If you’re like me (and heaven help you if you are), a muggy August haze often makes you want to leave the planet for a spell, disappear into fantasy, or retreat into noir.  Between these four gripping titles, we’ve got your ticket for the escapist fantasy you need, and we’re putting you in first class.  Enjoy:

Steel Whispers by Hayden Trenholm. Narrated by Mark F. Smith.  Published in print by Bundoran Press.
“Steel Whispers is an edge-of-your seat amalgam of police procedural and razor-sharp science fiction. The streets of Calgary never seemed so mean! Fans of Dashiell Hammett and William Gibson both will love this; a great novel from one of Canada’s fastest-rising SF stars. ” – Robert J. Sawyer, Hugo Award-winning author of Wake

Outer Diverse by Nina Munteanu. Narrated by Dawn Harvey.  Published in print by Starfire World Syndicate.
“A master of metaphor, Munteanu turns an adventure story into a wonderland of alien rabbit holes… a fascinating and enthralling read. ” – Craig Bowlsby, author of Commander’s Log

Last Dragon by JM McDermott. Narrated by Cori Samuel.  Published in print by Apex Book Company.
“Its call for our participation in assembling a story from the novel’s brief fragments and long silences reminds us why we read, makes plain the interactivity that is at the heart of reading’s entertainment. Last Dragon literalizes our impulse to Story, to construct narratives out of our memories and circumstances. ” – BSC Book Reviews, Matt Denault

Playing Solitaire and Other Stories by Mark Shainblum. Narrated by John Greenman and Elizabeth Klett.
“People have argued that it will be impossible to imagine what life would be like on the other side of a Singularity because humanity will be so fundamentally altered as to not even be human anymore. But that doesn’t mean we shouldn’t try. Especially if it gives us excellent tales like ‘The Art of Solitude’. ” – James Palmer, Tangent Online

Audiobook reviewers, book bloggers, and Iambik ambassadors: as always, email Miette for review copies of any title.