New Reviews: Fantasy

Mary Robinette Kowal narrates a powerful rumination on the aftermath of war in this third installment of the Amberlough Dossier series. How do you determine guilt or innocence when no one is truly blameless but a reckoning is still owed? Five years have passed since Amberlough City fell to the One State Party and was subsequently liberated by a group of... Read More

A full-cast narration led by Colleen Delaney makes it easy to dive into this fantasy world, and soon every character feels familiar. It's a story full of religious tyrants, dark secrets, and a brewing rebellion in which any act of magic could open a portal to hell. As a result, each of the obstacles the characters encounter packs a significant emotional punch. And the numerous... Read More

In this stand-alone audiobook related to the Queens of Renthia trilogy, Khristine Hvam returns to narrate the story of a complicated world surrounded by spirits who must be kept at bay. She succeeds in portraying the protagonist, Mayara, as strong yet vulnerable. Because Mayara displays her power to command the spirits, which she reveals while trying to save her village from a... Read More

Narrator Mandy Williams has many different characters to master in this new fantasy series, Lord of the Islands. Principal among them is Katarina, who is denied her legacy as heir to the throne at 16 because of her gender and forced to marry. But soon after, she murders her husband--and begins her campaign to win the throne. Williams also delivers three subplots in which male... Read More

Narrator Susannah Jones flawlessly delivers the variety of accents and meticulous vocal nuances that are part of this paranormal noir. Skeptic Lionel Page has spent his career as a reporter debunking supposedly supernatural scams that are meant to prey on the desperate and unfortunate. His background makes him the perfect man for the job of verifying a lost Edgar Allan Poe... Read More

In this follow-up to Clark's DEAD DJINN IN CAIRO, narrator Julian Thomas's smooth, resonant baritone immerses listeners in a steampunk version of Cairo, circa 1912. When Agent Hamed Nasr of the Ministry of Alchemy, Enchantments and Supernatural Entities is dispatched to investigate a supposedly haunted tram car, he and his young partner, Agent Onsi, soon find themselves... Read More

Narrator Gabrielle Baker takes charge of a complicated and strange world, the setting for a dense tale of political exile, alchemy, and raw ambition. The two main characters are from opposite ends of every conceivable spectrum, but Baker recognizes and plays off of their similarities. This interplay between the two characters is central to the audiobook. Isten is a feisty... Read More

Yetide Badaki delivers a heartfelt, mystical narration of adventurous short stories by the award-winning Nigerian-American author, Nnedi Okorafor. The listeners are transported into each story. They are on bustling Chicago streets magically taxiing their way to another continent or playing music for a large zombie spider. The listeners are constantly on a ride, playing between... Read More

Holly Palance energetically narrates a story of magical realism set in Florida. When Eulalie Jenkins is forced off the road--to silence her criticism of local racists--she shape-shifts into an alligator. Her cat, Lena, a witness, survives. Palance's Lena tells Adelaide, Eulalie's daughter, who possesses some of her mother's powers, about the accident using thought speech.... Read More

Drawing on the Icelandic Eddas, two medieval source works, Mark Binder's performance piece tells most of the stories that are known about Loki, the Norse trickster. But whereas the traditional stories show Loki as mischievous or even evil, Binder has Loki himself tell what happened, so he becomes, if not the hero, at least the chief victim. The lively and entertaining tales are... Read More

Xe Sands creates a gritty and entirely believable voice for Ivy Gamble, a P.I. who is recounting the investigation of a gruesome murder case at Osthorne Academy of Young Mages. Sands captivates listeners with a fatigued yet steady delivery of the first-person story and creates an atmosphere of intrigue with masterful pacing. Ivy's anxiety about taking on her first murder case... Read More

Amber Benson's compelling narration brings to life a world in which numbers and words are more than they seem, alchemy is real, and time is not a constant. Seanan McGuire's fantasy is a complex and intricately told story of siblings who come together through pain and longing to save each other and the world--if they don't destroy it first. Benson's portrayals of Roger and... Read More

Beginning with a rousing introduction, C.S.E. Cooney offers an enthusiastic narration of Walton's first collection of short fiction and poetry. All told, there are 20 stories, a one-act play, and 15 poems, many of which are populated by memorable characters and marked by sly humor. The challenge for the narrator of a collection like this is allowing for each piece to have a... Read More

Simon Vance is no stranger to the narration of the Shannara series. This is the penultimate audiobook in the four-part Fall of Shannara, which is intended to conclude the more than forty-year series. Vance had to add very few characters to his library of Shannara familiars from the previous audiobook, THE SKAAR INVASION. The Skaar army is on the march, and Vance has plenty of... Read More

Narrator Lorelei King captures Mercy Thompson's matter-of-fact personality perfectly with her calm, composed approach. In this latest installment from author Briggs, Mercy and her crew solve a problem involving witches, goblins, and miniature goat zombies. For Mercy, it's just another typical day of protecting her territory. When King does infuse intense emotion, it has a lot... Read More

Joel Froomkin has a host of accents and voices on display in this first installment of the Rise of the Alliance trilogy. From the first chapter, Froomkin seems to have fun with his narration as he adopts a tongue-in-cheek attitude. The setting is the author's Inda world, in which many young rulers have ascended to the throne (most 10-15 years old) and attempted to form... Read More

Bailey Carr narrates this audiobook--part fantasy, part mystery-- admirably. Gilda Carr is an investigator who specializes in solving "tiny mysteries." But this time she finds herself involved in a far bigger situation as her search for a missing glove leads to clues about a murder and the dark nature of the Westside. Set in 1921, Akers's story has a gritty quality. Carr... Read More

Narrator Alexandra Harris continues the narration of the World of Others series. The events of this installment take place concurrently with those in ETCHED IN BONE. Harris portrays both familiar characters and a host of new ones. The "terra indigene" are now in charge and intend to resettle a town where the Elders wiped out the humans. Harris makes it obvious who the villains... Read More

Narrators Edoardo Ballerini and Amanda Leigh Cobb alternate first- person chapters in this apocalyptic sci-fi audiobook in which Earth is freezing and the threat is coming from the stars. A team of scientists is launched into space to try to stop the threat and rescue a stranded astronaut. Ballerini and Cobb deftly portray a large cast of characters with diverse... Read More

Narrator Robin Miles masterfully draws the listener into a world of women fighting against patriarchal domination in this energetic fantasy. After a life-changing magic spell is cast, two women must decide what is best for their kingdom, along with the fate of women who have a specific lot in life. Miles seamlessly depicts age, gender, and culture, providing voices for vastly... Read More