QRB's Sci-Fi/Fantasy Book Club Picks

House of Suns

By: Alastair Reynolds
Narrated by: John Lee
Length: 18 hours 17 minutes

“What if your family reunion came once every 200,000 years? Oh, and also, your entire family was clones of you. And you were running a few decades late because you had to stop and rescue a sentient robot. And by the time you and your new robot pal and your sister-clone-lover got to the reunion, everyone else was dead. A murder mystery on the... Read more

The Sun and the Void

By: Gabriela Romero Lacruz
Narrated by: Natalia Castellanos
Length: 16 hours 53 minutes

"Evocative and captivating. An enthralling tale of ancient gods, dangerous magic, family and love." ―​Sue Lynn Tan, author of Daughter of the Moon Goddess

Two women embark on a unforgettable quest that draws them into a world of dark gods and ancient magic in this sweeping fantasy debut inspired by the history and folklore of colonial South... Read more

Radiance

By: Catherynne M. Valente
Narrated by: Heath Miller
Length: 13 hours 39 minutes

Severin Unck's father is a famous director of Gothic romances in an alternate 1986 in which talking movies are still a daring innovation due to the patent-hoarding Edison family. Rebelling against her father's films of passion, intrigue, and spirits from beyond, Severin starts making documentaries, traveling through space and investigating the... Read more

Daughter of the Moon Goddess

A Novel

Celestial Kingdom: Book #1

By: Sue Lynn Tan
Narrated by: Natalie Naudus
Length: 15 hours

“This book was an amazing debut. The story of Xingyin just keeps you so invested. Magic, dragons, Chinese folklore, a love story, betrayal and plenty of action. Read more

Destroyer of Light

By: Jennifer Marie Brissett
Narrated by: Cherise Boothe & Landon Woodson
Length: 9 hours 57 minutes

The Matrix meets an Afro-futuristic retelling of Persephone set in a science fiction underworld of aliens, refugees, and genetic engineering in Jennifer Marie Brissett's Destroyer of Light

Kirkus—Best Fiction Books of the Year 2021
Tor.com—Best of the Year 2021
New York Public Library—Nine New Sci-Fi & Fantasy Reads
Bookriot—20 Must Read Space... Read more

The Lathe of Heaven

By: Ursula K. Le Guin
Narrated by: George Guidall
Length: 6 hours 48 minutes

A classic science fiction novel by one of the greatest writers of the genre, set in a future world where one man's dreams control the fate of humanity. In a future world racked by violence and environmental catastrophes, George Orr wakes up one day to discover that his dreams have the ability to alter reality. He seeks help from Dr. William... Read more

The Cabinet

By: Un-su Kim
Narrated by: Jun Hwang
Length: 10 hours 29 minutes

Winner of the Munhakdongne Novel Award, South Korea's most prestigious literary prize.

Cabinet 13 looks exactly like any normal filing cabinet…Except this cabinet is filled with files on the ‘symptomers’, humans whose strange abilities and bizarre experiences might just mark the emergence of a new species.

But to Mr Kong, the harried office worker... Read more

The Unlikely Escape of Uriah Heep

A Novel

By: H. G. Parry
Narrated by: Calum Gittens
Length: 18 hours 3 minutes

“A tale of two brothers, one of whom seems to live a charmed life, leaving his lawyer brother to clean up after his mix-ups and misunderstandings. Now, after years apart, they find themselves sharing a city again. Things begin to get dark, in a very literary sense. Lawyer Rob has to face some unpleasant skeletons in the family bookshelf.This was... Read more

The Seep

By: Chana Porter
Narrated by: Shakina Nayfack
Length: 3 hours 4 minutes

“Weird, emotional little book! Aliens in the form of weird tech, people becoming babies again, it's chaotic in the best way. Read more

The City of Brass

A Novel

By: S. A. Chakraborty
Narrated by: Soneela Nankani
Length: 20 hours 1 minute

“S.A. Chakraborty introduces a fantasy set in the Middle East that thrusts us into the magical world of Daevabad. The City of Brass follows, in parallel, Nahri, a con artist and naturally gifted healer, and Ali, prince of Daevabad and fiercely trained soldier. Nahri and Ali find themselves learning new lessons on how to survive changing... Read more

Gearbreakers

Gearbreakers: Book #1

By: Zoe Hana Mikuta
Narrated by: Catherine Ho & Cindy Kay
Length: 12 hours 4 minutes

We went past praying to deities and started to build them instead.

The shadow of Godolia’s tyrannical rule is spreading, aided by their giant mechanized weapons known as Windups. War and oppression are everyday constants for the people of the Badlands, who live under the thumb of their cruel Godolia overlords.

Eris Shindanai is a Gearbreaker, a... Read more

Good Morning, Midnight

A Novel

By: Lily Brooks-Dalton
Narrated by: John H. Mayer & Hillary Huber
Length: 8 hours 38 minutes

“A remarkable and gifted debut novel” (Colson Whitehead) about two outsiders—a lonely scientist in the Arctic and an astronaut trying to return to Earth—as they grapple with love, regret, and survival in a world transformed. 

THE INSPIRATION FOR THE NETFLIX ORIGINAL FILM THE MIDNIGHT SKY, DIRECTED BY AND STARRING GEORGE CLOONEY

Augustine, a... Read more

The Atlas Six

Atlas Series: Book #1

By: Olivie Blake
Narrated by: Andy Ingalls, Caitlin Kelly, Damian Lynch, David Monteith, James Patrick Cronin, Munirih Grace, Siho Ellsmore & Steve West
Length: 15 hours 59 minutes

“Loved getting to know all of the characters through their different POVs. And there were so many POVs…somehow I didn’t get overwhelmed and all of the characters were distinct from each other. They truly became real people to me, who were endearing, frustrating, annoying and quite scary (looking at you Callum). Read more

The Space Between Worlds

By: Micaiah Johnson
Narrated by: Nicole Lewis
Length: 11 hours 46 minutes

“I was thoroughly impressed by this imaginative debut high-concept sci-fi novel about multiverse travel! The protagonist, Cara, is unapologetically Queer, fearless and delightfully snarky! The social commentary is currently relevant and on point! Fans of confronting parallel selves, genre-bending political thrillers and depictions of dystopian... Read more

Rosewater

The Wormwood Trilogy: Book #1

By: Tade Thompson
Narrated by: Bayo Gbadamosi
Length: 13 hours 37 minutes

“I'm recommended books everywhere I go and I spend my life in indie bookshops all over the world and this one had come up in various conversations. I didn't read the blurb so I was going in virtually blind. I'd classify this as a slow burner but when it gets going it REALLY gets going. The poetry was what hooked me at first. There are a couple of... Read more

A Big Ship at the Edge of the Universe

The Salvagers: Book #1

By: Alex White
Narrated by: Charlotte Blacklock
Length: 14 hours 13 minutes

A crew of outcasts tries to find a legendary ship before it falls into the hands of those who would use it as a weapon in this science fiction adventure series for fans of The Expanse and Firefly.

A washed-up treasure hunter, a hotshot racer, and a deadly secret society.

They're all on a race against time to hunt down the greatest warship ever... Read more

A Deadly Education

A Novel

The Scholomance: Book #1

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

“K. First up. A HUGE shout out to the narrator of the audiobooks. Anisha Dadia BROUGHT El and this story to life for me in such vivid color. She perfectly captured the prickly, smart, and sarcastic El in all her awkward outcast glory. And this is important because El is telling us the story...I have loved how El changed and developed over the... Read more

Machinehood

By: S.B. Divya
Narrated by: Inés del Castillo & Deepti Gupta
Length: 11 hours 40 minutes

Zero Dark Thirty meets The Social Network in this “clever…gritty” (Ken Liu, author of The Grace of Kings) science fiction thriller about artificial intelligence, sentience, and labor rights in a near future dominated by the gig economy—from Hugo Award nominee S.B. Divya.

Welga Ramirez, executive bodyguard and ex-special forces, is about to retire... Read more

A Master of Djinn

Dead Djinn Universe: Book #1

By: P. Djèlí Clark
Narrated by: Suehyla El-Attar
Length: 15 hours 37 minutes

“Fatma el-Sha’arawi is one of the most talented agents in Ciaro’s Ministry of Alchemy, Enchantments and Supernatural Entities. Though it is 1912, she has worked her way up the male-dominated agency with a combination of raw magical talent, wit, and force of will. When a room of men burnt to a crisp with no sign of fire shows up, Fatma is put on... Read more

The Extraordinaries

The Extraordinaries: Book #1

By: TJ Klune
Narrated by: Michael Lesley
Length: 12 hours 56 minutes

“This was much easier for me to get into as an audio. I found it quite entertaining & sweet. I was laughing out loud at times. Klune has once again brought us a quirky & charming tale wrapped up in very different paper. Read more