The AudioBookaneers 2012 Year in Review, Part 2: Books We Missed

The AudioBookaneers 2012 Year in Review, Part 2: Books We Missed

Posted on 2013-01-10 at 21:28 by Dave

We tried. We really did. “ALL THE BOOKS!” But, alas, there was a good number of audiobooks we had our eyes on but for one reason or another — usually time… — we didn’t get to them. While listing even all of those books would take a while — Audible Frontiers published 750 audiobooks this year alone, let alone the output from the other publishers and the influx of ACX titles — we tried to narrow our lists down as much as we could. (We really did.) This is part 2 in a 3-part wrapup of 2012, with part 1 being our favorite audiobooks, and part 3 being Books They Missed — in which we’ll bemoan the good-looking books which did not find a US audio home in 2012. But first, part 2: What We Missed.

DAVE:

First of all, I’m really only scratching the surface here. I could be completely content for someone to pay me gas money to drive around the U.S. and listen to audiobooks for the next 365 days, and still feel like I didn’t hear everything I wanted to. But these are the big ones that I hope to hit sometime this year.

New Audiobooks (First time in Print and Audio)

Angelmaker by Nick Harkaway, read by Daniel Weyman for AudioGO — Starting off with one I just couldn’t fit into the schedule. I don’t know what this one is about, and I don’t want to know. All I know is the protagonist is named Joe Spork, and it’s appeared on a bunch of “Best of 2012” lists. Spork!

The Testament of Jessie Lamb: A Novel by Jane Rogers, read by Fiona Hardingham for Blackstone Audio — Sam loved this, and it’s won at least one prestigious SF/F award. I would love to be able to give this a listen early on in 2013.

The Killing Moon: Dreamblood, Book 1 and The Shadowed Sun: Dreamblood, Book 2 by N.K. Jemisin, read by Sarah Zimmerman for Hachette Audio — I actually read the Killing Moon and thoroughly enjoyed it - I’m looking forward to listening to both it and the Shadowed Sun later this year. It’s an incredibly unique fantasy series. I loved Jemisin’s Inheritance books (read the print version - her voice is incredible).

Railsea by China Mieville ,read by Jonathan Cowley for Random House Audio —  I bought the print version ‘cause I heard it had illustrations. It does, but because I bought the print version and am so slammed for reading time, I haven’t yet read it. What’s wrong with me? (Hint: Should’ve bought the audio.)

The Drowning Girl by Caitlin R. Kiernan, read by Suzy Jackson for Neil Gaiman Presents — This is one I tried really hard to cram into my year’s end because Sam loved it so much. I’ve continued to hear raves about it, and am trying to set aside time to give it a listen. Kiernan is a great author.

The Long Earth: A Novel by Terry Pratchett and Stephen Baxter, read by Michael Fenton-Stevens for Harper Audio — Another book Sam liked, and I admit I wasn’t all that interested before that. But I’ve continued to hear good things about it, and after falling head-over heels for Dodger, I’m ready to give this one a shot.

The Drowned Cities by Paolo Bacigalupi, read by Joshua Swanson for Audible — Bagicalupi. YA dystopian. This is one of those books I know I’m predisposed to love.

The Diviners by Libba Bray, read by January LaVoy for Listening Library — Roaring 20s YA Fantasy. ‘Nuff said.

Goblin Secrets by William Alexander, read by the author for Simon & Schuster Audio — First fantasy book to win the National Book Award (for younger readers). I am in.

Sacre Bleu: A Comedy d’Art by Christopher Moore, read by Euan Morton for Harper Audio — I’ve never read Christopher Moore before, and for some reason, a fantasy about Van Gough seems like a great place to start.

Rip-Off! — Listening to this right now, actually, in between listening to The Hobbit.

New Audiobooks of Previously Released Books

Logan’s Run by William F. Nolan and George Clayton Johnston, read by Oliver Wyman for Audible Frontiers — I loved the 70s movie, but holy hell, this book is so much more deliciously twisted. At one point, I was planning on spending a good chunk of the year listening to a bunch of books I had previously read/heard, and this one was at the top of the list.

The Privilege of the Sword by Ellen Kushner, read by Kushner and a full cast for Neil Gaiman Presents — What a cast. I enjoyed Swordspoint, and am looking forward to getting into this one.

A Wrinkle in Time by Madeleine L’Engle, read by Hope Davis for Listening Library — One of my all time favorite children’s books. This is a recent edition, and I’m excited to revisit it.

Midnight Riot: Peter Grant, Book 1 by Ben Aaronovitch, read by Kobna Holdbrook-Smith for Tantor Audio — Like The Rook, this is another urban fantasy import from the U.K. which I’ve heard nothing but good things about.

God’s War: Bel Dame Apocrypha, Book 1 by Kameron Hurley, read by Emily Bauer for Audible Frontiers — Hurley’s series has gotten a lot of buzz and acclaim for uber-violent SF. I’ve got the eBook for this on my iPad. I’m happy there’s an audio edition of it.

The Handmaid’s Tale by Margaret Atwood, read by Claire Danes for Audible — Claire Danes reading classic SF to me.

Bookman Histories (The Bookman, Camera Obscura, and The Great Game) by Lavie Tidhar, read by Jonathan Keeble and Karen Cass for Audible — I love Tidhar’s range, and I’m looking forward to reading some of his more crazy ACTION ACTION ACTION stuff.

SAM:

First of all, a lot of Dave’s choices here are high on my list as well. Angelmaker, Kameron Hurley’s trilogy, Ben Aaronovitch’s trilogy, N.K. Jemisin’s duology, Midnight Riot, God’s War, Sacre Bleu, Goblin Secrets, The Diviners, and of course Lavie Tidhar. And other choices high on my list are, well, more of Dave’s choices from 2012, like Robert Jackson Bennett’s The Troupe, Shadow Show: All-New Stories in Celebration of Ray Bradbury edited by Sam Weller and Mort Castle, Welcome to Bordertown: New Stories and Poems of the Borderlands, and I already have the Neil Gaiman presented and Simon Vance voiced Viriconium By M. John Harrison in my library for a spare pile of hours. I also definitely want to get to Nine Princes in Amber: The Chronicles of Amber, Book 1 By Roger Zelazny (and the whole series beyond that, but hey, that might take a while) and George R.R. Martin’s Fevre Dream.

And I’ve been doubly-recommended Raising Stony Mayhall (2011) by Daryl Gregory by both Dave and by Bob Reiss at The Guilded Earlobe, who is as always a major source of audiobooks on my “to listen” list. A Gift Upon the Shore by M.K. Wren, The Stand by Stephen King, White Horse by Alex Adams, Wool Omnibus Edition by Hugh Howey, The Dog Stars by Peter Heller, and Immobility by Brian Evenson — and that’s just from his Top 10 Post Apocalyptic and Dystopian Audiobooks of 2012, let alone his Top 20 Audiobooks of 2012 (which leads with Wren and King, adds more King (The Wind Through the Keyhole) and reminds me to add Year Zero by Rob Reid, This Book is Full of Spiders: Seriously Dude, Don’t Touch It by David Wong, and Control Point by Myke Cole to my most-missed list), and his excellent reviews all year long, which so often guided my own selections as well as leaving me intrigued for Blackbirds by Chuck Wendig, The Dirty Streets of Heaven by Tad Williams, The Twelve by Justin Cronin, Lamentations by Ken Scholes, Seed by Rob Ziegler, Empire State by Adam Christopher, Rumo & His Miraculous Adventures by Walter Moers, The Return Man by V.M. Zito, Stand On Zanzibar by John Brunner, Embedded by Dan Abnett, and Pure by Julianna Baggott.

Still, even with that much bursting-at-the-seams action going on in terms of that to-listen pile, there were many more audiobooks I wish I had found time to check out in 2012, sorted by publisher:

RECORDED BOOKS/LISTENING LIBRARY:

Blue Remembered Earth By Alastair Reynolds, Narrated By Kobna Holdbrook-Smith — Range of Ghosts: The Eternal Sky, Book 1 by Elizabeth Bear — The Fourth Wall and Deep State by Walter Jon Williams — My Soul to Take by Tananarive Due — The Emperor’s Soul by Brandon Sanderson — Caliban’s War: The Expanse, Book 2 by S. A. Corey — Rise of Empire: Riyria Revelations, Book 2 and Heir of Novron: Riyria Revelations, Book 3 by Michael J. Sullivan — Prince of Thorns and King of Thorns by Mark Lawrence — The Apocalypse Codex by Charles Stross — All Men of Genius by Lev A.C. Rosen — 1632: Ring of Fire, Book 1 by Eric Flint, read by George Guidall — The Flame Alphabet by Ben Marcus — Arcadia By Lauren Groff —  The Freedom Maze By Delia Sherman, Narrated By Robin Miles — Son By Lois Lowry — Sorry Please Thank You: Stories By Charles Yu — Growing Up Dead in Texas By Stephen Graham Jones — Gods Without Men By Hari Kunzru — A Hologram for the King by Dave Eggars — Alcatraz Versus the Scrivener’s Bones: Alcatraz, Book 2 and Alcatraz Versus the Knights of Crystallia: Alcatraz, Book 3 By Brandon Sanderson — Article 5 By Kirsten Simmons — Crucible of Gold: Temeraire, Book 7 By Naomi Novik, Narrated By Simon Vance — The Snow Child By Eowyn Ivey — Portlandtown: A Tale of the Oregon Wyldes By Rob DeBorde — Black Heart: The Curse Workers, Book 3 By Holly Black, read by Jesse Eisenberg — Team Human By Sarah Rees Brennan and Justine Larbalestier — Every Day By David Levithan — Seraphina By Rachel Hartman — Sorry Please Thank You: Stories By Charles Yu

MACMILLAN AUDIO:

Mr. Penumbra’s 24-Hour Bookstore: A Novel by Robin Sloan — Joe Golem and the Drowning City By Mike Mignola and Christopher Golden — EVE: Templar One By Tony Gonzales — Bring Up the Bodies: A Novel By Hilary Mantel, Narrated By Simon Vance — Suddenly, a Knock on the Door: Stories By Etgar Keret

IAMBIK AUDIOBOOKS:

Outer Diverse: The Splintered Universe, Book 1 By Nina Munteanu — The Other By Matthew Hughes — In the Mean Time By Paul Tremblay — A Rope of Thorns: Hexslinger, Book 2 By Gemma Files — Trash Sex Magic by Jennifer Stevenson

BRILLIANCE AUDIO:

Gardens of the Moon: The Malazan Book of the Fallen, Book 1 and Forge of Darkness: Kharkanas Trilogy, Book 1 By Steven Erikson — Tears in Rain By Rosa Montero, Narrated By Mary Robinette Kowal — vN: The First Machine Dynasty by Madeline Ashby — Ashes of Honor: An October Daye Novel, Book 6 By Seanan McGuire — The Corpse-Rat King By Lee Battersby — Technomancer: Unspeakable Things, Book 1 By B. V. Larson — The Hammer and the Blade: A Tale of Egil and Nix By Paul S. Kemp — The Alchemist of Souls: Night’s Masque, Book 1 and The Merchant of Dreams: Night’s Masque, Book 2 By Anne Lyle, Narrated By Michael Page — Carpathia By Matt Forbeck — Further: Beyond the Threshold By Chris Roberson — Dead Harvest By Chris F. Holm — Empire State: A Novel By Adam Christopher — Resurrection By Arwen Elys Dayton — Against the Light By Dave Duncan — The Woodcutter By Kate Danley — Seed By Ania Ahlborn — The Second Ship: The Rho Agenda, Book 1 By Richard Phillips — Father Gaetano’s Puppet Catechism By Mike Mignola and Christopher Golden — The Girl Who Fell Beneath Fairyland and Led the Revels There By Catherynne M. Valente — Death Has Come Up into Our Windows: The Zombie Bible, Book 1 By Stant Litore — Enchanted by Alethea Kontis, Narrated by Katherine Kellgren — Shadow Blizzard: The Chronicles of Siala, Book 3 By Alexey Pehov — Agatha H. and the Clockwork Princess: A Girl Genius Novel, Book 2 By Phil and Kaja Foglio — Parallel Stories: A Novel By Péter Nádas, translated by Imre Goldstein — Clockwork Heart By Dru Pagliassotti — The Girl Who Could Silence the Wind By Meg Medina — Above World By Jenn Reese — Ragnarok: The End of the Gods By A. S. Byatt — Houses Without Doors by Peter Straub — The Well of Tears: A Novel By Roberta Trahan, Narrated By Simon Vance — Such Wicked Intent: The Apprenticeship of Victor Frankenstein By Kenneth Oppel, Narrated By Luke Daniels — The Outcast Blade: Act Two of the Assassini By Jon Courtenay Grimwood — Omega Point: A Richards & Klein Investigation, Book 2 By Guy Haley, Narrated By Michael Page — The Dead of Winter By Lee Collins — Sanctum: Guards of the Shadowlands, Book 1 By Sarah Fine

SIMON & SCHUSTER AUDIO:

Practical Magic By Alice Hoffman — The Map of the Sky: A Novel By Felix J. Palma — Battle Royale By Koushun Takami and translated by Yuji Oniki — The Reckoning By Alma Katsu — In the Tall Grass By Stephen King and Joe Hill — Contact By Carl Sagan

RANDOM HOUSE AUDIO:

The Black Count: Glory, Revolution, Betrayal, and the Real Count of Monte Cristo by Tom Reiss — Dying of the Light By George R. R. Martin — The Gift of Fire & On the Head of a Pin: Two Short Novels from Crosstown to Oblivion and Merge - Disciple: Two Short Novels from Crosstown to Oblivion By Walter Mosley — Roadside Picnic By Arkady and Boris Strugatsky, translated by Olena Bormashenko — Darksiders: The Abomination Vault By Ari Marmell — The Games By Ted Kosmatka — The Children of Men By P.D. James — The Technologists: A Novel By Matthew Pearl — Codex By Lev Grossman — Pirate Cinema by Cory Doctorow — The Fat Years: A Novel By Chan Koonchung — An Artist of the Floating World and A Pale View of Hills By Kazuo Ishiguro

TANTOR AUDIO:

Gunmetal Magic By Ilona Andrews — Bioshock: Rapture: Bioshock, Book 1 By John Shirley — Zombiestan: A Zombie Novel By Mainak Dhar, Narrated By John Lee — The Dread: Fallen Kings Cycle, Book 2 By Gail Z. Martin — Your House is on Fire, Your Children All Gone by Stefan Kiesbye -  The Neverending Story By Michael Ende — The Titanic: Disaster of the Century by Wyn Craig Wade, read by Robertson Dean — Sold By Patricia McCormick, Narrated By Justine Eyre — Superman Is Jewish?: How Comic Book Superheroes Came to Serve Truth, Justice, and the Jewish-American Way By Harry Brod — Narcopolis By Jeet Thayil, Narrated By Robertson Dean — The Remains of the Day By Kazuo Ishiguro, Narrated By Simon Prebble

AUDIOGO:

Miles: The Autobiography By Miles Davis, Narrated By Dion Graham — Dark Magic By James Swain — The Assassin’s Curse By Cassandra Rose Clarke — Zombies: A Record of the Year of Infection By Don Roff —  Grimm Tales for Young and Old By Philip Pullman — Ash by James Herbert — The Thief By Fuminori Nakamura, translated by Satoko Izumo — Stonemouth: A Novel By Iain Banks, Narrated By Peter Kenny — Blackwood By Gwenda Bond — The 100-Year-Old Man Who Climbed Out the Window and Disappeared By Jonas Jonasson, Narrated By Steven Crossley

DREAMSCAPE:

The Vanishers By Heidi Julavits, Narrated By Xe Sands — Woes of the True Policeman By Roberto Bolaño — Death’s Apprentice: Grimm City, Book 1 By K. W. Jeter and Gareth Jefferson Jones — The Devil in Silver By Victor LaValle — Silver: Return to Treasure Island By Andrew Motion, Narrated By David Tennant — Office Girl By Joe Meno — Stay Awake: Stories By Dan Chaon — Pure By Andrew Miller

HARPER AUDIO:

Krampus: The Yule Lord By Brom — Carnival of Souls By Melissa Marr, Narrated By James Marsters — The Girl of Fire and Thorns and The Crown of Embers: Fire and Thorns, Book 2 By Rae Carson — Under the Never Sky By Veronica Rossi — Under Wildwood By Colin Meloy — The Prisoner of Heaven: A Novel By Carlos Ruiz Zafon — The Janus Affair: A Ministry of Peculiar Occurrences Novel, Book 2 By Pip Ballantine and Tee Morris — Deep Sky (2011) By Patrick Lee — The Song of Achilles: A Novel By Madeline Miller — The Spindlers by Lauren Oliver, read by Simon Vance

PENGUIN AUDIO:

City of Dark Magic: A Novel By Magnus Flyte — Let’s Pretend This Never Happened (A Mostly True Memoir) By Jenny Lawson — A Million Suns: Across the Universe, Book 2 By Beth Revis — Cold Days: The Dresden Files, Book 14 By Jim Butcher, Narrated By James Marsters — This Is How You Lose Her By Junot Díaz — Green Rider by Kristin Britain — The Invisible Ones By Stef Penney — Falling Kingdoms: Falling Kingdoms, Book 1 by Morgan Rhodes — Winter of the World: The Century Trilogy, Book 2 By Ken Follett, Narrated By John Lee — Bitterblue: Graceling, Book 3 By Kristin Cashore

BLACKSTONE AUDIO:

The Ramal Extraction: Cutter’s Wars, Book 1 By Steve Perry — Captain Vorpatril’s Alliance By Lois McMaster Bujold — The Legacy of Heorot, The Secret of Black Ship Island: Heorot, Book 2, and Beowulf’s Children By Larry Niven, Jerry Pournelle, and Steven Barnes — None So Blind: A Short Story Collection By Joe Haldeman — 21st Century Dead: A Zombie Anthology — Energized By Edward M. Lerner — Some Kind of Fairy Tale: A Novel By Graham Joyce — Seed Seeker By Pamela Sargent — A Pleasure to Burn: Fahrenheit 451 Stories By Ray Bradbury — The Old Ways: A Journey on Foot by Robert Macfarlane — Radiant Days: A Novel By Elizabeth Hand — Raylan: A Novel (Raylan Givens) by Elmore Leonard — The Fullness of Time By Kate Wilhelm — Wake of the Bloody Angel By Alex Bledsoe, Narrated By Stefan Rudnicki — Chasing Magic By Stacia Kane — Jepp, Who Defied the Stars By Katherine Marsh — A Bright and Terrible Sword By Anna Kendall, Narrated By Simon Vance — The Great Siege: Malta 1565 by Ernie Bradford, Narrated by Simon Vance — The Magic World by E. Nesbit, Narrated by Johanna Ward — Fate of Worlds: Return from the Ringworld By Larry Niven and Edward M. Lerner — By Blood by Ellen Ullman, narrated By Malcolm Hillgartner — Under the Skin by Michel Faber, Narrated By Fiona Hardingham

HACHETTE AUDIO:

The Black Isle By Sandi Tan — The Sugar Frosted Nutsack: A Novel by Mark Leyner — Me and the Devil: A Novel By Nick Tosches — Iron Hearted Violet by Kelly Barnhill, read by Simon Vance — The Hydrogen Sonata By Iain M. Banks — The Blinding Knife: Black Prism, Book 2 By Brent Weeks, Narrated By Simon Vance — Albert of Adelaide: A Novel By Howard Anderson — Unholy Night By Seth Grahame-Smith — Seven Princes: Books of the Shaper, Volume 1 By John R. Fultz — Where’d You Go, Bernadette: A Novel By Maria Semple — Infinite Jest and Oblivion: Stories By David Foster Wallace — Edge of Dark Water By Joe Lansdale — Blackout: The Newsflesh Trilogy, Book 3 By Mira Grant — God Save the Queen: The Immortal Empire, Book 1 By Kate Locke — The Iron Wyrm Affair: Bannon and Clare, Book 1 By Lilith Saintcrow —  The Soddit: Or, Let’s Cash in Again (ABRIDGED) By A. R. R. R. Roberts — Days of Blood & Starlight By Laini Taylor

CROSSROAD PRESS:

Velvet Dogma By Weston Ochse — Etched Deep & Other Dark Impressions and My Soul to Keep - The Origin of Donovan DeChance: The DeChance Chronicles, Book 1 By David Niall Wilson — The Magic Wagon By Joe R. Lansdale — A Crack in Melancholy Time By Trent Zelazny — Halloween and Other Seasons and Toybox By Al Sarrantonio

ORION PUBLISHING GROUP:

The Stormcaller: The Twilight Reign, Book 1 By Tom Lloyd

SKYBOAT AUDIO:

Lightspeed Year One: From the Hugo Award Nominated Magazine

OPEN BOOK AUDIO:

Scales By Acacia Awai

NAXOS:

Boneland: The Weirdstone Trilogy, Book 3 By Alan Garner

SCHOLASTIC, INC.:

The Raven Boys By Maggie Stiefvater, Narrated By Will Patton

CARINA PRESS:

Stellarnet Prince: The Stellarnet Series, Book 2 By J. L. Hilton, Narrated by Gayle Hendrix

BELLE BOOKS:

Frost Moon: Skindancer, Book 1 By Anthony Francis

HIGHBRIDGE:

Running the Rift By Naomi Benaron

BOLINDA:

The Traitor Queen: The Traitor Spy Trilogy, Book 3 By Trudi Canavan; City of Bohane By Kevin Barry

FULL CAST AUDIO:

Space Cadet By Robert A Heinlein

OASIS AUDIO:

Crater: A Helium-3 Novel By Homer Hickam

PHOENIX BOOKS:

Scar Tissue By Anthony Kiedis and Larry Sloman

INDEPENDENT:

Briarpatch by Tim Pratt, narrated by Dave Thompson —  RealmShift and MageSign by Alan Baxter, narrated by Matt Bentley Allegre — The First Confessor: The Legend of Magda Searus By Terry Goodkind — The Sword and the Dragon, Revised: The Wardstone Trilogy, Book 1 By M. R. Mathias

AUDIBLE, INC:

Shadow and Bone by Leigh Bardugo — The Cthulhu Encryption: A Romance of Piracy By Brian Stableford — Earth By David Brin — Napier’s Bones By Derryl Murphy — Lost and Found: The Taken Trilogy, Book 1 By Alan Dean Foster, Narrated By Oliver Wyman — Alchemystic: A Spellmason Chronicle, Book 1 by Anton Strout — Charisma By Steven Barnes — We Are What We Pretend to Be: The First and Last Works By Kurt Vonnegut — The Handmaid’s Tale by Margaret Atwood, Narrated by Claire Danes — Available Dark By Elizabeth Hand — Speaks the Nightbird By Robert McCammon — The Man from Primrose Lane By James Renner — Bastard Out of Carolina By Dorothy Allison — Society’s Child: My Autobiography By Janis Ian — Liars and Outliers: Enabling the Trust that Society Needs to Thrive by Bruce Schneier

AUDIBLE LTD:

Odd John, Star Maker, Sirius, and Last and First Men by Olaf Stapledon —  The Separation, The Islanders, The Dream Archipelago, Inverted World, and The Glamour By Christopher Priest — The Thousand Emperors, Final Days, Stealing Light: Shoal, Book 1,  Nova War: Shoal, Book 2, and Empire of Light: Shoal, Book 3 By Gary Gibson — The Immorality Engine By George Mann — The Tel Aviv Dossier By Lavie Tidhar and Nir Yaniv — River of Gods and Brasyl By Ian McDonald — The Digging Leviathan and Zeuglodon By James P Blaylock

AUDIBLE FRONTIERS:

Ironskin By Tina Connolly, Narrated By Rosalyn Landor — Devil’s Wake: A Novel By Steven Barnes and Tananarive Due — The Croning By Laird Barron — The Magic May Return By Larry Niven, Fred Saberhagen, Dean Ing, Steven Barnes, Poul Anderson, and Mildred Downey Broxon — Existence By David Brin — The Coldest War: The Milkweed Triptych, Book 2 by Ian Tregellis —  Triggers by Robert J. Sawyer — Thieftaker: Thieftaker Chronicles, Book 1 by D. B. Jackson, Narrated by Jonathan Davis — The Winds of Khalakovo: The Lays of Anuskaya, Book 1 and The Straits of Galahesh: The Lays of Anuskaya, Book 2 By Bradley P. Beaulieu — The Rise of Ransom City: The Half-Made World, Book 2 By Felix Gilman — The Creative Fire: Book One of Ruby’s Song, The Silver Ship and the Sea: Silver Ship, Book 1 and Mayan December By Brenda Cooper — The Iron Dragon’s Daughter, Stations of the Tide, and Dancing with Bears: A Darger and Surplus Novel By Michael Swanwick — Beyond the Blue Event Horizon By Frederik Pohl, Narrated By Oliver Wyman —  The Strange Affair of Spring Heeled Jack: Burton & Swinburne, Book 1, The Curious Case of the Clockwork Man, Expedition to the Mountains of the Moon, and A Red Sun Also Rises by Mark Hodder — The Sleeping Dragon: Guardians of the Flame, Book 1, The Sword and the Chain: Guardians of the Flame, Book 2, and The Silver Crown: Guardians of the Flame, Book 3 by Joel Rosenberg — The Serpent and the Grail: Arthor, Book 4 By A. A. Attanasio — The Scar By Sergey and Marina Dyachenko, translated by Elinor Huntington, Narrated By Jonathan Davis — The Serpent Sea By Martha Wells — Night’s Master: Tales from the Flat Earth, Book One by Tanith Lee, Narrated by Susan Duerden —  Midnight Robber By Nalo Hopkinson, Narrated By Robin Miles — The Cassandra Project By Jack McDevitt and Mike Resnick — Bowl of Heaven By Larry Niven and Gregory Benford — Caine’s Law: The Third of the Acts of Caine (Act of Atonement, Book Two) By Matthew Stover, Narrated By Stefan Rudnicki — Foreigner: Foreigner Sequence 1, Book 1 by C. J. Cherryh — The Shape of Desire: A Shifting Circle Novel, Book 1 By Sharon Shinn —  The Whitefire Crossing: The Shattered Sigil, Book 1 and The Tainted City: The Shattered Sigil, Book 2 by Courtney Schafer — The Cyberiad: Fables for the Cybernetic Age and Mortal Engines by Stanislaw Lem — Antiphon: The Psalms of Isaak, Book 3 By Ken Scholes — Scourge of the Betrayer: Bloodsounder’s Arc, Book 1 By Jeff Salyards — Downbelow Station By C. J. Cherryh — Sailing to Sarantium: Book One of the Sarantine Mosaic (1998) By Guy Gavriel Kay — The Darkness That Comes Before: The Prince of Nothing, Book One by R. Scott Bakker — Infoquake: Jump 225 Trilogy by David Louis Edelman — The Snow Queen By Joan D. Vinge — The Postman by David Brin — Heart of Veridon: Burn Cycle, Book 1 by Tim Akers — The Magister Trilogy and Coldfire trilogies by C. S. Friedman — Grim Tides: A Marla Mason Novel By T. A. Pratt — Mechanique: A Tale of the Circus Tresaulti By Genevieve Valentine — Pattern Scars By Caitlin Sweet — Look into The Sun By James Patrick Kelly — The Star Fraction: The Fall Revolution 1 by Ken MacLeod — 14 by Peter Clines — Enter, Night By Michael Rowe — The Road of Danger: RCN Series, Book 9 By David Drake — One Jump Ahead, Slanted Jack, and Overthrowing Heaven by Mark L. Van Name — The Stone Mage & The Sea: First Book of the Change by Sean Williams — The Omega Point Trilogy By George Zebrowski, Narrated by Oliver Wyman — Cyteen By C. J. Cherryh — Emperor Mollusk Versus the Sinister Brain by A. Lee Martinez — This Fortress World and The Dreamers by James E. Gunn — Our Lady of Darkness By Fritz Leiber — Guardian of Night By Tony Daniel — The Summer Isles By Ian R. MacLeod — When Worlds Collide by Philip Wylie and Edwin Balmer — Orphanage: Jason Wander, Book 1 By Robert Buettner — Intruder: Foreigner Sequence 5, Book 1 By C. J. Cherryh — Prepare to Die! By Paul Tobin

WHEW. OK. That’s enough for now. Still, even with all of those books, some deserving books did not get the audiobook treatment in 2012. More on that in Part 3. When we recover from putting this together.

UPDATE FROM SAM: I realize that this list is just too long to be anything useful. So, instead, my top 30 (ok, 31) misses, which are the ones I’m even remotely likely to get to in 2013, though my guess I’ll only eventually get to 10 or so of them this year:

• The Girl Who Fell Beneath Fairyland and Led the Revels There By Catherynne M. Valente
• Angelmaker by Nick Harkaway
• Goblin Secrets by William Alexander
• The Troupe by Robert Jackson Bennett
• A Gift Upon the Shore by M.K. Wren
• Wool Omnibus Edition by Hugh Howey
• Dog Stars by Peter Heller
• Immobility by Brian Evenson
• Blackbirds by Chuck Wendig
• The Dirty Streets of Heaven by Tad Williams
• Blue Remembered Earth By Alastair Reynolds, Narrated By Kobna Holdbrook-Smith
• Range of Ghosts: The Eternal Sky, Book 1 by Elizabeth Bear
• Gods Without Men By Hari Kunzru
• Mr. Penumbra's 24-Hour Bookstore: A Novel by Robin Sloan
• Gardens of the Moon: The Malazan Book of the Fallen, Book 1 by Steven Erikson
• Roadside Picnic By Arkady and Boris Strugatsky, translated by Olena Bormashenko
• The Vanishers By Heidi Julavits, Narrated By Xe Sands
• The Devil in Silver By Victor LaValle
• Stellarnet Prince: The Stellarnet Series, Book 2 By J. L. Hilton, Narrated by Gayle Hendrix
• Briarpatch by Tim Pratt, narrated by Dave Thompson
• Ironskin By Tina Connolly, Narrated By Rosalyn Landor
• The Rise of Ransom City: The Half-Made World, Book 2 By Felix Gilman
• The Creative Fire: Book One of Ruby's Song By Brenda Cooper
• The Scar By Sergey and Marina Dyachenko
• Night’s Master: Tales from the Flat Earth, Book One by Tanith Lee, Narrated by Susan Duerden
• Midnight Robber By Nalo Hopkinson, Narrated By Robin Miles
• The Whitefire Crossing: The Shattered Sigil, Book 1 by Courtney Schafer
• The Snow Queen By Joan D. Vinge
• Mechanique: A Tale of the Circus Tresaulti By Genevieve Valentine
• Pattern Scars By Caitlin Sweet
• Enter, Night By Michael Rowe

Posted in The Arrrdies