Viewpoint's Sci-Fi Recommendations

All Systems Red

Murderbot Diaries: Book #1

By: Martha Wells
Narrated by: Kevin R. Free
Length: 3 hours 17 minutes

“This is a story with the idea of humanity and survival at its heart, wrapped in anxiety, avoiding people, and rewatching favorite tv shows for comfort. The main character has freed its mind from the slavery of a corporation and struggles with the next step of freeing its body, when its current job, with nicer than usual humans, goes sideways and... Read more

All the Water in the World

A Novel

By: Eiren Caffall
Narrated by: Eunice Wong
Length: 8 hours 41 minutes

“All the Water in the World by Eiren Caffall is cli-fi for anyone who loved Station Eleven. It's a beautiful look at what we do to stay connected and what we save when the world has mostly ended. It deals with some tough topics and it gets a little gritty, but overall it's just a gorgeous read. Read more

Gideon the Ninth

Locked Tomb: Book #1

By: Tamsyn Muir
Narrated by: Moira Quirk
Length: 16 hours 49 minutes

“This is everything I wanted in a book and more. Gideon is likable but flawed, Harrow is horrible and unforgettable, and the prose occasionally turns hauntingly beautiful. The narration helps make a complex world become real and the characters friends you may or may not want to invite over to dinner. It depends on whether your folks are there. Read more

Kindred

By: Octavia E. Butler
Narrated by: Kim Staunton
Length: 10 hours 54 minutes

“The novel is narrated by Dana,  a Black writer  is transported from 1976 back to a slave plantation in the Antebellum South, where she meets two of her ancestors: the White son of the slave owner, and a young free Black woman, who is eventually trapped,  enslaved and made his concubine. Dana struggles to survive in this hostile world, and has to... Read more

The Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet

Wayfarers: Book #1

By: Becky Chambers
Narrated by: Rachel Dulude
Length: 14 hours 23 minutes

“This gripping, diverse novel, set well after Earth's residents have scattered to Mars, other planets, and itinerant spacecraft, is as scientifically and sociopolitically plausible as any science fiction I've ever read or listened to. The characters, from a variety of alien species along with AI, have wide-ranging journeys that speak to our... Read more

A Memory Called Empire

Teixcalaan: Book #1

By: Arkady Martine
Narrated by: Amy Landon
Length: 15 hours 36 minutes

“I loved this winner of the 2020 Hugo Award for the best science fiction novel, and I'm immediately starting on the second book in the Teixcalaan series, A Desolation Called Peace (winner of the 2022 Hugo). This novel moves quickly in a satisfying and rich setting as a new ambassador to the vast Teixcalaan empire arrives from a mining space... Read more

Moonbound

A Novel

By: Robin Sloan
Narrated by: Gabra Zackman
Length: 10 hours 40 minutes

“In a post-apocalyptic far-future, where the animals speak and the sky is shrouded, there are no children, save one—a boy meant for more, who must choose between a story written for him, and writing his own. This is pure, old-school adventure, a legend crossing roads and forests, wizards and spaceships, robots, beavers, and scholars, a narrator... Read more

A Psalm for the Wild-Built

A Monk and Robot Book

Monk & Robot: Book #1

By: Becky Chambers
Narrated by: Em Grosland
Length: 4 hours 8 minutes

“Lovely story about a tea monk who meets a wild-built robot who must learn what it is that people need. The book is a bit existential, but in a hopeful way. I recommend doing a tandem read if possible, listening to the audiobook with the physical copy in front of you as well! Read more

Sleeping Giants

The Themis Files: Book #1

By: Sylvain Neuvel
Narrated by: Various
Length: 8 hours 27 minutes

“Suspenseful sci-fi!! Excellent! Great characters! Read more

This Is How You Lose The Time War

By: Amal El-Mohtar & Max Gladstone
Narrated by: Cynthia Farrell & Emily Woo Zeller
Length: 4 hours 15 minutes

“Such an interesting futuristic story! The battle of Red versus Blue - tech vs. garden - through time was a fun trip to read. I especially enjoyed how the main characters by fighting each other grew to love each other. It was also super nice to read a sci-fi book that isn't 1,000 pages long and still have enough detail that you aren't lost in the... Read more