SF and fantasy are heavily represented across the entire spectrum of 2017 Audie Awards categories. The shortlist of the best audiobooks of the year was announced February 8.

The audiobooks in the Science Fiction and Fantasy categories are shown below. In addition —

• Neil Gaiman is a finalist in the Narration by Author category for his work on The View from the Cheap Seats.
• Original Work is dominated by familiar sf/f names and series — The Adventures of Tom Stranger, Interdimensional Insurance Agent by Larry Correia, narrated by Adam Baldwin, Alien: Out of the Shadows: An Audible Original Drama by Tim Lebbon and Dirk Maggs, with seven voice talents, and The Dispatcher by John Scalzi, narrated by Zachary Quinto.
• The Alien and Doctor Who franchises claimed three of the five Audio Drama finalist spots
• One finalist in Short Stories/Collections is The Collected Stories of Arthur C. Clarke by Arthur C. Clarke, narrated by Ray Porter, Jonathan Davis and Ralph Lister.
• And there is some kind of yin/yang dynamic at work in having a Best Female Narrator nominee for The Underground Railroad by Colson Whitehead (narrated by Bahni Turpin) and a Best Male Narrator nominee for Underground Airlines by Ben H. Winters (narrated by William DeMeritt).  Also recognized as Best Narrators are the men who voiced End of Watch by Stephen King and Jerusalem by Alan Moore. And The Underground Railroad received a second nomination, in the Literary & Classic Fiction category.
• There is even a genre entry for the best Business Book — Trekonomics: The Economics of Star Trek by Manu Saadia, narrated by Oliver Wyman

Winners will be revealed at the Audie Awards® Gala on June 1, 2017. A roll-call of all the nominees, many with samples you can listen to, appears here.

The Audie Awards generated extra attention this year by having guest presenters tweet each set of finalists — genre participants included Brandon Sanderson, John Scalzi, Marissa Mayer, Neil Gaiman, Colson Whitehead, and Locus Magazine.

Audiobook fans: the Audio Publishers Association is announcing #Audies2017 finalists today via your favorite authors, narrators, & critics

— AudioFile Magazine (@AudioFileMag) February 8, 2017

ORIGINAL WORK

6/1 I'm hosting the Audie Awards in NY. Today I get to announce the finalists for the Original Work category. Congrats! #Audies2017 pic.twitter.com/Zh84owa8Ne

— Paula Poundstone (@paulapoundstone) February 8, 2017

FICTION

Excited to announce the finalists for the 2017 Audie Award for Fiction. Congrats! #Audies2017 pic.twitter.com/3oEMfI9wid

— Michael Connelly (@Connellybooks) February 8, 2017

NONFICTION

Drum roll, please….We're excited to announce the finalists for the 2017 Audie Award for Nonfiction! Congrats! #Audies2017 pic.twitter.com/5Ydq7qtUZ0

— Library Journal (@LibraryJournal) February 8, 2017

AUDIO DRAMA

Congrats to the 2017 Audie Award finalists for Audio Drama! #Audies2017 pic.twitter.com/3bTx7MAJaE

— Ruta Sepetys Updates (@RutaSepetys) February 8, 2017

EROTICA

Hey, all: We're pleased to announce finalists for the 2017 Audie Award for Erotica! Congratulations! #Audies2017 pic.twitter.com/oyeMcmSoYL

— AudioFile Magazine (@AudioFileMag) February 8, 2017

LITERARY FICTION & CLASSICS

It is my honor to announce finalists for the 2017 Audie Award for Literary Fiction & Classics. Congrats to all the nominees! #Audies2017 pic.twitter.com/5dZ3PeAhuQ

— Tavia Gilbert (@taviagilbert) February 8, 2017

BEST FEMALE NARRATOR

https://twitter.com/Luvvie/status/829362972430565377

BEST MALE NARRATOR

I'm excited to announce the finalists for the 2017 Audie Award for Fiction. Congratulations to all #Audies2017 pic.twitter.com/Kc6C4TQxBo

— James Patterson (@JP_Books) February 8, 2017

INSPIRATIONAL FAITH-BASED FICTION

Excited to announce finalists for the 2017 Audie Award for Inspirational Faith Based Fiction! Congrats! #Audies2017 pic.twitter.com/LAeuvHqZpo

— Simon Vance (@SimVan) February 8, 2017

INSPIRATIONAL FAITH-BASED NONFICTION

I’m thrilled to announce the finalists for best audiobook in “Inspirational faith-based nonfiction.” #Audies2017 pic.twitter.com/yJ0aLKZF0v

— carminegallo (@carminegallo) February 8, 2017

THRILLER/SUSPENSE

And @StephenKing has shared #Audies2017 THRILLER & SUSPENSE finalists https://t.co/8d4hYUhg6Y pic.twitter.com/97ZUXlNCBS

— AudioFile Magazine (@AudioFileMag) February 8, 2017

LITERARY FICTION & CLASSICS

It is my honor to announce finalists for the 2017 Audie Award for Literary Fiction & Classics. Congrats to all the nominees! #Audies2017 pic.twitter.com/5dZ3PeAhuQ

— Tavia Gilbert (@taviagilbert) February 8, 2017

SCIENCE FICTION

Locus Magazine is proud to announce finalists for the 2017 Audie Award for Science Fiction! Congratulations! #Audies2017 pic.twitter.com/fiytwyXgeB

— Locus Magazine (@locusmag) February 8, 2017

FANTASY

I'm thrilled to announce the 2017 Audie Award Finalists in the Fantasy category. What a line up! Congrats all! #Audies2017 pic.twitter.com/jXfYdvyy30

— John Scalzi (@scalzi) February 8, 2017

MIDDLE GRADE

So honored to announce the finalists for the 2017 Audie Award for Middle Grade! CONGRATS TO ALL! The awards will be held June 1. #Audies2017 pic.twitter.com/uXmqxqKARY

— Marissa Meyer (@marissa_meyer) February 8, 2017

NARRATION BY THE AUTHOR

https://twitter.com/mstiefvater/status/829398470335352841

YOUNG ADULT

Excited to announce finalists for the 2017 Audie Award for Young Adult. Congrats! #Audies2017 pic.twitter.com/NveO2iAShO

— Neil Gaiman (@neilhimself) February 8, 2017

ROMANCE

Excited to announce finalists for the 2017 Audie Awards for Romance. Congrats to all! #Audies2017 pic.twitter.com/raaiSAPKMe

— Audiobooks (@audiobooks) February 8, 2017

PARANORMAL

Excited to announce finalists for the 2017 Audie Award for Paranormal! Congrats! #Audies2017 pic.twitter.com/E6ixBDpyfm

— Brandon Sanderson (@BrandSanderson) February 8, 2017

AUTOBIOGRAPHY/MEMOIR

https://twitter.com/colsonwhitehead/status/829410225165893647

HISTORY/BIOGRAPHY

https://twitter.com/RonCharles/status/829398219952111617

SHORT STORIES/COLLECTIONS

Excited to announce finalists for the 2017 Audie Award for Short Stories/Collections! Congrats! #Audies2017 pic.twitter.com/hPTO8SIABr

— Los Angeles Review of Books (@LAReviewofBooks) February 8, 2017

BUSINESS/PERSONAL DEVELOPMENT

https://twitter.com/ElizabethHoyt/status/829394821458644994

YOUNG LISTENERS

So delighted to announce the finalists for the 2017 Audie Award in the Young Listeners category! Congrats to one and all! #Audies2017 pic.twitter.com/O6mgkC64pi

— Katherine Kellgren (@katykellgren) February 8, 2017

HUMOR

Audiobbook lovers: here we go! I'm thrilled to announce the 2017 Audie Award Finalists for HUMOR: #Audies2017 Congrats to the nominees! pic.twitter.com/yZcqtJQBl3

— Dr. BethFishReads (@BethFishReads) February 8, 2017

MYSTERY

Eee! So excited to announce finalists for the 2017 Audie Award for Mystery — congrats! #Audies2017 pic.twitter.com/PeirQzabuM

— Amie Kaufman News + Updates (@AmieKaufman) February 8, 2017

MULTI-VOICED PERFORMANCE

I am so excited to announce the finalists for the 2017 Audie Award for Multi-Voiced Performance! Congrats! #Audies2017 pic.twitter.com/BiESFrqA5A

— Jennifer Conner (@LitHousewife) February 8, 2017