Where to Start with Jim Butcher
- Best entry point → Furies of Calderon
- Start The Dresden Files series → Storm Front
- Underrated but highly rated → Skin Game
- What fans keep coming back to → Fool Moon
- Best narrator for Jim Butcher → Grave Peril
- Highest rated by listeners → Cold Days (The Dresden Files #14)
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Skin Game
The Dresden Files • Book 15
by Jim Butcher
Narrated by James Marsters
★ 4.77 ABR Score (124.5K ratings)★ 4.56 Goodreads (93.2K) ★ 4.88 Audible (31.3K)15h 49m listening time • Released 2014 -
Cold Days
The Dresden Files • Book 14
by Jim Butcher
Narrated by James Marsters
★ 4.73 ABR Score (135.9K ratings)★ 4.47 Goodreads (107.2K) ★ 4.87 Audible (28.7K)18h 47m listening time • Released 2012 -
Turn Coat
The Dresden Files • Book 11
by Jim Butcher
Narrated by James Marsters
★ 4.72 ABR Score (139.7K ratings)★ 4.44 Goodreads (112.9K) ★ 4.88 Audible (26.9K)14h 36m listening time • Released 2009 -
Small Favor
The Dresden Files • Book 10
by Jim Butcher
Narrated by James Marsters
★ 4.70 ABR Score (144.6K ratings)★ 4.43 Goodreads (118.0K) ★ 4.86 Audible (26.6K)13h 49m listening time • Released 2009 -
Dead Beat
The Dresden Files • Book 7
by Jim Butcher
Narrated by James Marsters
★ 4.70 ABR Score (164.7K ratings)★ 4.41 Goodreads (135.4K) ★ 4.86 Audible (29.3K)15h 7m listening time • Released 2010 -
Proven Guilty
The Dresden Files • Book 8
by Jim Butcher
Narrated by James Marsters
★ 4.69 ABR Score (158.1K ratings)★ 4.39 Goodreads (130.0K) ★ 4.86 Audible (28.2K)16h 16m listening time • Released 2009 -
[White Night] [By: Butcher, Jim] [May, 2011]
The Dresden Files • Book 9
by Jim Butcher
Narrated by James Marsters
★ 4.67 ABR Score (154.6K ratings)★ 4.38 Goodreads (128.1K) ★ 4.85 Audible (26.5K)14h 12m listening time • Released 2009 -
Blood Rites
The Dresden Files • Book 6
by Jim Butcher
Narrated by James Marsters
★ 4.62 ABR Score (168.2K ratings)★ 4.29 Goodreads (140.2K) ★ 4.82 Audible (28.1K)13h 5m listening time • Released 2010 -
Death Masks
The Dresden Files • Book 5
by Jim Butcher
Narrated by James Marsters
★ 4.61 ABR Score (178.2K ratings)★ 4.29 Goodreads (148.8K) ★ 4.81 Audible (29.4K)11h 17m listening time • Released 2009 -
Summer Knight
The Dresden Files • Book 4
by Jim Butcher
Narrated by James Marsters
★ 4.58 ABR Score (193.7K ratings)★ 4.26 Goodreads (162.9K) ★ 4.78 Audible (30.8K)11h 13m listening time • Released 2008 -
Ghost Story
The Dresden Files • Book 13
by Jim Butcher
Narrated by James Marsters
★ 4.57 ABR Score (128.6K ratings)★ 4.25 Goodreads (106.4K) ★ 4.8 Audible (22.2K)17h 36m listening time • Released 2015 -
Grave Peril
The Dresden Files • Book 3
by Jim Butcher
Narrated by James Marsters
★ 4.47 ABR Score (213.4K ratings)★ 4.13 Goodreads (180.1K) ★ 4.71 Audible (33.3K)11h 55m listening time • Released 2008James Marsters' performance transforms this third Dresden book into something electric—his voice work on the spirit world sequences is genuinely unsettling, and he nails the perfect balance of noir wisecracks and real stakes that makes you want the next 12 hours immediately.
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Fool Moon
The Dresden Files • Book 2
by Jim Butcher
Narrated by James Marsters
★ 4.30 ABR Score (251.4K ratings)★ 3.97 Goodreads (213.4K) ★ 4.57 Audible (38.0K)10h 6m listening time • Released 2008James Marsters nails Harry Dresden's voice so perfectly that the smart-aleck detective becomes instantly magnetic—this is the audiobook that hooks you into the series.
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Furies of Calderon
Codex Alera • Book 1
by Jim Butcher
Narrated by Kate Reading
★ 4.27 ABR Score (130.2K ratings)★ 4.13 Goodreads (114.0K) ★ 4.52 Audible (16.1K)19h 58m listening time • Released 2009Butcher transplants Roman legions into a world where everyone has elemental magic — a fresh, page-turning premise from the author of Dresden Files.
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Storm Front
The Dresden Files • Book 1
by Jim Butcher
Narrated by James Marsters
★ 4.25 ABR Score (439.9K ratings)★ 3.97 Goodreads (382.3K) ★ 4.48 Audible (57.5K)8h 1m listening time • Released 2008James Marsters makes Harry Dresden feel like a guy you'd actually want to grab a beer with—his performance transforms what could be a stock noir setup into something genuinely charismatic and fun.
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Heroic Hearts
Alpha & Omega #6.5 Dating Terrors
by Jim Butcher, Kerrie L. Hughes, Patricia Briggs, Charlaine Harris, Kelley Armstrong, Anne Bishop, Annie Bellet, Kevin Hearne, R.R. Virdi, Chloe Neill, Nancy Holder, Jennifer Brozek
Narrated by James Marsters, Alexandra Harris, Cassandra Morris, Maggi-Meg Reed, Luke Daniels, Travis Baldree, Suzanne Elise Freeman, Sean Patrick Hopkins, Johanna Parker, Daniel Henning, Nancy Linari, Holter Graham, Jim Butcher
★ 3.99 ABR Score (5.0K ratings)★ 4.15 Goodreads (4.1K) ★ 4.4 Audible (862)11h 50m listening time • Released 2022 -
Storm Front
The Dresden Files [Dramatized Adaptations] • Book 1
by Graphic Audio, Jim Butcher, Matthew Bassett, Nora Sofyan, Nicole Perez, Brian Kim McCormick, Emlyn McFarland, Christopher Walker, Gregory Linington, John Kielty, Drew Kopas
Narrated by full cast, Matthew Bassett, Nora Sofyan, Nicole Perez, Brian Kim McCormick, Emlyn McFarland, Christopher Walker, Gregory Linington, John Kielty, Drew Kopas, Stephanie Németh-Parker, Christopher McLinden
★ 3.93 ABR Score (364 ratings)★ 4.34 Goodreads (128) ★ 4.56 Audible (236)8h 3m listening time • Released 2025 -
Fool Moon
The Dresden Files [Dramatized Adaptations] • Book 2
by Graphic Audio, Jim Butcher
Narrated by full cast, Matthew Bassett, Nora Sofyan, Nicole Perez, Yasmin Tuazon, Gregory Linington, Christopher Walker, Mort Shelby, Mike Carnes, Ryan Haugen, Rita Amparita, Gerald Hill
★ 3.85 ABR Score (98 ratings)★ 4.2 Goodreads (44) ★ 4.74 Audible (54)9h 38m listening time • Released 2026 -
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 ABR Score (1.5K ratings)★ 3.92 Goodreads (1.1K) ★ 4.25 Audible (340)20h 17m listening time • Released 2017 -
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 ABR Score (1.3K ratings)★ 3.96 Goodreads (1.0K) ★ 4.13 Audible (246)20h 55m listening time • Released 2016A 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.
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Songs of Love and Death: All-Original Tales of Star-Crossed Love
Guardians #3.6 - The Demon Dancer
by George R.R. Martin, Gardner Dozois, Daniel Abraham, Jacqueline Carey, Lisa Tuttle, Linnea Sinclair, Mary Jo Putney, Tanith Lee, Peter S. Beagle, Yasmine Galenorn, Diana Gabaldon, Jo Beverley, Carrie Vaughn, M.L.N. Hanover, Cecelia Holland, Melinda M. Snodgrass, Robin Hobb, Neil Gaiman, Marjorie M. Liu, Jim Butcher
Narrated by Phil Gigante, Michael Page, Susan Duerden, Julia Whelan
★ 3.57 ABR Score (4.4K ratings)★ 3.76 Goodreads (4.3K) ★ 3.76 Audible (190)19h 39m listening time • Released 2011 -
Dangerous Women
The Dresden Files #13.1 - Bombshells
by George R.R. Martin, Gardner Dozois, Carrie Vaughn, Lev Gossman, Joe R. Lansdale, Megan Lindholm, Lawrence Block, Brandon Sanderson, Sharon Kay Penman, Lev Grossman, Nancy Kress, Diana Rowland, Diana Gabaldon, S.M. Stirling, Sam Sykes, Pat Cadigan, Caroline Spector, Joe Abercrombie, Megan Abbott, Cecelia Holland, Jim Butcher, Sherrilyn Kenyon, Melinda M. Snodgrass
Narrated by Scott Brick, Jonathan Frakes, Stana Katic, Inna Korobkina, Lee Meriwether, Claudia Black, Sophie Turner, Janis Ian, Iain Glen, Karen Dotrice, Various
★ 3.56 ABR Score (14.9K ratings)★ 3.67 Goodreads (13.2K) ★ 4.02 Audible (1.7K)32h 47m listening time • Released 2013A stacked anthology where Abercrombie, Sanderson, Butcher, and Gabaldon deliver knockout stories, anchored by an all-star narrator cast that elevates every twist—32 hours that justify the hype.
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Shadowed Souls
The Dresden Files #14.5 - Cold Case • Book 14
by Jim Butcher, Kerrie L. Hughes, Seanan McGuire, Kevin J. Anderson, Rob Thurman, Tanya Huff, Kat Richardson, Jim C. Hines, Anton Strout, Lucy A. Snyder, Kristine Kathryn Rusch, Erik Scott de Bie
Narrated by Jim Butcher, Julia Whelan, Emily Rankin, Justine Eyre, David de Vries, Mia Barron, Jon Lindstrom, Sumalee Montano, Mozhan Marnò, Karissa Vacker, MacLeod Andrews
★ 3.47 ABR Score (7.0K ratings)★ 3.79 Goodreads (4.6K) ★ 3.86 Audible (2.3K)11h 3m listening time • Released 2016 -
My Big Fat Supernatural Wedding
There Be Pirates #1 - Dead Man's Chest
by P.N. Elrod, L.A. Banks, Jim Butcher, Esther M. Friesner, Rachel Caine, Lori Handeland, Charlaine Harris, Sherrilyn Kenyon, Sunsan Krinard, Elizabeth Rodgers, Eileen Stevens
Narrated by Nancy Wu, Christian Rummel, Elisabeth Rodgers, Gayle Hendrix, Jonathan Davis
★ 3.44 ABR Score (14.7K ratings)★ 3.79 Goodreads (14.1K) ★ 3.71 Audible (646)11h 23m listening time • Released 2009Multiple narrators make each story feel like its own thing, and hearing Dresden Files and Sookie Stackhouse authors alongside fresh voices keeps the collection snappy and unpredictable.
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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.
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