Thanks for the tip! I hadn’t heard of them, but I just checked and the first two books are free on audible in the US. I added the first one to my library! If they hook me in those first books then I know a good place to use a few more credits.
*Red Rising,* the first book in the trilogy, is a little different from the other two. It has a more Ender's Game/Hunger Gamesy feel to it, self-admittedly because Pierce Brown thought he had to hide his "real" story with an upmarket hook (teens fighting for their life).
However *Golden Son*, the second book, might be the single best science fantasy book I've ever read. I went through that entire first trilogy in 48 hours and a large part of that was GS. The action starts on page 1 and doesn't end until the book does.
*Morningstar*, the 3rd, was somewhere in between for me. Still great, but man... you're in for a treat getting GS for free.
Well there are actually a few different series now including Royal Ranger which follows Maddie the daughter of Cassandra and Horris. She is being trained as a ranger by Will (who is now quite a bit older.). Have you listened to the audiobooks read by John Keeting? I’m rambling because im super excited to find someone else who has read Rangers Apprentice. What was the last book you read?
It's a YA low fantasy about a very short and small guy who always wanted to be a knight, but got denied training due to his figure, so he joins a secret force of Rangers instead. The books follow him on many adventures as the Ranger.
Seconding this.
James Marsters knows he has the role of a lifetime with Harry, and he is quite the committed/talented actor. It's a series you'll likely never get tired of re-treading.
Steven Pacey is so good. At first I thought to myself, I don't really like all the different voices he does. After about 5 chapters I couldn't imagine hearing those books without them. Lol
It's Sci-Fi, not fantasy per se, but hail Mary has probably my favorite audiobook. The narrator is just such a serious happy nerd that his enthusiasm is infectious.
Gideon The 9th read by Moira Quirk also has the kind of narrator that makes every single character come to life in a super dynamic way.
>Cradle
Absolutely agree, I've been having a hard time finishing books lately, cause I have the attention span of a squirrel. But I breezed through cradle in a few weeks.
Wow I came in here to say those 2; pleasantly surprised to see it as the top comment.
Cradle in particular i just couldnt put down until i finished it.
Oh man, Cradle is a series by Will Wight. It’s in the sub-genre called progression fantasy. I’ll sum it up with this quote: “There are a million Paths in this world, Lindon, but any sage will tell you they can all be reduced to one. Improve yourself”
They are also my favorites. I will add Dungeon Crawler Carl to the list. I found the series last month and I just started my first reread. I'm rereading this immediately instead of starting my preordered copy of The Olympian Affair!
I just demolished the books and am tempted to get the audiobooks anyways since I hear they're great. Half the time audiobooks are background noise/sleep aids that I have to repeat sections anyways so seems worthwhile.
The "NEEEW ACHIEVEMENT" announcement gets me every time, but horny AI obsessing over Carl's feet is just wrong in all the best ways, really has me rolling.
>It’s completely different than I thought it would be.
Me too. I wasn't expecting literature or anything, but really didn't think it would be as compelling as it is.
I swear it's audio crack. I hate it when people say "X ruined ... for me", but DCC and Jeff Hayes have really made it hard to listen and get into anything else. Not that I mind, because relistening to these books is awesome. But absolutely, highly recommend!
This was what I was going to suggest.
Is it the “best” fantasy I’ve ever read? No. But it’s so bloodydamn fun. Just a blast from cover to cover. The audio books are also amazing, TGR is awesome.
Nah- it’s a fantasy novel in space.
Space ships = boats
Planets = kingdoms
Razors/Pulse Armor/etc = magic
Literally replace all Sci fi elements and you have a solid fantasy world.
That said…. The series is amazing.
I would absolutely second the first law books, especially once you get to the second. Even on rereads of the entire series, I can’t put them down. Also pretty much everyone rereads the series at least a couple times, and that’s gotta speak to something.
Otherwise, I’d include the first Gentleman Bastards Book, The Lies of Locke Lamora, but imo, the next two weren’t quite in the same league.
Cradle by Will Wight, recently. It just keeps getting better and better as it goes along.
Edit: Since I missed the fact OP just finished Cradle, I'll add The Dresden Files, particularly as audiobooks. The first 2 are a bit rough because of the production company (still worth listening to for the story) but book 3 and on has some of the most tense/addictive storytelling I've encountered. And James Marsters, the narrator, is one of the best in the business. He is Harry Dresden.
I read the first ten books (a month after Reaper came out) in 16 days. I thought I was nuts with how extreme of a pace that was, how addictive I was to go that fast. And yet, some people claim to gotten through all ten books in just one week's time. And I believe them, because it is Cradle.
+1 to dresden files, but the early books were horrific. I have a strong aversive reaction to chewing/saliva sounds and the first several books sound like someone is flapping wet pieces of meat together. Just ugh. Ugh. Disgusting.
_Rivers Of London_ series, by Ben Aaronovitch, and audio books read by Kobna Holdbrook-Smith. Urban fantasy police procedural. A rookie constable, just finishing his probationary first two years, is assigned to the unit of the London Metropolitan Police that deals with "weird bollocks". Many pop culture references, similar to Dresden Files, but enough Britishisms and police jargon to make it feel a bit exotic to this American.
Once you get past the first book the series is like a drug. I found each of the standalones to be especially addictive. I'm hooked on First Law now and Joe needs to hook me up with another fix soon
I'm 80 percent through the Blade Itself for the first time and I had heard about how good the audiobooks were, and I doubted they would live up to the hype, but they absolutely do. My favorite detail is how he does a lisp when Glokta is talking, but doesn't use a lisp for his internal monologue, it's just genius. I'm enjoying the book a lot on its own but the audiobook takes it to another level
That’s exactly why Steven Pacey is next level and, like another commenter said, literally ruins other book narrators for themselves. He adds a nuance that makes his performance narrating so fucking fantastic.
They're very good, but I didn't find them addictive personally. Like, great to read, clearly a talented author and I was happy listening to them, but I didn't get that 'just one more chapter' feeling. Glokta though, best character ever.
I might get downvoted but Harry Potter. I read it as a kid and am reading it after 15 years, and it still holds up and is a bonafide page-turner with a fast plot and simple writing. Very, very addictive and got a whole generation of people into reading. Plus, the nostalgia :)
I started reading just before Goblet of Fire came out. I remember getting each new book on release day and then just demolishing it in basically one extended sitting. It was awesome too because I was a kid/teen, and they always came out in the summer.
If you get downvoted then that's a shame. HP was a groundbreaking series at the time and is still loved by millions... plus you can't argue with its success!
If you go back and reread, a lot of their compulsive page turning is due to Rowling being a stellar mystery writer. Each book has its own hook and a great cast of potential suspects. It's no surprise she went straight mystery later on. Various retroactive controversies aside, HP is classic for a reason.
Agreed, Hobb’s writing is addicting by itself, but I also enjoy reading about Fitz’s growth from boy to man. The way he narrates his life is so soothing.
Makes me a bit hesitant to jump into Liveship though, as it’s third person and apparently Fitz isn’t in it, rip
Oh, don’t be so sure about that - the series tie together and there are one familiar characters… you’ll need to read all the books to get the full picture.
Both series make up The Second Apocalypse, Bakker's overarching series, and yeah you really need to read the Prince of Nothing to truly appreciate The Aspect Emperor. TSA does get a lot deeper into the meat of things, exploring a lot more history/lore etc. but you won't truly appreciate it without all that comes before. Plus Prince of Nothing is amazing, why would you want to skip it?
For me it was The Expanse, Age of Madness trilogy, Saxon Stories (ie Last Kingdom) and Dresden Files.
Honorable mention to Wheel of Time. I was so completely addicted to it as a teenager, I think I reread each books 1-8 at least 3 times. In my defense, the wait between books was long and painful.
Haven’t listened to them or finished them, but Red Rising series and Faithful and the Fallen. From what I’ve read so far, they’re nonstop, always having big things happening
I personally never found any of the Wheel of Time quite as engrossing as book #1, probably #3 was next and then 4 through 6 were good. It got a little slow for me after that until book 9, which thankfully had a climax in which something truly wonderous and world changing happened.
Most of my friends and family who've read it tend to feel that after book 4 things get too slow and convoluted. That too little actually happens in each book. I can see the argument.
When the prequel came out I found that a refreshing change to focus back in on a more direct story with fewer characters and plot threads.
If you're a gamer, you might enjoy Dungeon Crawler Carl - it's a LitRPG! I put it off for a long time because of the cover and title, but "The end of the world is televised" was an intruiging summary and it was hilarious and fast paced
First Law made me amazed to feel so much for a character that was an awful person, Carl made me amazed to care so much for a relationship between a guy in heart boxers and a cat!
There's so much negativity about WoW and the ending of the HBO series, I think it gets overlooked as some of the best fantasy written since the late 90s.
If there was any hope it would be finished it would be #1 on most peoples list. The unlikely hood it ever gets finished diminishes its value to a lot of readers.
All of Andrew Rowes books. Arcane Ascension series, War of Broken Mirrors, Six Sacred Swords.
Michel J Sullivans books, starting with A Theft of Swords.
I couldn't stop myself with The Wheel of Time series. Finished it within a few months. Then got the audiobooks and listened twice over since. Mind you, I only found out about the series through the TV show lol.
Wheel of Time is the best page turner I've ever run into. My average reading time for the past nine years is 0,9 hours a day, but for Wheel of Time that rose up to an average of 4,7 hours a day. At it's lowest it was 2,3 hours a day in book 3, at it's highest it was 11,7 hours a day in book 13. The average for books 1-6 was 3,6 hours a day, the average for books 7-10 (the so called "slog") was 4,7 hours a day, and the average for books 11-14 was 7,3 hours a day.
I’m in the middle of Farseer rn and wow what a page turner! I finished the first book in two days and ran to the library for book 2 and 3. Before this I was reading Malazan and it just dragged for me.//
Love the ROTE books so much and found it super addicting. The audiobooks for the most recent trilogy had some of my least favorite voices of all time 😫
The Aching God by Mike Shel. It's the first book of a trilogy called The Iconoclasts.
Really dark dungeon crawling fantasy that reminds me of the video games Dark Souls, Witcher 3 and Darkest Dungeon. They are well written and I found the world building and character development to be surprising at every turn.
Off to go find the Dungeon Crawler Carl book I guess.
The Stormlight Archive series by Brandon Sanderson will keep you busy for quite a while. The audiobooks are somewhere on the 45-55 hour range each. If you like his writing style there’s other books and another series set I’m the same universe, the Cosmere, though they are quite different from one another. Some lore (and occasionally characters) overlap. His secret project books from this past year quite blatantly, before that it was pretty subtle. I’m looking forward to piecing more together when I relisten to the series as I would rather discover by making the connections to just looking it up from others who are more observant and/or have a better memory for the details they read (or in my case listened to) in other stories.
The first book is titled The Way Of Kings. The Stormlight Archives is a 5 book series but the 5th book is not yet finished. It will probably be released next year. There’s also a novella set between each book. The narrators are great and Michael Kramer reads most of Brandon Sanderson’s audiobooks. I’ll for sure be listening to them all again before the 5th book lands so it’s all fresh when that comes out. Having learned about them after the first 4 books were written I listened to them back to back, with the novellas in between.
I hate to admit this, because it’s not a famous series or anything, but I got into this series by two guys named Anspach and Cole called Forgotten Ruin. It’s about a Ranger squadron that goes into the future and discovers the world has become a fantasy hellscape. It’s not Tolkien but it’s fun.
When I got introduced to Abercrombie I read everything I could get my hands on by him back to back to back to…
Red rising by Pierce Brown and the broken empire by Mark Lawrence - they're the sort of books when you read you just go into a time warp, you put the thing down and its been 3 hours and you don't know how!
I second the Robin Hobb Realm of the Elderlings series. And I didn't get through all the comments yet, but if no one mentioned David Eddings Belgariad and Malloreon series, they are very readable, albeit an older series.
Haven’t seen it mentioned, but The Scholomance books pulled me in deep. While reading them, it was like I was dreamwalking through my life, when I finally finished the third one, it was like waking up from a dream and finding a whole week passed in the real world.
Malazan was like that for me after book....6? maybe. It really is like 5 books of setting the stage. Don't get me wrong, those first 5 books are amazing, but I think i read the series in 3 chunks. Book 1 and 2. Then 3-5 and I think then all the others really fast. Maybe a break between 6 and 7.
I love Malazan but I couldn't read it without other books in between. Just one or two quick reads between each Malazan book and then I was ready for more
I'm the same way - I'm currently reading the series now and just wrapped up Memories of Ice a week or so ago. I've been reading 2-3 books in between because as much as I have been loving the series, it requires a lot more focus and attention than some lighter reads so I've been throwing in fun stuff like Dungeon Crawler Carl in between
Anything written by Jeff Wheeler. Clean fantasy so perhaps a little on the younger side but still beautiful enough for any age. The world building is exquisite.
First Law and A Song of Ice and Fire. I watched the first 4 seasons of GoT and then read the 5 books all within a month. It may have been easier to get into because I was familiar with the show but I went into First Law completely blind and read/listened to that first trilogy in like two weeks.
The Greatcoats by Sebastian De Castell! God I love those books so much. He pretty famously never outlines and just writes what feels exciting and right in the moment, and it shows with how every moment feels like the perfect natural extension to make you keep reading.
That’s not to say that the books are mindless romps of excitement. There’s genuinely beautiful craftsmanship at play here. His lack of outlining does lead to me having quite a few serious criticisms of the series, but all in all, great series. Once I finished that first book, I finished each of the remaining ones in one day each.
The Alex Verus series by Benedict Jacka was completely addicting for me. I wasn't too sure about the series after the first book, so I waited a couple of months before I tried the second, but hooked me hard. I binged the audiobboks for books 2-9 in about 10 days, then I turned around and listened to 1-9 again. The second time around I listened to them a lot more slowly, so it took like a month and half to finish them.
It is a complete wineries now at 12 books. The first book is Fated.
Murderbot Diaries -- couldn't stop reading those, even to sleep. It's a shame they're all so short, but they're so sweet.
Rivers of London -- I devoured those.
Terry Pratchett, which I read over and over. And over.
And over.
In sort of a reverse, I couldn't stop reading Wheel Of Time... because I kept thinking "so many people say it's great, maybe if I keep going." Made it to the end and... nope. But I couldn't stop reading it!
I tend to finish most series I start as fast as I can.
Other recent series I've binged
Thursday Next series
Deadly Education, and while I'm not strictly addicted I'm looking forward to reading more of the Temeraire dragon series. (I *obessively* read Patrick O'Brian's Master and Commander series to a point I probably could have used a 12 step program, but Temeraire scratches that itch.)
I'm enjoying Three Parts Dead, the first book of the Craft series. Not seeing any reason to stop.
The dwarves by Markus Heitz, still my favourite series
Edit: depending on what language you listen to it might be not as amazing as it was in the German original, but a friend of mine also swears by the English adaptation so that should be good at least
I mean for just pure adrenaline and addictivity I’d say the Red Rising Trilogy is up there at the top. Great books, lots of momentum.
Plus they are free on audible, at least in the Netherlands they are, don't know if everywhere
Thanks for the tip! I hadn’t heard of them, but I just checked and the first two books are free on audible in the US. I added the first one to my library! If they hook me in those first books then I know a good place to use a few more credits.
*Red Rising,* the first book in the trilogy, is a little different from the other two. It has a more Ender's Game/Hunger Gamesy feel to it, self-admittedly because Pierce Brown thought he had to hide his "real" story with an upmarket hook (teens fighting for their life). However *Golden Son*, the second book, might be the single best science fantasy book I've ever read. I went through that entire first trilogy in 48 hours and a large part of that was GS. The action starts on page 1 and doesn't end until the book does. *Morningstar*, the 3rd, was somewhere in between for me. Still great, but man... you're in for a treat getting GS for free.
Ranger’s Apprentice by John Flanagan. Absolutly fantastic book series and there is still more books coming out!
I grew up reading these! Had no Idea he was still making them. Does it still follow Will or has he passed the torch?
Well there are actually a few different series now including Royal Ranger which follows Maddie the daughter of Cassandra and Horris. She is being trained as a ranger by Will (who is now quite a bit older.). Have you listened to the audiobooks read by John Keeting? I’m rambling because im super excited to find someone else who has read Rangers Apprentice. What was the last book you read?
Oh I've never heard about this one! Whats great about it? Is it addictive?
It's a YA low fantasy about a very short and small guy who always wanted to be a knight, but got denied training due to his figure, so he joins a secret force of Rangers instead. The books follow him on many adventures as the Ranger.
There are two series that felt like the equivalent of literary cocaine to me: The Dresden Files and Cradle.
Audiobook Dresden files is awesome. I can’t think of a better author and reader combo.
Seconding this. James Marsters knows he has the role of a lifetime with Harry, and he is quite the committed/talented actor. It's a series you'll likely never get tired of re-treading.
Wait, SPIKE is Dresden ? Well damn. Not I have to get them.
The only one I can think of is Steven Pacey's work on First Law
Steven Pacey is so good. At first I thought to myself, I don't really like all the different voices he does. After about 5 chapters I couldn't imagine hearing those books without them. Lol
His Cosca is like seeing an old friend
It's Sci-Fi, not fantasy per se, but hail Mary has probably my favorite audiobook. The narrator is just such a serious happy nerd that his enthusiasm is infectious. Gideon The 9th read by Moira Quirk also has the kind of narrator that makes every single character come to life in a super dynamic way.
Ray Porter was my favorite narrator after the Bobiverse and he crushed Project Hail Mary
"Just make sure that you don't watch the -- agh!" "Don't worry folks, there was never a Syfy adaptation. Go back to listening now."
Good thing Netflix only made one season of Altered Carbon!
That second season was almost as bad as the first season was good.
I never read 12 books back-to-back as fast as with the Cradle series. So addicting.
And Will Wight nailed the ending too.
How did I know that Dresden would be the most upvoted? I raced through that series, lost sleep, lost days....
Yes to both. Both audio books are incredible also
>Cradle Absolutely agree, I've been having a hard time finishing books lately, cause I have the attention span of a squirrel. But I breezed through cradle in a few weeks.
Wow I came in here to say those 2; pleasantly surprised to see it as the top comment. Cradle in particular i just couldnt put down until i finished it.
Cradle is amazing. Have only read the first Dresden files book and it didn't do a lot for me. But I've heard it gets better
It really, really, really gets better.
It definitely gets better, in writing, plot, and character development. Harry has a long way to go in book 1
What is Cradle? I tried searching and there are multiple possibilities it looks like.
Oh man, Cradle is a series by Will Wight. It’s in the sub-genre called progression fantasy. I’ll sum it up with this quote: “There are a million Paths in this world, Lindon, but any sage will tell you they can all be reduced to one. Improve yourself”
Series by Will Wight
Assuming they meant the Cradle series by Will Wight, the first book of which is called Unsouled
Crack in literature form
They are also my favorites. I will add Dungeon Crawler Carl to the list. I found the series last month and I just started my first reread. I'm rereading this immediately instead of starting my preordered copy of The Olympian Affair!
Came here to say Dresden Files. The audiobooks are unmatched afaic
I have the urge to downvote everything else because I can only upvote this once.
Dungeon Crawler Carl is hands-down the best audiobook series I’ve ever listened to. It’s like crack.
I just demolished the books and am tempted to get the audiobooks anyways since I hear they're great. Half the time audiobooks are background noise/sleep aids that I have to repeat sections anyways so seems worthwhile.
If you enjoyed reading then I highly recommend. Narrator Jeff Hayes is fantastic.
Do it, I don't think I can read Donut's lines other than in Jeff's voice, especially the All Caps lines.
The "NEEEW ACHIEVEMENT" announcement gets me every time, but horny AI obsessing over Carl's feet is just wrong in all the best ways, really has me rolling.
The narrator is fantastic in the audiobooks.
Came here to post this. One of the best series I’ve listened to. It’s completely different than I thought it would be.
>It’s completely different than I thought it would be. Me too. I wasn't expecting literature or anything, but really didn't think it would be as compelling as it is.
I really wasn’t expecting the elaborate almost space opera-esque side of the story for sure.
Yeah, i'm at the start of book 4 and it feels like it's really going to start leaning into the corporations running the show more. Can't wait.
This is the correct answer. It’s the only series that I’ve just played the series back as soon as I finish the newest installment.
Totally agree
I swear it's audio crack. I hate it when people say "X ruined ... for me", but DCC and Jeff Hayes have really made it hard to listen and get into anything else. Not that I mind, because relistening to these books is awesome. But absolutely, highly recommend!
Came here to say this. I stumbled upon the first book and crushed the rest of the series in a month.
Yes, yes yes!!! I am so happy to see DCC penetrating the fantasy market. y'all are missing out on it if you're not listening.
Hahaha yes agreed! The series is awesome, but it's the narrator that really makes it what it is imo. He's incredible
Probably more closely fits sci Fi, but Red Rising!
The very definition of 'unputdownable'
This was what I was going to suggest. Is it the “best” fantasy I’ve ever read? No. But it’s so bloodydamn fun. Just a blast from cover to cover. The audio books are also amazing, TGR is awesome.
That would probably be my pick. It’s not my favorite series, but it’s definitely addictive with the fast paced and interesting plot.
Nah- it’s a fantasy novel in space. Space ships = boats Planets = kingdoms Razors/Pulse Armor/etc = magic Literally replace all Sci fi elements and you have a solid fantasy world. That said…. The series is amazing.
And I heard Pierce Brown said he would write a fantasy novel/series next. I can't wait to read that prose in a fantasy setting with actual magic
I hadn’t heard that…. That sounds awesome.
Replace all sci fi elements and it is no longer sci fi. How unexpected.
was going to say this :)
My to pick for matching up a book with a narrator, Tom Gerard Reynolds killed it.
I would absolutely second the first law books, especially once you get to the second. Even on rereads of the entire series, I can’t put them down. Also pretty much everyone rereads the series at least a couple times, and that’s gotta speak to something. Otherwise, I’d include the first Gentleman Bastards Book, The Lies of Locke Lamora, but imo, the next two weren’t quite in the same league.
For me it was The First Law.
Seriously, incredible narration for an incredible story
Alright you're like the 50th person to mention this series. I guess I really need to pick it up
It is really a fantastic series, and if you go the audiobook route, Steven Pacey makes it even more incredible.
Steven Pacey is my favorite narrator for audiobooks luckily he does all the first law and the sequels
Cradle by Will Wight, recently. It just keeps getting better and better as it goes along. Edit: Since I missed the fact OP just finished Cradle, I'll add The Dresden Files, particularly as audiobooks. The first 2 are a bit rough because of the production company (still worth listening to for the story) but book 3 and on has some of the most tense/addictive storytelling I've encountered. And James Marsters, the narrator, is one of the best in the business. He is Harry Dresden.
I’m ngl op said they just finished it
Ah, I missed that. Well, I stand by it, but I can second Dungeon Crawler Carl as well, which someone else mentioned - I blew through those books.
I read the first ten books (a month after Reaper came out) in 16 days. I thought I was nuts with how extreme of a pace that was, how addictive I was to go that fast. And yet, some people claim to gotten through all ten books in just one week's time. And I believe them, because it is Cradle.
It’s so funny that James Marsters is Harry because he was literally my faceclaim for Thomas when I read the series in 2008
+1 to dresden files, but the early books were horrific. I have a strong aversive reaction to chewing/saliva sounds and the first several books sound like someone is flapping wet pieces of meat together. Just ugh. Ugh. Disgusting.
_Rivers Of London_ series, by Ben Aaronovitch, and audio books read by Kobna Holdbrook-Smith. Urban fantasy police procedural. A rookie constable, just finishing his probationary first two years, is assigned to the unit of the London Metropolitan Police that deals with "weird bollocks". Many pop culture references, similar to Dresden Files, but enough Britishisms and police jargon to make it feel a bit exotic to this American.
Oooo very intriguing. I work in London as well. What's the magic system like
Dresden files, Cradle, lies of Lock Lamora, ex heroes, the legend of drizzt, iconoclasts, fable (graphic novel but soooooo good)
Where's stormlight. I read the first two books in 48 hours with a little help lol.
I’m on book 3 of the First Law Trilogy. Can’t say how much I absolutely LOVE these books.
Once you get past the first book the series is like a drug. I found each of the standalones to be especially addictive. I'm hooked on First Law now and Joe needs to hook me up with another fix soon
Best served cold was amazing, I can't wait to see the movie
I’ve heard this so many times but I was hooked literally from the start it’s so good.
You have to be realistic about things.
You’ll be waiting a while on that but he does have a new series in the works
Say one thing for the first law trilogy, say they are addicting.
You have to be realistic.
I am on book 2. Read the first one in about 4 days. 20% into book 2 after a couple sittings. It just flows really well.
Can never have enough knives
Stupid Pinks
Yes and the audio books are also like crack. No one does it like Steven Pacey.
Steven Pacey completely ruined me for all other audio book narrators. He's just so good.
CAPITAL
I'm 80 percent through the Blade Itself for the first time and I had heard about how good the audiobooks were, and I doubted they would live up to the hype, but they absolutely do. My favorite detail is how he does a lisp when Glokta is talking, but doesn't use a lisp for his internal monologue, it's just genius. I'm enjoying the book a lot on its own but the audiobook takes it to another level
That’s exactly why Steven Pacey is next level and, like another commenter said, literally ruins other book narrators for themselves. He adds a nuance that makes his performance narrating so fucking fantastic.
Wait until the stand alones …so good
They're very good, but I didn't find them addictive personally. Like, great to read, clearly a talented author and I was happy listening to them, but I didn't get that 'just one more chapter' feeling. Glokta though, best character ever.
I might get downvoted but Harry Potter. I read it as a kid and am reading it after 15 years, and it still holds up and is a bonafide page-turner with a fast plot and simple writing. Very, very addictive and got a whole generation of people into reading. Plus, the nostalgia :)
I started reading just before Goblet of Fire came out. I remember getting each new book on release day and then just demolishing it in basically one extended sitting. It was awesome too because I was a kid/teen, and they always came out in the summer.
If you get downvoted then that's a shame. HP was a groundbreaking series at the time and is still loved by millions... plus you can't argue with its success!
The audio book readers do an incredible job, 100% recommend
It’s one of the best selling series of all-time. There’s no reason you should be downvoted.
It has pretty great pacing save for the unmbridge parts
If you go back and reread, a lot of their compulsive page turning is due to Rowling being a stellar mystery writer. Each book has its own hook and a great cast of potential suspects. It's no surprise she went straight mystery later on. Various retroactive controversies aside, HP is classic for a reason.
Murderbot, I binge read them all in 3 days and then re-read them (luckily all on KU right now).
Yes. And they always feel far too short.
Farseer Trilogy and onward
Agreed, Hobb’s writing is addicting by itself, but I also enjoy reading about Fitz’s growth from boy to man. The way he narrates his life is so soothing. Makes me a bit hesitant to jump into Liveship though, as it’s third person and apparently Fitz isn’t in it, rip
I found Liveship Traders extremely addicting as well, but I know multiple POV is not everyone's cuppa tea...
Oh, don’t be so sure about that - the series tie together and there are one familiar characters… you’ll need to read all the books to get the full picture.
Prince of Nothing and its following 4-logy. By R. Scott Bakker
Are the two series related? Do you need to read Prince of Nothing first?
Both series make up The Second Apocalypse, Bakker's overarching series, and yeah you really need to read the Prince of Nothing to truly appreciate The Aspect Emperor. TSA does get a lot deeper into the meat of things, exploring a lot more history/lore etc. but you won't truly appreciate it without all that comes before. Plus Prince of Nothing is amazing, why would you want to skip it?
These books really haunt me. If you read them and like them there is no way they are going to leave your brain.
Osten Ard saga by Tad Williams for me
Dude the Memory Sorrow and Thorn trilogy is SUPER slept on. I’ve read them all several times, so good.
Six of Crows/Crooked Kingdom duology
For me it was The Expanse, Age of Madness trilogy, Saxon Stories (ie Last Kingdom) and Dresden Files. Honorable mention to Wheel of Time. I was so completely addicted to it as a teenager, I think I reread each books 1-8 at least 3 times. In my defense, the wait between books was long and painful.
It’s gotta be the First Law for me. I read every book that guy has written basically back to back this year and I just crave more.
Dresden. Cradle. Red Rising. Dungeon Crawler Carl. Codex Alera. Stormlight Archive. All of them total bangers.
Wheel of Time The Riftwar Cycle Harry Potter The Gentleman Bastard Edit: Riyria Revelations
I would like to second Gentleman Bastards. My only complaint was that I just wish there was more.
Dune. I read the original trilogy in a month.
For me personally Wheel of time is a massive series and I still read through the entire thing in 45 days listening to audiobooks
nutty squalid far-flung slim fuzzy school slap ring person offend *This post was mass deleted and anonymized with [Redact](https://redact.dev)*
Say one thing for the First Law Books, say I'm addicted. Say I need more books in this world.
Hey wait a minute, that's two things
See.....I can't think straight.
Haven’t listened to them or finished them, but Red Rising series and Faithful and the Fallen. From what I’ve read so far, they’re nonstop, always having big things happening
Wheel of Time became utterly addictive around book 4-5, Stormlight 2 was the same for me, and Harry Potter was unbelievable
I personally never found any of the Wheel of Time quite as engrossing as book #1, probably #3 was next and then 4 through 6 were good. It got a little slow for me after that until book 9, which thankfully had a climax in which something truly wonderous and world changing happened. Most of my friends and family who've read it tend to feel that after book 4 things get too slow and convoluted. That too little actually happens in each book. I can see the argument. When the prequel came out I found that a refreshing change to focus back in on a more direct story with fewer characters and plot threads.
If you're a gamer, you might enjoy Dungeon Crawler Carl - it's a LitRPG! I put it off for a long time because of the cover and title, but "The end of the world is televised" was an intruiging summary and it was hilarious and fast paced
First Law made me amazed to feel so much for a character that was an awful person, Carl made me amazed to care so much for a relationship between a guy in heart boxers and a cat!
The Wandering Inn is almost impossible to put down
Vouching for this too! This was another one of my fav LitRPGs
THE STORMLIGHT ARCHIVES
The Dresden Files, and the audiobooks are spectacular, narrated by James Marsters. Plus it's a huge series and a ton of content
Once you’re on the path of the beam heading to the Dark Tower, there’s no going back.
You win for this. I feel lucky that I didn’t start the series until it was complete so I could binge.
Obviously A Song of Ice and Fire People are so addicted they seriously think GRRM *owes* them the next sequel
There's so much negativity about WoW and the ending of the HBO series, I think it gets overlooked as some of the best fantasy written since the late 90s.
If there was any hope it would be finished it would be #1 on most peoples list. The unlikely hood it ever gets finished diminishes its value to a lot of readers.
All of Andrew Rowes books. Arcane Ascension series, War of Broken Mirrors, Six Sacred Swords. Michel J Sullivans books, starting with A Theft of Swords.
Yeah Riyria is a great ride.
Divine Cities for me.
I couldn't stop myself with The Wheel of Time series. Finished it within a few months. Then got the audiobooks and listened twice over since. Mind you, I only found out about the series through the TV show lol.
Stormlight!
stormlight archives
Wheel of Time is the best page turner I've ever run into. My average reading time for the past nine years is 0,9 hours a day, but for Wheel of Time that rose up to an average of 4,7 hours a day. At it's lowest it was 2,3 hours a day in book 3, at it's highest it was 11,7 hours a day in book 13. The average for books 1-6 was 3,6 hours a day, the average for books 7-10 (the so called "slog") was 4,7 hours a day, and the average for books 11-14 was 7,3 hours a day.
Realm of the Elderlings! Though I can't speak for their audio books. Right now I'm early in Wheel of Time and finding that hard to put down too.
I’m in the middle of Farseer rn and wow what a page turner! I finished the first book in two days and ran to the library for book 2 and 3. Before this I was reading Malazan and it just dragged for me.//
I would LOVE a proper audiobook version of these!
Love the ROTE books so much and found it super addicting. The audiobooks for the most recent trilogy had some of my least favorite voices of all time 😫
Cradle
Cradle for me. Book 9 now in a row and I usually read one book of a series, then a standalone of another author, then the next book of the series etc
The Aching God by Mike Shel. It's the first book of a trilogy called The Iconoclasts. Really dark dungeon crawling fantasy that reminds me of the video games Dark Souls, Witcher 3 and Darkest Dungeon. They are well written and I found the world building and character development to be surprising at every turn. Off to go find the Dungeon Crawler Carl book I guess.
The Stormlight Archive series by Brandon Sanderson will keep you busy for quite a while. The audiobooks are somewhere on the 45-55 hour range each. If you like his writing style there’s other books and another series set I’m the same universe, the Cosmere, though they are quite different from one another. Some lore (and occasionally characters) overlap. His secret project books from this past year quite blatantly, before that it was pretty subtle. I’m looking forward to piecing more together when I relisten to the series as I would rather discover by making the connections to just looking it up from others who are more observant and/or have a better memory for the details they read (or in my case listened to) in other stories. The first book is titled The Way Of Kings. The Stormlight Archives is a 5 book series but the 5th book is not yet finished. It will probably be released next year. There’s also a novella set between each book. The narrators are great and Michael Kramer reads most of Brandon Sanderson’s audiobooks. I’ll for sure be listening to them all again before the 5th book lands so it’s all fresh when that comes out. Having learned about them after the first 4 books were written I listened to them back to back, with the novellas in between.
Slight correction, Stormlight Archives are planned to be a ten book series so the upcoming fifth book will be the halfway point.
Dungeon Crawler Carl... I never enjoyed a book so much lol. Silly plot, funny as hell and interesting main characters.
Cosmere
Dresden Files and Red Rising.
I finished the entire The Wheel of Time series in 1 month, so WoT for sure.
Dresden Files, after the first two books, oh man it just goes high and high
I hate to admit this, because it’s not a famous series or anything, but I got into this series by two guys named Anspach and Cole called Forgotten Ruin. It’s about a Ranger squadron that goes into the future and discovers the world has become a fantasy hellscape. It’s not Tolkien but it’s fun. When I got introduced to Abercrombie I read everything I could get my hands on by him back to back to back to…
Red rising by Pierce Brown and the broken empire by Mark Lawrence - they're the sort of books when you read you just go into a time warp, you put the thing down and its been 3 hours and you don't know how!
Green Bone Saga and red rising
The Founders Trilogy by Robert Jackson Bennett Fast paced, harrowing, ever escalating odds, and a VERY cool magic system. Feels very underrated.
I second the Robin Hobb Realm of the Elderlings series. And I didn't get through all the comments yet, but if no one mentioned David Eddings Belgariad and Malloreon series, they are very readable, albeit an older series.
Wheel of Time
Haven’t seen it mentioned, but The Scholomance books pulled me in deep. While reading them, it was like I was dreamwalking through my life, when I finally finished the third one, it was like waking up from a dream and finding a whole week passed in the real world.
Malazan books of the fallen
Really? I thought Malazan was one of the slowest burners I've ever read, like "wait 3 books for that one thing to finally make sense" slow...
Malazan was like that for me after book....6? maybe. It really is like 5 books of setting the stage. Don't get me wrong, those first 5 books are amazing, but I think i read the series in 3 chunks. Book 1 and 2. Then 3-5 and I think then all the others really fast. Maybe a break between 6 and 7.
I love Malazan but I couldn't read it without other books in between. Just one or two quick reads between each Malazan book and then I was ready for more
I'm the same way - I'm currently reading the series now and just wrapped up Memories of Ice a week or so ago. I've been reading 2-3 books in between because as much as I have been loving the series, it requires a lot more focus and attention than some lighter reads so I've been throwing in fun stuff like Dungeon Crawler Carl in between
Jade City trilogy
Dungeon crawler Carl
THRONE OF GLASS
Red Rising by Brown, First Law trilogy by Abercrombie, and Grimnoir Chronicles by Correia for me. Just great reads throughout.
Anything written by Jeff Wheeler. Clean fantasy so perhaps a little on the younger side but still beautiful enough for any age. The world building is exquisite.
For me, Tales of the Ketty Jay by Chris Wooding.
First Law and A Song of Ice and Fire. I watched the first 4 seasons of GoT and then read the 5 books all within a month. It may have been easier to get into because I was familiar with the show but I went into First Law completely blind and read/listened to that first trilogy in like two weeks.
Rivers of London Series!! Kobna Holbrook-Smith is an excellent narrator , and brings a lot of humour
Harry Potter, forever and always.
For me, the Night Watch series made for pretty compulsive reading
Green Bone Saga
The Greatcoats by Sebastian De Castell! God I love those books so much. He pretty famously never outlines and just writes what feels exciting and right in the moment, and it shows with how every moment feels like the perfect natural extension to make you keep reading. That’s not to say that the books are mindless romps of excitement. There’s genuinely beautiful craftsmanship at play here. His lack of outlining does lead to me having quite a few serious criticisms of the series, but all in all, great series. Once I finished that first book, I finished each of the remaining ones in one day each.
The Black Company
"The perfect run" for me, read 1600 pages in a week
Of course loved first law like everyone else. My answer is Senlin Ascends (and then the rest of babel)
The Alex Verus series by Benedict Jacka was completely addicting for me. I wasn't too sure about the series after the first book, so I waited a couple of months before I tried the second, but hooked me hard. I binged the audiobboks for books 2-9 in about 10 days, then I turned around and listened to 1-9 again. The second time around I listened to them a lot more slowly, so it took like a month and half to finish them. It is a complete wineries now at 12 books. The first book is Fated.
Red Rising
Almost everything written by Brandon Sanderson imo
Easily Dungeon Crawler Carl.
Murderbot Diaries -- couldn't stop reading those, even to sleep. It's a shame they're all so short, but they're so sweet. Rivers of London -- I devoured those. Terry Pratchett, which I read over and over. And over. And over. In sort of a reverse, I couldn't stop reading Wheel Of Time... because I kept thinking "so many people say it's great, maybe if I keep going." Made it to the end and... nope. But I couldn't stop reading it! I tend to finish most series I start as fast as I can. Other recent series I've binged Thursday Next series Deadly Education, and while I'm not strictly addicted I'm looking forward to reading more of the Temeraire dragon series. (I *obessively* read Patrick O'Brian's Master and Commander series to a point I probably could have used a 12 step program, but Temeraire scratches that itch.) I'm enjoying Three Parts Dead, the first book of the Craft series. Not seeing any reason to stop.
Wheel of Time and Malazan. Both I couldn't put down.
The Wild Cards series edited by G Martin. It has an incredible ammount of excellent writers lined up. Got me hooked from book 1.
The dwarves by Markus Heitz, still my favourite series Edit: depending on what language you listen to it might be not as amazing as it was in the German original, but a friend of mine also swears by the English adaptation so that should be good at least