10 best fantasy books on Audible, ranked
Fantasy tales were the original audiobooks, after all.
Before printed pages and Kindles what have you, humans of old would gather round the hearth fire at the mead hall and listen to stories. The original tale of Beowulf was sung by bards who memorized the whole damn plot and would regale the Viking hero’s exploits to spellbound townsfolk. Considering that most of them couldn’t read anyway, this arrangement suited them just find. But you (I assume) CAN read. The question is, why would you want to when you can listen to 10 of the best fantasy’s books on Audible? That’s where this list comes in to play.
10. Ninth House
For those whose daddies didn’t donate half a bajillion dollars to put a new wing on the school, getting into Yale is a difficult feat. For twenty-something burnout Alex Stern, many would have said it was a complete impossibility. Leah Bardugo’s Ninth House tells the unlikely story of Galaxy “Alex” Stern, who began her life with an unfortunate name form hippie mom, and it only went further down hill from there. After bumming around dead end job and deader end relationships, Alex hits rock bottom after a brush with death in a multiple homicide. After waking up in the hospital, she’s informed that she’s been given a full ride to Yale. Whaaaaaaaat? Yes, the unlikeliest member of Yale’s freshman class now has to navigate an Ivy League world, as well as the freaky-deaky secret societies that lurk under the polo-shirted surface. Someone is trying to commune with the dead, and poor Galaxy is about to find out why.
9. Red Rising
Looking for a Roman Empire besides the literal Roman Empire? Pierce Brown’s Red Rising is your book. The story takes place on colonized Mars (eat your heart out, Elon Musk) which has become a brutal, caste based society that sits at the bottom of Solar System’s space faring hierarchy. 16 year old Darrow is one of the many unfortunates doomed to spend their days laboring in the red planet’s helium-3 mines (child labor laws are no longer a thing of the past, but the future!) Sick of her less than semi-charmed life, Darrow passes herself off a a member of the higher ranked caste of Golds, and infiltrates the upper echelons of society in order to spark a political revolution. If grimdark sci-fi/fantasy is your thing, you’ve landed on the right literary planet.
8. The Will of the Many
Two Roman Empire inspired books in one list? We must be blessed by Jove himself! Sadly for the characters of James Islington’s The Will of The Many, divine boons are few and far between. After the world was nearly ended by a cataclysm three centuries ago, the brutal Catenan Republic (which is anything but democratic) has conquered what’s left of the planet. Using ancient pre-apocalypse tech, the elites of the Republic asset oligarchical control over the beleaguered populace (Americans can relate). In order to claim total control over the conquered, the Republic executes the royal families of claimed nations – poor Vis’ family was one of them. Now on the run, Vis ekes out a living as an underground fighter, but his bad luck changes after he’s adopted by a powerful senator who enrolls him in a military academy meant to train the next crop of Catenan’s leaders. Will Vis use this chance to join the ranks of the elite? Or break them?
7. Paul Takes The Form of a Mortal Girl
Paul Takes The Form of a Mortal Girl is one of the few works of non-binary fantasy that I’ve ever come across. Written by Andrea Lawlor, this magical realist nostalgia grenade explodes around young Paul, a person blessed with the ability to shapeshift their body at will. Paul uses this ability to bum around the 1990s world, sleeping with indie rockers, crunchy granola sapphics, and anyone else who meets their fancy. Paul shifts between male and female identities, attempting to navigate a world where the non-binary identity was still (for Americans, at least) still in its infancy. It’s a romance memoir told from the point of view of a human chameleon, and the story of their many loves – as infinite as the possibilities of their own magical body.
6. The Shades of Magic
In V.E. Schwab’s The Shades of Magic series, London has been split into four parallel universes each with their own fun color-coding! Red London is brimming with magic, Grey London is mundane, White London has a little magic, and Black London is where magic (and life itself) sadly goes to die. Young magician Kell has the rare ability to travel between all four of them, and uses this ability to smuggle goods between the four cities (big no no). Things get hairy when Kell is robbed by a pickpocket girl while doing biz in Grey London, who soon realizes that the unassuming black stone that she filched is is actually an artifact of exceedingly dangerous magical power. Thirst together by fate, the youngsters embark on a quest to save the remaining Londons from the slow, deathly creep of Black London, a death haunted city that will remake the other Londons in its image if left unchecked.
5. The Stand
Hailed as Stephen King’s other masterpiece besides It, The Stand is a sprawling work of post-apocalyptic fiction. After 99.99% of America’s population is wiped out by a horrific government supervirus, the remaining survivors begin to experience strange psychic visions – The Shining style. Those with a moral compass pointed towards “good” begin dreaming of an elderly woman living in the midwest, while the morally-challenged have dark dreams of a black clad man building an evil empire in the ruins of Sin City, Las Vegas. As the survivors make their way across the American wastes, they realize that they are being psychically called to take part in the ultimate showdown between good and evil – and only one side can come out on top. Despite all the newly open space, this town of still America ain’t big enough for the both.
4. The Adventures of Amina al-Sirafi
iThe Adventures of Amina al-Sirafi is the swashbuckling pirate fantasy you didn’t know your soul so sorely thirsted for – this book series hits like orange juice for a scurvy-sufferer. Taking place during the Islamic Golden Age, the plot centers around a wizened old pirate named Amina al-Sirafi, who is dragged into the life on a “one last job” style narrative to rescue a kidnapped girl – for a boatload of money. As no pirate can say no to booty, Amina takes the bait and soon discovers that even an experienced privateer like herself can get in over their head – especially when supernatural djinn are involved.
3. The Way of Kings
Brandon Sanderson’s The Way of Kings is the stuff of fantasy royalty – an essential series for any casual to hardcore genre enjoyer. The first novel of the Stormlight Archives series, the story is set in a storm-ravaged world where magical hurricanes called high storms shape the circumstances of life on the planet. The action bounces around between multiple POV characters, Game of Thrones style, each of whom is grappling with the effects of the highstorms and the magic that they imbue upon the world. A soldier seeking glory, a noble seeking magical understanding, a prince seeking political revolution – the world of Roshar takes all kinds.
2. Circe
For those of you who survived the emotional trauma of Madeline Miller’s Song of Achilles (I’m not sure if I did myself) comes a new Greek-mythology inspired tale centered around the life of Circe – who you may remember from a high school read of The Odyssey. Miller expands on Circe’s immortal existence, giving context as to how the goddess turned which ended up on a deserted island in the first place. After being exiled from the halls of her divine father, Circe devotes her long life to the study of witchcraft, which she perfects over the centuries. Eventually her solitary island life is disturbed by the arrival of Greek hero Odysseus, with whom she begins a love affair. It’s a tear-jerker tale centered around a woman who appears as only a footnote in Homer’s original epic, fleshing out a character whose interests include the magical arts and turning men into pigs – which she does quite a lot over the millennia of her existence.
1. The Blade Itself
Joel Abercrombie’s The First Law series has become the stuff of audiobook legend due to the stellar performance of its narrative by voice over artist Stephen Pacey (he’s practically worshipped on fantasy subreddits). After listening to the series’ first book The Blade Itself, it isn’t hard to see why. The story is a subversion of the high fantasy ideals of Tolkien-esque morality, where do gooders do good for goodness’ sake. In Abercrombie’s grimdark world, adventurers are only in it for themselves. The plot swings between a group of morally unwashed ne’er-do-wells, which include a nine fingered barbarian, a former soldier turned twisted torturer, and an arrogant noble each grappling with the threat of war brewing in the kingdom. The Blade Itself is morally bankrupt and wickedly funny, and Pacey captures the cynical, darkly hilarious tone with surgical precision – these words cut as deep as the title suggests.
Have a tip we should know? [email protected]
