In the science fiction genre, the best audiobooks will appeal to many people. During their listening, you can relax, turn on your imagination and plunge into unfamiliar worlds, where a wide variety of events take place. The most attractive works will be discussed in this article. Below is a small rating.
1st place: clash with aliens
It would seem that the themes of the war with unknown invaders from other planets should not concern an audiobook. Science fiction opens wide borders, and this theme is already too much "hackneyed" and has lost its popularity. Only in the case of Herbert Wells's War of the Worlds, things are a little different. The author created the creation in 1897 and was one of the first to touch upon the possibility of an alien life. This masterpiece is also interesting because a lot of attention is paid to the behavior of people. Many people call this book prophetic in the sense that it can be understood how different individuals will behave before the threat of a global war. There was also a place for exciting fights, and therefore it will definitely not be boring to listen.
2nd place: interesting stories
In the audiobook “I am a Robot,” Isaac Asimov presented a series of stories that are all united by the theme of science fiction. The author included 65 narratives that any fan of this category of books should read. They are not connected by a single storyline, but there is something in common between them. The writer tried in each story to present a model of society and the development of the world in the distant future. In his masterpiece “I am a Robot,” Isaac Asimov was not limited to anything but his own imagination. The next century is not considered here. The author did not hesitate to look forward five hundred years. In addition to the scientific model of the development of the world, there is a place for alien creatures, cyborgs, mechanisms with different functions and other inventions. Heroes are constantly trying to confront the universe, and at the same time understand what forces are driving it. The main characters are driven by curiosity and the desire to do good. In the audiobook format, stories are easily perceived, and fantasy draws the most incredible images.
3rd place: focused travel
In the space science fiction genre, with the best audiobooks it can be difficult to decide, but 2001: Space Odyssey deserves attention. Arthur Clark created an incredible adventure that tells about the flight of a spaceship to Saturn. The main goal of the ship was to find traces of other civilizations and establish contact with them. It should be noted that the author is not the first to address this topic. Many of his works have already touched upon the possibility of the existence of other civilizations. Here, Clark, in the characteristic manner of technical science fiction, where each step is justified, and the work of each mechanism is explained in detail, revealed the possibility of people acquaintance with other intelligent creatures. The author perfectly focuses on the experiences of the expedition with their fears and excitement of the opportunity to make a great discovery. Emotions are the other side of the work, and therefore it is included in this rating.
4th place: one chance in a million
Audiobook Bachigalupi Paolo “Destroyer of ships” is included in this rating, although its events unfold on Earth in the near future. Oil is no longer being produced in the Gulf of Mexico, but tankers and a variety of vessels still remain. They become the goal of all the earners who live here. Their analysis is the only chance for the survival of many people. The main character, Nail, specializes in non-ferrous metals. His life resembles existence with the goal of somehow meeting the next morning. He fulfills the daily norm, goes to bed and everything repeats again. Once he had to take a shift after a hurricane. It was then that Gvozdar saw that a magnificent expensive yacht was brought to the shore by the surf. There was a real chance to get out of this forgotten place towards a better life, but the main character can not decide. He rushes between the ability to take it apart or swim away forever. In the science fiction genre, the best audiobooks should cling to the plot and “Ship Destroyer” copes with this task perfectly.
5th place: last adventure
It may seem to many people that it is not always interesting to convey the plot of a work using an audiobook. Fighting science fiction "recreated" in them is simply magnificent, especially with regard to the work The Fall of Hyperion. Much more depends on the narrator, but here the listener must choose according to his own preferences. The book of the genius science fiction dan Dan Simmons tells how seven heroes decide to make a pilgrimage to the Tombs of Time. All of them are different in character, profession and even pursue different goals. They are united by a desire to meet with the lord of pain Shrike, who is considered a mythical creature. The Universe has prepared for all the characters its fate in the liberation of the world from the "parasites" that give immortality. He has already been christened a disease that eliminates the value of life. In the genre of science fiction, audio books are far from always able to cling to an action and an interesting plot. “The Fall of Hyperion” in this case is clearly different from all other works in this genre.
6th place: another battle with obvious overtones
An audiobook authored by Robert Heinlein entitled Star Troopers is a magnificent piece. When this story first entered the world, many saw in it propaganda of a totalitarian society. In fact, the author simply showed the model ideally, in his opinion, of a society where each person puts his duty above all else. The plot begins with the fact that the space invaders mass attack destroyed Buenos Aires. Earth forces quickly recovered after this and started a war with the people of Klendath. These are giant arthropods whose planet is rich in various resources. They are called bugs and in terms of the organization of life they strongly resemble termites. At the first landing, people felt the full power of the resistance of the armed forces to Klendat. Their soldiers are skilled warriors, and therefore it is not necessary for the military leadership of the Earth to create new strategies for behavior in battles. This is what the audiobook is about.
7th place: cyberpunk
Among the entire list, William Gibson's The Neuromancer is strikingly different. This book is a shrine for all fans of the cyberpunk genre, because it stood at the origins of its inception. The author made a real revolution in the fantasy genre, creating a new subcategory. In his masterpiece, he describes a bleak future, where huge corporations seized power over the whole world, which unite into whole alliances and think only of profit. Ordinary people are forced to survive in the world of high technology, where global computer networks and prostheses for the body have become commonplace. In the book "Neuromancer" digital crime flourishes, the war for information does not stop even for a moment. It is the data here that are the main trump card, thanks to which you can create your own path to a better future. In such circumstances, the hacker Case must fulfill a mission with a strange partner that was accidentally deciphered during his work. Among the science fiction genre, the best audiobooks catch on from the first minutes and Neuromancer is one of them.
8th place: philosophical point of view
Audiobooks of the science fiction genre do not always focus on the confrontation with unearthly races. For example, Stanislav Lem in his work “Cyberiad” raises other topics. He talks about whole worlds where only robots live. They are guided only by rational decisions, try to do any job optimally, because so their religion - cybernetics. Only here, even robots encounter similar problems of a human nature. The book is a unique piece of its kind. Firstly, it is made in the form of separate stories that unite a single universe. Secondly, Stanislav Lem raises incredibly pressing global issues. At the same time, he comes out to do it in a relaxed manner and with a large share of humor. This is what the book attracts attention to, although there is no action in the spirit of "rebellion of machines" and the like.
Rating completion
The latest in the ranking of audio works, but not in significance, is a storybook by Harry Harrison called War on Robots. It includes ten great stories that are united by a common goal - the revolt of machines against the human race. The book is considered a classic in the genre of science fiction. All stories are arranged in a clear sequence as conceived by the author. It is highly discouraged to read them in random order. After a full familiarization with the work, the user himself will understand why the stories have a canonical sequence.