The appeal of audiobooks is huge. People who take long trips or who make a lot of manual labor that allows using earphones while doing it benefits greatly.
Apps like Scribd help these people get access to a variety of books of all genres. If you just subscribed to it and are wondering which are the best fantasy titles, we are here to give some helpful recommendations.
Is Scribd Unlimited?
For a monthly fee of $9,99, Scribd gives all users access to a wide range of e-books, audiobooks, documentations, music sheets, and many more. Paying the monthly subscription grants you access to as much as you can read or listen to. The only limit is yourself.
Best Fantasy Audiobooks on Scribd
Fantasy lovers will find themselves well suited on Scribd as the app has a great variety of titles. People who are not very into reading but want to try out listening to audiobooks might find it fascinating to know how broad the fantasy genre is.
It is not all Harry Potter-ish books or high-fantasy in the style of The Lord Of The Rings. There is plenty of middle ground to be explored, so let’s take a look at seven of the best audiobooks you can start listening to right now with your Scribd subscription.
The Poppy War
Author: Rebecca F. Kuang
Time listening: 18 hours
The Poppy War is the first installment of a trilogy that follows Fang Runin, a war orphan living in Nikan (which is a fictional version of China) with a family that treats her worse than a pet. She finds a way out of the mess and goes to the Sinegard Academy to study and become a soldier.
During this time, she learns that she has shamanic powers, allowing her to call on the power of the Phoenix god, a deity of fury and revenge.
Then the Federation of Mugen (basically Japan) invades the country and all students have to leave studies to defend their country. Winning the war might cost her sanity and her sense of humanity.
The Name Of The Wind
Author: Patrick Rothfuss
Time listening: 27 hours
The Name Of The Wind is also the first book in a 3-part story called The Kingkiller Chronic.
The story follows the years of Kvothe, a young lad, surviving without his family in a hostile big city, and then finding his way out to go to the University and learn everything he can — including finding the tools to get revenge against the Chandrian.
Rothfuss’s writing is one of the most immersive and compelling among contemporary authors due to his poetic way with words, however never letting readers bored or stuck in long paragraphs.
The Painted Man (or The Warded Man)
Author: Peter V. Brett
Time listening: 16 hours
If you are up for dark fantasy in a setting where humans are desperately trying to survive the night and not getting eaten by demons who emerge from the depths (the Core), then Demon Cycle is your choice.
The Painted Man is the first book on this 5-book series (with a few additional novellas).
You will journey through the growing pains of Arlen, Leesha, and Rojer as they learn and develop skills to help mankind fight the corelings when they rise at dusk.
It is a work about facing your fears and embracing all humans as deserving to live. And the story doesn’t truly end with book five, as the follow-up new series is set to release in August with the first installment, The Desert Prince.
Uprooted
Author: Naomi Novik
Listening time: 17 hours
Perhaps you are only looking to listen to a standalone book instead of a whole series. Then Uprooted will take you to a magical world with dragons and wizards but quite differently from the type you might be expecting.
Uprooted is based upon Polish folklore and follows the young Agnieszka as she is chosen to go live with the local wizard as payment for him protecting her village. That is a ritual that occurs every ten years.
What does the wizard do with these young women? What is the danger surrounding the village?
Djinn City
Author: Saad Z Hossain
Time listening: 16 hours
This goes out to those looking for a story that explores different mythology than the already common Anglo-Saxonic figuring in works such as The Lord Of The Rings, Game of Thrones, Eragon, etc.
More than that, Hossain explores the fact that the Arabians were very ahead technologically during the Middle Age and gives it a steampunk twist.
You will follow Indelbed, a lonely kid living in the city of Bangladesh, as he finds out his dad was a magician and had contact with the Djinns.
American Gods
Author: Neil Gaiman
Time listening: 19 hours
American Gods is as relaxing as a road trip. Mostly because you will go into a road trip along with Shadow and Mr. Wednesday (Odin) in the effort to recruit the old gods (Anansi, Easter, Anubis, and any deities that come to mind) to fight the new gods (TV, internet, money, etc.).
You probably already heard of American Gods. Perhaps you watched the Amazon series inspired by the book. If you never read it, though, now is the time.
Comparing TV shows and books is usually unfair, but in this case, the book really is more immersive and delivers food for thought on the relationship humankind has with its figures of power, be they gods or anything else.
A Game of Thrones
Author: George R. R. Martin
Time listening: 33 hours
Everyone knows Game of Thrones mostly because of HBO’s TV show. But many never came any close to the books of A Song Of Ice And Fire, which A Game Of Thrones is only the first.
If you are one of these people, now is come the time to discover that D&D’s (David Benioff and Dan Weiss) vision only told a part of the brilliant story written by GRR Martin.
The writing of Martin allows you to know every thought and change of heart of a character.
He is careful with the path he takes each plot, and that is why The Winds of Winter and A Dream of Spring are taking so long to be finished. Forget about that non-sense ending of the HBO show and dive deep into a story that has you hooked at every turn.
Final Thoughts
Fantasy is a very wide genre that allows for stories on other worlds or our own. You can pick any of the recommended books on this article and have good hours listening close to the developments of characters and plots as you try to figure out what comes next.
The best books never let you know what happens next until it happens. That is what this list is all about. Choose a book to start and have fun.
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