The AUDIE AWARDS have been announced for 2017. These awards are sponsored by the Audio Publishers Association (“APA”). The APA was formed in 1986 as a not-for-profit trade association that advocates the common, collective business interests of audio publishers. It consists of audio publishing companies and suppliers, distributors, and retailers of spoken word products and allied fields related to the production, distribution, and sale of audiobooks.

The Audies is the premier awards program in the United States recognizing distinction in audiobooks in a wide variety of categories. You can see all the winners and the final nominees in each category at the APA site. They all deserve attention, but I’ll mention just a few here.

SCIENCE FICTION WINNER

STAR WARS: THE FORCE AWAKENS
Series: Star Wars, Book 28
Written by: Alan Dean Foster
Narrated by: Marc Thompson
10 hrs 21 mins; Unabridged

Set years after Return of the Jedi, this stunning new action-packed adventure rockets us back into the world of Princess Leia, Han Solo, Chewbacca, C-3PO, R2-D2, and Luke Skywalker, while introducing a host of exciting new characters. Darth Vader may have been redeemed and the Emperor vanquished, but peace can be fleeting, and evil does not easily relent. Yet the simple belief in good can still empower ordinary individuals to rise and meet the greatest challenges.

EXCELLENCE IN PRODUCTION WINNER

ALIEN: OUT OF THE SHADOWS: AN AUDIBLE ORIGINAL DRAMA
Series: Alien, Book 2
Written by: Tim Lebbon , Dirk Maggs
Narrated by: Rutger Hauer , Corey Johnson , Matthew Lewis , Kathryn Drysdale , Laurel Lefkow , Andrea Deck , Mac McDonald
4 hrs 31 mins; Performance

As a child, Chris Hooper dreamed of monsters. But in deep space, he found only darkness and isolation. Then, on planet LV178, he and his fellow miners discovered a storm-scoured, sand-blasted hell – and trimonite, the hardest material known to man.

When a shuttle crashes into the mining ship Marion, the miners learn that there was more than trimonite deep in the caverns. There was evil, hibernating and waiting for suitable prey. Hoop and his associates uncover a nest of Xenomorphs, and hell takes on a new meaning. Quickly they discover that their only hope lies with the unlikeliest of saviors….

Ellen Ripley, the last human survivor of the salvage ship Nostromo.

EXCELLENCE IN MARKETING WINNER

BATTLEFIELD EARTH: A SAGA OF THE YEAR 3000
Written by: L. Ron Hubbard
Narrated by: Josh Clark , Scott Menville , Fred Tatascorie , Stefan Rudnicki , Nancy Cartwright , Jim Meskimen , Kaleo Griffith , Enn Reitel
47 hrs 32 mins; Unabridged

The Voyager launched in 1977, the alien Psychlos remorselessly wiped out the human race with a poisonous gas barrage, and ground and air bombings. They killed more than 99.9% of the people on Earth, not to mention their sadistic hunting sprees of humans for pure bloodthirsty pleasure for the ensuing 1,000 years. 3,000 Psychlos are now stationed on Earth, mining her remaining natural resources, and mankind is an endangered species.

Terl, the greedy and sadistic Psychlo Planetary Security Chief assigned to Earth, has a selfish plan for a future of abundance and prosperity. This plan requires enslaving humans to mine precious gold in the treacherous Rocky Mountains, and then wiping out all of the evidence, including all remaining human life.

Enslaved by Terl, Jonnie Goodboy Tyler must turn a small desperate band of the last survivors into a tightly coordinated rebel force.

Pitted against impossible odds, they must outsmart this cunning and vicious alien adversary that has conquered all opposition across the galaxy into total oblivion.

YOUNG ADULT WINNER

SALT TO THE SEA
Written by: Ruta Sepetys
Narrated by: Jorjeana Marie , Will Damron , Cassandra Morris , Michael Crouch
8 hrs 50 mins; Unabridged

In 1945, World War II is drawing to a close in East Prussia, and thousands of refugees are on a desperate trek toward freedom, almost all of them with something to hide. Among them are Joana, Emilia, and Florian, whose paths converge en route to the ship that promises salvation, the Wilhelm Gustloff. Forced by circumstance to unite, the three find their strength, courage, and trust in each other tested with each step closer to safety.