Top Ten Tuesday – My Favourite Audiobooks with Special Narrators

On August 22, 2023 By The Unseen LibraryIn Audiobook, List6 Comments

Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly meme that currently resides at The Artsy Reader Girl and features bloggers sharing lists on various book topics. For this week’s Top Ten Tuesday, participants get a freebie list that they can build around a specific genre. As such, I’m going to go back to my favourite format for enjoying all things fiction and craft a list around audiobooks, which fans of this blog will know I have a major liking for. In particular, I am going to look at those very awesome audiobooks that make excellent use of a special narrator.

All audiobook fans know that the one thing that can make or break an audiobook is the narrator. A talented narrator with a great voice can turn any book into something spectacular, while a bad narrator can tank even the very best story. In some very awesome cases, the audiobook’s producers manage to get their hands on someone particularly special to narrate their product for them, and this usually works out to be pretty damn epic. Now, when I talk about special narrators, I’m talking about either major celebrities, or someone who already has a significant connection with the book/franchise, and whose inclusion ensures that the listener can really get absorbed into the resultant audiobook. I have had the very great pleasure of listening to several amazing examples of these special narrators turning already epic books into first-class listens, and I thought this would be a fantastic time to highlight them here.

To appear on this list, the audiobook had to feature the voice of a celebrity or an actor best known from another media, and whose inclusion as a narrator was particularly significant. I chose to exclude a couple major audiobook productions that went out of their way to get a ton of celebrity voices, such as World War Z or The Sandman, mainly because they recently appeared on another Top Ten List, but also because that felt a little like cheating. Despite this, I still had a good collection of first-rate audiobooks that featured very special narrators. All these epic and unique narrators helped to deeply enhance the audiobook they lent their voices to, and I would strongly recommend the resulting products as a result. So let’s see who made the cut.

Honourable Mentions:

The Law, written and narrated by Jim Butcher

It often doesn’t work when an author narrates their own audiobook, especially if their series is already well known for having an excellent narrator, but I felt Jim Butcher did a pretty good job voicing his most iconic character in this audio adaptation of The Law novella.

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The Padmé Trilogy, written by E. K. Johnston, narrated by Catherine Taber

The Padmé trilogy of Star Wars novels was an intriguing young adult series that worked to expand on the story of Padmé Amidala from the prequel trilogy. Now, while this series from E. K. Johnston, made up of Queen’s Shadow, Queen’s Peril and Queen’s Hope, is quite good in its own way, the audiobook versions are deeply enhanced by the inclusion of narrator Catherine Taber, the voice of Padmé from The Clone Wars animated series. Taber really brings this iconic character to life again in this new format, and her voice work deeply enhances this fantastic read.

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The Night Fire, written by Michael Connelly and narrated by Titus Welliver and Christine Lakin

The audiobook versions of Michael Conelly’s books are usually pretty damn awesome, but I had a particularly good time with The Night Fire, mainly because it had a great voice cast behind it. While Christine Lakin does an excellent job, for the purposes of this list I am mainly highlighting the inclusion of Titus Welliver, who plays the character of Harry Bosche in the Bosche television series. His use as a narrator here is brilliant, and I loved the continuity in these latest audiobooks.

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The Final Girl Support Group, written by Grady Hendrix and narrated by Adrienne King

Grady Hendrix’s outstanding horror thriller, The Final Girl Support Group, featured a ton of amazing homages to classic slasher films, but its best is probably the inclusion of Adrienne King as the audiobook narrator. King, who is best known for her role as the final girl in the original Friday the 13^th film was an inspired choice for narrator, and I loved the added authenticity her performance gave this fantastic audiobook.

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Top Ten Tuesday:

The Lord of the Rings, written by J. R. R. Tolkien and narrated by Andy Serkis

Let’s start with a true classic and focus on the latest The Lord of the Rings audiobooks. While The Lord of the Rings books are always pretty damn awesome, these new audiobooks are further enhanced by the inclusion of legendary actor Andy Serkis as narrator. Serkis gives a 110% performance in these audiobooks, gifting wonderful voices to all the characters, not just Gollum, and even trying to emulate the voices of fellow Lord of the Rings film cast members. His exceptional voice work and elaborate performance greatly enhances these amazing audiobooks, and The Unseen Library strongly recommends this format as a result.

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Dresden Files audiobooks, written by Jim Butcher and narrated by James Marsters

I doubt anyone familiar with my blog will be too surprised that I am featuring the Dresden Files audiobooks on this list. I have had such an epic time with this series over the last few years, and part of the reason why is because each of the audiobooks is narrated by actor James Marsters, who I have been a huge fan of since Buffy the Vampire Slayer first came out. Marsters is such a talented narrator, and he really dives into the various characters featured in the Dresden Files books, including series protagonist Harry Dresden. The actor’s fun and emotional take on the protagonist really makes these audiobooks come to life, and every single one of them that I have listened to, including Storm Front, Fool Moon, Grave Peril, Summer Knight, Death Masks, Blood Rites, Dead Beat, Proven Guilty, White Night and Battle Ground, are so much better with Marsters’ expert narration. I cannot recommend this audiobook series enough as a result, and Marsters will make you fall in love with this exceptional urban fantasy series.

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Welcome to Night Vale and It Devours!, written by Joseph Fink and Jeffrey Cranor, narrated by Cecil Baldwin

Another series I have to recommend thanks to my Guest Review section are the fantastic Welcome to Night Vale audiobooks. Welcome to Night Vale is a beloved and weird sci-fi podcast that has been ongoing for several years now, picking up a dedicated following. As part of this, the creators have also written several books, including Welcome to Night Vale and It Devours!, which provide some extra fun insight into this crazy series. The audiobook versions of these novels are particularly fun because they are narrated by Cecil Baldwin, who serves as one of the main voices of the Welcome to Night Vale podcast. While I haven’t personally listened to these books, my editor and occasional contributor Alex swears by them and I had to include them on this list as a result. Alex really loved Baldwin’s voicework in these two audiobooks and she assures me that his inclusion as narrator ensures that these are required listening for all fans of this iconic podcast.

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The Thursday Murder Club and The Man Who Died Twice, written by Richard Osman and narrated by Lesley Manville

I have a lot of love for Richard Osman’s first two Thursday Murder Club novels, especially in their audiobook format. That is because the awesome narration of actress Lesley Manville is so damn exceptional and she gives perfect voices to all the great cast members. Manville really showcases her vocal skills in these first two books, and thanks to her outstanding narration, The Thursday Murder Club and The Man Who Died Twice both ended up being amongst my favourite audiobooks of 2020 and 2021 respectfully.

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Sylvanas, written by Christie Golden and narrated by Patty Mattson

There are some pretty awesome Warcraft/World of Warcraft audiobooks out there, but probably one of the best in terms of narration has to be last year’s outstanding listen, Sylvanas. Not only does Sylvanas have a great story behind it that examines one of the most complex characters in the Warcraft cannon, but the production team sought to bring some major authenticity and power to the audiobook version by utilising voice actor Patty Mattson as narrator. Mattson is probably best known for voicing Sylvanas Windrunner in World of Warcraft, so her inclusion here as narrator is an epic choice, as she already embodies the book’s main character/narrator perfectly. Having Sylvanas’ story told to you in her own voice is so damn cool, and it turns this audiobook into an epic listen, especially for dedicated Warcraft fans.

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The Salvage Crew, written by Yudhanjaya Wijeratne and narrated by Nathan Fillion

I must admit that one of the main reasons that I originally listened to the compelling and freaky science fiction audiobook, The Salvage Crew, was because it featured Nathan Fillion as narrator. Fillion, who voices the machine protagonist, unsurprisingly does an amazing job in The Salvage Crew, and his silky tones really drag you into this elaborate tale. While I did deeply enjoy Wijeratne’s clever writing, I doubt I would have checked it out without Fillion, who really does an amazing job as a narrator.

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Redshirts, written by John Scalzi and narrated by Wil Wheaton

Redshirts by amazing author John Scalzi is a hilarious and exceedingly clever parody/homage to the classic Star Trek series that shows the perspective of the doomed redshirts who are highly aware of their lack of survivability. I have a lot of love for this novel, and the audiobook is particularly cool, especially because they chose the perfect narrator for it, with Star Trek: The Next Generation star, Wil Wheaton. Wheaton has a lot of fun narrating this outstanding book, and there is something particularly fun having an iconic cast member reading this a clever Star Trek parody. I was laughing myself silly the entire time I was listening to this book, and I doubt I would have had as much fun without Wheaton’s fantastic inclusion.

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Star Wars: Ahsoka, written by E. K. Johnston and narrated by Ashley Eckstein

With the Ahsoka television series starting up tomorrow night, I definelty needed to highlight an awesome audiobook from a few years ago that makes perfect use of a special narrator. This audiobook is Ahsoka by E. K. Johnston and it features the excellent voice work of Ashley Eckstein, who is the definitive Ahsoka for The Clone Wars fans. This novel follows the character in the immediate aftermath of Revenge of the Sith and Eckstein unsurprisingly kills it, showcasing her impressive vocal range while also telling a unique Ahsoka tale that only she can.

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The Bullet That Missed, written by Richard Osman and narrated by Fiona Shaw

Now I am slightly cheating here by including the third Thursday Murder Club novel, The Bullet That Missed, separately on this list, but I’m justifying it because it features a different special narrator. The Bullet That Missed was a particularly impressive entry in this great series, and I made sure to grab the audiobook version as soon as possible. While I was initially disappointed that Leslie Manville wasn’t returning, I swiftly got over that the moment I found of Fiona Shaw of Harry Potter, Andor and Killing Eve fame was replacing her. Shaw also does an exceptional job narrating this novel and while she does emulate Manville in places, Shaw really puts her own spin on the narration, producing an exceptional listen. I really loved how Shaw effortless stepped in for this third book and her narration deeply enhances some of the best elements of The Bullet That Missed, including the pure Britishness of the story. I am very happy that Shaw will be returning for the upcoming Thursday Murder Club book, The Last Devil To Die, and I cannot wait to hear her bring this new novel to life.

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The Thousand-Dollar Tan Line, written by Rob Thomas and Jennifer Graham and narrated by Kristen Bell

The final audiobook I want to highlight is the awesome Veronica Mars tie-in novel, The Thousand-Dollar Tan Line, which is set after the Veronica Mars film. While I really did enjoy the clever mystery, intense personal story and intriguing expansion of the Veronica Mars mythos it contained, the true highlight of this audiobook has to be the fact that they get Kristen Bell to narrate it. Bell obviously has no problem bringing this elaborate Veronica Mars story to life and her narration is exceedingly impressive, cleverly capturing not only her own character, but several other figures from the show. This is probably one of my favourite pieces of tie-in media and Bell’s amazing narration is a key reason for this.

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That’s my latest list. As you can see, I have had the pleasure of listening to several outstanding audiobooks that feature some brilliant and distinctive special narrators. All 10 entries above come very highly recommended and you are guaranteed to love all of them, especially with their outstanding narrators.

Top Ten Tuesday – My Favourite Audiobooks with Multiple Narrators

On August 9, 2023 By The Unseen LibraryIn Audiobook, List4 Comments

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 of this week’s Top Ten Tuesday looked at books participants have read or wanted to read because of other Top Ten Tuesday posts. While this is a very interesting topic, it’s not one that I felt I could really participate in. However, I did have a couple of audiobook-focused lists I’d been cooking up in the background, so I thought I’d take the opportunity to post one here.

My list for this week revolves around audiobooks with multiple narrators. Now fans of my blog will be well aware that I am a massive fan of the audiobook format, and I honestly find it the best way to enjoy a range of cool novels and series. I have so much love for audiobooks, and a great narrator can exceptionally increase how much I enjoy an epic book. In some particularly awesome cases, the audiobook format can feature more than one narrator, and that is what I want to focus this list on. I have had the pleasure of listening to some very impressive audiobooks that feature a large cast of voice actors and frankly the range of voices and talents involved can add an even greater layer of awesomeness to the proceedings. As such, I thought this would be a fantastic opportunity to highlight some of the very vest multi-narrator audiobooks I have listened to so far.

To appear on this list, the audiobook in question had to have two or more narrators attached to it, with the second narrator having more than a cameo appearance to it. I actually had quite a few options to include here, but I was eventually able to whittle it down to a satisfying top-ten list, with my typical generous honourable mentions section as well. I think this list came up pretty well, and I really liked some of the books I selected. All the below choices come very highly recommended on audiobook, and their great collection of narrators ensured that this format was particularly epic.

Honourable Mentions:

Caves of Ice, written by Sandy Mitchell and narrated by Stephen Perring, Penelope Rawlins and Emma Gregory

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Dredge Runners, written by Alec Worley and narrated by Jon Rand, Paul Putner, Emma Noakes, Kelly Hotten, David Seddon and Andrew James Spooner

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Dark Sacred Night, written by Michael Connelly narrated by Titus Welliver and Christine Lakin

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The Battle For Jedha, written by George Mann and performed by a full cast

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Top Ten Tuesdsay:

For the Emperor, written by Sandy Mitchell and narrated by Stephen Perring, Penelope Rawlins and Emma Gregory

Let us start off with one of my favourite Warhammer 40,000 audiobooks, For the Emperor by Sandy Mitchell. The first book in the acclaimed and hilarious Ciaphas Cain series, For the Emperor is a very entertaining novel that follows the exploits of a cowardly Commissar who has managed to convince everyone that he’s a brilliant war hero. This is an extremely funny read, and it’s audiobook version is greatly enhanced by the use of its three narrators, Stephen Perring, Penelope Rawlins and Emma Gregory. All three narrators are extremely good in their roles, and I love how they split the load, with Perring voicing much of the main story, Rawlins voicing hilarious notes from an outside observer, and Gregory voicing several intentionally badly written book excerpts in an over-the-top manner. This unique narration works extremely well and you will fall down laughing as a result. This cast (with a few more additions), lend their voices to the entire Ciaphas Cian series, and I look forward to checking out more entries in this series in the future, especially with this brilliant cast behind it.

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The Sandman, written by Neil Gaiman and narrated by a full cast

I had to include the first epic audio adaptation of the iconic Sandman comic here on this list, as it is a particularly exceptional listen. This adaptation features a massive and highly talented voice cast to bring Gaiman’s elaborate story to life, including a cool mixture of celebrities and professional voice actors, who mesh extremely well together to tell a brilliant story. Celebrities, including James McAvoy, Kat Dennings, Taron Egerton, Andy Serkis, Michael Sheen and Riz Ahmed, as well as iconic audiobook narrators like Ray Porter, do an exceptional job bringing their characters to life, and in some cases they are even better than the live-action cast from the Netflix show. I absolutely flew through this adaptation, and the sheer range of great voices involved is so damn epic you won’t be able to turn it off.

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World War Z, written by Max Brooks and narrated by a full cast

Another massive audiobook production that benefits incredibly from an extensive celebrity cast is the adaptation of the awesome zombie novel, World War Z. This large cast works extremely well to bring Brooks’ interview-style story to life, as they each take on the role of a specific character being interviewed. With Brooks acting as the interviewer, each of these actors tell their character’s specific story of the zombie apocalypse in impressive fashion, diving into their charaters and telling their terrifying tales. Honestly all 30+ actors do an incredible job here, but some of the standouts include Alfred Molina as former astronaut (with a decent Australian accent), Alan Alda as a business strategist, Masi Oka as a Japanese otaku who is totally unprepared for the zombies, and Rob Reiner and an almost unrecognisable Simon Pegg as politicians. However, my favourite is easily Mark Hamill, who has several of the best chapters as a jaded former solider caught up in the very worst moments of the war. This cast is just exceptional, and their use in this audiobook turns this into a first-class listen.

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Ghazghkull Thraka: Prophet of the Waagh!, written by Nate Crowley and narrated by Kelly Hotten, Paul Putner and Jon Rand

One Warhammer 40,000 audiobook that particularly benefitted from multiple narrators was the impressive and exceedingly fun Ghazghkull Thraka: Prophet of the Waagh!. Featuring a fantastic story that dives into the origins of a legendary figure in Warhammer 40,000 lore, this audiobook featured three talented narrators, Kelly Hotten, Paul Putner and Jon Rand. These three narrators switched throughout the book, depending on which unique figure was the perspective character for that chapter. This worked to really immerse the listener in the clever, multi-tiered narrative, and I had an awesome time listening to Ghazghkull Thraka: Prophet of the Waagh! as a result. This was one of my favourite books and audiobooks from 2022 and this fantastic narration is a very strong reason for that.

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Doctor Aphra, written by Sarah Kuhn and narrated by a full cast

One thing that Star Wars fiction excels at it is producing high quality and addictive audiobook versions of their novels. This is particularly true for their audio exclusive productions that feature huge casts of talented audiobook narrators, many of whom have lent their voices to previous Star Wars audiobooks. One of the best was probably the impressive Doctor Aphra audio production, which served as a very clever and funny adaptation of several fantastic Star Wars comics. I had an absolute blast with this production and the sheer range of cool voices that were featured throughout really enhanced the clever storytelling and witty humour. While there were several distinctive narrators for this production, the standout was probably Emily Woo Zeller, who voiced the titular protagonist and provided a perfect and fantastic take on the opportunistic archaeologist. A must listen for all Star Wars fans, especially if you’ve had the pleasure of reading the Doctor Aphra comics.

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Engines of Empire, written by Richard S. Ford and narrated by Alison Campbell, Ciaran Saward, Phoebe McIntosh, Ewan Goddard, Andrew Kingston, Martin Reeve and Stephen Perry.

One of the more unique fantasy audiobooks from last year was the awesome Engines of Empire, which told a story of revolution and betrayal in a fresh new fantasy realm. This audiobook featured a huge cast of point of view characters, and the audiobook production seeks to enhance that by featuring a large group of narrators. Each narrator voices the chapter told from a specific character, helping to create a rich and powerful audio tapestry as they capture the personalities of their respective protagonists. This helps to turn the Engines of Empire audiobook into a great listen and I really had fun with it as a result.

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Tempest Runner, written by Cavan Scott and narrated by a full cast

Another excellent Star Wars audio production with a large cast was the excellent Tempest Runner by Cavan Scott. A fun addition to the High Republic subseries of Star Wars fiction, Tempest Runner followed one of the standout villains of the previous books and gives some fantastic context to her actions. Tempest Runner featured an awesome cast of actors, and I loved some of the great performances that emerged. Standouts included Jessica Almasy, who voiced the main character, January LaVoy who voiced a spiteful antagonist, and the leading Star Wars narrators, Marc Thompson and Jonathan Davies, who bring their very impressive skills to the fore again. An outstanding audiobook that makes perfect use of its exceptional cast.

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The Night Fire, written by Michael Connelly, narrated by Titus Welliver and Christine Lakin

I have had fun with several of Michael Connelly’s audiobooks in recent years, but some of my favourites have to be the Ballard and Bosch books, that bring together two of Connelly’s best police protagonists. One of the things that make these audiobooks so cool are the use of dual narrators, Titus Welliver and Christine Lakin, who do a particularly awesome job in the second Ballard and Bosch book, The Night Fire. The audiobook is evenly split between each of the characters, so Welliver and Lakin split the narration down the middle, with Welliver voicing all the chapters from Bosch’s perspective, while Lakin takes on Ballard’s chapters. This helps to produce a very intriguing and compelling audiobook, with both actors inhabiting their respective role perfectly (unsurprisingly for Welliver, who plays Bosch in the recent television adaption). I absolutely flew through this audiobook and I cannot recommend this format enough when enjoying the epic Ballard and Bosch crossovers.

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The Way of Kings, written by Brandon Sanderson, narrated by Michael Kramer and Kate Reading

Another great audiobook that benefited from two separated narrators was the massive and iconic fantasy read, The Way of Kings by Brandon Sanderson. I had a brilliant time listening to The Way of Kings in this format, especially as the audiobook allows for a greater appreciation of all the detail Sanderson chucked in, and the dual narrators of Michael Kramer and Kate Reading definitely helped here. Kramer and Reading split their duties along gender lines, with Kramer narrating all the chapters and interludes told from a male perspective, while Reading does the same for the parts of the book told from the female perspective. This helps to produce a very elaborate listen, especially as both narrators are particularly skilled, and I liked having a variety of voices in this extremely long audiobook. This is such a great way to enjoy this fantatic novel, and you will have an awesome time with these two narrators.

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Dooku: Jedi Lost, written by Cavan Scott and narrated by a full cast

The final multi-narrator audio production I wanted to highlight here is the Star Wars audiobook, Dooku: Jedi Lost. Diving into the past of iconic Star Wars villain Count Dooku, Jedi Lost was an excellent and entertaining listen, that features a brilliant cast of voice actors who bring several fantastic figures from the canon to life. This includes Euan Morton, who breaths great life into the titular Count Dooku, Orlagh Cassidy who has a great take on fan favourite villainess Asajji Ventress, and Jonathan Davis and Marc Thompson, whose respective portrayals of Qui-Gon Jinn and Yoda, are pretty damn spot on. I had such a great time with this Star Wars production, and you have to love the dedication and power that the big cast of voice actors really brought to the table.

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That is the end of this latest list highlighting some of my favourite audiobooks that feature multiple narrators. Let me know what you think in the comments below and make sure to recommend your favourite audiobooks with a range of narrators behind it.

Top Ten Tuesday -My Top Books of 2019

On December 31, 2019December 31, 2019 By The Unseen LibraryIn List122 Comments

Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly meme that currently resides at The Artsy Reader Girl and features bloggers sharing lists on various book topics. This week’s Top Ten Tuesday will be the final instalment of a series of lists I have been doing over the last couple of weeks which highlighted some of the authors and books I have been most impressed with this year. So far, I have looked at my favourite audiobooks of 2019, favourite debut novels of 2019, my favourite new-to-me authors and my favourite pre-2019 books I read this year. I have covered a pretty interesting range of novels in these lists, but as this is the last Top Ten Tuesday of 2019, it is time to showcase my absolute favourite releases of the year.

I think we can all agree that 2019 has been a pretty amazing year for books, with a huge range of incredible releases coming out across the genres. I have had the great pleasure of reading or listening to so many outstanding books this year, and quite a few of this year’s releases have become instant favourites to me. I have to admit that I somewhat struggled to pull this list together, as there were so many books that deserved to be mentioned. Therefore, because I’m a soft touch, and because the quality of the books I read this year is so impressive, I have decided to expand this list out to 20 entries. These 20 books are my absolute favourites from 2019, and I would strongly recommend each and every one of them to anyone who is interested.

There is a going to be a bit of crossover between the below entries and the other lists I mentioned above, as I have featured some of these books before. In particular, several appeared on my Top Ten Favourite Audiobooks of 2019 list, as I enjoyed a great many of my favourite books this year on audiobook. In addition, I also featured some of these entries on my Top Ten Favourite Books from the First Half of 2019, which I ran back in July. As a result, I may have mentioned a couple of these books several times before on my previous lists, so I have kept the descriptions below a little brief. That being said, I managed to include a few books that haven’t made any of the previous lists for several reasons, and I think that this Top 20 list contains a pretty good range of novels that really showcases the different types of books I chose to read this year. I decided to leave off my usual Honourable Mentions section, as the extra 10 entries kind of make it unnecessary. Here is the list, with my ratings for each book included:

Top Ten List (no particular order):

Starsight by Brandon Sanderson – Five Stars

Rage by Jonathan Maberry – Five Stars

Sixteen Ways to Defend a Walled City by K. J. Parker – Five Stars

The Night Fire by Michael Connelly – Five Stars

The Bone Ships by R. J. Barker – Five Stars

Spaceside by Michael Mammay – Five Stars

Supernova by Marissa Meyer – Five Stars

Commodus by Simon Turney – Five Stars

Red Metal by Mark Greaney and Hunter Ripley Rawlings – Five Stars

War of the Bastards by Andrew Shvarts – Five Stars

Blood & Sugar by Laura Shepherd-Robinson – Five Stars

Dark Forge by Miles Cameron – Currently Unrated

The first entry on this list I haven’t had the chance to write a review for yet. Dark Forge is the sequel to 2018’s Cold Iron, which I quite enjoyed earlier in the year, and this second book is a gripping and exciting read. I am probably going to give this book a full five stars in the future; it’s a fantastic novel to check out.

Tiamat’s Wrath by James S. A. Corey – Five Stars

Recursion by Blake Crouch – Currently Unrated

Another really good book that I need to hurry up and write a review for. Recursion is a clever and compelling read that I really enjoyed, and I am planning to rate it five out of five stars.

The Unbound Empire by Melissa Caruso – Five Stars

Howling Dark by Christopher Ruocchio – Five Stars

Usagi Yojimbo – Vol 33: The Hidden by Stan Sakai – Five Stars

A Little Hatred by Joe Abercrombie – Currently Unrated

Another currently unrated novel that I will probably end up giving five stars to. A Little Hatred is actually the book I am currently listening to, so I have not had a chance to write anything about it yet. That being said, I am over two-thirds of the way through it at the moment and it is clearly an outstanding novel which also does a fantastic job of continuing Abercrombie’s entertaining The First Law series.

Thrawn: Treason by Timothy Zahn – 4.5 Stars

I had to include at least one Star Wars book on this list, and Treason is easily my favourite Star Wars book of 2019. I cannot wait for Zahn’s next book, Thrawn Ascendancy: Chaos Rising, which should be pretty epic.

God of Broken Things by Cameron Johnston – 4.75 Stars

Well that’s my 20 most-favourite books of 2019. It turned out to be quite a good list in the end, and I am very glad that I was able to highlight so many fantastic books. 2020 is also set to be another excellent year for amazing reads, and I will be examining some of my most anticipated books for the first half of the year next week. In the meantime, let me know what your favourite books of 2019 are in the comments below, and make sure you all have a happy New Years.

Top Ten Tuesday – My Top Ten Favourite Audiobooks of 2019

On December 10, 2019December 10, 2019 By The Unseen LibraryIn Audiobook, List72 Comments

Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly meme that currently resides at The Artsy Reader Girl and features bloggers sharing lists on various book topics. For this week’s Top Ten Tuesday, readers get a freebie and can choose whatever topic they want. As we are getting towards the end of the year, I thought that this would be a good time to start a series of Top Ten Tuesday posts that look at my favourite books of 2019, and the first of these lists is going to look at my favourite audiobooks that came out this year.

I have long been a major fan of the audiobook format. In my opinion, the audiobook is often the best way to experience a good book, and in many cases this format actually makes a book more enjoyable for me. As a result, I listened to quite a few audiobooks this year, and while many of them are books that had been released before 2019 and which featured in my Throwback Thursday posts, a large majority of them were released this year. There were some absolutely outstanding audiobook adaptions this year, and while I had a few books to choose from, I was eventually able narrow my absolute favourites down to a top ten list.

For this list I have only included audiobooks released in 2019 that I have listened to and completed, so I am excluding a few books that probably had some great audiobook productions (for example, I am sure that Starsight’s audiobook was amazing, but I ended up reading a physical copy instead). While all of the books that made the top ten are outstanding novels, I have tried to take overall audiobook production into account while choosing my list. Each of the books that I included below had great narrators, and I think that for most of these novels, the audiobook format actually enhanced the story and helped me enjoy the book even more.

Honourable Mentions:

The Captain’s Oath by Christopher L. Bennett, narrated by Robert Petkoff

The Malta Exchange by Steve Berry, narrated by Scott Brick

Recursion by Blake Crouch, narrated by Jon Lindstrom and Abby Craden

Top Ten List:

1: Rage by Jonathan Maberry, narrated by Ray Porter

There was no way that I would do a list about my favourite audiobooks of 2019 without mentioning the latest book Joe Ledger book narrated by Ray Porter. Not only is Rage an outstanding novel, but Porter once again brings his incredible vocal talents to the audiobook adaptation, perfectly encapsulating the various characters and providing a voice filled with humour and raw emotion. The Joe Ledger books are one of my favourite series at the moment, and thanks to Porter’s voice work, the audiobook is the best way to enjoy them.

2: The Bone Ships by R. J. Barker, narrated by Jude Owusu

I am still working on my review for The Bone Ships, but it easily one of the best new books I read this year (it gets a full five stars from me). I really loved listening to The Bone Ships’ audiobook format, and it was a really good way to absorb the excellent story. I was particularly impressed with Jude Owusu’s narration, and his enthusiasm and understanding of the characters really shines through and creates and epic production that is really worth checking out.

3: The Night Fire by Michael Connelly, narrated by Titus Welliver and Christine Lakin

Not only is The Night Fire an amazing piece of crime fiction, but the use of two separate narrators really adds a lot to the novel’s audiobook adaption. Both narrators do an amazing job with this book, and it’s pretty cool that they get Titus Welliver to voice the character he plays in the Bosch television adaptation.

4: Red Metal by Mark Greaney and Lieutenant Colonel Hunter Ripley Rawlings IV (USMC), narrated by Marc Vietor

This is an epic and well-crafted military thriller that deals with a potential invasion into Europe and Africa from Russia. This book was pretty exceptional, and the audiobook format helps add a lot to the story, enhancing the various action sequences and bringing some great life to characters.

5: Howling Dark by Christopher Ruocchio, narrated by Saul Reichlin

Howling Dark is a massive and exceedingly detailed science fiction novel. Not only was the narration top-notch, but I found that the audiobook format was really effective in helping me absorb all the relevant plot details and appreciate all the world building that Ruocchio came up with.

6: The Kremlin Strike by Dale Brown, narrated by William Dufris

This was an amazingly fun book to listen to, as all the action, dogfights and battles in space against the Russians really came to life in this format.

7: Dark Forge by Miles Cameron, narrated by Mark Meadows

Another book I haven’t yet finished my review for. Dark Forge, the sequel to the excellent 2018 novel, Cold Iron, is an exceedingly detailed book, and I find that Meadow’s narration really helped we appreciate everything going on.

8: Star Wars: Master and Apprentice by Claudia Gray, narrated by Jonathan Davis

Master and Apprentice was one of my favourite Star Wars novels of 2019, and I had an absolute blast listening to its audiobook. Not only are the Star Wars audiobooks filled with all the iconic sound effects and music from the movies, but Davis’s narration was very impressive, and did a great job of impersonating several major movie characters.

9: Tiamat’s Wrath by James S. A. Corey, narrated by Jefferson Mays

A great piece of science fiction and a really good audiobook production. Mays comes up with some amazing voices for this novel, and I felt I was able to enjoy the widespread, science fiction story a lot more in this format.

10: Boundless by R. A. Salvatore, narrated by Victor Bevine

The final inclusion on this list is the audiobook format of the latest R. A. Salvatore book, Boundless. Bevine did a fantastic job with his narration, coming up with all manner of unique fantasy accents and voices. I quite enjoyed this audiobook production, and it was an amazing way to enjoy this fantasy book.

There is still time for me to listen to a few more great audiobooks this year, and I am planning to check out the audiobook adaption of Joe Abercrombie’s A Little Hatred next. Let me know what your favourite audiobooks of 2019 were in the comments below, if they sound interesting, I might try and check them out.

The Night Fire by Michael Connelly

On November 7, 2019April 19, 2023 By The Unseen LibraryIn Audiobook, Five-Star Books, Murder Mystery33 Comments

Publisher: Hachette Audio (Audiobook – 22 October 2019)

Series: Ballard and Bosch – Book 2

Length: 10 hours and 4 minutes

My Rating: 5 out of 5 stars

Amazon

One of the masters of modern crime fiction, Michael Connelly, returns with another book in his bestselling interconnected crime universe. In The Night Fire, Connelly once again brings together the outstanding team of Ballard and Bosch for another exceptional murder mystery.

Back when he was a rookie detective, Harry Bosch was mentored by one of the LAPD’s best homicide detectives, John Jack Thompson, who helped stoke his internal fires of justice to ensure that no case ever goes unsolved. Now, years later, Thompson is dead, and at his funeral, the now retired Bosch is given a gift from his widow: a murder book for an unsolved crime. The case revolved around the murder of a young man in a gang-controlled alley nearly 30 years before, and it appeared that Thompson secretly took the book when he retired from the force. What was Thompson’s connection to the case, why was this one murder so important to him and why did he keep the murder book a secret for so long?

Determined to get answers, but already committed to helping his lawyer half-brother Mickey Haller defend his client in a tricky murder case, Bosch takes the book to Detective Renée Ballard for help. Ballard, Hollywood Division’s resident detective on the night shift (known as the Late Show), and Bosch have recently formed an unofficial partnership in order to work on some of Bosch’s old, unsolved cases. Identifying several inconsistencies in the cold case, Ballard decides to start digging deeper, while also investigating a suspicious death by fire that occurred on her beat.

Together Bosch and Ballard are an effective investigative team, and it does not take them long to identify a potential killer. However, the more they dig, the more they begin to realise that Thompson might not have taken the murder book to solve the murder, but to ensure that nobody ever tried to investigate it. Can these two detectives get to the truth, and what happens when their various investigations put them in the line of fire of some very dangerous people?

The Night Fire is the latest book in Connelly’s shared crime universe, which features the various adventures and investigations of several of his iconic protagonists. This new novel is a fantastic piece of crime fiction that once again combines together two of Michael Connelly’s most intriguing characters, Bosch and Ballard, after their outstanding first team-up in 2018’s Dark Sacred Night. This is the 22^nd book featuring Bosch, Connelly’s original and most utilised protagonist, while Ballard has so far appeared in two prior novels. This book also briefly sees the return of Mickey Haller, another one of Connelly’s protagonists, who has appeared in several legal thrillers within the universe such as The Lincoln Lawyer (which was adapted into a film of the same name).

Just like in Dark Sacred Night, the plot of the book is shown from both Bosch’s and Ballard’s perspectives, as each of them gets a number of separate point-of-view chapters (about half each) to tell their respective stories. While there is a lot of crossover between the two characters, especially when they are working together on their joint cold case, both of them do their own independent investigations and have several chapters where they deal with their various personal issues without the other character being present. However, they also both appear in a number of chapters together, allowing the reader to not only get an interior view of the character but to see each of them through the other’s eyes.

One of the main things that I love about the Michael Connelly books I have read are the multiple cases that the protagonists investigate simultaneously, many of which may or may not be connected in some way. In The Night Fire for example, the story features one cold case that brings Ballard and Bosch together at the start of the book and which they work together on, while both characters have separate cases to work on. Bosch becomes involved in the legal defence of one of Mickey Haller’s clients who is on trial for murder, and this then evolves into the hunt for the murderer of a judge. Ballard on the other hand does most of the investigative work on the cold case, mainly because she is the one with access to the LAPD’s resources. At the same time, she is also investigating several other crimes that come across her desk during her night shifts at Hollywood Division. These include a homeless man who was burnt alive in their tent, the apparent suicide of a young girl and the discovery of a truckload of illegal immigrants. While some of these cases do not go anywhere or are investigated by a different part of the LAPD, Ballard does find herself fully investigating several different cases and getting some rather interesting results. I really enjoyed this cool combination of varied cases and examples of police work, especially as it combines together a decades-old murder with several recent crimes. There are some really complex and compelling mysteries involved with these cases, and I found myself getting drawn into each of them, as they all featured some clever police work and an intriguing bunch of potential suspects. The cold case in particular was great, as the reader not only needed to figure out who the killer was but also why Bosch’s mentor was so concerned with the murder. While it was a little disappointing not to get some follow-through on a couple of Ballard’s cases, I thought that all of these mysteries come together into an excellent overall narrative that does an outstanding job keeping the reader’s attention. I also loved how two of the cases eventually come together in an unexpected way, resulting in an explosive conclusion, while the results of another murder investigation had a very emotional impact on one of the protagonists.

In addition to the great mysteries and fictional examples of police work, one of The Night Fire’s biggest strengths is its two protagonists, Ballard and Bosch. Both of these protagonists are excellent characters with strong backstories, and I really enjoyed how the two of them played off each other. In this novel, both Ballard and Bosch are outsiders to the LAPD. Ballard has been banished to the night shift for reporting a sexual assault by a superior officer, and now has serious trust issues when it comes to many of her male counterparts. Bosch on the other hand, after a long career with the police, is now retired, and thanks to some of his actions that forced him out the LAPD, many of the police no longer see him as one of them, a point reinforced when Bosch helps Mickey Haller free a murder suspect. This outsider viewpoint makes the team-up between both of them a lot more interesting, as both characters are still learning to trust the other, even after the success of their first case. I really liked how the relationship between the two of them grew throughout this book, and their different viewpoints and experiences turn them into an effective duo. Both characters go through some big moments in this book, including some medical issues with Bosch, Ballard standing up to her attacker and the various emotional impacts of the case, and it was great to see how they helped each other out. This is definitely a team-up I want to see again in the future, and I really hope that Connelly continues more of these adventures with Ballard and Bosch.

Just as I did with Michael Connelly’s previous book, Dark Sacred Night, I ended up listening to the audiobook version of The Night Fire. This audiobook runs for just over 10 hours, and features the vocal talents of Titus Welliver and Christine Lakin. I quite enjoyed the audiobook version of The Night Fire, as not only did it allow me to power through this book is short order (I think it only took me three days to finish it off) but its use of two separate narrators was done really well. Throughout the course of the book, Welliver is the voice of Bosch (which is a good fit as Welliver actually plays this character in the Bosch television show), while Lakin is the voice of Ballard, and they each narrate the chapters for their respective characters, including most of the dialogue. Welliver and Lakin are exceptional vocal talents, who did an outstanding job of bringing Bosch and Ballard to life. Both of these narrators really get to grips with the characters and are able to capture a lot of their various nuances in their performances.

Another great thing about this audiobook was the amazing way they utilised the two separate narrators. I really liked how the book was split between them, and it ensured that both sets of chapters had a great distinctive feel throughout the book, and the reader was never left in doubt who was narrating the chapter. The only exception to this is any dialogue the other point-of-view character has in that chapter, as that character’s narrator will then speak instead. This means for example, while Welliver is the primary narrator during Bosch’s chapters, whenever Ballard speaks during these chapters you get Lakin’s voice. While it was a tad disconcerting at times to suddenly hear the other narrator’s voice in the middle of a lot of dialogue in the primary vocal talent’s chapter, it did save the reader from getting confused by having to listen to two different versions of the protagonist’s voices. Overall, I would strongly recommend the audiobook version of The Night Fire to anyone interested in checking out this book, and I know that I will be utilising this format again in the future for Connelly’s next book.

In his latest crime fiction masterpiece, Michael Connelly once again knocks it out of the park with this fantastic new addition to his connected crime universe. The Night Fire is an exceptional murder mystery that makes excellent use of its two main protagonists to tell a rich and exciting narrative, filled with a number of intriguing investigations and cases. This is probably my favourite Michael Connelly book that I have read so far, and it gets a full five stars from me. A fantastic new entry from the king of crime fiction, this is a must read for all fans of the genre.

Amazon

WWW Wednesday – 6 November 2019

On November 6, 2019November 6, 2019 By The Unseen LibraryIn WWW Wednesday3 Comments

WWW Wednesday is a weekly meme hosted by Taking on a World of Words, where bloggers share the books that they’ve recently finished, what they are currently reading and what books they are planning to read next. Essentially you have to answer three questions (the Three Ws):

What are you currently reading?
What did you recently finish reading?
What do you think you’ll read next?

So, let’s get to it.

What are you currently reading?

The Wailing Woman by Maria Lewis (Trade Paperback)

This is a great piece of urban fantasy that I am really enjoying at the moment. Australian author Maria Lewis has come up with an amazing story and I am glad I received a copy of this book.

Lethal Agent by Kyle Mills (based on the series by Vince Flynn) (Audiobook)

I only just started listening to this audiobook about half an hour ago, but so far it is a pretty decent thriller. I quite liked the previous book in this series, Red War, last year so I am sure I will power through this book rather quickly.

What did you recently finish reading?

Star Wars: Resistance Reborn by Rebecca Roanhorse (Trade Paperback)

Boundless by R. A. Salvatore (Audiobook)

The Diamond Hunter by Fiona McIntosh (Trade Paperback)

The Night Fire by Michael Connelly (Audiobook)

What do you think you’ll read next?

Salvation Lost by Peter F. Hamilton (Trade Paperback)

That’s it for this week, check back in next Wednesday to see what progress I’ve made on my reading and what books I’ll be looking at next.

Book Haul – 18 October 2019

On October 18, 2019 By The Unseen LibraryIn Book Haul1 Comment

It’s been a little while since I have done a book haul post, but it thought it would be a good time to look at some of the great books I have received recently. I’ve managed to get some really intriguing reads in the last two weeks from the publishers, and I also picked up a couple of books that I have been really keen on getting. All of these seem pretty amazing and I am really looking forward to reading all of them.

Warrior of the Altaii by Robert Jordan

Warrior of the Altaii Cover

Possibly the book that I have been looking forward to the most. Thanks to his Wheel of Time series Robert Jordan is a legendary fantasy author and I am curious to find out what his earlier writings were like.

The Night Fire by Michael Connelly

The Night Fire Cover.jpg

The latest book from bestselling author Michael Connelly, The Night Fire continues the combined adventures of Ballard and Bosch that were started in Connelly’s previous book Dark Sacred Night. This sounds like a really intriguing mystery and it should be pretty amazing.

The Name Of All Things by Jenn Lyons

The Name of all Things Cover.jpg

This is the second book in Lyons’ A Chorus of Dragons series that started earlier in 2019 with The Ruin of Kings. I have been meaning to read The Ruin of Kings all year, and I might try and read it first before getting onto this second book.

A Minute to Midnight by David Baldacci

A Minute to Midnight Cover.png

Another compelling sounding mystery. Baldacci has been on a real writing tear this year and I really need to read some of his books.

Funny Bones Edited by Kate and Joel Temple and Oliver Phommavanh

Funny Bones Cover.jpg

This one is a funny book for a good cause. Over 100 Australian authors, illustrators and comedians have contributed short stories, jokes and drawings to this book, with all royalties from it going to War Child Australia. I grew up with a number of the contributors and this should prove to be a great book for younger readers.

Duplicity by Richard Evans

Duplicity Cover

This is another book that I have really been looking forward to for a while. Evans’ first book in The Democracy trilogy, Deceit, was an outstanding Australian political thriller and was one of my favourite books from last year. As a result, I have high hopes for this second entry in the series and cannot wait to read it.

Sword of Kings by Bernard Cornwell

Sword of Kings Cover

The latest book from one of my top ten favourite authors, there was no way I was not going to get a copy of Sword of Kings. This series is a pretty outstanding example of historical fiction, and I have been looking forward to Sword of Kings ever since I read the previous book in the series, War of the Wolf. I already know that I am going to love this and I am very excited to check it out.

Do you like the look of these books? Stay tuned to see how much I enjoy this amazing looking collection.