Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly meme that currently resides at The Artsy Reader Girl and features bloggers sharing lists on various book topics. The official topic for this list involved listing the ten most recent additions to your bookshelf, which is a topic I would usually try to address. However, I am afraid I’m going to have to skip this topic and instead I will continue my annual end of year wrap up of some of the best books of 2023. In previous weeks I have highlighted some of the best pre-2023 novels, best new-to-me-authors and the best 2023 sequels I read in the last year. However, this week I am going to look at something near and dear to my heart, the best audiobooks of 2023.
Readers of this blog only need to check out my extensive audiobook category to know that I have a lot of love for the audiobook format. In my opinion, the audiobook is often the best way to experience a good book and in many cases this format makes a novel far more enjoyable. As a result, I listened to quite a few audiobooks this year, and while a good chunk of them were books released before 2023 and featured in my Throwback Thursday posts, most were released this year. There were some truly outstanding and impressive audiobooks released in 2023 and I knew going in that I was going to have an extremely hard time coming up with a final version of this list.
For this list I have only included audiobooks released in 2023 that I have listened to, which left me with a long list of extremely impressive audiobooks which I wanted to include in this post. To help cut this down, I considered a range of factors, including the quality of the original novel, the skill of the narrator, production value, pacing and other features. Looking at all this I was eventually able to cut the list down to the absolute best 10 audiobooks, with my typical generous honourable mentions section. I had to make some very hard decisions here, and I ended up excluding several extremely good audiobooks from the main list. Still, I think it really represents the best audiobooks I enjoyed this year and there are some amazing productions below.
Honourable Mention:
The King of the Spoil, written by Jonathan D. Beer and narrated by Gabrielle Nellis-Pain
A fun and intense Warhammer 40,000 book that effortlessly blends gothic science fiction with a great crime fiction narrative.
The Last Kingdom, written by Steve Berry and narrated by Scott Brick
Intriguing European history and modern-day espionage combine perfectly in this new Cotton Malone novel by Steve Berry, which is expertly brought to life by veteran narrator Scott Brick
Cypher: Lord of the Fallen, written by John French and narrated by Jon Rand
The very talented Jon Rand does a wonderful job of bringing one of the most mysterious Warhammer 40,000 figures to life in this cryptic and fast-paced audiobook by John French.
Murtagh, written by Christopher Paolini and narrated by Gerard Doyle
Christopher Paolini cleverly adds to his iconic Inheritance Cycle with original series audiobook narrator, Gerard Doyle, returning as well, bringing some familiar and compelling voices to this epic piece of fantasy fiction.
Top Ten List:
Son of the Poison Rose/Cave 13, written by Jonathan Maberry and narrated by Ray Porter
In 2023, we were lucky to get two novels from one of my favourite authors, Jonathan Maberry, as he continued some of his best series. These novels were the dark fantasy epic, Son of the Poison Rose and the science fiction thriller, Cave 13, which continued the outstanding Rogue Team International series. Both books were awesome in their own way, but I chose to combine their audiobooks into a single entry here, due to the fact both shared the same narrator in the legendary Ray Porter. Porter, who is one of my favourite audiobook narrators, is synonymous with Maberry, having lent his voice to most of his books, and he always provides an exceptional performance that works so well with Maberry’s style and captures his complex and damaged protagonists. The combination of Maberry and Porter is always a winner, and the resulting audiobooks are something extremely special. As such, both come highly recommended, and both are some of the best audiobooks of the year.
Holly, written by Stephen King and narrated by Justine Lupe
I have been really enjoying some of the legendary Stephen King’s more recent books and my favourite so far is his latest novel, Holly. A continuation of the adventures of Holly Gibney that started in Mr Mercedes, Holly was a complex and dark thriller that saw the protagonist investigate a missing persons case, only to discover something truly disturbing and horrifying. This was such an incredible novel, that featured great characters and some shocking twists, and I can honestly say that my love for Holly was even more enhanced because of its amazing audiobook as the producers cleverly brought in actress Justine Lupe to narrate the book. Lupe, who played the character of Holly Gibney in the Mr Mercedes television series, once again dove into the character and really brought her to life. Combined with her great take on several other impressive characters, including two of King’s most surprisingly sinister villains, and Holly was a joy to listen to from start to finish, and indeed proved to be an excellent accompaniment for a fun road trip.
The Will of the Many, written by James Islington and narrated by Euan Morton
One of my favourite fantasy novels of 2023 was the inventive and exciting release from Australian author James Islington, The Will of the Many. A powerful read that saw a clever teenager with secrets attend a prestigious magical academy while also trying to bring down a destructive empire, The Will of the Many was one of the most impressive books of the year and I got really addicted to its elaborate storytelling and unique new world. The audiobook version of The Will of the Many proved to be extremely good, especially as it allowed me to absorb more of the compelling world detail and envision some of the more elaborate elements of the story. Narrator Euan Morton also provided a unique voice to the story, and this ended up being on of the best fantasy audiobooks of the year.
The Last Devil to Die, written by Richard Osman and narrated by Fiona Shaw
After wowing me with his previous Thursday Murder Club books, including The Thursday Murder Club (one of my favourite books and audiobooks of 2020), The Man Who Died Twice (one of my favourite books and audiobooks of 2021) and The Bullet That Missed (one of my favourite books and audiobooks of 2022), Richard Osman produced another outstanding release this year with The Last Devil to Die. Thanks to its clever mystery, subtle humour, and some of the best character work you likely to see, The Last Devil to Die was Osman’s best book yet, and I cannot emphasise how wonderful and moving it ended up being. The audiobook version proved to be particularly good, as they once again brought back actress Fiona Shaw to narrate. Shaw has an amazing handle on all the characters, and her excellent voice conveyed all the intense and powerful emotional that this book contained. I honestly teared up in placed while listening to this audiobook and I cannot recommend it enough as a result.
The Fall of Cadia, written by Robert Rath and narrated by Mark Elstob
I’m still listening to this next entry; however, I’m having such a great time with it that I had to include it here. This book is a fantastic Warhammer 40,000 book, The Fall of Cadia. Covering one of the most important events from the Warhammer 40,000 canon, the end of the 13th Black Crusade, The Fall of Cadia follows the epic last stand of the fortress planet of Cadia to the forces of Chaos. Massive in its scope and carnage, The Fall of Cadia is a difficult book to pull together but Robert Rath, who massively impressed me with his prior novels Assassinorum: Kingmaker and The Infinite and the Divine, does an incredible job of tying everything together into an exciting and manageable read. I am particularly loving the audiobook version as narrator Mark Elstob moves the lengthy novel along at an excellent pace and provides a huge range of voices to cover all the over-the-top personalities featured in the book. His narration also perfectly captures the full intensity of the many battles featured within The Fall of Cadia and he makes it sound as epic and brutal as possible. I am loving every second with this audiobook and I look forward to seeing how well the big finish comes out.
City of Last Chances, written by Adrian Tchaikovsky and narrated by David Thorpe
Probably one of the cleverest fantasy books I got to read in 2023 was City of Last Chances by the unstoppable and highly talented Adrian Tchaikovsky. Set in an occupied city loaded with rogues, revolutionaries and other lost souls, City of Last Chances was a clever, character-driven read, loaded with unique personal stories and unusual scenarios. This fascinating and entertaining narrative was expertly expressed by narrator David Thorpe who really dove into the strange characters and showcased all the absurdities and deep dramas perfectly. A wonderful audiobook from start to finish that I honestly could not stop listening to.
Burner, written by Mark Greaney and narrated by Jay Snyder
One of the leading authors of spy thriller fiction, Mark Greaney, produced another outstanding entry in his Gray Man series this year with Burner. Setting his infamous protagonist against both his former lover and a desperate Russian special forces unit, Burner was an amazing and intense read that expertly and tastefully utilised contemporary events to tell a complex story. The resulting action, spy craft, personal drama and carnage was expertly showcased by narrator Jay Snyder, who has lent his voice to all the Gray Man books. The resulting audiobook was extremely moving and intense, and Burner was one of Greaney’s best releases yet.
The Shadow Casket, written by Chris Wooding and narrated by Simon Bubb
The longest audiobook I listened to in 2023 was the epic fantasy novel, The Shadow Casket by Chris Wooding. The sequel to Wooding’s previous novel, The Ember Blade, The Shadow Casket was an outstanding listen that saw a desperate group of freedom fighters try to turn the tide against their relentless oppressors. Perfectly continuing the story set up in The Ember Blade while also featuring some impressive character interactions and a ton of worldbuilding, The Shadow Casket was a brilliant book, and I was so glad to get a continuation of this series. I deeply appreciated the audiobook version of The Shadow Casket, narrated by Simon Bubb, as it really helped me absorb this massive read so much better. Bubb did an outstanding job of making this lengthy story easy to follow, and I loved the fitting voices he gifted to all the complex characters. A captivating and extensive listen, I don’t think I would have enjoyed The Shadow Casket as much in any other format.
The Traitor, written by Anthony Ryan and narrated by Steven Brand
Bestselling fantasy author, Anthony Ryan, brought his Covenant of Steel trilogy to an awesome end this year with The Traitor. The fantastic follow-up to The Pariah and The Martyr, The Traitor showcased the end of Ryan’s scribe protagonist’s big adventure, and the inevitable fall to darkness that accompanied it. Intense, highly detailed, and featuring an outstanding antagonist, The Traitor was such a good conclusion, and I had such an incredible time listening to the audiobook version. Steven Brand, who did such a great job narrating The Pariah and The Martyr, provided another brilliant bout of narrating in this finale, and he perfectly captured the protagonist’s despair and determination as they fought to do the right thing one final time. A highly recommended audiobook and the only way to enjoy the Covenant of Steel books.
The Lion: Son of the Forest, written by Mike Brooks and narrated by Timothy Watson
The final entry on this list is another Warhammer 40,000 audiobook, The Lion: Son of the Forest by Mike Brooks. Brooks, who is quicky becoming one of the best authors of Warhammer 40,000 fiction (a quick shoutout to Brook’s other 2023 release, Warboss), sought to bring back one of the canon’s most significant characters, and did so with this deeply personal and symbolism laced novel. Intense, moving, and featuring some compelling characters, The Lion: Son of the Forest was extremely good, especially in the audiobook format narrated by Timothy Watson. While all Warhammer 40,000 audiobooks are pretty special and fun, I really enjoyed this one as Watson captures the gravitas of the main character perfectly while also highlighting the complex plot and pivotal action. One of the best Warhammer 40,000 audiobooks of 2023 as a result, this is really worth a listen.
Well that is the end of this latest Top Ten list, and as you can see, I have been lucky enough to listen to some awesome audiobooks this year (although I clearly focused a little too much on Warhammer fiction). All the above audiobooks are extremely good and I would highly recommend each of them in their audiobook format. Let me know what your favourite audiobooks of 2023 were in the comments below, and make sure to check back next week to see what my overall favourite novels of the year were.
The Unseen Library 