Audiobooks Like Children of the Mind

10 audiobooks for fans of Children of the Mind

1. 1

   

   Ender's Shadow

   Ender's Shadow • Book 1

   by Orson Scott Card

   Narrated by Scott Brick, Gabrielle de Cuir, full cast

   ★ 4.59 ABR Score (194.4K ratings)

   ★ 4.32 Goodreads (180.6K) ★ 4.76 Audible (13.8K)

   15h 42m listening time • Released 2005

   A companion novel that retells Ender's Game from Bean's perspective — and in many ways surpasses the original in emotional depth and strategic brilliance.

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2. 2

   

   Ender's Game

   The Ender Saga • Book 1

   by Orson Scott Card

   Narrated by Stefan Rudnicki, Harlan Ellison, Gabrielle de Cuir

   ★ 4.59 ABR Score (1.5M ratings)

   ★ 4.31 Goodreads (1.5M) ★ 4.63 Audible (44.6K)

   11h 57m listening time • Released 2002

   The gold standard of military sci-fi — a child prodigy trained for interstellar war in a story that's as emotionally devastating as it is thrillingly plotted.

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3. 3

   

   Shadow of the Hegemon

   The Shadow • Book 2

   by Orson Scott Card

   Narrated by David Birney, Scott Brick, Gabrielle de Cuir

   ★ 4.19 ABR Score (90.1K ratings)

   ★ 3.97 Goodreads (81.7K) ★ 4.49 Audible (8.4K)

   12h 47m listening time • Released 2002

   The three narrators bring distinct voices to Bean and Peter's ruthless power grab, making this geopolitical thriller feel like a lived conspiracy unfolding across continents in real time.

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4. 4

   

   Cruel Miracles

   Maps in a Mirror • Book 4

   by Orson Scott Card

   Narrated by Grover Gardner, John Rubinstein, Stefan Rudnicki

   ★ 3.71 ABR Score (548 ratings)

   ★ 3.78 Goodreads (519) ★ 4.48 Audible (29)

   6h 42m listening time • Released 2010

   Three narrators bring distinct voices to Card's best short fiction, making this collection feel like stories told by different storytellers rather than a single audiobook monotone.

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5. 5

   

   Speaker for the Dead

   The Ender Saga • Book 2

   by Orson Scott Card

   Narrated by David Birney, Stefan Rudnicki

   ★ 4.37 ABR Score (294.6K ratings)

   ★ 4.11 Goodreads (272.3K) ★ 4.56 Audible (22.3K)

   14h 8m listening time • Released 2002

   A richer and more ambitious book than Ender's Game, tackling xenobiology, grief, and moral philosophy in a story about understanding truly alien life.

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6. 6

   

   Shadows in Flight

   The Shadow • Book 5

   by Orson Scott Card

   Narrated by Stefan Rudnicki, Emily Janice Card, Scott Brick

   ★ 4.11 ABR Score (26.5K ratings)

   ★ 3.82 Goodreads (21.7K) ★ 4.55 Audible (4.8K)

   6h 23m listening time • Released 2012

   Stefan Rudnicki and Scott Brick trade off brilliantly here, keeping the multi-generational stakes sharp across Bean's desperate race against his own biology. It's hard sci-fi with real emotional weight.

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7. 7

   

   Pathfinder

   Pathfinder • Book 1

   by Orson Scott Card

   Narrated by Stefan Rudnicki, Kirby Heyborne, Don Leslie, Kristoffer Tabori, Scott Brick

   ★ 4.03 ABR Score (30.9K ratings)

   ★ 4.01 Goodreads (25.1K) ★ 4.32 Audible (5.7K)

   17h 41m listening time • Released 2010

   A five-narrator ensemble cast elevates this time-travel mystery into something genuinely immersive—each voice pins down a character so distinctly you forget you're listening to an audiobook at all.

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8. 8

   

   Pastwatch: The Redemption of Christopher Columbus

   Pastwatch • Book 1

   by Orson Scott Card

   Narrated by Scott Brick, Christopher Cazenove, Gabrielle de Cuir, Arte Johnson, Moira Quirk, Stefan Rudnicki, Orson Scott Card

   ★ 3.97 ABR Score (17.6K ratings)

   ★ 3.97 Goodreads (15.8K) ★ 4.33 Audible (1.8K)

   13h 35m listening time • Released 2007

   A stellar ensemble cast elevates Card's audacious premise—rewriting Columbus through time travel becomes a meditation on whether good intentions can justify remaking history itself.

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9. 9

   

   The Worthing Saga

   Worthing #1-3

   by Orson Scott Card

   Narrated by Scott Brick

   ★ 3.73 ABR Score (10.4K ratings)

   ★ 3.86 Goodreads (9.2K) ★ 4.07 Audible (1.2K)

   18h 34m listening time • Released 2005

   Scott Brick transforms Card's interconnected stories about humanity's long sleep into something genuinely haunting—his measured delivery makes the slow corruption of immortality feel intimate and inevitable.

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10. 10

    

    The Last Shadow

    The Shadow • Book 6

    by Orson Scott Card

    Narrated by Emily Rankin, Gabrielle de Cuir, John Rubinstein, Judy Young, Justine Eyre, Kirby Heyborne, Orson Scott Card, Scott Brick, Stefan Rudnicki

    ★ 3.68 ABR Score (8.7K ratings)

    ★ 3.63 Goodreads (6.9K) ★ 4.14 Audible (1.8K)

    13h 34m listening time • Released 2021

    A stacked ensemble cast transforms the finale of Card's dual series into something genuinely cinematic—each narrator owns their character so completely you forget you're listening to different voices telling one story.

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