Why is it so good?
The farseer triology.
It’s pretty interesting fantasy from about 20 odd years ago
character driven introspective
I read (listened) to it for the first time last year. The audiobooks I had sounded like they were ripped from cassette, it was AWFUL.
I ended up getting the ebooks and read the first trilogy after stopping halfway through the first audiobook.
My wife loved them when they were new and had been asking me to read them for awhile, but I was kinda disappointed in them. Really interesting magic system, I just felt like the writing was too simplistic.
Also, your uncle inhabiting your body to have sex with someone was a pretty wild thing to read.
I’ve been listening to the graphic audio versions of The Stormlight Archives by Brandon Sanderson.
I just finished listening to Joe Abercrombie’s First Law Trilogy. The narrator was fantastic. Probably the best I’ve listened.
Someone You Can Build a Nest In.
A funny little romance as told from the point of view of the monster terrorizing a town. She tries her best to woo a human and actually is a pretty supportive partner. It’s so weird and I love it.
Robert Caro’s “The Power Broker.”
There’s also a 50-year anniversary, 12-part, 99% Invisible series diving into it. Looking forward to listening to those alongside each section.
I’m currently listening to all 50 something books of the Horus Heresy - Warhammer 40k stuff - it’s a bit of a mixed bag, different writers and different narrators for each book, however the underlying story is just plain epic.
If I was to recommend a set of audio books, I highly, highly recommend ‘The wandering inn’ by pirateaba - epic books by a proliferate writer - if you manage to get into it, there are hundreds of hours of great story read by a truly talented narrator (Andrea parsneu).
It’s been a real hit with myself and my circle!
Currently listening to Starter Villain
Guy inherited his “billionaire” estranged uncles “parking garage” business, only for his ancillary businesses to be more interesting.
Not listening to it at the moment, but I listened-through my Alastair Reynolds audiobook collection recently.
Aside from the quality of the stories (love me some good hard sci-fi), all of the audiobooks were narrated by the same guy. Several of the books are part of a series, and the narrator did a pretty good job, though not perfect, of using the same voices between books for all of the recurring characters.
I recently listened to “A Wizards Guide to Defensive Baking” recently and I was NOT expecting YA fantasy fiction to go that hard on the subject of “heroism” being a term used to excuse the phenomenon of pushing people into dangerous jobs way too young to cover for the systemic failures and often outright corruption of existing power structures. I had a good few years experience in Healthcare beforehand but I graduated nursing school mid-covid and that book really spoke to me.
Somewhat coincidentally iirc it was actually released mid COVID as well, and I imagine had been worked on for years beforehand. So it’s interesting to me that the author picked up on the already existing manifestations of this phenomenon in a way that would speak so well to the epic clusterfuck that ultimately occurred.
Best audio book I’ve listened to… Dungeon Crawler Carl. Great story. Amazing audio book production.
God that series it’s so good, I love the growth the characters have and the voice actor is great.
Another amazing one is The wandering Inn. Similar genres and a fucking amazing voice actress. The world building is top notch and they do something that not a lot of books do, they account for time really well. Lots of series just sorta skim through and you find yourself not being sure what the time line looks like. It’s pretty easy to follow the time line in this.
I’m listening to the Bobiverse again because the fifth book came out recently. The universe, pun intended, was really interesting and the entire idea of digital people is fun to think about while doing chores.
Seconded. Bobiverse is great to listen to while mowing the lawn or doing other mindless jobs.
Just finished book three myself and found myself really relating to the bobs and their feelings of loss.
Every time I relisten I a gutted around that point. Very impactful character development, such a painful loss to move through and explored so well. Honestly one of the most emotionally impactful novels I have read possibly because of how much I enjoyed the differing Bobs bouncing of each other and finding equilibrium. I’ve listened to the first 4 around 5 times through and book 5 twice now, honestly on the edge of my seat for book 6.
Just finished Adrian Tchaikovsky’s “Service Model”. It was excellent. But be warned, if you’re looking for military, adventure sci fi with snarky AI’s this will not be your cup of tea. The author takes on modern societal issues in the setting of post collapse human society. Yes, I’m aware of the dichotomy there.
If you do want snarky AI’s and adventure, then I recommend the following series:
“Backyard Starship” series. I think it’s up to book 17 so far and the quality of the books have stayed pretty consistent. The prequel series “The Peacemaker Wars” is also pretty good.
“Expeditionary Force” The quality does NOT stay consistent in this series and quite frankly, it’s not very well written. However, it’s like Lofthouse cookies, a lot of mediocre ingredients come together to make something great. I am a die hard fan of the series and highly recommend it if you want something that just removes you from reality for a while.
I’m currently listening to Livesuit by James SA Corey. It’s part of their new series that released this year called The Captives War. It’s a Novella/Interquel pretty typical of their release style.
It takes place in an incredibly unknowably distant future for humanity. We follow a squad of Livesuit infantry who have fused their bodies with technology to fight an unfathomable legion of alien conquerors. An enemy that has never lost a war then uses the best traits of conquered races to continue their war.
Why it’s so good is because the author(s) have an incredible way of describing people and the world they interact with. Images are vivd and believable. While being so alien, and futuristic Corey manages to write a world you can imagine yourself in.
Additionally, their novellas always take place in the same world, but are completely stand alone stories from the main series so the depth of world building is just… chef’s kiss
Both writers were originally working on writing RPGs and TTRPGs so their style just brings me back to sitting at a table with friends, some drinks and a Character Sheet for a hopeful lvl 3 wizard.
The narration of The Expanse audiobook series was really well done.
In a wonderful turn of events: Captive’s War is narrated by the cery same narrator!
Confederacy of Dunces, read by Artie Johnson. I’ve read and listened to it at least a dozen times. Johnson really puts a lot into his reading of it.
I’ve started reading the somewhat expansive Cosmere universe of books by Brandon Sanderson.
I like actually reading, but there is a LOT to get through, so I’m reading the series (a couple trilogies, a series of 5 books) in actual print, and listening to the standalone novels in the universe on audio.
It’s actually been a nice day to keep moving through all the different overlapping character lines. One particular character, who I’ll call H, spans the various worlds and stories often. It’s fun reading someone about H in one book and then hearing him as the narrator or showing up as a character in the audio book I’m listening to later.
Check out the graphic audio versions!
Have fun! The cosmere is chefs kiss. I have listened to most of them now apart from a few standalones I need to visit and they are always outstanding!
Dungeon Crawler Carl 4, The Gate of the Feral Gods by Matthew Dinniman. Its just good fun and the sound effects are amazing. Though I think Carl sounds too old for a 27 year old.
It has also been a good break after Pet Sematary by Stephen King.
I highly rate dungeon crawler Carl, the narrator (Jeff Hayes) is fantastic! The plot just keeps getting thicker, I hope you relish it as much as I did!
