Where to Start with Michael G. Manning
- Best entry point → The Choice of Magic
- Start the Wrath of the Stormking series → Wizard in Exile
- What fans keep coming back to → Secrets and Spellcraft
- Highest rated by listeners → Scholar of Magic (Art of the Adept #3)
- 1
Scholar of Magic
Art of the Adept • Book 3
Narrated by Tim Gerard Reynolds
★ 4.53 ABR Score (9.7K ratings)★ 4.45 Goodreads (5.1K) ★ 4.84 Audible (4.6K)21h 26m listening time • Released 2021Tim Gerard Reynolds transforms this sprawling fantasy into something genuinely gripping—his voice work makes Will's isolation and desperation feel visceral across 21 hours, turning what could be a slow burn into compulsive listening.
- 2
Secrets and Spellcraft
Art of the Adept • Book 2
Narrated by Tim Gerard Reynolds
★ 4.51 ABR Score (12.0K ratings)★ 4.4 Goodreads (6.6K) ★ 4.83 Audible (5.4K)21h 9m listening time • Released 2020Tim Gerard Reynolds elevates this magic-school story into something darker and more cunning—his narration captures the slow-burn tension of a protagonist realizing the entire system he's entering is built on corruption, and he's the only one willing to say it.
- 3
Disciple of War
Art of the Adept • Book 4
Narrated by Tim Gerard Reynolds
★ 4.48 ABR Score (8.7K ratings)★ 4.44 Goodreads (4.4K) ★ 4.81 Audible (4.3K)21h 44m listening time • Released 2021Tim Gerard Reynolds transforms this sprawling fantasy epic into something genuinely unputdownable—his layered character work makes the impossible stakes feel personal and the moral compromises cut deep.
- 4
The Choice of Magic
Art of the Adept • Book 1
Narrated by Tim Gerard Reynolds
★ 4.45 ABR Score (12.8K ratings)★ 4.4 Goodreads (8.5K) ★ 4.75 Audible (4.3K)20h 42m listening time • Released 2020Tim Gerard Reynolds' performance elevates this magic-system deep dive into something genuinely immersive—he makes the slow burn of discovery feel urgent, not tedious. If you want fantasy that treats wizardry like a craft to master rather than a power to wield, this is it.
- 5
Daughter of the Dragon
Wrath of the Stormking • Book 2
Narrated by Tim Gerard Reynolds
★ 4.19 ABR Score (1.2K ratings)★ 4.41 Goodreads (709) ★ 4.77 Audible (529)16h 44m listening time • Released 2025Tim Gerard Reynolds transforms a political intrigue fantasy into something genuinely gripping—his layered vocal work makes every shadowy court negotiation and impossible choice feel like it's happening right in front of you.
- 6
Wizard in Exile
Wrath of the Stormking • Book 1
Narrated by Tim Gerard Reynolds
★ 4.18 ABR Score (2.9K ratings)★ 4.5 Goodreads (1.8K) ★ 4.55 Audible (1.1K)23h 26m listening time • Released 2023Tim Gerard Reynolds transforms a deceptively simple premise—a fallen mage hiding as a village cook—into something genuinely haunting through sheer vocal precision and emotional restraint. Twenty-three hours of audiobook bliss.
- 7
The Wizard's Crown
Art of the Adept • Book 5
Narrated by Tim Gerard Reynolds
★ 3.62 ABR Score (3.9K ratings)★ 3.96 Goodreads (2.6K) ★ 3.99 Audible (1.3K)22h 7m listening time • Released 2022Tim Gerard Reynolds brings crystalline intensity to Will's final ascent, transforming what could be political scheming into genuinely tense negotiations with angels, demons, and fae. Five books in, Manning's magic system finally pays off.
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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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