Dystopian Science Fiction

The best science fiction scrutinizes our culture and politics, examines the limits of the human condition, and zooms across galaxies at faster-than-light speeds, moving from the very near future to the far-flung worlds of tomorrow in the space of a single sentence. Neil Clarke has selected the short science fiction (and only science fiction) best representing the previous year's writing, showcasing the talent, variety, and awesome "sensawunda" that the genre has to offer.

The hit Audible Original series from executive producers of The Walking Dead and the writer of Pacific Rim returns for its highly anticipated second season. Six months have passed since the Vampire Queen fell silent, and the world balances on a knife’s edge. Rejoin the courageous Dunraven sisters, Darcy and Hope, as they navigate the vampire apocalypse in a sunless, endless winter that grows deadlier with each passing day. Brace yourself for a frigid realm of sacred daggers, mighty swords, secret seaside caves, unthinkable human blood farms, and a superpowered vampire villain on the hunt.

When a rich City man comes to her with a young woman's ghost tethered to his chest, Xhea has no idea that this ghost will change everything. The ghost, Shai, is a Radiant, a rare person who generates so much power that the Towers use it to fuel their magic, heedless of the pain such use causes. Shai's home Tower is desperate to get the ghost back and force her into a body, any body, so that it can regain its position, while the Tower's rivals seek the ghost to use her magic for their own ends.

The stakes couldn’t be higher. Darcy, who once seemed to be our only hope for surviving the vampire apocalypse, has gone to the dark side—she’s now the reigning vampire queen. Meanwhile, her sister Hope must lead the charge to save humanity—on a path that’s taking her straight to Darcy. Will an emboldened Hope destroy her own sister to save the world? Would a godlike Darcy ever allow that to happen? They say hope is a dangerous thing, and they just might be right.

Everyone becomes prey when Earth is swallowed up and transmuted to a bestial landscape, the first stage of induction into Elysium's multiverse and a new galaxy in the making. In the blink of any eye, the bloodthirsty creatures of Riven Thane's worst nightmares are unleashed as he; his sister, Allie; and his friend Jose scramble amid the carnage to live another hour. But on this nothing of a planet, Riven is more special than he knows. He's among a select few with a singular bloodline, and the Elysium system has its eye on Riven in particular.

It’s 2555 and the remaining members of the Phoenix colony, both convicts and astronauts, have fully integrated since they were originally downloaded from cryogenic suspension. Now, as the countdown to Earth's final day approaches, two groups of colonists prepare to leave on separate missions.

For many billions of years, humans - having conquered the curse of aging - spread throughout the entire Milky Way. They are able to live all their dreams, but to their great disappointment, no other intelligent species has ever been encountered. Now, humanity itself is on the brink of extinction because the universe is dying a protracted yet inevitable death. 

In a city of sunshine and secrets, the shadows belong to the animals. In a solar-powered future, humans live in luxury, served by unseen Little Helpers – artificially enhanced animals who maintain their masters’ perfect green cities. The animals’ number one rule: ‘do not bother the...

You wake up floating. Not in the air, but horizontally in a coffin-sized chamber filled with blue gelatinous fluid. You do not remember what this is. You do not remember why you are here. You do not remember who you are.

Dakota Sloane, a tough-as-nails former foster kid, has spent her life running from the past. A man haunted by secrets, Logan Garcia has only one goal: to drink himself into oblivion. They're two strangers in a bar—until the news reports nuclear detonations in New York City and Washington, D.C. Before they can escape Miami, everything explodes. Buildings collapse and fires rage. As the fallout descends, utter chaos erupts.

In 2059, two vastly different groups of people portrayed by the compelling trio of Brendan Fraser (Academy Award winner), Luke Kirby (Emmy Award winner), and Vanessa Sears (Dora Award winner) undergo cryonic suspension. While their bodies are frozen, their minds, still active and awake, are uploaded into a massive quantum computer. The first group are all astronauts, about to leave Earth on a one-way interstellar colonization mission. The second group consists of convicted murderers and volunteers who elect to serve their sentences in a virtual-reality prison.

In this thrilling second book of the Earthborn trilogy, Lucas and Asha have survived the decimation of Earth at the hands of the invading Xalans and seek safe haven with their enemy's true foes, the Sorans. They find a lush planet inhabited by a civilization far more advanced than their own, waging a seemingly endless war against a constantly evolving enemy. The Sorans call the pair of them the "Earthborn", and they're welcomed as heroes, almost as gods.

In the year 2107, the world has both made astounding leaps forward and reduced humanity to its most basic existence. While the megacorps and those who rule them enjoy lives of extraordinary comfort and ease, most people barely scrape by, doing whatever they can to keep going. Juliet Bianchi is one of the latter. She works cutting metal in a scrapyard and doesn't have much to show for it except for a small group of equally bereft, fiercely loyal friends. Still, she maintains a bright disposition, possessing more hope and optimism than anyone would expect her to—and she's going to need it.

By the time the classified report is leaked to the public, it's already too late. A horrifying pandemic has begun to spread, with ferocious speed, from Paris to the rest of Europe. The infected masses die quickly . . . but they don't remain dead for long. As military forces are overpowered by the horde of undead, civilization as we know it is pushed to the breaking point. Those who remain uninfected rush the ports, hoping to escape the bloodthirsty beasts, desperate for some safe harbor.

In Neo Babylon, your neural implant is your identity. You use it as your credit card, to surf the Altnet, to chat with friends, to login to work or school, and to be pestered by advertisements. Anyone without one is cut off from society. Nick can’t get a neural implant. That fact turns his daily life into hell, but the city's underworld has its plans for him. Being invisible to the city’s omnipresent tracking has its perks. Without a neural presence, he’s someone who is felt but not seen—a wraith.

For Franny, the end of everything is just the beginning of her adventure. The world as we know it is no more. Cities are mobile. Electricity is rare. Reading is a relic of the past. After an explosive encounter with a mysterious stranger, Franny, a 14-year-old orphan girl, embarks on an epic quest to find the mysterious pilots who steer the cities, hoping that if she finds them, she will get answers about her family's past - and the world's future.

When the External Womb Programme is launched, the news is controversial. Hundreds take to the streets in protest, feeling strongly that growing a baby outside of the human body is "unnatural". But thousands more people rejoice: at last, an alternative for those who wish to have children but worry about the physical toll it may take. A chance that throwing a baby-shaped grenade into one's career path might not derail it entirely.

Setting out on foot with nothing more than some soon-to-be worthless cash and a little advice from a trusted teacher, Alex, Quinn, Josh, Cooper, and Dara walk through a burning city that has come to a halt. The devastation they see as they make their way out of the city is a small part of the horror that the nation will become. As the days go by with no food deliveries and no water flowing from taps, civilization will start to crumble and it will be survival of the fittest.

Against all odds, Katniss has won the Hunger Games. She and fellow District 12 tribute Peeta Mellark are miraculously still alive. Katniss should be relieved, happy even. After all, she has returned to her family and her longtime friend, Gale. Yet nothing is the way Katniss wishes it to be. Gale holds her at an icy distance. Peeta has turned his back on her completely. And there are whispers of a rebellion against the Capitol - a rebellion that Katniss and Peeta may have helped create. Much to her shock, Katniss has fueled an unrest she’s afraid she cannot stop.

2016 Audible Editor’s Pick 2016 Audible’s Best in Science Fiction The New York Times and USA Today bestselling series An Audible Top 100 Series of All Time More than two centuries after World War III poisoned the planet, the final bastion of humanity lives on massive airships circling the...