"You like liked Red Rising? Try Empire of Silence, it's Roman-inspired too!" Wrong. It's completely different. It's not about surface-level world similarities. It's about feel:
- Fast pacing
- Characters you root for (or love to hate)
- And critically, the narration! Just cos the book was good, doesn't mean the audio book will be.
I love page turners, I'm looking for recommendations.
Dungeon Crawler Carl series by Matt Dinniman
Books: 7 released, more planned
Narrator: Jeff Hays — One of the best in the game. Carl has a Patrick Warburton vibe, but Hays absolutely owns every side character too.
Goodreads Rating: 4.51
Audible Rating: 4.7
Total Series Duration: ~126 hours
Fast, funny, and somehow emotional as hell. Glorious chaos with surprisingly deep worldbuilding. It only gets better.
The Will of the Many by James Islington
Books: 1 released, 2nd on the way
Narrator: Euan Morton — Amazing, possibly the biggest compliment is that you're never thinking about the narrator, you're just in the story.
Goodreads Rating: 4.60
Audible Rating: 4.8
Duration: 28 hours
Elite military academy meets secret legacy and political intrigue. It hits the ground running and keeps you hooked.
Red Rising series by Pierce Brown
Books: 6 released, final book coming soon
Narrator: Tim Gerard Reynolds — Defines the voice of Darrow, does an amazing job.
Goodreads Rating: 4.24–4.61
Audible Rating: 4.6–4.8
Total Series Duration: ~120 hours
Tense, cinematic, brutal, and poetic. If you haven’t read the whole saga, do it now.
Project Hail Mary by Andy Weir
Books: Standalone
Narrator: Ray Porter — Hilarious, heartfelt, carries the whole story. This guy just makes it feel light and easy and warm and interesting. Soooo good.
Goodreads Rating: 4.53
Audible Rating: 4.8
Duration: 16 hours
Sci-fi survival with a surprising bromance. If The Martian was your thing, this is better.
Bobiverse series by Dennis E. Taylor
Books: 5 released, more planned
Narrator: Ray Porter again — like, he is Bob. But also does an amazing job with other character voices and accents, just an absolute talent.
Goodreads Rating: 4.28–4.37
Audible Rating: 4.6–4.7
Total Series Duration: ~55 hours
Fun, clever, occasionally emotional. A light but smart sci-fi binge.
Books I Found Boring (Despite the Hype):
Mistborn (Era 1) by Brandon Sanderson
Books: 3 in original trilogy
Narrator: Michael Kramer — Deep, slow, and monotone, depressing. It's like a robot. This audiobook might be completely different with a different voice.
Goodreads Rating: 4.34–4.44
Audible Rating: 4.5–4.6
Total Duration: ~72 hours
Dense, slow burn. World is cool, but characters didn’t click and narration made it feel like homework.
The Way of Kings by Brandon Sanderson
Books: 1 of the Stormlight Archive (5 published so far)
Narrator: Michael Kramer (again)
Goodreads Rating: 4.65
Audible Rating: 4.7
Duration: 45.5 hours
Couldn’t get through it. Beautiful writing, but glacial pace.
The Licanius Trilogy by James Islington
Books: 3
Narrator: Michael Kramer
Goodreads Rating: 4.21–4.27
Audible Rating: 4.4–4.6
Total Duration: ~75 hours
Plot sounded promising but I never cared about the characters or stakes. Felt like fantasy with the pacing of a textbook.
Empire of Silence by Christopher Ruocchio
Books: 1 of the Sun Eater series (6+ books planned)
Narrator: John Lee. Fine.
Goodreads Rating: 4.17
Audible Rating: 4.3
Duration: ~26 hours
Compared to Red Rising? No way. It’s more Dune than Darrow. Slow, cerebral, low on tension.
The Sword of Kaigen by M.L. Wang
Books: Standalone
Narrator: Andrew Tell
Goodreads Rating: 4.49
Audible Rating: 4.6
Duration: 24.5 hours
Beautiful and emotional, but I was bored. If you liked Kite Runner or A Thousand Splendid Suns, maybe. I wanted more momentum.
Considering Next:
Requiem for Medusa by Jason Anspach & Nick Cole
Books: 1 (in Tyrus Rechs: Contracts & Terminations)
Narrator: Ray Porter
Goodreads Rating: 4.39
Audible Rating: 4.7
Duration: 9.5 hours
Standalone-style bounty hunter revenge story. Ties into the Galaxy’s Edge universe. Do I need to read Legionnaire first?
The Perfect Run trilogy by Maxime J. Durand
Books: 3 (complete)
Narrator: Eric Michael Summerer
Goodreads Rating: 4.31–4.56
Audible Rating: 4.5–5.0
Total Series Duration: ~54.5 hours
Time-loop superhero chaos. Fast-paced, fun, with great narration. Sounds very DCC in tone.
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