Heard it on the Grapevine

Aubible has an excellent collection of audio books. A good place to start is the Neil Gaiman curated selection. This includes classics and modern works by many of my favourite authors, including Avram Davidson, M John Harrison and Robert Sheckley.

Some particularly good audiobooks include readings by the author and full cast recordings. Here are five of the best.

Screen Shot 2016-05-28 at 12.32.48 AMThis is the complete collection of Doctor Englebert Esterhazy’s adventures in the Triune Monarchy of Scythia- Pannonia-Transbalkania, located in a 19th-century Europe between the Wars.

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Ellen Kushner turns out to be a great reader of her own work. All three of the Riverside books are available, with a full cast who ably bring the stories to life.

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A fine tale of a young witch growing up.

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A very disturbing story of a schizophrenic dealing with disturbances in reality, and possible intrusions of mythic creatures.

Screen Shot 2016-05-28 at 1.01.33 AMYes, all of the His Dark Materials trilogy are available. Not only is Pullman an excellent reader of his own work, but (as with the Kushner) a full cast enlivens the narrative — the attack on the polar bear stronghold is beautifully evoked.