Empire Builders

Ben Bova (1932–2020) was the author of more than a hundred works of science fact and fiction, including Able One, Transhuman, Orion, and Titan, winner of John W. Campbell Memorial Award for Best Novel. His many honors include the Isaac Asimov Memorial Award, the Lifetime Achievement Award of the Arthur C. Clarke Foundation, the Robert A. Heinlein Award, and six Hugo Awards. Dr. Bova was a past president of the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America and president emeritus of the National Space Society. In addition to writing, he was the editor of Analog and the fiction editor of Omni. He worked for Project Vanguard, America’s first artificial satellite program, and for the company that created the heat shields for Apollo 11. He taught science fiction at Harvard University and worked with such filmmakers as George Lucas and Gene Roddenberry.

Stefan Rudnicki is an award winning audiobook narrator, director and producer. He was born in Poland and now resides in Studio City, California. He has narrated more than three hundred audiobooks and has participated in over a thousand as a writer, producer, or director. He is a recipient of multiple Audie Awards and AudioFile Earphones Awards as well as a Grammy Award, a Bram Stoker Award, and a Ray Bradbury Award. He received AudioFile’s award for 2008 Best Voice in Science Fiction and Fantasy. Along with a cast of other narrators, Rudnicki has read a number of Orson Scott Card's best-selling science fiction novels. He worked extensively with many other science fiction authors, including David Weber and Ben Bova. In reviewing the twentieth anniversary edition audiobook of Card’s Ender's Game, Publishers Weekly stated, "Rudnicki, with his lulling, sonorous voice, does a fine job articulating Ender's inner struggle between the kind, peaceful boy he wants to be and the savage, violent actions he is frequently forced to take." Rudnicki is also a stage actor and director.