The Best Fantasy Audiobooks for Adults

Shiromi Arserio is the perfect narrator for Suri’s south-Asian inspired sapphic high fantasy novel. When Princess Malini fails to usurp her brother’s throne, she gets imprisoned in one of the empire’s far-flung, ancient towers. Luckily, her maidservant is the resourceful and magically adept Priya. Although having magic is a crime punishable by death, Malini knows she can convince Priya to use her power to help her escape and usurp her brother. In return, Priya’s people will be freed from imperial rule. Their growing attraction only complicates Malini and Priya’s treacherous, magic-filled journey to claim power in their lives.

In this rare gem of a fantasy novella, Cordelia behaves to avoid her mother’s disciplinary sorcery. As a young teen in a small town, she has never had a friend or privacy. But when her mother moves them to her next mark’s estate, she meets Lady Hester, the nobleman’s cleaver and kind sister. Hester is far too old to accept the trickery happening in front of her, but she never imagined she was dealing with sorcery. If Hester wants to protect her home and the endangered young lady in front of her, she will have to gather her wits, allies, and strength to evict the sorceress once and for all.

Penelope’s alternate historical fantasy novel infused with African American folk magic is the winner of the 2023 Audie Award for best fantasy audiobook for a reason. In 1925, 23-year-old Clara Johnson uses her ability to communicate with spirits to unveil the malevolent being corrupting the heart of Washington, D.C.’s “Black Broadway.” Stealing an ancient magic ring is the only way to free the city, but since the valuable and deadly jewel belongs to a powerful socialite, Clara will need a team to pull off the heist. Just one problem: every powerful member of their crew has separate agendas that threaten to dismantle their heist at every turn. In their plot for the ring, will the crew free DC or fling it into further disarray?

In this cozy sapphic romantasy audiobook, the young Miss Marigold Claude agrees to become the next Honey Witch, but in exchange, she accepts a curse—she will never be able to find true love. Marigold’s grandmother has taught her everything from the family cottage on the Isle of Innisfree, but meeting the surly magic skeptic Lottie Burke upends everything she thought she knew. Marigold feels compelled to convince Lottie magic does exist, and in her quest, she begins to develop feelings that endanger her magic. Now she will have to apply all her skills to save her home, her magic, and her burgeoning love.

When you start listening to Bahni Turpin you will be immediately transported into book one of a Fae-filled sapphic fantasy trilogy. All their lives, sisters Yeeran and Lettle were creating a better future as a warrior and a diviner respectively. When a deadly mistake leads to Yeeran’s exile from the Elven lands, they both must navigate the unknowns of the fae court—a society that was said to be gone for generations. Encountering a seductive new court is only the beginning of their trials as the two sisters struggle to hold on to each other and their elven identities.

Translation expert Professor Lovell brought Robin Swift from Canton to London when a cholera outbreak orphaned him to harness his magical potential for the British Empire. You see, since silver-working magic relies on the distance between two words’ meanings, expanding Robin’s language aptitude expands the Empire’s power and colonization efforts. He was raised to enroll in Babel, Oxford University’s selective Royal Institute of Translation, but the more Robin learns about language and the Empire he serves, the more he questions imperial expansion. I highly recommend the audiobook for this epic historical fantasy that questions what role translation serves in colonization and how academic institutions can uphold injustice to expand their research.