Emotion check: Long live Murderbot.
Kevin R. Free drops listeners into the middle of a rescue mission aboard an enormous space station. In a defining performance, Free masterfully conveys Murderbot’s sardonic running commentary, deadpan and endearingly world-weary. Murderbot has installed a mental health module since its last adventure, so there are frequent “emotion checks.” The mission, of course, runs into several complications, and Murderbot finds itself with a growing party of humans to keep safe. As the sometimes perilous, sometimes zany rescue operation progresses, Free employs subtle accents to distinguish the human characters; Nanna Naja especially is a hoot. But it’s his Murderbot, who has grown and changed over eight installments, that will have listeners rapt.
Emotion check: Long live Murderbot.Pub Date: May 5, 2026
Duration: 5 hrs, 45 mins
DD ISBN: 9781705041031
Publisher: Recorded Books Inc.
Review Posted Online: April 27, 2026
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 1, 2026
With Porter in your earbuds, you’ll want the adventure to continue forever.
Ray Porter’s ability to intensify a narrative and personify a wide range of male and female characters grabs one’s attention from the beginning of this absorbing and complex tale. This first adult SF novel by Nix, a YA fantasy writer, is set in the 24th century, out among the stars. Galaxy-forming “massif” mountain ranges transport humans to new planets. But what’s in it for the massifs? The loyal crew of the Sassafras stumbles into a terrifying possible answer. Porter believably performs conversations and inhabits everyone from a deep-voiced Marine to a squeakily terrified bureaucrat. And when the action spikes, hold on.
With Porter in your earbuds, you’ll want the adventure to continue forever.Pub Date: Sept. 8, 2026
Duration: 10 hrs, 57 mins
DD ISBN: 9780063292048
Publisher: Harper Audio
Review Posted Online: Oct. 5, 2026
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 15, 2026
Fans will welcome Free’s performance of this brief addition to the Murderbot universe.
Maintaining the same sardonic tone that works so well for the Murderbot Diaries audiobooks, Kevin R. Free narrates this story that, for once, isn’t told from Murderbot’s perspective. The crew of Perihelion, an intelligent research transport ship, is preparing for a mission aboard a space station. Peri sounds delightfully snotty in its interactions with Iris and the rest of the crew. The ship is implementing new strategies to keep its crew safe, and it’s being cagey about what inspired them—but we slowly realize that it’s because of Peri’s experience with a certain rogue SecUnit in a previous installment of the series. Sound effects, including beeping computers and whooshing air, add to the SF atmosphere.
Fans will welcome Free’s performance of this brief addition to the Murderbot universe.Pub Date: Sept. 1, 2026
Duration: 53 mins
DD ISBN: 9781250489241
Publisher: Macmillan Audio
Review Posted Online: Sept. 22, 2026
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 1, 2026
© Copyright 2026 Kirkus Media LLC. All Rights Reserved.
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