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Hello, readers! Some of you may have heard me talk about how I recently took up book bedazzling. IT’S SO FUN. (Check it out for yourself.) It’s a very relaxing hobby, and to add to my enjoyment of the time I spend doing it, I decided to try audiobooks.
Yes, I am late to the audiobook party. But I am happy to report that playing an audiobook while I snazz up a book cover was a great idea! I listened to The 13 1/2 Lives of Captain Bluebear by Walter Moers, read by Bronson Pinchot, and it was such a delight! I am a big fan of Pinchot, and it turns out, he does the most amazing fantasy character voices and sounds. (At one point, he emitted a noise that made one of my cats jump off the couch. His fur was standing on end and his ears were back, and he looked at me like, “WTF WAS THAT??!”)
I definitely want to listen to more books read by Pinchot, of which there are hundreds to choose from, and I also think it’s a great opportunity to revisit some of my favorite science fiction and fantasy reads. The books below are the five SFF audiobooks that top that list!
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 A Master of Djinn by P. Djèlí Clark, narrated by Suehyla El-AttarI found Clark’s first full-length novel to be entrancing when I first read it, and I bet the audio version will also be magic. It’s set in an alternate historical version of Egypt, where an agent for the Ministry of Alchemy, Enchantments and Supernatural Entities must investigate the murder of a secret society devoted to al-Jahiz, a man who brought magic into the world. He disappeared forty years before, but there’s good reason to suspect him of the killings. |
 Gideon the Ninth by Tamsyn Muir, narrated by Moira QuirkMY FAVE. This is an amazing queer SFF read about a sarcastic swordswoman and the necromancer she works for. They hate each other, but in order to be rid of one another, they first have to win a really messed up competition. IT’S THE BEST. I have reread this book more times than almost any other book, and I own many copies: hardcovers, paperbacks, special editions, editions in other languages. So it would make sense that I also treat myself to the audiobook version and hear all the snark for myself. |
 The Deep Sky by Yume Kitasei, narrated by Sarah SkaerI was blown away by this sci-fi debut the first time I read it! It’s about 80 graduates on a special mission. They’re on a space ship headed to explore a far-off planet as a possible new home for humans. Except somebody sabotages the ship, and now they’re off course and doomed, unless they figure out how to right the ship. I imagine the suspense will be just as great on audio! |
 Sea of Tranquility by Emily St. John Mandel, narrated by John Lee, Dylan Moore, Arthur Morey, Kirsten PotterSet over 500 years, Sea of Tranquility follows several storylines, from a young man on a ship headed to America to an author who lives on the moon and is visiting Earth for her book tour. This is my favorite Emily St. John Mandel novel so far. It’s so beautiful, sad, and ethereal, and I imagine having four different voices read the story will be quite a magnificent listening experience. I expect I will cry. |
 Nevermoor: The Trials of Morrigan Crow by Jessica Townsend, narrated by Gemma WhalenI am a huge evangelist for this amazing middle grade fantasy series. It’s about a cursed girl, doomed to die on her eleventh birthday, who is instead whisked away to an enchanted academy. It’s so imaginative and delightful! Seriously, you should drop everything and read it right now. While you do that, I’ll be over here listening to Yara Greyjoy from Game of Thrones read it to me. |
Okay, star bits, now take the knowledge you have learned here today and use it for good, not evil. If you want to know more about books, I talk about books pretty much nonstop (when I’m not reading them), and you can hear me say lots of adjectives about them on the BR podcast All the Books! and on Instagram.
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