Why is it so good?
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.
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!
Read the first book, wasn’t impressed yet, I think it’s just so different than the expanse.
Also not a lot of room for setting, they’re kind of stuck until the plot shifts. Overall depressing too.
Just read this. Was great. Looking forward to the rest of the series.
11-22-63 by myself and The Hail Mary Project with my wife.
I just finished listening to all 14 Honor Harrington novels.
I loved 11-22-63. Reading Fairy Tale now.
Does the Hail Mary narration get better? I listened to a sample and the child’s voice in the beginning was like nails on a chalkboard to me.
I think the narration was great, the children just appear at the very beginning of the book
Yeah, the children are only for setting some of the scene, but they come back for a few short (like less than 5 minute) scenes. The easiest solution is double speed, it is extremely listenable with that small change and well worth the effort.
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 something 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!
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.
Best audio book I’ve listened to… Dungeon Crawler Carl. Great story. Amazing audio book production.
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.
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.
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 relistening to Max Brooks’ “Zombie Survival Guide” while commuting and High Howey’s “Dust” (from the Silo trilogy) when I can focus. I managed to listen to 15 books this year so far, and I am really proud of myself for that. :)
Currently listening to Starter Villain
Guy inherited his “billionaire” estranged uncles “parking garage” business, only for his ancillary businesses to be more interesting.
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.
It took some time to get used to the ebooks. I think it got better though, or I got used to 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!
Network Effect by Martha Wells, read by Kevin R Free.
It’s a great book, and the reading/delivery is really entertaining. I highly recommend it if you’re a fan of science fiction!
Murderbot is awesome!, pardon me for awhile while I calm down to an episode of Sanctuary Moon.
