Apocalyptic & Dystopian Audiobooks | Science Fiction & Fantasy

Beyond the gate, destiny awaits … An alien message is now humanity’s only hope. Decoding the signal has given us one chance to stop the Anomaly, an evertightening cosmic noose, before it squeezes the life out of Earth. The only problem is, the aliens’ single instruction sounds like a bona fide death wish. They want me to step through their incredible quantum gateway, an enigma wrapped in starlight. Believe me: if I had any other option, I’d be taking it. But with the best data giving Earth a few days before the Anomaly consumes us, options are in short supply. Suicide or salvation? I’m about to find out. Because whatever I'll find on the other side, this all ends now …

Craig A. Falconer (Author), Scott Aiello (Narrator)

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Microserfs & Girlfriend in a Coma: Two Full-Cast BBC Radio Dramatisations

Coupland's iconic novels brought to life in two full-cast adaptations Bursting onto the literary scene in 1991 with his debut Generation X, Douglas Coupland's novels swiftly established themselves as modern classics and brought the term 'Gen X' into the mainstream. His work still has resonance in today's world, with his vivid explorations of identity and creativity in the post-Baby Boomer generations. These pitch perfect adaptions probe our modern popular culture, with the author's signature wry twists and unsettling revelations. In this brand new adaptation by Theo Toksvig-Stewart, Douglas Coupland's brilliantly funny novel Microserfs takes a microscope to working culture in the early days of the tech boom. Dan is a Microsoft employee in desperate need of 'a life'. His world can be summed up as eat, sleep, code, repeat, and he's not quite feeling himself. So when the chance comes along for him and his friends to leave Microsoft to form a Silicon Valley start-up called OOP!, will they take the risk and leap into the unknown? In an unflinching and hilarious story, Dan and the other Microserfs try to find purpose, love and identity in the real world. Perhaps one of Coupland's most iconic novels, Girlfriend in a Coma begins in December 1979 when 17-year-old Karen unexpectedly falls into a deep coma after a teen house party. Frighteningly, she'd predicted the end of the world in a letter sent to her boyfriend before she collapsed. Fifteen years later, Karen wakes up. The world in 1997 is a very different and confusing place. Her friends have grown up and their reality bears little resemblance to the hopes and dreams they shared in their youth. There are questions that need to be answered, time is running out and Karen must act. Available as a double bill for the first time, these stunning adaptations are a fantastic listen. Performed by a full cast with production by Sony award-winning producer Dan Rebellato, these stories make for a stellar audio experience not to be missed. Cast and credits Microserfs Written by Douglas Coupland Dramatised by Theo Toksvig-Stewart Directed by Anne Isger Production Co-ordination by Luke MacGregor Sound by Cal Knightley, Pete Ringrose, David Gregory, Billy Godfrey Dan - Will Merrick Karla - Samantha Dakin Bug - Matthew Needham Michael - Freddie Meredith Todd - Chris Lew Kum Hoi Susan - Chloë Sommer Abe - Hughie O'Donnell Ethan - Tom Kiteley Dan's Mum - Joanna Monro Dan's Dad - Roger Ringrose Dusty - Fiona Skinner Amy - Grace Saif First Broadcast BBC Radio 4, 27 November 2022 Girlfriend in a Coma Written by Douglas Coupland Dramatised by Dan Rebellato Produced by Polly Thomas Music by Alice Trueman Sound Design by Steve Brooke Jared - Florian Hutter Karen - Rayisa Kondracki Wendy - Maggie Blake Richard - Jason Durran Hamilton - Simon Lee Phillips Pamela - Heather Dann Doctor - Peter Marinker Megan - Julia Summer Gloria - Buffy Davis First Broadcast BBC Radio 3, 24 February 2008 ©2023 BBC Studios Distribution Ltd (P)2023 BBC Studios Distribution Ltd

Douglas Coupland (Author), Florian Hutter, Full Cast, Jason Durran, Matthew Needham, Rayisa Kondracki, Samantha Dakin, Will Merrick (Narrator)

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Sanctuary

After the war in the Parish, Adam is looking forward to a period of peace, but his superiors have other ideas. There are rumours from Oxford and the Cotswolds that Father John—who once almost overthrew Plymouth—is building an army, and someone has to go and investigate. Arriving in Oxford, Adam is surprised to find a thriving city with a healthy populace and technology not seen since before the fall of The Sisters. He also finds it patrolled by the descendants of the Thames Valley Police, among them Detective Inspector Leonie Mellow. However, it doesn’t take long for dark events to concern Adam. Murders, paintsplashed graffiti on walls, people going missing—and he can’t help but wonder if the past is following him.

Dave Hutchinson (Author), Julian Elfer (Narrator)

Audiobook

Floating Worlds

In the far future, an Earth-born woman must negotiate with a fearsome mutant race: 'On a par with Ursula LeGuin or Arthur C. Clarke' (Chicago Tribune). Two thousand years into the future, runaway pollution has made the earth uninhabitable except in giant biodomes. The society is an anarchy, with disputes mediated through the Machiavellian Committee for the Revolution. Mars, Venus, and the moon support flourishing colonies of various political stripes. On the fringes of the solar system, in the gas planets, a strange, new, violent kind of human has evolved. In this unstable system, the anarchist Paula Mendoza, an agent of the Committee, works to make peace and ultimately protect her people in a catastrophic clash of worlds that destroys the order she knows.

Cecelia Holland (Author), Kristin James (Narrator)

Audiobook

Reborn as a Demonic Tree: An Isekai LitRPG Adventure

Ashlock wakes in the courtyard of a demonic sect … as a tree. A tree that eats people. An odd start to a new life. Almost as strange as the humans flying through the skies on flaming swords and challenging the heavens. After all, this is a world where humans could chase the goal of immortality through the art of cultivation. But Ashlock is merely a sapling in a desolate courtyard, left alone with his thoughts and unable to speak to those passing him by. Unless he does something about it … Every day, he grows stronger as he cultivates and uses a suspicious daily sign-in system that grants him powerful skills, mutations, summons, and items, all in exchange for credits earned from eating flesh and watching the seasons pass by. But his peaceful life and man-eating ways can only go unnoticed for so long. His Qi-rich bark makes him a target for many young masters. If that isn't bad enough, tensions in the demonic sect are at an all-time high with the Beast Tide festers on the horizon. Ashlock's only option is to grow faster and stronger than any tree has ever done in the history of the nine realms—all while trying to avoid being turned into firewood.

Xkarnation (Author), Ramón De Ocampo (Narrator)

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Dungeon Runner 2: Pirates, Parley, Plunder!

The orphanage and kids are safe. They have food! And now, the only important question everyone is asking—most notably, Triton—is who’s the fastest Runner? Entin’s guild flourishes, eager to face the untamed dungeons of Eternal Fantasy Online. These dangerous places are worlds within worlds, each presenting unique themes that truly stretch the definition of what a dungeon should be. All seems well until Entin meets a young woman by the name of Aymie Avys. She brings a wealth of knowledge and secrets that challenge everything he thought he knew. There is something dark in this world, a festering corruption that might hold the answers to questions no one is asking. But pursuing these answers could threaten everything Entin and his Runners have built and force him to choose between who he was in the past life and who he is now.

Dustin Tigner (Author), Jackie Meloche (Narrator)

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Steal Fire from the Gods

The Human Alliance knew the war was over when the machines started using magic to cast fire, shake the ground, conjure storms, and part the seas. We fought back anyway. 22-year-old soldier Gunnar Graves lost his faith and his family when a platoon of AI-driven war machines-led by an android fire mage-destroyed his unit. Forced to live in a machine-controlled village and hiding a dark secret, he spends his days trying to learn elemental power so he can take his revenge. After years of failure, his ability ignites when he least expects it. On the run and hunted by the war machines, Gunnar discovers that an ancient, life-based strength has awakened to help humanity fight back. Joined by the other life mages, Gunnar is thrust into a mad world of android overlords, cyborg clans, and evil forces bent on his destruction. To protect his newfound family, Gunnar must discover the truth behind a power he doesn't understand and wage a war he doesn't believe they can win.

Clint Hall (Author), Adam Verner (Narrator)

Audiobook

Time Enough at Last

Time Enough at Last by Lynn Venable - The atomic bomb meant, to most people, the end. To Henry Bemis it meant something far different—a thing to appreciate and enjoy. For a long time, Henry Bemis had had an ambition. To read a book. Not just the title or the preface, or a page somewhere in the middle. He wanted to read the whole thing, all the way through from beginning to end. A simple ambition perhaps, but in the cluttered life of Henry Bemis, an impossibility. Henry had no time of his own. There was his wife, Agnes who owned that part of it that his employer, Mr. Carsville, did not buy. Henry was allowed enough to get to and from work—that in itself being quite a concession on Agnes' part. Also, nature had conspired against Henry by handing him with a pair of hopelessly myopic eyes. Poor Henry literally couldn't see his hand in front of his face. For a while, when he was very young, his parents had thought him an idiot. When they realized it was his eyes, they got glasses for him. He was never quite able to catch up. There was never enough time. It looked as though Henry's ambition would never be realized. Then something happened which changed all that. Henry was down in the vault of the Eastside Bank & Trust when it happened. He had stolen a few moments from the duties of his teller's cage to try to read a few pages of the magazine he had bought that morning. He'd made an excuse to Mr. Carsville about needing bills in large denominations for a certain customer, and then, safe inside the dim recesses of the vault he had pulled from inside his coat the pocket size magazine. He had just started a picture article cheerfully entitled 'The New Weapons and What They'll Do To YOU', when all the noise in the world crashed in upon his ear-drums. It seemed to be inside of him and outside of him all at once.

Lynn Venable (Author), Scott Miller (Narrator)

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[German] - Togt: Dunkelheit ist die Abwesenheit von Licht

Das Volk beugt sich vor ihnen, ihr Ansehen scheint unantastbar. Doch unter der scheinbaren Ruhe brodelt es. Während Togt sich zunehmend von seiner Macht gelangweilt fühlt, beginnt Avtix in seine Rolle als König hineinzuwachsen. Eine scheinbar unerschütterliche Unterwürfigkeit prägt die Menschen, die ihre Verehrung durch Rufe und Verbeugungen ausdrücken. Doch als ein mysteriöser Alptraum über die Erde hereinbricht, offenbart sich eine Wahrheit, die Togt nicht länger ignorieren kann. Die Geschichte enthüllt Togts zunehmende Eifersucht auf Avtix, der scheinbar mehr Achtung und Hingabe von den Menschen erfährt. Als Togt versucht, die Kontrolle zurückzugewinnen, eskaliert die Situation und führt zu tragischen Ereignissen, die unvorhersehbare Konsequenzen nach sich ziehen. Der Leser wird mitgenommen auf eine emotionale Achterbahnfahrt, in der Gier nach Macht, Eifersucht und die Suche nach Anerkennung auf unheilvolle Weise ineinandergreifen. Die Protagonisten stehen vor ihrer ultimativen Prüfung, während die Schrecken der Vergangenheit und die unvermeidliche Konfrontation mit einem höheren Wesen drohen, die Welt in den Abgrund zu stürzen. 'Togt' ist eine fesselnde Erzählung, die tiefe Einblicke in die menschliche Natur, den Kampf um Macht und die Konsequenzen von Eifersucht und Selbstüberschätzung gewährt. Ein atemberaubendes Abenteuer, das den Leser bis zur letzten Seite in seinen Bann zieht und über das eigene Menschsein nachdenken lässt.

Inga Edeltraud Karrer (Author), Hanna Bludau (Narrator)

Audiobook

Storm Clouds

Get ready for the most thrilling, action-packed America Falls installment yet... Luke begins his trek back to Manchester with the latest bunch of ‘recruits’ for the cities. He is strangely impressed by the ‘old’ man, Ragland, who, after proving he is not a threat asks if he can travel south with them. Meanwhile, back in Manchester, a group of children have gone missing after a day out exploring. Isaac, Indigo and the other parents are frantic with worry and with every hour that passes, the more convinced Isaac becomes that its not just a case of them being lost in the woods. His son’s torn and bloody jacket found in a trampled clearing confirms his worst suspicions. Based on the signs in the clearing, they were taken by a large, well-organized group whose intentions can only be bad. Isaac rushes to prepare a rescue party, knowing time is of the essence if they are to find the abductors and save the children. As events converge like a runaway train - will Luke and his new friend arrive in time to help rescue the children, or will they be left to pick up the bloody pieces… Find out in the latest heart stopping America Falls adventure!

Scott Medbury (Author), Adam Barr (Narrator)

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New West - Hill Country - Act 2: A Will to Pleasure

Act 2 - A Will to Pleasure follows the Colonel as he seeks to find pleasure in the violence and betrayal of the Hill Country. The Colonel is the khan of a desolate world, surrounded by powerful men and opposed by Sheriff John Newman. Life, with all its pain and beauty, is theater to him. He is the ringmaster and he will teach Sheriff John Newman, and everyone watching, a lesson to be remembered.

Seamus John (Author), Kristin James, Suzanne Santo, Zach Lazar Hoffman (Narrator)

Audiobook

The Future

‘Gripping … about to sweep the charts’ MARGARET ATWOOD 'Alderman is a fabulous, witty writer on the digital world’ SUNDAY TIMES 'A little Atwood, a little Gibson, all Alderman, it’s brilliant and I loved it' LAUREN BEUKES The new novel from the Women’s Prize-winning, bestselling author of The Power, The Future is a white-knuckle tour de force and dazzling exploration of the world we have made and where we are going. The Future is where the money is. The Future is a few billionaires leading the world to destruction. The Future is a handful of friends hatching a daring plan. The Future is the greatest heist ever? Or the cataclysmic end of civilisation… The Future is here. ‘A rollicking, fun-packed thriller with juicy stakes, constantly escalating twists, and a cast of characters who feel like they already exist somewhere out there in our fragile, free-wheeling present’ ALASTAIR REYNOLDS

Naomi Alderman (Author), Fred Sanders, Graham Halstead, Guinevere Turner, Jeremy Bobb, Lorelei King, Natalie Naudus, Santino Fontana (Narrator)

Audiobook

Apocalyptic & Dystopian Audiobooks in Science Fiction & Fantasy