this broken city steps Shara Thivani.
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Something Different
- By Scott S. on 10-17-14
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Footfall
- By: Larry Niven, Jerry Pournelle
- Narrated by: MacLeod Andrews
- Length: 24 hrs and 34 mins
- Unabridged
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They first appear as a series of dots on astronomical plates, heading from Saturn directly toward Earth. Since the ringed planet carries no life, scientists deduce the mysterious ship to be a visitor from another star. The world's frantic efforts to signal the aliens go unanswered. The first contact is hostile: the invaders blast a Soviet space station, seize the survivors, and then destroy every dam and installation on Earth with a hail of asteriods.
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Larry Niven and Jerry Pournelle at Their Best
- By Flatlander on 06-24-10
By: Larry Niven, and others
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Ink and Bone
- The Great Library
- By: Rachel Caine
- Narrated by: Julian Elfer
- Length: 10 hrs and 26 mins
- Unabridged
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Ruthless and supremely powerful, the Great Library is now a presence in every major city, governing the flow of knowledge to the masses. Alchemy allows the library to deliver the content of the greatest works of history instantly - but the personal ownership of books is expressly forbidden. Jess Brightwell believes in the value of the library, but the majority of his knowledge comes from illegal books obtained by his family, who are involved in the thriving black market.
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don't give up too soon.
- By Janel on 09-11-15
By: Rachel Caine
What listeners say about The Year's Top Short SF Novels 2
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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- S Jones
- 01-22-19
Haunting - a few of the stories
Haunting - the ghosts of a few of the stories have stuck with me through the completion of several other books...like memories you cant shake, one bittersweet, one thoughtprovoking , one humorous...but overall an enjoyable listen.
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- Leland
- 01-07-18
Mixed bag
Most of these stories were not very good. Only a couple, such as "Kiss me twice" and "The man who bridged the Mist" made slugging through the others worthwhile.
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- Peter
- 12-20-13
Some Decent Sci-Fi but with Poor Audio Quality
1. "The Ice Owl" by Carolyn Ives Gilman. Narrated by Vanessa Hart
Story: 2.5 out of 5.
Echo of well-known human historical trends playing out in other world contexts. Character development was good, but story arc could have been much more imaginative.
Narration: 2 of 5.
The talent of the narrator (which seemed well above average) was trampled by the lack of audio quality: sounded like someone whispering through a long pvc pipe, with every "s" sound the loudest. Had to stop when using cheap earphones as it was unlistenable; better earphones shortened the length of the pvc pipe but fundamental shortcoming remained.
2. "Angel of Europa" by Alllen M Steele. Narrated by Tom Dheere.
Story: 3 of 5
Decent realistic and plausible"near future" story of Europa exploration. Basic mystery story reasonably done with space backdrop.
Narration: 3 of 5
The narrator's English was unadorned American midwestern--but almost devoid of emotion or inflection. The parts of the story that had snatches of German sounded more authentic and natural, leading me to think German is his native language--and wishing the whole story could have been in German to get the better voice performance. Recording quality below average
3. "The Ants of Flanders" by Robert Reed. Narrated by Adam Epstein
Story: 4 of 5
Entertaining and imaginative story of how Earth fits into a larger tapestry when a spaceship lands on earth, told from perspective of a totally believable teenager of the millennial or maybe Gen-X variety. The story rewards the reader by taking several large leaps in development that are both unexpected yet plausible. The end is particularly satisfying and succeeds where so many stories fail: ending in a new and fascinating place that is far from where it started, and leaving the reader with excitement, questions, and a hunger for more.
Narration: 3 of 5
It's not clear at the beginning, but the somewhat bland and disinterested tones of the narrator actually help put the reader inside the head of the ambivalent teenage protagonist. Maybe that was not the intent, but it was a welcome effect. Recording quality below average.
4. "The Man Who Ended History" by Ken Liu. Narrated by Nancy Linari
Story: 4 of 5
Fascinating take on the effect technology to allow individuals to virtually witness past events, focusing on the biological experiment atrocities of Japanese Imperial Army's Unit 731 in WWII China While overly long, story does a good job of capturing the the political unintended consequences of the technology and its application.
Narration: 3 of 5
Decent narration, but recording quality below average.
5. "Kiss Me Twice" by Mary Robinnette Koval
Narrated by Tom Dheere
Story: 3 of 5
Cop buddy murder story in very near future where one partner is Artificial Intelligence. Well done, but not a fan of the genre.
Narration: 3 of 5
Decent narration, but recording quality below average.
6. "The Man Who Bridged the Mist" by Kij Johnson
Narrated by Scott Peterson
Story: 3.5 of 5
Slower tempo storytelling than most sci-fi, but satisfying presentation of one episode of industrialization on a planet where its inhabitants don't yet fully understand the bio-diversity of their own environment. Decent examination of the societal impacts of early industry.
Narration: 3 if 5
Decent narration, but recording quality below average.
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- Stephen
- 01-17-13
Don't waste your money
This book wasn’t for you, but who do you think might enjoy it more?
Poor audio stories maybe good but you will not get pat the audio.
What could the authors have done to make this a more enjoyable book for you?
Hired better audio engineers.
What didn’t you like about the narrators’s performance?
Poor
What reaction did this book spark in you? Anger, sadness, disappointment?
Disappointment
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- Jim "The Impatient"
- 12-21-14
GOD CREATED HEAVEN, MEN CREATED HELL
PEOPLE DIDN'T KNOW ENOUGH TO BE PROPERLY TERRIFIED.
Anytime you see Allan Kaster's name on something, turn the other way. I should have know better, having been disappointed by Kaster before. This had four stories from authors, I had interest in. I had recently read stories by Gilman, Steele, and Kowal that were good enough to draw my attention to them. Reed is almost always reliable for a good story, so I took a chance on Kaster, figuring that there were surly one or two good stories in the batch. Wrong, wrong, wrong. When Kaster says Top, what does he mean. Top of the crap, top of the left overs after Dozier, Hartwell, Strahan and everyone else have picked the top stories, top of WHAT?
WE'LL MAKE THAT HARNESS, WHEN THE COLT IS BORN
Gilman and Kowal's stories were so bad, that I could not finish listening. Reed's story was silly, and Liu's story barely good enough to listen to. Steele's story was a little better. Kiji Johnson's story was the best and supposedly won a Hugo. As an experienced reader, let me tell you that awards are not a good indicator of rather a story is good or not. Early on I tried reading most of the award winners, figuring they were the best, WRONG. In this case it is the best read of the group, but not good enough to buy the collection.
There is also problems with the production of some of these stories. The first story sounds like the reader is in a sub basement reading through a mega phone. Some of the others also have problems. The narrators I did not think were terrible, but they won't be winning any awards for their performances. It sounds like they are just getting started in their careers and most will have to go back to their day jobs.
Also, don't bother looking for The Year's top Sci-Fi stories under in the category Science Fiction/Fantasy and Short Stories and Anthologies, as there are no anthologies included under that category, except WE Robots. You will not find any of Kaster's collections there, none of Dozier, George R.R. Martins or the many anthologies by John Joseph Adams. It seems to be the home of Neil Gaiman's stories. Audible is in bad need of a Science Fiction editor. They seem to be overrun with young editors that read Romance and Teen books.
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19 people found this helpful