Best Anthony Ryan Audiobooks
Anthony Ryan built his reputation on Blood Song, a debut that spread almost entirely by word of mouth before becoming one of self-published fantasy's great success stories. The Raven's Shadow series showcases his strengths: tightly controlled first-person narration, a protagonist whose competence feels earned rather than granted, and battle sequences that hit with real weight. Ryan writes military fantasy with an insider's precision — formations matter, logistics matter, and the cost of violence accumulates across pages rather than disappearing between chapters. His worldbuilding is patient, releasing information through experience rather than exposition. Readers who love Joe Abercrombie's gritty realism or Brian McClellan's disciplined plotting will find Ryan a natural fit. If you want fantasy that respects the mechanics of war and the psychology of soldiers, Blood Song is one of the best entry points in the genre.
Where to Start with Anthony Ryan
- Best entry point → Blood Song
- Start the Raven's Shadow #0.7 series → Many Are the Dead
- What fans keep coming back to → Unfettered II: New Tales
- Highest rated by listeners → Unbound
Best Anthony Ryan Audiobooks
- 1
Blood Song
Raven's Shadow • Book 1
by Anthony Ryan
Narrated by Steven Brand
★ 4.45 BLT Score (109.2K ratings)★ 4.41 Goodreads (92.6K) ★ 4.6 Audible (16.6K)More about this pick
Ryan's debut surprised the entire genre — a lean, propulsive story of a warrior monk told in retrospect, with some of the best combat writing in modern fantasy.
- 2
Many Are the Dead
Raven's Shadow #0.7
by Anthony Ryan
Narrated by Steven Brand
★ 3.96 BLT Score (1.4K ratings)★ 4.04 Goodreads (935) ★ 4.53 Audible (431) - 3
Unfettered II: New Tales
Gunnie Rose #0.0 - The Gunnie
by Shawn Speakman, Naomi Novik, Brandon Sanderson, Jim Butcher, Charlaine Harris, Michael J. Sullivan, Janny Wurts, Bradley P. Beaulieu, Mark Lawrence, Seanan McGuire, Peter Orullian, Aidan Moher, Erin Lindsey, John A. Pitts, Anthony Ryan, Scott Sigler, Django Wexler, Rachel Caine, Sarah Beth Durst, David Farland, Terry Brooks
Narrated by Sarah Coomes, Michael Kramer, Emily Woo Zeller, Nick Podehl, Erin Mallon, Tim Gerard Reynolds
★ 3.78 BLT Score (1.5K ratings)★ 3.92 Goodreads (1.1K) ★ 4.25 Audible (340) - 4
Unbound
Annwn Cycle #The Dead's Revenant • Book 1
by Shawn Speakman, Terry Brooks, Seanan McGuire, Mark Lawrence, Anthony Ryan, Tim Marquitz, Brian Staveley, Michael J. Sullivan, John Marco, Peter Orullian, Kat Richardson, Sam Sykes, Kristen Britain, Mazarkis Williams, Jim Butcher, Rachel Caine, Harry Connolly, Delilah S. Dawson, David Anthony Durham, Jason M. Hough, Mary Robinette Kowal, Joe Abercrombie
Narrated by Dick Hill, Tim Gerard Reynolds, Nick Podehl, Allyson Johnson, Christian Rodska, Emily Bauer
★ 3.74 BLT Score (1.3K ratings)★ 3.96 Goodreads (1.0K) ★ 4.13 Audible (246)More about this pick
A star-studded anthology where twenty-three fantasy masters tell exactly the stories they want, each perfectly matched to a narrator who elevates the prose—Dick Hill's gravitas, Tim Gerard Reynolds' intensity—making this feel less like a collection and more like a curated experience.
- 5
Deep Magic: Volume 2: A Speculative Fiction Collection: Deep Magic
Deep Magic • Book 2
by Jeff Wheeler, Kate Rudd, Amir Abdullah, Elizabeth Wiley, Samara Naeymi, Hannah Curtis, Adam Verner, Anthony Ryan, Ken Liu, Charlie N. Holmberg, Jeanna Mason Stay, Wulf Moon
Narrated by Kate Rudd, Amir Abdullah, Elizabeth Wiley, Samara Naeymi, Hannah Curtis, Adam Verner
★ 3.67 BLT Score (3 ratings)★ 4.33 Audible (3)