SciFi and Fantasy Book Club discussion

I hope I've brought all the book reccers to the yard with that clickbait of a title!

Please rec me books you think I'd like, I need to spend 6 Audible credits in 4 Days :S

You can't know what I have available from my library and what I've already read/bought, but if there's an audiobook you think I'd like, tell me!

Yes, I'm desperate and I know this is a difficult request, but I'm asking anyway, in case someone has a rec I've completely missed :)

*fingers crossed but expecting complete silence*

Are you looking for just sci fi/fantasy recs?

Any genre/age! Though I tend to only buy speculative adjacent from Audible.

I’m on it! Mostly I listen to nonfiction these days, but here are some SFF books I enjoyed on audio:
The entire Expanse series (so good!)
Circe
Friday Black
Interior Chinatown
The Lesson
A Boy and His Dog at the End of the World
The Windup Girl
My mom keeps recommending the Bobiverse audiobooks to me, but I haven’t tried them yet.

You’ve most likely read all these! :) But here’s what I loved on Audible:

Neil Gaiman : Neverwhere and The Graveyard Book

Will Wight : the Cradle series

Martha Wells: all of the Murderbot Diaries


Long shot suggestions:
Generation Loss by Elizabeth Hand - This book really surprised me - lots of grit, descriptive - read the synopsis to see if you might be interested.

Dervla McTiernan books - I like it all but The Wrong One is short and interesting.

Stonefather- Orson Scott Card

Seveneves - Neal Stephenson

Scott Meyer : Magic 2.0 series

Hmmm, your profile is private so I can’t check what you’ve read and liked or disliked. So I’ll just rec some things I think are great that you may not have read yet:

- Shards of Earth has an awesomely read audio book, and the sequel just came out, as well (it’s a fun space romp)
- Terminal Alliance another fun space romp with some ROFL moments
- Six Crimson Cranes lovely, charming Asian fairy-tale retelling
- Wolf Hall (the version read by Ben Miles) - won the Booker for a reason, and it’s a great read
- The Unspoken Name very cool crumbling fantasy worlds connected by portals and influenced by Lovecraftian gods about to be reawakened
- Vespertine: awesome magic system, no romance, fantastic spooky atmosphere, a heart for eccentrics

Hope this helps?

Yeah I know you can't see what I've read, I'm sorry!

My "problem" is that I have Storytel and access to a great selection of library books. I'm not complaining! :D But I really can't think of a book I want to read and that isn't already available to me. And I have to use these credits before they expire.

Yes, it's a horrible problem to have! XD

Do you like / think you would like C.S. Lewis's "Chronicles of Narnia"? There are audible editions with what looks like a great set of readers, such as Michael York, Kenneth Branagh, Derek Jacobi, and Lynn Redgrave.

There are too many editions of the books to find on them on Goodreads searches. Here are a few pages from Amazon:

https://www.amazon.com/Lion-Witch-War...

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0009NS988?...

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0009NS98I?...

Daemon & Freedom by Daniel Suarez

This is an up to date story spread over two books about technology, economics and society. Enough people do not comprehend technology well enough but it will impact us more and more.

I read The Host in paper, then a few years later listened to it in audio, enjoyed it a lot. My finicky adult son also likes it. Not perfect, but better than you might think if all you know is the author's vampire works.

Me Before You is fun in audio. Lightish, best-sellerish, but I still enjoyed it enough to listen to the sequels, too.

If they have The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn as narrated by Patrick Fraley I highly recommend it, even if you've read the novel. His different dialect accents are masterful, imo and in the opinion of my son.

I also enjoyed The Bees, speculative fiction by Laline Paull, so much in audio that I reread it in ebook, and now have acquired a paper copy to read it again.

Lord of the Rings as narrated by Rob Ingles

This might be a good time to get some poetry. I particularly love Mary Oliver, for example. Poetry is best out loud for the rhythms, alliterations, etc. Also out loud is slower than reading on paper, and slowing down makes us savor and also helps us understand. And if you own it, you can take your time listening and not worrying about a due date.

Oh, I think all of my recs are on Storytel! 😯

Not on Storytel and great: Green Bone Saga (Jade City), Watchmaker on Filigree Street and its sequels, Mercedes Thompson series, The Madness Season by C.S. Friedman, The Winnowing Flame trilogy (Ninth Rain), all of RJ Barker's books (The Bone Ships)

Since I can't see what you enjoy, I'll just mention my next listen. I'm very excited to get to An Immense World by Ed Yong. Just got it on audible because the line is 7 weeks long on 17 copies at my library.

Eva wrote: "Oh, I think all of my recs are on Storytel!"

I know, anytime I see a possible option that sounds good, I check Storytel and whoomp there it is XD

Thanks everyone, I'm not commenting on everyone's recs, because it'd be a long list of "have (read) it!" but I'm very grateful to everyone for suggesting books! ^_^

for a change of pace, any of Paul Theroux's earlier travel books are pretty good

The Order of the Pure Moon Reflected in Water, Zen Cho, was fun.

If you like mysteries, I enjoyed the audio of Magpie Murders by Anthony Horowitz. A different style of mystery that I also enjoyed was Interred with Their Bones.

Daisy Jones & The Six was a fun audio presentation. Multiple actors for the different POVs. Similar with Six of Crows.

I'll second anything by Neil Gaiman as he (usually? always?) reads them. I also liked Stardust.

*I'm not on Audible or Storytel, so I don't know if these are available.

Yeah don't worry about availability! It's easier for me to check myself :)

Okay, even more choices you might like (haven’t read them all myself yet, but I’m pretty sure they’re good):

Wasteland of Flint by Thomas Harlan
The Justice of Kings by Richard Swan
Master of Sorrows by Justin Call
The Red Palace by June Hur
Artifact Space by Miles Cameron (highly recommended!)
Empire of the Vampire by Jay Kristoff (so much fun in audio, great performance)
The Mask of Mirrors by M.A. Carrick
Illuminae by Amie Kaufman
The Jasmine Throne by Tasha Suri
- Daniel Abraham’s books (e.g. The Dragon’s Path)

Maybe one of those?

Anna did you read Hamnet? You might like it. There’s a touch of magical realism in there.

Not yet, but it is on the TBR!

Disclaimer: I don't really do audio books so the audio books for these recs might not be good! This is especially true because I'm prioritizing books I like that are usually lesser well-known to see if I can find some you both haven't read and might be interested in :)

-anything Andrea K. Höst, especially the Touchstone trilogy starting with Stray or Medair

-Sherwood Smith- I really love a lot of her books even though Inda and Crown Duel are the most well-known. A Stranger to Commandand Time of Daughters I are a couple I really liked. I also like her YA fantasy romances like The Trouble with Kings and Sasharia en Garde!

Want by Cindy Pon (though keep in mind I am biased because this book is set in Taipei)

I've been really enjoying Victoria Goddard's books. The Hands of the Emperor and the Greenwing and Dart series starting with Stargazy Pie

The Long Way Home by Sabrina Chase (start of a completed trilogy - I haven't read the third, though)

The Great Pyramid Robbery The Seven Fabulous Wonders series by Katherine Roberts - these are children's books so those may not interest you. But I loved these growing up because of great characters and interesting plots. They don't have to be read in order - the stories are all independent of one another.

How about books by CJ Cherryh? There are very few on Scribd, so maybe also on Storytel? Also Bujold has nothing on Scribd…

Storytel has all the Bujold 😄 and enough Cherryh for me.

Stephanie, thanks for the kids’ series, they’re not on audio but I’m always looking for more kids’ books in general!

I keep editing this but although I did not want to comment on everyone’s suggestions, I do want to say that I’ve read Want and I actually might be getting her fantasy series, but it’s not all on audio, so I’m not sure about it yet 🫤

Have you read Manly Man in space by some guy? I think you'll like it!

Ryan wrote: "Have you read Manly Man in space by some guy? I think you'll like it!"

I DNFed it!

Anna if Hamnet is on your list I’d rec that.

I think I’ve also Rec’d The High House by Jessie Greengrass before but I’ll say it again.

And then these are maybes:

Hide by Kirsten/Kristen something

The Change by another Kirsten (Miller? - though, content warnings)

And *maybe* The Seven and A Half Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle- which doesn’t is definitely speculative, and the audio was well done- I think a more experienced listener will get more out of it then I did.

The Thirty Names of Night

Natives: Race and Class in the Ruins of Empire Nonfiction. Ryan had recommended it to me and it was very good.

The Strange Case of the Alchemist's Daughter This is a fun, light, escapism series

Illuminae (and sequels) are seriously the best audiobooks I've 'read.' Great acting, voices, and variety.

And any of the Peter Grant series by Ben Aaronovitch simply because Kobna Holbrook Smith is the best narrator ever.

Pictures of Perfection
The Last Stand of the Tin Can Sailors: The Extraordinary World War II Story of the U.S. Navy's Finest HourA Time for Trumpets: The Untold Story of the Battle of the Bulge
A Night in the Lonesome October
Why the Allies Won
Guns, Germs, and Steel: The Fates of Human Societies
Dorsai!
Bank Shot
City
Water for Elephants
Leviathan Wakes
The Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet
Astrophysics for People in a Hurry
Paper Tigers: The German Armor Crisis 1943 - 1944
Robert E. Lee and Me: A Southerner's Reckoning with the Myth of the Lost Cause
Howl’s Moving Castle

Well, you did say any genre, hope there is one in here that might interest you.

lol Dj! XD I'm not very likely to get WWII nonfic, but you do have a couple of my favorite books on the list :)

Noor
Paladin's Grace
Empire in Black and Gold

Anna wrote: "Storytel has all the Bujold 😄 and enough Cherryh for me."

That's really unfair. I wonder why they aren't on Scribd at all?!?

Scribd has a lot of stuff Storytel doesn't!

The Spear Cuts Through Water by Simon Jimenez is not on storytel (One of the few books I actually bought this year on audible)

Allison told me that I absolutely cannot read Spear! 🙁

Anna wrote: "Allison told me that I absolutely cannot read Spear! 🙁"

Oh sorry ... yeah, it is brutal. I forgot ... ^^'

I would’ve gotten it already but I trust Allison!

Anna wrote: "I would’ve gotten it already but I trust Allison!"
She is right.

Yeah. I'm gonna read it to her whe she has patience to hear a book over a week instead of a couple hours, and I'll just replace all the Anna triggers with Anna safe terms ^^

I listen to audiobooks pretty regularly. Here are a few that I would recommend:

YA / Middle Grade SFF:
Elatsoe and A Snake Falls to Earth by Darcie Little Badger - loved both of these
Akata Witch and sequels by Nnedi Okorafor
Raybearer and Redemptor by Jordan Ifueko (these deal with some heavy content, though)

Adult (mix of genres):
The Sentence by Louise Erdrich
Anansi Boys by Neil Gaiman (but narrated by Lenny Henry, not Gaiman)
The Good Neighbor: The Life and Work of Fred Rogers by Maxwell King (narrated by LeVar Burton)
The Only Good Indians by Stephan Graham Jones (horror, but not too horrifying)
Circe by Madeline Miller

Done!

Here's what I got:

Auē by Becky Manawatu
Monkey Beach by Eden Robinson
Burning Roses by S.L. Huang
A Gift Upon the Shore by M.K. Wren
Burning Bright by Melissa Scott
Infamous by Lex Croucher

This was so much work :S

So if it is done, what did you end up getting?

I bought six copies of Manly Man in Space!

Anna wrote: "I bought six copies of Manly Man in Space!"

I find myself really hoping that isn't six copies of the same book. LOL

It's fine. They're different editions.

lol. is that a new Melissa Scott? I like your beach and burning theme!

No, it's an older one, I didn't know it had an audiobook until I checked yesterday.