2021 Hugo Awards Finalists

Black Sun

Between Earth and Sky: Book #1

By: Rebecca Roanhorse
Narrated by: Cara Gee, Nicole Lewis, Kaipo Schwab & Shaun Taylor-Corbett
Length: 12 hours 46 minutes

“‘Today he would become a god.’ From the first line, Black Sun pulls you in and keeps you enthralled until the very end. Roanhorse submerges the reader into a cinematic world full of adventure, lore, magic, mystery, destiny, culture, political maneuvering, and a touch of romance. Her world building is complex, detailed, and beautiful springing... Read more

The City We Became

A Novel

The Great Cities: Book #1

By: N. K. Jemisin
Narrated by: Robin Miles
Length: 16 hours 12 minutes

“I've listened to mediocre books made awesome by a talented narrator, but this book is a case of a fantastic story made even more engaging by phenomenal narrator Robin Miles. The story is like Neil Gaiman meets Jeff VanDerMeer as New York City's boroughs personified seek to save their city (and themselves) from an ancient interdimensional threat.... Read more

Harrow the Ninth

Locked Tomb: Book #2

By: Tamsyn Muir
Narrated by: Moira Quirk
Length: 19 hours 50 minutes

Harrow the Ninth, the sequel to the sensational, USA Today bestselling novel Gideon the Ninth, turns a
galaxy inside out as one necromancer struggles to survive the wreckage of herself aboard the Emperor’s haunted
space station.

Harrowhark Nonagesimus, last necromancer of the Ninth House, has been drafted by her Emperor to fight an
unwinnable war.... Read more

Network Effect

Murderbot Diaries: Book #5

By: Martha Wells
Narrated by: Kevin R. Free
Length: 12 hours 47 minutes

“Martha Wells’ Murderbot Diaries has become one of my favorite series of all time, and Network Effect is a perfect addition. Murderbot is still trying to figure out what it wants after hacking its governor module. In the meantime, it spends its days protecting the humans it cares about. Of course, everything goes terribly wrong when a friend... Read more

Upright Women Wanted

By: Sarah Gailey
Narrated by: Romy Nordlinger
Length: 3 hours 52 minutes

“Sarah Gailey has made me fall in love with them all over again. This novel is quirky, occasionally funny, and constantly heart wrenching. It's for anyone who's ever felt out of place, and a reminder of the beauty that can come when you accept yourself and find your people. Read more

Riot Baby

By: Tochi Onyebuchi
Narrated by: Tochi Onyebuchi
Length: 3 hours 46 minutes

Ella has a Thing. She sees a classmate grow up to become a caring nurse. A neighbor’s son murdered in a drive-by shooting. Things that haven’t happened yet. Kev, born while Los Angeles burned around them, wants to protect his sister from a power that could destroy her. But when Kev is incarcerated, Ella must decide what it means to watch her... Read more

Ring Shout

By: P. Djèlí Clark
Narrated by: Channie Waites
Length: 5 hours 36 minutes

“Great for fans of Lovecraft Country, Ring Shout takes very real terrors and mixes them with demonic horrors that feed off hatred and racism in a fast paced novella you won't want to put down. Read more

Finna

Poems

By: Nate Marshall
Narrated by: Nate Marshall
Length: 1 hour 35 minutes

Sharp, lyrical poems celebrating the Black vernacular—its influence on pop culture, its necessity for familial survival, its rite in storytelling and in creating the safety found only within its intimacy

“Terrific . . . illuminates life in this country in a strikingly original way.”—Ron Charles, The Washington Post

NAMED ONE OF THE BEST BOOKS OF... Read more

The Empress of Salt and Fortune

Singing Hills Cycle

By: Nghi Vo
Narrated by: Cindy Kay
Length: 2 hours 25 minutes

“This intersection between stories, their tellers, and how we create memory is a must listen for anyone who loves complex, interwoven tales centered on female and other overlooked voices. Read more

Come Tumbling Down

Wayward Children: Book #5

By: Seanan McGuire
Narrated by: Seanan McGuire
Length: 3 hours 51 minutes

“Seanan McGuire strikes again with another breathtakingly beautiful fantasy! The Wayward Children series is an amazing collection of novellas for those who love the unique and bizarre, who long to see themselves in fiction, who want to lose themselves in words. This particular installment returns to some of her very best characters and can be... Read more

The Empire of Gold

A Novel

The Daevabad Trilogy: Book #3

By: S. A. Chakraborty
Narrated by: Soneela Nankani
Length: 28 hours 37 minutes

""No series since George R.R. Martin’s A Song of Ice and Fire has quite captured both palace intrigue and the way that tribal infighting and war hurt the vulnerable the most."" —Paste Magazine
The final chapter in the bestselling, critically acclaimed Daevabad Trilogy, in which a con-woman and an idealistic djinn prince join forces to save a... Read more

A Handful of Earth, A Handful of Sky

The World of Octavia Butler

By: Lynell George
Narrated by: Adenrele Ojo
Length: 4 hours 14 minutes

A Handful of Earth, A Handful of Sky: The World of Octavia E. Butler offers a blueprint for a creative life from the perspective of award-winning science-fiction writer and “MacArthur Genius” Octavia E. Butler. It is a collection of ideas about how to look, listen, breathe — how to be in the world. 

This audiobook is about the creative process.... Read more

Beowulf: A New Translation

By: Maria Dahvana Headley
Narrated by: JD Jackson & Maria Dahvana Headley
Length: 4 hours 8 minutes

“Bro! This is not your English teacher's Beowulf. Maria Dahvana Headley's "radical new translation" takes the familiar story of man versus monster and turns it into something both completely new and also as timeless as the original. What happens when Beowulf is less hero and more party boy? Or when Grendel's mother isn't a monster but just a... Read more

Raybearer

The Raybearer Series: Book #1

By: Jordan Ifueko
Narrated by: Joniece Abbott-Pratt
Length: 13 hours 48 minutes

“Such a cool fantasy novel with an incredible magic system! Perfect for fans of "Children of Blood and Bone." I highly recommend listening to the audiobook to further immerse yourself in this beautiful world that Ifueko has created. Read more

Legendborn

The Legendborn Cycle

By: Tracy Deonn
Narrated by: Joniece Abbott-Pratt
Length: 18 hours 54 minutes

“Imagine a world where the enchanting magic of Harry Potter collides with the vibrant life of college campuses. Picture young witches and wizards navigating the trials of academia, forging friendships, and discovering their true identities while mastering spells and brewing potions. Join them on an adventure filled with late-night study sessions,... Read more

A Deadly Education

A Novel

The Scholomance: Book #1

By: Naomi Novik
Narrated by: Anisha Dadia
Length: 10 hours 58 minutes

“A Deadly Education takes a fresh stab at the magical boarding school setting in this inventive and compelling new novel from Naomi Novik. Galadriel Higgins is a student at Scholomance, a dangerous institution full of things that don’t just go bump in the night, they tend to maim and murder the students. In such a perilous place, it’s important... Read more

Cemetery Boys

Cemetery Boys: Book #1

By: Aiden Thomas
Narrated by: Avi Roque
Length: 13 hours 47 minutes

“A wonderful own-voices-story celebrating intersections of transness, queerness and Latinx culture. It’s a book you can hardly put away and is both heartwarming and crushing at the same time. Read more

A Wizard's Guide to Defensive Baking

By: T. Kingfisher
Narrated by: Patricia Santomasso
Length: 8 hours 30 minutes

“Can a 14 year old bread wizard, an orphan thief, a gingerbread man and a sourdough started save their kingdom? You'll have to read to find out! Read more