Where to Start with Elizabeth Bear
- Best entry point → All the Windwracked Stars
- Best standalone → Old Venus
- Start the Spiritwalker #Bloom series → The Book of Magic
- What fans keep coming back to → METAtropolis: The Dawn of Uncivilization
- Highest rated by listeners → The Book of Swords
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METAtropolis: Green Space
METAtropolis • Book 3
by Jay Lake, Tobias S. Buckell, Mary Robinette Kowal, Ken Scholes, Dion Graham, Robin Miles, Mark Boyett, Scott Brick, Allyson Johnson, Sanjiv Jhaveri, Jennifer Van Dyck, Jonathan Davis, Elizabeth Bear, Karl Schroeder, Seanan McGuire
Narrated by Dion Graham, Robin Miles, Mark Boyett, Scott Brick, Allyson Johnson, Sanjiv Jhaveri, Jennifer Van Dyck, Jonathan Davis
★ 3.75 ABR Score (972 ratings)★ 3.75 Goodreads (354) ★ 4.28 Audible (618)14h 16m listening time • Released 2013 -
All the Windwracked Stars
The Edda of Burdens • Book 1
Narrated by Michael Kramer, Kate Reading
★ 3.69 ABR Score (1.0K ratings)★ 3.63 Goodreads (1.0K) ★ 3.57 Audible (14)11h 35m listening time • Released 2017Kramer and Reading's dual narration brings real weight to Bear's post-apocalyptic mythology, transforming a dense, ambitious worldbuilding into something genuinely immersive and emotionally grounded.
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The Book of Magic
Spiritwalker #Bloom
by Gardner Dozois, K.J. Parker, Megan Lindholm, John Crowley, Matthew Hughes, Ysabeau S. Wilce, Rachel Pollack, Eleanor Arnason, Tim Powers, Liz Williams, Garth Nix, Elizabeth Bear, Lavie Tidhar, Greg Van Eekhout, George R.R. Martin, Andy Duncan, Kate Elliott, Scott Lynch
Narrated by Elliot Hill, Karissa Vacker, Sile Bermingham, Maxwell Caulfield, Susan Denaker, Scott Brick, Bruce Mann, Holly Palance, Nicholas Guy Smith, Steve West, Various
★ 3.66 ABR Score (1.0K ratings)★ 3.7 Goodreads (839) ★ 4.07 Audible (191)24h 38m listening time • Released 2018 -
The Book of Swords
Sir Hereward and Mister Fitz #7 - A Long, Cold Trail
by Gardner Dozois, K.J. Parker, Robin Hobb, Ken Liu, Matthew Hughes, Kate Elliott, Walter Jon Williams, Daniel Abraham, C.J. Cherryh, Garth Nix, Ellen Kushner, Scott Lynch, Rich Larson, Elizabeth Bear, Lavie Tidhar, Cecelia Holland, George R.R. Martin
Narrated by John Lee, Katharine Lee McEwan, Kim Mai Guest, Elliot Hill, Richard Brewer, Nicholas Guy Smith, Kirby Heyborne, Julia Whelan, Mark Deakins, Steve West, Ralph Lister
★ 3.66 ABR Score (2.6K ratings)★ 3.67 Goodreads (2.2K) ★ 4.16 Audible (419)22h 13m listening time • Released 2017 -
METAtropolis: Cascadia
METAtropolis • Book 2
by Jay Lake, Mary Robinette Kowal, Elizabeth Bear, Ken Scholes, Karl Schroeder, René Auberjonois, Kate Mulgrew, Wil Wheaton, Gates McFadden, Jonathan Frakes, LeVar Burton, Tobias S. Buckell
Narrated by Rene Auberjonois, Kate Mulgrew, Wil Wheaton, Gates McFadden, Jonathan Frakes, LeVar Burton, Jay Lake
★ 3.63 ABR Score (2.2K ratings)★ 3.68 Goodreads (834) ★ 4.09 Audible (1.4K)12h 55m listening time • Released 2010 -
Old Venus
by George R.R. Martin, Gardner Dozois, Ian McDonald, Garth Nix, Joe Haldeman, Gwyneth Jones, Matthew Hughes, Paul McAuley, Lavie Tidhar, Allen M. Steele, Stephen Leigh, Eleanor Arnason, David Brin, Michael Cassutt, Tobias S. Buckell, Elizabeth Bear, Joe R. Lansdale, Mike Resnick
Narrated by Diana Rigg, Full Cast, Michael Dorn, Stephen Fry, Jake Stormoen, W. Morgan Sheppard, Gethin Anthony, Wil Wheaton, Janis Ian, Ron Donachie, Various
★ 3.61 ABR Score (821 ratings)★ 3.57 Goodreads (734) ★ 3.99 Audible (87)22h 17m listening time • Released 2015 -
The Year's Best Dark Fantasy & Horror 2010
Kyle Murchison Booth • Book 4
by Paula Guran, Kelley Armstrong, Holly Black, Ramsey Campbell, Caitlín R. Kiernan, Joe R. Lansdale, Stewart O'Nan, Sarah Pinborough, Norman Prentiss, Barbara Roden, Lucius Shepard, Peter Straub, Michael Shea, Kelly Link, Ekaterina Sedia, Catherynne M. Valente, Gerard Houarner, Gemma Files, Kurt Dinan, Elizabeth Bear, Roby Davies, Maura McHugh, Dale Bailey, Deborah Biancotti, Gary McMahon, Holly Phillips, John Mantooth, Marc Laidlaw, Margo Lanagan, Michael Marshall Smith, Nadia Bulkin, Nathan Ballingrud, Paul Tremblay, Peter Atkins, Sarah Monette, Seth Fried, Stephen Graham Jones, Steve Duffy, Steve Rasnic Tem, Suzy McKee Charnas, John Langan
Narrated by Kristin James, Matt Godfrey
★ 3.60 ABR Score (436 ratings)★ 3.84 Goodreads (431) ★ 4 Audible (5)11h 20m listening time • Released 2023 -
METAtropolis: The Dawn of Uncivilization
METAtropolis • Book 1
by Jay Lake, Tobias S. Buckell, Elizabeth Bear, Karl Schroeder
Narrated by Michael Hogan, Scott Brick, Kandyse McClure, Alessandro Juliani, Stefan Rudnicki, John Scalzi
★ 3.40 ABR Score (6.4K ratings)★ 3.55 Goodreads (3.4K) ★ 3.79 Audible (3.0K)9h 7m listening time • Released 2008Five sci-fi heavyweights built one future together, then each wrote their own story in it—and the ensemble cast (including Scalzi himself) makes these interlocking tales feel like a conversation between masters.
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Rip-Off!
by Gardner Dozois, John Scalzi, Jack Campbell, Mike Resnick, Tad Williams, Elizabeth Bear, Mary Robinette Kowal, Robert Charles Wilson, Allen M. Steele, Daryl Gregory, Lavie Tidhar, Nancy Kress, Paul Di Filippo, James Patrick Kelly, David Marantz, Dina Pearlman, Allyson Johnson, Marc Vietor, Ilyana Kadushin, Nicola Barber
Narrated by Wil Wheaton, Scott Brick, Christian Rummel, Jonathan Davis, Stefan Rudnicki, L. J. Ganser, Khristine Hvam
★ 3.29 ABR Score (2.5K ratings)★ 3.39 Goodreads (914) ★ 3.7 Audible (1.6K)11h 58m listening time • Released 2012A stellar cast of narrators elevates this clever anthology where top sci-fi writers hijack famous opening lines and spin them into wildly inventive original stories that feel both playful and genuinely surprising.
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How We Rank Audiobooks
Rankings are driven by listener ratings and review counts from Audible and Goodreads. Books with high ratings across a large number of listeners rank higher — a 4.5 with 50,000 ratings says more than a 4.8 with 200.
Unlike most book lists, we weight audiobook-specific factors: narrator performance, production quality, and how well a story translates to audio. A great book with a poor narration isn't a great audiobook.
We don't accept paid placements or prioritize new releases. These rankings reflect what listeners actually enjoy, not what's being promoted.
Rankings update periodically as new ratings come in and new titles are added to the collection.