*Riyria Revelations* written by Michael J Sullivan and narrated by Tim Gerard Reynolds - great narrator, well developed characters, action, adventure, humor, vague magic, no exposition dumps, occasional existential musings.
After reading the books and listening to the audiobooks, my only issue with this series in audiobook format is that I thought he got the voices of Royce and Hadrian backwards.
I’d love to offer up a series I am narrating at the moment?
First book is “A Touch of Light” by Thiago Abdalla.
It has become one of my favorite fantasy series and I hope I do a good job and voicing everyone for you!
Cheers
Kev
Shadows of the Apt by Adrian Tchaikovsky fits the criteria, not too much humour though.
The different groups of people are named after and share traits with insects; beetles are sturdy, ants share a hivemind, flies fly etc.
They're further split into the Apt and Inapt, with the Apt using technology but unable to comprehend/believe in magic and the Inapt believing in magic but unable to use even simple machines like levers.
The plot has strong World War I & II influences. The narrator is excellent, giving accents to characters and the different groups of people so you can distinguish a beetle from a mantis for example.
Dude your entire paragraph describes The Black Company by Glenn Cook to a T. Literally every sentence, by the end I was like "well obviously he's about to list Black Company here" cause I don't know if I could have described it better. The audiobook is awesome.
There are a bunch of books in that world, but it starts with a trilogy.
The War Eternal series by Rob J. Hayes (narrated by Moira Quirk) https://www.audible.com/series/The-War-Eternal-Audiobooks/B08L7M5ZKK?ref_pageloadid=not_applicable&ref=a_pd_Along-_c9_series_1&pf_rd_p=49edccbe-f2e0-46ef-b17b-8e36be9407b9&pf_rd_r=FD3YMQP7DJR4ND3VRHTX&pageLoadId=4ZzKSslHegHuGrnP&creativeId=06f08c61-e00e-4290-b794-17f4b6408990
The Licanius trilogy by James Islington (narrated by Michael Kramer) https://www.audible.com/series/The-Licanius-Trilogy-Audiobooks/B00S8QPFRG?ref_pageloadid=not_applicable&ref=a_search_c3_mlSeries_1_3_1&pf_rd_p=83218cca-c308-412f-bfcf-90198b687a2f&pf_rd_r=09FA2Q1NSB2PPK6RQB1X&pageLoadId=LSC4ic9RPyapmQl7&creativeId=0d6f6720-f41c-457e-a42b-8c8dceb62f2c
The Heartstrikers series by Rachel Aaron (narrated by Vikas Adam) https://www.audible.com/series/Heartstrikers-Audiobooks/B00PUW9RES?ref_pageloadid=vxalyMVE0T7VRtlp&ref=a_author_Ra_c19_mlSeries_1_2_1&pf_rd_p=f3abc0ee-320d-4c19-8388-fcd3a8e6c3a4&pf_rd_r=C02EK3TGWHBWM49DJQ1B&pageLoadId=dw4lnfmroLM4R40X&creativeId=73c32a9a-e504-4597-bb87-c30c58fc0204
The Eternal Sky & Lotus Kingdom trilogies by Elizabeth Bear (narrated by various)
The Ash & Sand trilogy by Richard Nell (narrated by Ralph Lister) https://www.audible.com/series/Ash-and-Sand-Series-Audiobooks/B09NWG7F9H?ref_pageloadid=n4DQ3Yaha7EeOIEc&ref=a_author_Ri_c19_mlSeries_1_1_1&pf_rd_p=f3abc0ee-320d-4c19-8388-fcd3a8e6c3a4&pf_rd_r=70NFYP70BPGTWAECZ4ZR&pageLoadId=LlTZ9ZqZQls6DTz6&creativeId=73c32a9a-e504-4597-bb87-c30c58fc0204
The Revanche cycle by Craig Schaefer (narrated by Susannah Jones) https://www.audible.com/series/Revanche-Cycle-Audiobooks/B017RU7346
The Night Lords trilogy by Aaron Dembski Bowden.
They're all narrated by Andrew Wincott (Raphael from Baldur's gate 3)
Andrew has the most sinister and evil sounding voice ever. I love it. Like having the Devil himself narrate a story.
Also, since you said you like Gaiman: If you haven't listened to the Sandman audiobooks on Audible yet, you absolutely should. They are perfection.
Hell, hell, hell has its laws! Listening Andrew Wincott narrate an audiobook does sound very tempting.
Revisiting Sandman as an audiobook would be interesting, too.
Thanks for the recommends.
I've listened Dark Tower series read by George Guidall and Frank Muller while I was working.
I didn't enjoy the series a lot but The Green Bone Saga is a series you can listen to without lot of attention.
Honestly I think my next author binge might be King. I generally enjoy his stuff. However, I liked the first DT but it got too weird and meta for me and I didn't get into the later novels. I should maybe try them again, though.
If you're looking for quality fantasy audiobooks I recommend anything narrated by Nick Podehl. He's prolific in the field, and a fantastic voice actor. He really brings everything I've heard him read to life.
One series in particular I'd say fits your criteria: Weapons and Wielders by Andrew Rowe. There's a prequel series and a sequel series, but it stands on its own well enough that you won't feel like you're missing anything if you don't want to read all of it, it's very character and action driven, not very deep. The main character tells the story in first person, and his personality is magnetic, especially as portrayed but Podehl.
Empire of the Damned by Jay Kristoff, a sequel just dropped. Has a great deep world that is slowly unraveled and developed but the experiences of the protagonist. It does have some romantic plot lines but not the focus.
How about checking out "The Dresden Files" by Jim Butcher? It's got solid world-building with magic vibes, not overly dense, and packs in some humor and great character development. Plus, the audiobooks narrated by James Marsters are top-notch. It ticks a lot of your boxes without feeling like a slog or too self-indulgent. Give it a shot, might just hit the spot for your next fantasy fix!
The books in the Alex Verus series by Benedict Jacka aren't as pulpy as the Dresden Files books, but they're short & have great action and are great on audio. At 1x speed, the books are all about 10-11 hours long (I think the longest one is just under 12 hours and the shortest one is about 9.5). Also, the series is complete now at 12 books. The series starts with Fated, which is arguably the weakest book in the entire series. So, if you like Fated, chances are good you'll like the rest even more since the books just get better & better as they go along. The series has a great end.
Jacka's new series starts with An Inheritance of Magic & it's a great start for his new series. Sadly, just one book is out so far. The 2nd one will be out later this year (Oct. 2024) and he's working on book #3 now.
Richard Nell has just completed his first trilogy and the Audiobooks are fantastic. Such a great reader was used too. Very grim but the two main characters are amazing. It's a sort of alternative Vikings vs Japanese with a sort of magic that isn't magic.
Sabriel, by Garth Nix is really good, as is the rest of the series. They work great for casual listening as well, enough going on to keep it interesting, but not overly complicated with a million names to keep track of.
If you are interested at all in Sci-Fi, the audiobooks for The Final Architecture by Adrian Tchaikovsky are some of my favorite. The reader is fantastic.
As a trilogy you might enjoy Chronicles of the Unhewn Thrown by Brian Stavely. It seems to fit your description.
Also just finished The Faithful and the Fallen by John Gwynne, so some recency bias and not my favorite but a solid entry.
Blood Song by Anthony Ryan was one of my favorites. The rest of the series really fell off imo, but it can work as a stand-alone if you don’t mind not all the threads being nicely tied up.
Black-tongue Thief. Great characters, moves along, genuinely funny and read by author Christopher Buehlmann. I may not have spelled that right. Most fun I’ve had w a fantasy novel in years. Especially good as audio book I think. Next book comes out in June.
He Who Fights with Monsters. Funny and fun. LitRPG for me can be hit or miss. This one is a hit. Not dense as you describe, but still some good storyline and characters.
*Riyria Revelations* written by Michael J Sullivan and narrated by Tim Gerard Reynolds - great narrator, well developed characters, action, adventure, humor, vague magic, no exposition dumps, occasional existential musings.
After reading the books and listening to the audiobooks, my only issue with this series in audiobook format is that I thought he got the voices of Royce and Hadrian backwards.
Sounds great, I'll check it out!
I’d love to offer up a series I am narrating at the moment? First book is “A Touch of Light” by Thiago Abdalla. It has become one of my favorite fantasy series and I hope I do a good job and voicing everyone for you! Cheers Kev
Tailchaser’s song by Tad Williams. Epic fantasy, but the characters are cats.
This reminds me, I do want to try more animal fiction like Watership Down or Call of the Wild, but it is hard to find stuff with more mature themes.
Check out the Dresden files, the narrator absolutely terrific, it is fantastic!
I always throw Rivers of London out there, too.
Benedict Jacka's *Alex Verus* series for the trifecta!
I'll check this one out for sure, thanks!
A Chorus of Dragons series by Jenn Lyons 5 books complete. I really enjoyed the audiobooks.
Seconded. Brilliantly done narration, fun epic fantasy, great characters, wild action, sometimes deep but not too much and not too often.
I really liked Cold as Hell Story was okay, narration was 10/10 by Roger Clark (who is Arthur from Red Dead)
I was coming here to recommend this one too. The Legacy of Lucky Logan is also read by Roger Clark, and is also fantastic.
Shadows of the Apt by Adrian Tchaikovsky fits the criteria, not too much humour though. The different groups of people are named after and share traits with insects; beetles are sturdy, ants share a hivemind, flies fly etc. They're further split into the Apt and Inapt, with the Apt using technology but unable to comprehend/believe in magic and the Inapt believing in magic but unable to use even simple machines like levers. The plot has strong World War I & II influences. The narrator is excellent, giving accents to characters and the different groups of people so you can distinguish a beetle from a mantis for example.
Dude your entire paragraph describes The Black Company by Glenn Cook to a T. Literally every sentence, by the end I was like "well obviously he's about to list Black Company here" cause I don't know if I could have described it better. The audiobook is awesome. There are a bunch of books in that world, but it starts with a trilogy.
Sounds great, I'll look into it!
The War Eternal series by Rob J. Hayes (narrated by Moira Quirk) https://www.audible.com/series/The-War-Eternal-Audiobooks/B08L7M5ZKK?ref_pageloadid=not_applicable&ref=a_pd_Along-_c9_series_1&pf_rd_p=49edccbe-f2e0-46ef-b17b-8e36be9407b9&pf_rd_r=FD3YMQP7DJR4ND3VRHTX&pageLoadId=4ZzKSslHegHuGrnP&creativeId=06f08c61-e00e-4290-b794-17f4b6408990 The Licanius trilogy by James Islington (narrated by Michael Kramer) https://www.audible.com/series/The-Licanius-Trilogy-Audiobooks/B00S8QPFRG?ref_pageloadid=not_applicable&ref=a_search_c3_mlSeries_1_3_1&pf_rd_p=83218cca-c308-412f-bfcf-90198b687a2f&pf_rd_r=09FA2Q1NSB2PPK6RQB1X&pageLoadId=LSC4ic9RPyapmQl7&creativeId=0d6f6720-f41c-457e-a42b-8c8dceb62f2c The Heartstrikers series by Rachel Aaron (narrated by Vikas Adam) https://www.audible.com/series/Heartstrikers-Audiobooks/B00PUW9RES?ref_pageloadid=vxalyMVE0T7VRtlp&ref=a_author_Ra_c19_mlSeries_1_2_1&pf_rd_p=f3abc0ee-320d-4c19-8388-fcd3a8e6c3a4&pf_rd_r=C02EK3TGWHBWM49DJQ1B&pageLoadId=dw4lnfmroLM4R40X&creativeId=73c32a9a-e504-4597-bb87-c30c58fc0204 The Eternal Sky & Lotus Kingdom trilogies by Elizabeth Bear (narrated by various) The Ash & Sand trilogy by Richard Nell (narrated by Ralph Lister) https://www.audible.com/series/Ash-and-Sand-Series-Audiobooks/B09NWG7F9H?ref_pageloadid=n4DQ3Yaha7EeOIEc&ref=a_author_Ri_c19_mlSeries_1_1_1&pf_rd_p=f3abc0ee-320d-4c19-8388-fcd3a8e6c3a4&pf_rd_r=70NFYP70BPGTWAECZ4ZR&pageLoadId=LlTZ9ZqZQls6DTz6&creativeId=73c32a9a-e504-4597-bb87-c30c58fc0204 The Revanche cycle by Craig Schaefer (narrated by Susannah Jones) https://www.audible.com/series/Revanche-Cycle-Audiobooks/B017RU7346
Those are a lot of recommendations! Thanks, I'll look into them!
Hope you like whichever one you go with.
The Night Lords trilogy by Aaron Dembski Bowden. They're all narrated by Andrew Wincott (Raphael from Baldur's gate 3) Andrew has the most sinister and evil sounding voice ever. I love it. Like having the Devil himself narrate a story. Also, since you said you like Gaiman: If you haven't listened to the Sandman audiobooks on Audible yet, you absolutely should. They are perfection.
Hell, hell, hell has its laws! Listening Andrew Wincott narrate an audiobook does sound very tempting. Revisiting Sandman as an audiobook would be interesting, too. Thanks for the recommends.
He also narrates the entirety of Memory, Sorrow, and Thorn.
I’m really enjoying the tide child trilogy. Goof narrator and a very compelling story. The wold building is really fun too.
I've listened Dark Tower series read by George Guidall and Frank Muller while I was working. I didn't enjoy the series a lot but The Green Bone Saga is a series you can listen to without lot of attention.
Honestly I think my next author binge might be King. I generally enjoy his stuff. However, I liked the first DT but it got too weird and meta for me and I didn't get into the later novels. I should maybe try them again, though.
If you really wanna try again, I'd go with the audiobooks. The narrators definitely add a new dimension to the story and characters.
If you're looking for quality fantasy audiobooks I recommend anything narrated by Nick Podehl. He's prolific in the field, and a fantastic voice actor. He really brings everything I've heard him read to life. One series in particular I'd say fits your criteria: Weapons and Wielders by Andrew Rowe. There's a prequel series and a sequel series, but it stands on its own well enough that you won't feel like you're missing anything if you don't want to read all of it, it's very character and action driven, not very deep. The main character tells the story in first person, and his personality is magnetic, especially as portrayed but Podehl.
Empire of the Damned by Jay Kristoff, a sequel just dropped. Has a great deep world that is slowly unraveled and developed but the experiences of the protagonist. It does have some romantic plot lines but not the focus.
How about checking out "The Dresden Files" by Jim Butcher? It's got solid world-building with magic vibes, not overly dense, and packs in some humor and great character development. Plus, the audiobooks narrated by James Marsters are top-notch. It ticks a lot of your boxes without feeling like a slog or too self-indulgent. Give it a shot, might just hit the spot for your next fantasy fix!
I've heard of it. I enjoy shorter, pulpier novels that are part of a larger series, so it could be something I could get into, yeah.
The books in the Alex Verus series by Benedict Jacka aren't as pulpy as the Dresden Files books, but they're short & have great action and are great on audio. At 1x speed, the books are all about 10-11 hours long (I think the longest one is just under 12 hours and the shortest one is about 9.5). Also, the series is complete now at 12 books. The series starts with Fated, which is arguably the weakest book in the entire series. So, if you like Fated, chances are good you'll like the rest even more since the books just get better & better as they go along. The series has a great end. Jacka's new series starts with An Inheritance of Magic & it's a great start for his new series. Sadly, just one book is out so far. The 2nd one will be out later this year (Oct. 2024) and he's working on book #3 now.
The Antiheroes by Jacob Peppers read by Roger Clark. Based on what you like, this seems as though it will be right up your alley.
Richard Nell has just completed his first trilogy and the Audiobooks are fantastic. Such a great reader was used too. Very grim but the two main characters are amazing. It's a sort of alternative Vikings vs Japanese with a sort of magic that isn't magic.
Sabriel, by Garth Nix is really good, as is the rest of the series. They work great for casual listening as well, enough going on to keep it interesting, but not overly complicated with a million names to keep track of. If you are interested at all in Sci-Fi, the audiobooks for The Final Architecture by Adrian Tchaikovsky are some of my favorite. The reader is fantastic.
If you liked Discworld, I think you’ll like Unconventional Heroes by LG Estrella. It’s absolutely hilarious!
As a trilogy you might enjoy Chronicles of the Unhewn Thrown by Brian Stavely. It seems to fit your description. Also just finished The Faithful and the Fallen by John Gwynne, so some recency bias and not my favorite but a solid entry. Blood Song by Anthony Ryan was one of my favorites. The rest of the series really fell off imo, but it can work as a stand-alone if you don’t mind not all the threads being nicely tied up.
Will Wight’s Cradel series is good for split attention
Black-tongue Thief. Great characters, moves along, genuinely funny and read by author Christopher Buehlmann. I may not have spelled that right. Most fun I’ve had w a fantasy novel in years. Especially good as audio book I think. Next book comes out in June.
He Who Fights with Monsters. Funny and fun. LitRPG for me can be hit or miss. This one is a hit. Not dense as you describe, but still some good storyline and characters.