Best fantasy audiobooks of all time

Phantastes: A Faerie Romance for Men is a fantasy novel written by George MacDonald, first published in London in 1858. It was later reprinted in paperback by Ballantine Books as the fourteenth volume of the Ballantine Adult Fantasy series in April 1970.

The story centres on the character Anodos ("pathless", or "ascent" in Greek) and takes its inspiration from German Romanticism, particularly Novalis. The story concerns a young man who is pulled into a dreamlike world and there hunts for his ideal of female beauty, embodied by the "Marble Lady". Anodos lives through many adventures and temptations while in the other world, until he is finally ready to give up his ideals.

The edition published in 1905 was illustrated by Pre-Raphaelite painter Arthur Hughes.

C.S. Lewis wrote, concerning his first reading of Phantastes at age sixteen, "That night my imagination was, in a certain sense, baptized; the rest of me, not unnaturally, took longer. I had not the faintest notion what I had let myself in for by buying Phantastes."

The Audiobook is narrated by Brad Powers. Power's tone and quality of voice embodied the fairy nature of this book. Fairly old school narration with not too much exaggeration and dramatisation.

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Eight-year-old Princess Irene lives a lonely life in a castle in a wild, desolate, mountainous kingdom, with only her nursemaid "Lootie" for company. Her father the king is normally absent, and her mother is dead. Unknown to her, the nearby mines are inhabited by a race of goblins, long banished from the kingdom and now anxious to take revenge on their human neighbors. One rainy day, the princess explores the castle and discovers a beautiful, mysterious lady, who identifies herself as Irene's namesake and great-great-grandmother. The next day, Princess Irene persuades her nursemaid to take her outside. After dark they are chased by goblins and rescued by the young miner 'Curdie', whom Irene befriends. At work with the rest of the miners, Curdie overhears the goblins talking, and their conversation reveals to Curdie the secret weakness of goblin anatomy: they have very soft, vulnerable feet. Curdie sneaks into the Great Hall of the goblin palace to eavesdrop on their general meeting, and hears that the goblins intend to flood the mine if a certain other part of their plan should fail. He later conveys this news to his father. In the palace, Princess Irene injures her hand, which her great-great-grandmother heals. A week later Irene is about to see her great-great-grandmother again, but is frightened by a long-legged cat and escapes up the mountain; whereupon the light from her great-great-grandmother's tower leads her home, where her great-great-grandmother gives Irene a ring attached to a thread invisible except to herself, which thereafter connects her constantly to home.

When Curdie explores the goblins' domain, he is discovered by the goblins and stamps on their feet with great success; but when he tries to stamp on the Queen's feet she is uninjured due to her stone shoes. The goblins imprison Curdie, thinking he will die of starvation; but Irene's magic thread leads her to his rescue, and Curdie steals one of the goblin queen's stone shoes. Irene takes Curdie to see her great-great-grandmother and be introduced; but she is only visible to Irene. Curdie later learns that the goblins are digging a tunnel in the mines towards the king's palace, where they plan to abduct the Princess and marry her to goblin prince Harelip. Curdie warns the palace guards about this, but is imprisoned instead and contracts a fever through a wound in his leg, until Irene's great-great-grandmother heals the wound. Meanwhile, the goblins break through the palace floor and come to abduct the princess; but Curdie escapes from his prison room and stamps on the goblins' feet. Upon the goblins' retreat, Irene is believed a captive; but Curdie follows the magic thread to her refuge at his own house, and restores her to the king. When the goblins flood the mines, the water enters the palace, and Curdie warns the others; but the goblins are drowned. The king asks him to serve as a bodyguard; but Curdie refuses, saying he cannot leave his mother and father, and instead accepts a new red petticoat for his mother, as a reward.

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Lilith is considered among the darkest of MacDonald's works, and among the most profound. It is a story concerning the nature of life, death, and salvation. In the story, MacDonald mentions a cosmic sleep that heals tortured souls, preceding the salvation of all. MacDonald was a Christian universalist, believing that all will eventually be saved. However, in this story, divine punishment is not taken lightly, and salvation is hard-won.

Mr. Vane, the protagonist of Lilith, owns a library that seems to be haunted by the former librarian, who looks much like a raven from the brief glimpses he catches of the wraith. After finally encountering the supposed ghost, the mysterious Mr. Raven, Vane learns that Raven had known his father; indeed, Vane's father had visited the strange parallel universe from which Raven comes and goes and now resides therein. Vane follows Raven into the world through a mirror (this symbolistic realm is described as "the region of the seven dimensions", a term taken from Jacob Boehme).

Inside the world, Vane learns of a house of beds where the dreamers sleep until the end of the world in death: a good death, in which life is found. Vane's grandfather refused to sleep there and is, instead, forced to do battle with skeletons in a haunted wood. After a treacherous journey through a valley (where the moon is the only thing to keep him safe), Mr. Vane meets the Little Ones, children who never grow up, remaining pure children or becoming selfish and getting bigger and dumber, turning into "bags" or bad giants. After conversing with Lona, the eldest of the children, Mr. Vane decides to help them, and sets off to gather more information, although the Raven (who is also Adam) has warned Mr. Vane that he needs to sleep along with the dreamers before he can really help them.

While on his journey, he meets Lilith, Adam's first wife and the princess of Bulika.Vane, although nearly blinded by Lilith's beauty and charms, eventually leads the Little Ones in a battle against Bulika. Lona, Vane's love, turns out to be Lilith's daughter, and is killed by her own mother. Lilith, however, is captured and brought to Adam and Eve at the house of death, where they struggle to make her open her hand, fused shut, in which she holds the water the Little Ones need to grow. Only when she gives it up can Lilith join the sleepers in blissful dreams, free of sin. After a long struggle Lilith bids Adam cut her hand from her body; it is done, Lilith sleeps, and Vane is sent to bury the hand; water flows from the hole and washes the land over. Vane is then allowed to join the Little Ones, already asleep, in their dreaming. He takes his bed, next to Lona's, and finds true life in death.

The audiobook is narrated by Pete Williams. Mr. Williams' reading is superb. His voice is clear and consistent through each segment. There is no disruptive background noise or static, nor does Mr. Williams stumble over his words or include awkward reading-sounds (lip smacking, coughing, loud sniffing, etc). His voice is gentle and captivating; rather than offering a static, flat reading, he reads with emotion to draw the listener in with the flow of the book. Mr. Williams was well-prepared for each segment, and brings us consistent, high-quality recordings. Very many thanks for his hard work.

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In the wild, unexplored coastal jungles of West Africa lives a wild human boy named Tarzan, the adopted son of a tribe of fierce almost-human anthropoid apes - but in reality, the unknown heir of a wealthy and titled English noble family. Then one day, a small party of American treasure-seekers is marooned on Tarzan's beach, including a lovely Baltimore belle named Jane Porter. When she leaves, Tarzan quits his jungle life and learns the ways of civilized man, so that he can follow her. But after he arrives, he finds he must choose between his noble birthright and her future happiness....

The two books in this duology were the world's introduction to Tarzan - possibly the most widely recognized character in fiction. Over the century, since he was introduced to us, he has starred in hundreds of books, comics, and films, and thousands of derivative bits of pop culture such as bubblegum cards and lunch pails. Only Bram Stoker's Dracula has starred in more movies. Yet the Tarzan most people think they know is far different from the original Tarzan - the Tarzan you'll meet in this audiobook. The Tarzan most of us know is a crude, powerful, primitive man who speaks in monosyllables ('Me Tarzan. You Jane. Where boy?') . The original Tarzan was altogether different - fluent in at least four languages (Ape, French, English, and Arabic, in that order) and equally comfortable in the smoking room of a great ocean liner as he was in the savage jungle.

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Civil War veteran John Carter is transported to a dying planet, where he must elude capture by giant green barbarians to rescue a Martian princess from certain doom. In this landmark of science fiction, the myths and mystery of the red planet supply a vibrant backdrop for a swashbuckling epic.

Published in 1911, A Princess of Mars introduced a popular series of novels recounting John Carter's Martian exploits.

Author Edgar Rice Burroughs, best known as the creator of Tarzan, employed a new style of writing that combined the genres of fantasy, adventure, and science fiction. His imaginative setting - an advanced but decaying civilization in which Olympian heroics play out against malevolent forces and ever-changing fortunes - endures as a timeless world, in which love, honor, and loyalty form the basis for fast-paced romantic adventures.

This is part of the Barsoom Series, and there are a further 12 books in the series, check out the Edgar Rice Burroughs selected works on Wikipedia for a full listing.

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Jurgen may be the most famous of James Branch Cabell’s books: It was certainly the one that put him on the map, when, in January 1920, the New York Society for the Prevention of Vice took his publisher to court for violating New York’s anti-obscenity law. Suddenly, Cabell went from an admired but semi-obscure author of literary satiric fantasy, to the guy everyone was reading because he was censored.

James Branch Cabell's career was short-lived - his works fit neatly within the 1920s literary escapist culture and then quickly declined in popularity as the author veered away from the fantasy niche. In his heyday, Cabell garnered praise from several of his contemporaries such as H. L. Mencken and Sinclair Lewis. Lewis even acknowledged Cabell's successful Jurgen in his 1930 Nobel Prize address. Jurgen is certainly Cabell's most famous novel, published in 1919, and it tells the story of a middle-aged man on a journey through fantastic realms, where he meets and seduces beautiful women of fiction and myth - including the Devil's wife. The book garnered attention as it was charged with obscenity in a case that reached the New York Supreme Court. Cabell and his publisher won the case, and the author was deemed a literary avant garde, who tested conventional social boundaries and opposed the forces of puritanical repression.

The audiobook is narrated by Robert Blumenfeld. Mr. Blumenfeld breezed through the French and Latin and German place names and references without missing a beat... however I kept waiting for him to get the rhythm of the characters and he never really did. I often had a hard time telling the transition from one character to another and he really wasn't a smooth reader. He injected pauses in the middle of sentences and didn't seem as I said to get the rhythm of the characters.

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Between the years when the oceans drank Atlantis and the gleaming cities...there was an age undreamed of, when shining kingdoms lay spread across the world like blue mantles beneath the stars.... Hither came Conan, the Cimmerian, black-haired, sullen-eyed, sword in hand...to tread the jeweled thrones of the earth under his sandalled feet.

In a meteoric career that spanned a mere 12 years before his tragic suicide, Robert E. Howard single-handedly invented the genre that came to be called sword-and-sorcery. Collected in this volume are Howard's first 13 Conan stories in their original versions and in the order Howard wrote them. Included are classics of dark fantasy like "The Tower of the Elephant" and swashbuckling adventure like "Queen of the Black Coast."

Here are timeless tales featuring Conan the raw and dangerous youth, Conan the daring thief, Conan the swashbuckling pirate, and Conan the commander of armies. Here, too, is an unparalleled glimpse into the mind of a genius whose bold storytelling style has been imitated by many yet equaled by none.

The two audiobooks above are narrated by Todd Mclaren. McLaren provides a strong performance. As a narrator he is more than capable of providing voices to the motley assortment of characters who populated the world Howard created.

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A master of terror and nightmarish visions, H.P. Lovecraft solidified his place at the top of the horror genre with this macabre supernatural tale.

When a geologist leads an expedition to the Antarctic plateau, his aim is to find rock and plant specimens from deep within the continent. The barren landscape offers no evidence of any life form - until they stumble upon the ruins of a lost civilization. Strange fossils of creatures unknown to man lead the team deeper, where they find carved stones dating back millions of years. But it is their discovery of the terrifying city of the Old Ones that leads them to an encounter with an untold menace.

Deliberately told and increasingly chilling, At the Mountains of Madness is a must-have for every fan of classic terror.

The Audiobooks are narrated by Edward Hermann. Edward Herrmann’s voice is so compelling and engaging, so familiar and so attuned to the text, that the narrative, whatever it may be, flows smoothly. He is, simply, one of our best narrators, and he brings biographies and histories to vivid life.

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This is one of the most popular re-tellings of the story of King Arthur. Like The Lord of the Rings, this fantasy novel has been equally popular among younger readers and adults. White takes an inventive approach that involves animals who speak and Robin Hood! A true Arthurian classic.

The Audiobooks are narrated by Neville Jason. The Washington Post recently called Neville Jason "the audiobook world's unofficial marathon man." We all marvel at Neville's accomplishments--his recording of WAR AND PEACE is a 70-hour epic; Proust's REMEMBRANCE OF THINGS PAST is 50 hours; and the comparably short THE DECLINE AND FALL OF THE ROMAN EMPIRE is just 16 hours. How does his voice fare for these marathon recordings? "For trained professionals, good technique is essential, so the voice wearing out is never an issue.

In Volume 1 of the classic Gormenghast Trilogy, a doomed lord, an emergent hero, and an array of bizarre creatures haunt the world of Gormenghast Castle. This trilogy, along with Tolkien's Lord of the Rings, reigns as one of the undisputed fantasy classics of all time. At the center of everything is the 77th Earl, Titus Groan, who stands to inherit the miles of rambling stone and mortar that form Gormenghast Castle and its kingdom.

In this first volume, the Gormenghast Castle, and the noble family who inhabits it, are introduced, along with the infant firstborn son of the Lord and Countess. Titus Groan is sent away to be raised by a wet nurse, with only a gold ring from his mother, and ordered to not be brought back until the age of six. By his christening, he learns from his much older sisters that epileptic fits are "common at his age." He also learns that they don't like his mother. And then, he is crowned, and called, "Child-inheritor of the rivers, of the Tower of Flints and the dark recesses beneath cold stairways and the sunny summer lawns. Child-inheritor of the spring breeze that blow in from the jarl forests and of the autumn misery in petal, scale, and wing. Winter's white brilliance on a thousand turrets and summer's torpor among walls that crumble..."

In these extraordinary novels, Peake has created a world where all is like a dream - lush, fantastical, vivid; a symbol of dark struggle.

The Audiobooks are narrated by Saul Reichlin. Saul is the winner of the 2010 Audible 'Sounds of Crime' Award for Best Unabridged Audiobook for The Girl Who Played with Fire by Stieg Larsson and the 2008 Audible 'Sounds of Crime' Award for Best Unabridged Audiobook for The Seventh Sacrament by David Hewson.

Narnia...the land beyond the wardrobe door, a secret place frozen in eternal winter, a magical country waiting to be set free.

Lucy is the first to find the secret of the wardrobe in the professor's mysterious old house. At first her brothers and sister don't believe her when she tells of her visit to the land of Narnia. But soon Edmund, then Peter and Susan step through the wardrobe themselves. In Narnia they find a country buried under the evil enchantment of the White Witch. When they meet the Lion Aslan, they realize they've been called to a great adventure and bravely join the battle to free Narnia from the Witch's sinister spell.

This was the first book written in The Chronicles of Narnia. It now stands as the second book in the series, preceded by The Magician's Nephew.

Don't miss any of the books in C.S. Lewis' classic Chronicles of Narnia series.

The  Audiobooks are narrated by many different narrators. The first book, 'The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe' is narrated by Michael York.  I didn't quite appreciate his reading. It was a bit slow, and his voice didn't change much between characters.

The stories in The Dying Earth introduce dozens of seekers of wisdom and beauty - lovely lost women, wizards of every shade of eccentricity with their runic amulets and spells. We meet the melancholy deodands, who feed on human flesh and the twk-men, who ride dragonflies and trade information for salt. There are monsters and demons. Each being is morally ambiguous: The evil are charming, the good are dangerous. All are at home in Vance’s lyrically described fantastic landscapes, like Embelyon, where, “The sky [was] a mesh of vast ripples and cross-ripples and these refracted a thousand shafts of colored light, rays which in mid-air wove wondrous laces, rainbow nets, in all the jewel hues....”

The dying Earth itself is otherworldly: “A dark blue sky, an ancient sun.... Nothing of Earth was raw or harsh—the ground, the trees, the rock ledge protruding from the meadow; all these had been worked upon, smoothed, aged, mellowed. The light from the sun, though dim, was rich and invested every object of the land ... with a sense of lore and ancient recollection.” Welcome.

The Audiobooks are narrated by Arthur Morey. Morey evokes the odd mixture of sardonic wit, decadence, hope, and imagination of Vance's book. Morey's voice is dry, but savory, and he pronounces Vance's strange names and unusual words clearly and changes tone appropriately for wizened men, giant demons, guileless or deceitful "girls" (i.e., women), tiny dragonfly riding Twk-men, self-centered rogues, determined wizards, man-eating Deodands, forgotten gods, and more. I would listen to more Dying Earth books narrated by Morey and highly recommend this one.

The Lord of the Rings is regarded as some of the best books ever written, beginning innocently and then taking a plunge into a much darker world. The Fellowship gives us a glimpse into the intricate and beautifully crafted world that is Middle Earth.

The audiobooks are narrated by Robert Inglis and Martin Shaw. I recommend the Rob Inglis version. Rob strikes the perfect note in his narrations; again, his voice is suited towards the old fashioned narration. Robs versions of the Lord of the Rings, and the Hobbit are a little more read than dramatised, but the character range is definitely amazing in the Lord of the Rings. Some people can find Rob a little dry, but I find this was mainly due to the books rather than the narrator. I think if you are looking for a narrator to read you the Tolkien classics, you have no better choice than Rob.

Click here to head to the Lord of The Rings wiki for more information.

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Thor has broken the sword Tyrfing so that it cannot strike at the roots of Yggdrasil, the tree that binds together earth, heaven, and hell. But now the mighty sword is needed again to save the elves in their war against the trolls, and only Skafloc, a human child kidnapped and raised by the elves, can hope to persuade Bölverk the ice-giant to make Tyrfing whole again. But Skafloc must also confront his shadow self, Valgard the changeling, who has taken his place in the world of men.

This Audiobook is narrated by Bronson Pinchot. Pinchot gives a grand performance; from the disturbingly quiet elf-lord Imric to the ominously deep voiced troll king Illrede, all the characters come alive, full of their crafty manipulations and overwhelming passions.

Rediscover one of the most beloved children's books of all time: A Wrinkle in Time by Madeleine L'Engle:

Meg Murray, her little brother Charles Wallace, and their mother are having a midnight snack on a dark and stormy night when an unearthly stranger appears at their door. He claims to have been blown off course, and goes on to tell them that there is such a thing as a "tesseract," which, if you didn't know, is a wrinkle in time. Meg's father had been experimenting with time-travel when he suddenly disappeared. Will Meg, Charles Wallace, and their friend Calvin outwit the forces of evil as they search through space for their father?

The Audiobooks are narrated by Hope Davis. Davis's narrating is great. I first attempted to listen to a version narrated by the author, and it was unlistenable. Ms. L'engle is a genius writer, but her voice is not appropriate for the protagonist, and is, unfortunately, very spitty.

Andre Norton enthralled readers for decades with thrilling tales of people challenged to the limits of their endurance in epic battles of good against evil. None are more memorable than her Witch World novels.

Simon Tregarth, a man from our own world, escapes his doom through the gates to the Witch World. There he aids the witch Jaelithe's escape from the hounds of Alizon, only to find himself embroiled in a deeper war against an even deadlier foe: the Kolder.

The first two books are narrated by Nick Podehl. Podehl is a pro - he has also narrated a fairly recent best selling series - 'The King Killer Chronicles', which are very good. No complaints with Podehl. The last book is narrated by Kate Rudd, Rudd did a great job of narrating the Year of the Unicorn, which is written from a woman's point of view.

On holiday in Cornwall, the three Drew children discover an ancient map in the attic of the house that they are staying in. They know immediately that it is special. It is even more than that: it is the key to finding a grail, a source of power to fight the forces of evil known as the Dark. And in searching for it themselves, the Drews put their very lives in peril.

The Audiobooks are narrated by Alex Jennings. Jennings not only has a good voice for storytelling but also a talent for accents and dialects that lend personality to the characters he portrays, from the Cornish accents of the village locals to Uncle Merry's deep, commanding tones. This is definitely a listen I would recommend to others. It's not an entirely traditional fantasy with swords, dragons and wizards but it's a gripping tale all the same.

"The shapeless mass of darkness split apart. It sundered, and a pale spindle of light gleamed between his open arms. In the oval of light there moved a human shape: a tall woman...beautiful, and sorrowful, and full of fear." - from A Wizard of Earthsea, first in a tetralogy that includes The Tombs of Atuanand The Farthest Shore, introduces the listener to Ged, the greatest sorcerer in all Earthsea, known also as Sparrowhawk. When Sparrowhawk casts a spell that saves his village from destruction at the hands of the invading Kargs, Ogion, the Mage of Re Albi, encourages the boy to apprentice himself in the art of wizardry. So, at the age of 13, the boy receives his true name - Ged - and gives himself over to the gentle tutelage of the Master Ogion. But impatient with the slowness of his studies and infatuated with glory, Ged embarks for the Island of Roke, where the highest arts of wizardry are taught. There, Ged's natural talents enable him to surpass his classmates in little time. But when his vanity prompts him to summon Elfarran, the fair lady of the Deed of Enlad, he unleashes a shapeless mass of darkness - the shadow.

The audiobooks are narrated by Robert Inglis. Inglis sounds here a touch pale, thin, and tired. Or is it that Le Guin and Ellison are American, Inglis British? Whereas Ellison's version brought out different aspects of A Wizard of Earthsea that I hadn't noticed before, Inglis' version felt more routine. Mind you, Inglis is an excellent, professional reader, and Ellison's version is no longer available on Audible.

On the beautiful planet Pern, colonized for centuries, Land Holders and Craftsmen have traditionally tithed food and supplies to the dragonweyrs to which they are bound. In times past, the mighty telepathic dragons and their riders were the only protection from the dreaded, life-threatening Thread. But it has been over 400 years since the last Threadfall, and some people have come to doubt that the menace will every strike again. But F'lar, rider of Pern's greatest bronze dragon, has no such illusions. The Red Star is near; Thread will fall soon.

The first threebooks, which is known as the original dragonrider trilogy is narrated by Dick Hill, while the second three books is known as the Harper Hall trilogy, narrated by Sally Darling. These stories take place immediately prior to and concurrently with those depicted in Dragonquest and The White Dragon.

Dick Hill's deep voice resonated within me, especially when he did the voice for Robinton. Oh, how I had missed that Masterharper! Mr. Hill was able to keep the characters different while not making the females sound silly. In fact, I think his strength was in drawing out Lessa's personality.

When I first started listening to the Harperhall Trilogy, I was concerned about Sally Darling. I had just finished the main Dragonriders Trilogy (Dragonflight, Dragonquest, and The White Dragon) performed by Dick Hill, so I was used to his voice reading the stories. However, a woman reading the Harperhall Trilogy makes sense since most of the stories are about Menolly and are more a female perspective. Anyway, Sally did an excellent job of portraying Menolly and other characters in the story and brought them to life just as well as Dick Hill did with the main trilogy.

A unicorn, a haphazard wizard, and a spunky scullery woman journey to the dreaded kingdom of Haggard, an evil ruler who, with the help of a bull-shaped demon, imprisons all the unicorns of the world.

This is an unabridged audiobook of Peter S. Beagle's classic fantasy novel, read by the author, and featuring original music by Jeff Slingluff. It was engineered at MondoMedia Studios in San Francisco by Jim Lively, and produced by Connor Cochran and Jim Lively.

The Last Unicorn is one of the great fantasy novels of the 20th Century. Since its publication in 1968 it has never been out of print, with six million-plus copies sold around the world, and it has been translated into more than 20 languages. The animated movie version, released in 1982, has been seen by hundreds of millions of people, and after 25 years is still showing regularly on cable and satellite television in more than a dozen countries.

The audiobook is narrated by the author, Peter S. Beagle. Beagles narration is capable. It is flat, with little attempt at dramatization. It's probably good he didn't try to do more than he is capable of, and it's charming in its way, maybe like listening to your favorite uncle read. I think that a voice actor could do a better job at making some of the scenes come alive, though.

King Jorian was rather attached to his head. Hence, he felt his promise to seal the Kist of Avlen, a treasure trove of ancient manuscripts on magic, was little enough a price to pay for a chance to escape his own beheading. But when the quest pitted him against one peril after another - a murderous wizard and his giant squirrel, a castle full of executioners, a marauding troop of ape men, and a voluptuous 500-year-old princess who was also a serpent - Jorian wondered if he'd made a good bargain!

The core series is narrated by Charles Bice. Bice does a fine job.

Neil Gaiman Presents: the first book in Fritz Leiber's classic sword-and-sorcery series, which includes the Hugo and Nebula Award-winning novella, Ill Met in Lankhmar.

In the ancient city of Lankhmar, two men forge a friendship in battle. The red-haired barbarian Fafhrd left the snowy reaches of Nehwon looking for a new life, while the Gray Mouser, apprentice magician, fled after finding his master dead. These bawdy brothers-in-arms cement a friendship that leads them through the wilds of Nehwon, facing thieves, wizards, princesses, and the depths of their desires and fears.

The late Fritz Leiber's tales of Fafhrd and the Gray Mouser launched the sword-and-sorcery genre, and were the inspiration for the fantasy role-playing game Dungeons and Dragons.

The Audiobooks are narrated by Jonathan Davis. Jonathan Davis has received critical acclaim for his narration in a variety of genres. He has garnered accolades from Publisher's Weekly,USA Today, and AudioFile Magazine. Davis has been nominated for four 2009 Audie Awards, for his performances of Galapagos by Kurt Vonnegut, Calculating God by Robert J. Sawyer, Executive Privilege by Phillip Margolin, and El Vecindario de Quinito by Ina Cumpiano.

Nine Princes in Amber is the first of the 10 books that are The Chronicles of Amber; an epic fantasy series written by six-time Hugo Award winning and three-time Nebula Award winning author, Roger Zelazny.

The ten books that make up the series are told in two story arcs: The Corwin Cycle and the Merlin Cycle.

The Audible audio rendition of this classic sci-fi/fantasy series is kicked off by 2012 Audie Award nominee, Alessandro Juliani, who reads the first five books that make up the Corwin Cycle and whose narration vividly brings the world of Amber to life.

Amber is the one real world, of which all others including our own Earth are but Shadows. Amber burns in Corwin's blood. Exiled on Shadow Earth for centuries, the prince is about to return to Amber to make a mad and desperate rush upon the throne.

From Arden to the Pattern deep in Castle Amber which defines the very structure of Reality, Corwin must contend with the powers of his eight immortal brothers, all Princes of Amber. His savage path is blocked and guarded by eerie structures beyond imagining impossible realities forged by demonic assassins and staggering Forces that challenge the might of Corwin's superhuman fury.

The first five books are narrated by Alessandro Juliani. Juliani really added to the series- When Zelazny himself read this book, I didn't notice any differences between characters when he read. Juliani's reading is superior and adds a lot of enjoyment to the series. I am not sorry I got this book again even after having heard the author's version of it.

Will Wheaton narrated the next five books. I prefer Alessandro Juliani's performance to Wil Wheaton's. This is not to say Wheaton's performance detracts from the story; not at all. It's the comparison to Juliani's performance for the Corwin Chronicles that elicits my opinion. Juliani has a good command of voice specialization and identification for each character and manages these identities extremely well. Once you make the connection of the voice to the character you no longer need Corwin said, or Julian said, or Random said. Wheaton's voice is rich and easy to listen to; it's just not what I was used to after the Corwin Chronicles and Juliani' versatilit.

In the kingdom of Gwynedd, the mysterious forces of magic and the superior power of the Church combine to challenge the rule of young Kelson. Now the fate of the Deryni -- a quasi-mortal race of sorcerers -- and, indeed, the fate of all the Eleven Kingdoms, rests on Kelson's ability to quash the rebellion by any means necessary...including the prescribed use of magic!

The Audiobooks are narrated by Jeff Woodman. He has a pleasant English accent, nice pacing, and does a great job with both male and female voices.

Original and provocative, To Your Scattered Bodies Go won the 1971 Hugo Award for outstanding science fiction novel and has continued to be a favorite of generations of new listeners.

For explorer Richard Francis Burton, Alice Liddell Hargreaves - the inspiration for Alice in Wonderland - and the rest of humanity, death is nothing like they expected. Instead of heaven, hell, or even the black void of nothingness, all of the 36 billion people who ever lived on Earth are simultaneously resurrected on a world that has been transformed into a giant river valley.

With hunger and disease eliminated, Burton and the others appear to have everything they need - except an answer to the question "Why?"

Both swashbuckling adventure and insightful examination into mankind's constant search for answers to the unanswerable, To Your Scattered Bodies Go is voiced by narrator Paul Hecht to emphasize every thrilling moment of discovery.

The audiobooks are narrated by Paul Hecht. Hecht reads well, he uses just the right smattering of accents for the characters.

Scattered about the galaxy were the time-space Gates of a vanished but not forgotten alien race. In their time, long before the rise of the native civilizations, they had terrorized a hundred worlds—not from villainy but from folly, from tampering with the strands that held a universe together.

Now the task was to uproot these Gates, destroy their potency for mischief, take horror out of the hands of the few who hungered for power by misuse of the Gates.

This is the story of one such Gate and one such world.

The audiobooks are narrated by Jessica Almasy. I hate to say this because the narrator did a pretty good job all around except that the voice for the main character was so ill fitting. A woman who does what she does would have a richer, more experienced voice. Too, sometimes the inflection was a bit off - the dialog not quite right. But the narrator DID do a great job of giving that sense of movement and pace - of growing excitement and danger. So I hate to find fault but - there is no way that Morgaine would sound that way

Long ago, the wizards had vanished from the world, and all knowledge was left hidden in riddles. Morgon, prince of the simple farmers of Hed, proved himself a master of such riddles when he staked his life to win a crown from the dead Lord of Aum. But now ancient, evil forces were threatening him. Shape changers began replacing friends until no man could be trusted. So Morgon was forced to flee to hostile kingdoms, seeking the High One who ruled from mysterious Erlenstar Mountain. Beside him went Deth, the High One's Harper. Ahead lay strange encounters and terrifying adventures. And with him always was the greatest of unsolved riddles - the nature of the three stars on his forehead that seemed to drive him toward his ultimate destiny.

The audiobooks are narrated by Simon Prebble. Prebble's reading is well paced, beautifully pronounced and absorbing. Well done and recommended.

Night's Master is the first book of the stunning arabesque high-fantasy series Tales from the Flat Earth, which, in the manner of The One Thousand and One Nights, portrays an ancient world in mythic grandeur via connected tales.

Long ago when the Earth was flat, beautiful, indifferent Gods lived in the airy Upperearth realm above; curious, passionate demons lived in the exotic Underearth realm below; and mortals were relegated to exist in the middle. Azhrarn, Lord of the Demons and the Darkness, was the one who ruled the night, and many mortal lives were changed because of his cruel whimsy. And yet, Azhrarn held inside his demon heart a profound mystery which would change the very fabric of the Flat Earth forever.

Come within this ancient world of brilliant darkness and beauty, of glittering palaces and wondrous elegant beings, of cruel passions and undying love. Discover the exotic wonder that is the Flat Earth.

The Audiobooks are narrated by Susan Duerden. Duerden, did a great job with the dialogue — she has a lovely resonant voice which is a good fit for this dark fairytale. Unfortunately, her reading occasionally takes on a noticeable sing-song quality during the narrative.

Start at the beginning, in Another Fine Myth, as Skeeve, an apprentice wizard, meets the demon Aahz. Though it's not love, or even like at first sight they form a connection - saving their lives - between them. Follow them in Myth Conceptions, as Skeeve and Aahz test their talent when they decide to take on an entire army themselves and continue on in Myth Directions. Then Skeeve finds himself alone with his own apprentice applicant, a king, in Hit or Myth and must deal with a medieval Mob! In Myth-ing Persons living up to one's reputation can be murder. Can a Character Assassin who tries to discredit the team in Little Myth Marker break up the team for good?

The Audiobooks are narrated by Noah Michael Levine. Levine was new to me narrator and he was wonderful for this book. He has a great range of voices, inflections and accents even though one character does sound like Sean Connery - I didn’t care, this narrator is the perfect fit for this book!

The Shadow of the Torturer is the first volume in the four-volume epic, the tale of a young Severian, an apprentice to the Guild of Torturers on the world called Urth, exiled for committing the ultimate sin of his profession - showing mercy towards his victim.

Gene Wolfe's "The Book of the New Sun" is one of speculative fiction's most-honored series. In a 1998 poll, Locus Magazine rated the series behind only "The Lord of the Rings" and The Hobbit as the greatest fantasy work of all time.

The audiobooks are narrated by Jonathan Davis. Davis as narrator has a moderately slow (but not too slow) pace, great voice characterization, and handles the author's challenging and singular vocabular with ease.

Long ago, so the Storyteller claimed, the evil god Torak sought dominion and drove men and gods to war. But Belgrath the Sorcerer led men to reclaim the Orb that protected the West. So long as it lay at Riva, the prophecy went, men would be safe. That was only a story, and Garion did not believe in magic dooms, even though the man without a shadow had haunted him for years. Brought up on a quiet farm by his Aunt Pol, how could he know that the Apostate planned to wake dread Torak, or that he would be led on a quest of unparalleled magic and danger by those he loved, but did not truly know.

For yet a little while, his dreams of innocence remained safe, untroubled by knowledge of his strange heritage. For a little while... thus begins The Belgariad, an epic fantasy of immense scope set against a history of 7,000 years. It tells of the struggles between ancient gods and mighty Kings, and of men in strange lands facing fated events, all bound by a prophecy that must be fulfilled.

The Audiobooks are narrated by Cameron Beierle. The narration is top notch, and I enjoy listening to how Cameron successfully keeps the multiple parties separate in his mind and on tape.

The Colour of Magic, the first novel in Terry Pratchett's wildly imaginative Discworld series, takes the listener on a remarkable journey. The magical planet of Discworld is supported by four massive elephants who stand on the back of the Great A'Tuin, a giant turtle swimming slowly through the mysterious interstellar gulf. The adventure begins when an eccentric expedition sets out to explore the planet. The group, including an ineffective wizard and a naive tourist (whose luggage moves on its own little legs) encounters dragons who only exist if you believe in them, and, of course "The Edge" of the planet.

The audiobooks are narrated by Nigel Planer. Nothing of note, fairly good narration.

A posthumous recipient of the World Fantasy Award for Lifetime Achievement, Marion Zimmer Bradley reinvented - and rejuvenated - the King Arthur mythos with her extraordinary Mists of Avalon series. In this epic work, Bradley follows the arc of the timeless tale from the perspective of its previously marginalized female characters: Celtic priestess Morgaine, Gwenhwyfar, and High Priestess Viviane.

The Audiobooks are narrated by Davina Porter. Davina Porter makes narration a fine art in this story. Her voice brings this tale to life and she is the perfect fit.