Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly meme that currently reside at The Artsy Reader Girl and features bloggers sharing lists on various book topics. The official topic for this list involved listing the ten top books you hope that Santa would bring you this year. While this is a fun sounding topic, I am instead going to continue my annual end of year wrap up of the best books I read in 2025. In previous weeks I have highlighted some of the best pre-2025 novels, best new-to-me-authors and best 2025 sequels I read in the last year. However, this week I am going to look at something near and dear to my hear, the best audiobooks of 2025.
Readers of this blog only need to check out my extensive audiobook category to the right 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 2025 and featured in my Throwback Thursday posts, most were released this year. There were some truly outstanding and impressive audiobooks released in 2025 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 2025 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. I was eventually able to reduce 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 Mentions:
Burn to Shine, written by Jonathan Maberry and narrated by Ray Porter
The latest book in the always excellent Joe Ledger series by Jonathan Maberry that always comes across awesome on audiobook.
An excellent and elaborate fantasy novel whose audiobook made perfect use of several great narrators.
Sunrise on the Reaping, written by Suzanne Collins and narrated by Jefferson White
More Hunger Games excitement expertly brought to life from a great new narrator.
Warhammer 40,000: Grotsnik: Da Mad Dok, written by Denny Flowers and narrated by Harry Myers
Hilarious Warhammer 40,000 fun from the impressive Denny Flowers, featuring one of the franchise’s very best narrators, Harry Myers.
Top Ten List:
Warhammer 40,000: Interceptor City, written by Dan Abnett and narrated by Toby Longworth
While I had the great pleasure of listening to several impressive Warhammer 40,000 audiobooks in 2025, my favourite had to be the awesome and addictive Interceptor City by Dan Abnett. The sequel to Abnett’s classic Warhammer 40,000 novel, Double Eagle, Interceptor City was an impressive listen that saw the returning protagonist forced back into aerial combat, this time fighting for survival admit the towers of a giant, ruined city. I deeply enjoyed Interceptor City especially on audiobook, voiced by one of my favourite narrators Toby Longworth. The audiobook version really enhanced the epic flying fight sequences of Interceptor City, and this was one of the very best listens of the year.
The Devils, written by Joe Abercrombie and narrated by Steven Pacey
Legendary grimdark fantasy author Joe Abercrombie returned in a big way in 2025 with his incredible novel The Devils. Set in an alternate, medieval Europe, The Devils follows an elite group of literal monsters controlled by the church as they engage on a deadly mission to crown a queen. This was one of the more compelling and entertaining novels of the year, and I must highlight the great audiobook version narrated by Abercrombie’s long-time collaborator Steven Pacey. Pacey did an amazing job voicing all the unique characters in The Devils, and few narrators work as well with Abercrombie’s impressive storytelling and fantastic writing as Pacey.
Cold War, written by Jonathan Maberry and narrated by Ray Porter
I doubt anyone is too surprised that an audiobook written by Jonathan Maberry is appearing on this list. Maberry’s outstanding and ultra-intense novels always come out extremely well on the audiobook format, especially with the legendary Ray Porter narrating, who always perfectly matches the tone and tension of Maberry’s stories, while also providing impressive voices for his cast. Of the two Maberry audiobooks released in 2025, my favourite was the dark science fiction novel Cold War. Serving as a sequel to one of my favourite books and audiobooks of 2024, NecroTek, Cold War was a brilliant follow-up, that really took the series in some powerful directions. Porter once again brought out all the inherent fear and craziness of Maberry’s great writing, and the result was an exceptional audiobook that I could not get enough of.
Never Flinch, written by Stephen King and narrated by Jessie Mueller
The iconic Stephen King continued to dominate the crime fiction genre in 2025 with the outstanding new Holly Gibney novel Never Flinch. Following on from books like Mr Mercedes, The Outsider and Holly, Never Flinch once again saw King’s unique protagonist investigating dark crimes in her city. However, this time there are two different killers stalking those close to her, and the resulting story was laden with threat, high stakes and deadly sequences. I really enjoyed how the audiobook version of Never Flinch turned out, and new narrator Jessie Mueller killed it voicing the various characters in Never Flinch, as well as providing the occasional bit of singing. A very spectacular audiobook and easily the best way to enjoy the latest Stephen King novel.
Star Wars: Sanctuary, written by Lamar Giles and narrated by Marc Thompson
Everyone knows that I’m a sucker for Star Wars audiobooks, and one of the best of 2025 was the addictive listen Sanctuary. A tie-in to The Bad Batch animated series, Sanctuary follows the rogue clones of the titular squad engage in some dangerous missions to help those closest to them. A compelling and fun adventure novel that expertly captures the characters from the show, Sanctuary got even better thanks to its audiobook adaptation. Not only was the iconic Star Wars music and sound effects expertly utilised throughout the audiobook run, but the always impressive Marc Thompson proved to be an outstanding narrator, providing exceptional imitations of the show’s cast. A fantastic and highly addictive listen, Sanctuary was a Star Wars audiobook at its best.
Days of Shattered Faith, written by Adrian Tchaikovsky and narrated by David Thorpe
One of the more elaborate and entertaining fantasy audiobooks of 2025 was the amazing Days of Shattered Faith by Adrian Tchaikovsky. The third book in the author’s Tyrant Philosophers series (following on from City of Last Chances and House of Open Wounds), Days of Shattered Faith was an incredible piece of fantasy fiction that detailed the intrigues and betrayals taking place within crumbling kingdom besieged by friendly diplomats. I loved this book, and I was really impressed with how effectively Tchaikovsky’s elaborate and clever narrative was showcased on audiobook. David Thorpe did an outstanding job showcasing all of Tchaikovsky’s compelling detail and subtle twists with his narration, while also matching the author’s tone, and the resulting audiobook proved to be a complex and highly enjoyable treat to listen to.
Artifact, written by Jeremy Robinson and narrated by R. C. Bray
The team of author Jeremy Robinson and narrator R. C. Bray returned in 2025, with the dark science fiction adventure, Artifact. Following a group of likeable protagonists as they venture into a sinister secret laboratory in the wilderness, Artifact soon turns into a shocking story that you are unable to turn away from. This excellent story is brilliantly enhanced by narrator R. C. Bray’s powerful voice that expertly fits the main protagonist and helps throw the reader into his damaged shoes. As such, this was a very easy book to include on this list, and I cannot wait for more from Robinson and Bray in 2026.
Born of an Iron Storm, written by Anthony Ryan and narrated by Steven Brand
Anthony Ryan continued his awesome fantasy adventures with the epic Born of an Iron Storm. The great follow-up to last year’s A Tide of Black Steel, Born of an Iron Storm continues it’s Viking inspired story in some fantastically big ways. I had an excellent time listening to Born of an Iron Storm on audiobook, especially with returning narrator Steven Brand, and it was one of the best ways to enjoy Ryan’s entertaining narrative.
The Strength of the Few, written by James Islington and narrated by Euan Morton
One of the more elaborate audiobooks of 2025 was intense and ambitious The Strength of the Few by Australian author James Islington. The incredible sequel to The Will of the Many, The Strength of the Few saw the protagonist from the first book split across three separate worlds, resulting in an amazingly layered novel. Thanks to the distinctive narration of Euan Morton, The Strength of the Few works extremely well on audiobook, and I loved how well the author’s intricate detail came across in this powerful audiobook production.
Star Wars: Master of Evil, written by Adam Christopher and narrated by Marc Thompson
The final audiobook that I want to highlight on this list is the captivating listen Master of Evil. Featuring an intriguing narrative set around a recently forged Darth Vader exploring the dark side of the Force, Master of Evil proved to be a powerful, character-driven Star Wars book, with some true heart to it. This great book was once again enhanced by the iconic Star Wars music, sound effects and the voice of Mark Thompson, and there is frankly no better way to enjoy Master of Evil than on audiobook.
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. 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 2025 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 