Best of August 2011 in Audible.com SFF: Lev Grossman’s The Magician King

Link: Best of August 2011 in Audible.com SFF: Lev Grossman’s The Magician King

It’s probably not too much of a surprise for those who have followed this blog that my pick for the Best of August 2011 in Audible.com SFF is The Magician King: A Novel by Lev Grossman narrated by Mark Bramhall:

I reviewed the audiobook on Audible some weeks ago, and was going to use this space to add a few thoughts which did not fit into the 2000-character limit there. However, I’m going to just let a blog post elsewhere suffice, at least for now. In short: it’s brilliant, and Bramhall again is wonderful bringing Grossman’s world to life (though his attempt at an Australian accent for Poppy…).

OTHER PICKS, ADULT:

• A Canticle for Leibowitz (1960) by Walter M. Miller narrated by Tom Weiner (Blackstone Audio)
• Stand on Zanzibar (1968) by John Brunner narrated by Erik Bergmann (Macmillan Audio)
• Among Others (Tor, January 2011) by Jo Walton narrated by Katherine Kellgren
• All the Lives He Led: A Novel by Frederick Pohl narrated by Oliver Wyman
• Machine Man by Max Barry (author of Jennifer Government) narrated by Sean Runnette (whom I last heard read David Halperin’s excellent Journal of a UFO Investigator: A Novel)
• Two novels from the late Kage Baker: The House of the Stag read by the incomparable Oliver Wyman (Finch, Gateway) and Empress of Mars read by Nicola Barber
• A Blight of Mages by Karen Miller narrated by Eileen Stevens
• Ready Player One by Ernest Cline narrated by Wil Wheaton — while it’s praised glowingly for its fun (which it does deserve) and I had several nostalgic moments of glee along the way (buoyed to no small extent by Wheaton’s outstanding narration, complete with Pac Man sound effects), its more solidly YA voice and aims left me fairly empty handed at the novel’s close. It also serves as an 80s pop culture obsessed fan’s heroic dream — quite simply it is the protagonist’s deep and wide knowledge of 80s pop culture that makes him able to be the hero, as if somehow all the catch phrases and movie line memorization will all have a glorious purpose, and by Voltron you’ll be ready if only you watch a few more episodes of Family Ties.
• The Orange Eats Creeps by Grace Krilanovich narrated by Angela Goethals — one of last year’s acclaimed avant garde fantasy novels
• Equations of Life by Simon Morden narrated by Toby Leonard Moore
• Southern Gods by John Hornor Jacobs narrated by Eric G Dove
• The Dervish House by Ian McDonald narrated by Jonathan Davis is one of the great sf novels of 2010, now in audio
• Two novels from M. K. Hobson both narrated by Suehyla Et-Attar: The Native Star (2010) and The Hidden Goddess
• Low Town: A Novel by Daniel Polansky narrated by Rob Shapiro — author interview at FantasyLiterature

OTHER PICKS, YR:

• YR: The White City: Book 3 of The Clockwork Dark by John Claude Bemis narrated by John H. Mayer
• YR: Wildwood by Colin Meloy (illustrated by Ellis Carson) narrated by Amanda Plummer
• YR: Alcatraz versus the Evil Librarians by Brandon Sanderson narrated by Ramon De Ocampo is the first of epic fantasy bestseller Sanderson’s Alcatraz books to arrive in audio

ALSO IN AUGUST:

• Retribution: A Dark-Hunter Novel, Book 16 by Sherrilyn Kenyon narrated by Holter Graham
• Always a Witch by Carolyn MacCullough narrated by Hannah Friedman
• Gears of War: Coalition’s End by Karen Traviss narrated by David Colacci
• The Halloween Tree (short) by Ray Bradbury narrated by Bronson Pinchot
• The Last Four Things by Paul Hoffman narrated by Steve West
• The Omen Machine: A Richard and Kahlan Novel by Terry Goodkind narrated by Sam Tsoutsouvas
• The Moon Maze Game: A Dream Park Novel by Larry Niven and Steven Barnes narrated by Stefan Rudnicki
• The Warlords of Nin: The Dragon King Trilogy, Book 2 by Stephen R. Lawhead narrated by Tim Gregory
• Downward to the Earth by Robert Silverberg (1969) narrated by Bronson Pinchot (Blackstone Audio)
• Hellbent by Cherie Priest narrated by Natalie Ross
• The Measure of the Magic: Legends of Shannara by Terry Brooks narrated by Phil Gigante
• The Leftovers by Tom Perrotta narrated by Dennis Boutsikaris
• Anthology: The Year’s Top Ten Tales of Science Fiction 3 which collects short stories by Damien Broderick, Yoon Ha Lee, Ian R MacLeod, Sean McMullen, Allen M Steele, Robert Reed, and Peter Watts and is narrated by Tom Dheere, Nicola Barber, and Kate Baker
• YR: This Dark Endeavor: The Apprenticeship of Victor Frankenstein by Kenneth Oppel narrated by Luke Daniels
• Downpour: Greywalker, Book 6 by Kat Richardson narrated by Mia Barron (Roc, Recorded Books, August 2)
• Star Wars: Fate of the Jedi: Ascension by Christie Golden narrated by Marc Thompson
• Non-Fiction: Future Science: Essays from the Cutting Edge by Max Brockman narrated by Various
• 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea by Jules Verne narrated by James Frain
• Juliet Immortal by Stacey Jay narrated by Justine Eyre
• YR: The Bellmaker: Redwall, Book 7 by the late Brian Jacques narrated by Brian Jacques
• Two “Doctor Who” novels/novelisations: Doctor Who: Fury from the Deep by Victor Pemberton narrated by David Troughton and Doctor Who: The Clockwise Man by Justin Richards narrated by Nicholas Briggs
• Phoenix Rising: A Ministry of Peculiar Occurrences Novel by Pip Ballantine, Tee Morris narrated by James Langton
• The Twelfth Enchantment by David Liss narrated by Susan Duerden
• The “Samurai Kids” series from Sandy Fussel: White Crane: Samurai Kids #1, Owl Ninja: Samurai Kids #2, and Samurai Kids #3: Shaolin Tiger all narrated by Joshua Swanson
• YA: The Fox Inheritance: The Jenna Fox Chronicles, Book 2  by Mary E. Pearson narrated by Matthew Brown

SEEN BUT NOT HEARD:

• YR: Meeting by Nina Kiriki Hoffman (Viking Children’s, Aug 4)
• Prince of Thorns (The Broken Empire) by Mark Lawrence (Ace, Aug 2, 2011)
• ICO: Castle in the Mist (Haikasoru) by Miyuki Miyabe (Aug 16, 2011) — interview with Haikasoru editor Nick Mamatas
• By Light Alone by Adam Roberts (Aug 18, 2011) (via cybermage.se)
• Isles of the Forsaken by Carolyn Gilman (Aug 15, 2011) — blurbed as: “Vivid world-building, fascinating characters, and a rich, complex story – I love this book!” by Kij Johnson, Nebula and World Fantasy Award-winning author of The Fox Woman
• The Restoration Game by Ken Macleod (Pyr, Aug 3, 2011)
• The Tempering of Men by Elizabeth Bear and Sarah Monette (Tor, Aug 16, 2011) — reviewed by Brit Mandelo
• Scorch City by Toby Ball (St. Martins, Aug 30, 2011) — billed as “dystopian noir” — sequel to 2010’s The Vaults
• With Fate Conspire by Marie Brennan (Tor, Aug 30, 2011) — featured as a a Big Idea on Scalzi’s Whatever blog
• Anthology: Bewere the Night ed. by Ekaterina Sedia (Prime)
• The Watchtower by Lee Carroll (Tor)
• Steelhands by Jaida Jones and Danielle Bennett (Hardcover – Aug 2, 2011)
• Dark Tangos (political thriller) by Lewis Shiner, author of Glimpses and Black & White
• Anthology: The Wild Side: Urban Fantasy with an Erotic Edge edited by Mark L. Van Name (Baen)
• Circle Tide by Rebecca Rowe (EDGE)
• Mayan December by Brenda Cooper (Prime)
• Awakenings by Edward Lazellari (Tor, Aug 30, 2011)
• Iron Butterflies Rust by Lee Thompson (Delirium Books)
• The Urban Fantasy Anthology by Peter S. Beagle & Joe R. Lansdale (Tachyon)
• The Unincorporated Woman by Dani Kollin and Eytan Kollin (Tor, Aug 16, 2011)
• The Edinburgh Dead by Brian Ruckley (Orbit, Aug 17, 2011)
• The Postmortal: A Novel by Drew Magary (Aug 30, 2011)
• Black as Snow by Nick Nolan (AmazonEncore, Aug 30, 2011)
• With Fate Conspire by Marie Brennan (Tor Books, Aug 30, 2011)
• The Tempering of Men by Elizabeth Bear and Sarah Monette (Aug 16, 2011)
• White Tiger: Dark Heavens Book One (Angry Robot) by Kylie Chan (Aug 30, 2011)
• City of Refuge by Kenzo Kitakata (Vertical, Aug 30, 2011)
• Crude Sunlight by Philip Tucker (Kindle Edition – Aug 12, 2011) – Kindle eBook — “A promising first novel from an interesting stylist with a lot of atmosphere and chills.” – Jeff Vandermeer 
• Collection: Two Worlds and In Between: The Best of Caitlin R. Kiernan (Volume One) by Caitlin R. Kiernan (Hardcover – Subterranean, Aug 31, 2011)
• The Black God’s War by Moses Siregar III
• Roil (The Nightbound Land) by Trent Jamieson (Mass Market Paperback – Aug 30, 2011)
• Countdown: A Newsflesh Novella by Mira Grant (Aug 1, 2011) – Kindle eBook
• Anthology: The Book of Cthulhu edited by Ross E. Lockhart (Night Shade Books, Aug 30, 2011) — with stories from Caitlin R. Kiernan, Charles Stross, Silvia Moreno-Garcia, Bruce Sterling, Molly Tanzer, David Drake, Elizabeth Bear, Kage Baker, John Hornor Jacobs, Cherie Priest, Joe R. Lansdale, Tim Pratt, Gene Wolfe, Laird Barron, and more…
• The Panama Laugh by Thomas S. Roche (Aug 30, 2011) — from Library Journal: Night Shade offers The Panama Laugh by Thomas Roche (Sept.), about a mercenary who unwittingly releases a biological weapon that raises laughing zombies from the dead.
• ANTHOLOGY: Kizuna: Fiction for Japan (a charity anthology) by Michael Moorcock, Jason Wuchenich, Trent Zelazny and Ken Asamatsu (Kindle Edition – Aug 7, 2011)