Fantasy - The Irresponsible Reader

My Favorite Audiobooks of 2024

On January 8, 2025

I’m about 30 hours behind with this 2024 wrap-up. Hopefully, I can pick up the pace so we can move on to 2025 soon. But for now, let’s talk about my favorite Audiobooks. How do I keep this from being just a rehash of my other year-end lists? By focusing on the audiobook experience over the content. What was it like to listen to it? How engaging was it, how did the narrator do? Was it a good match in terms of tone, content, and performance? All of these books are/were good—but the audiobooks are a bit better because of the narrator and the rest of the people involved in the production.

As always, re-reads don’t count for these lists.

(in alphabetical order by author)

No Two Persons

by Erica Bauermeister, read by a full cast

My original post
I don’t want to say that I had low expectations going into this, but they certainly weren’t high. But by the end of the first of the interconnected short stories, I was really hooked on it and wasn’t ready to move on. The second story didn’t do much for me…until I was convinced it was far more intersting (and the new narrator was just about perfect), and I didn’t want it to end. A phenomenon I repeated almost every time the story/narrator switched. The cast and Bauermeister’s text together turned me into a raving fan.

The Blacktongue Thief

by Christopher Buehlman

My original post
First, Buehlman is a dynamite narrator. He brought this to life in a way that few could. This is a great fantasy story filled with characters you don’t come across all the time. There’s a strange and sweet love story as a subplot that blew me away. The magic, the worldbuilding, the protagonist’s voice. . . just about everything made this possibly the best audiobook I listened to last year.

Erasure

by Percival Everett, Sean Crisden (Narrator)

The first half of this blew me away. The second half was almost as good. But Crisden’s narration kept me hooked the whole time. This satirical look at books, critics, academia, and more in the middle of a family story was nothing like I expected and almost never failed to impress.

Comedy Book: How Comedy Conquered Culture–and the Magic That Makes It Work

by Jesse David Fox

This really just feels like you’re sitting down with an acquaintance who knows a lot about comedy and enjoys talking about it. Fox’s delivery–as well as his material–is like cat nip to a comedy nerd. I love hearing stand-ups talking about performing, writing, and reacting to other comedians–this was very similar to it. I mis-read a description of the book before I picked it up and expected it to be something like Ken Jennings’ book on humor. I was a little disappointed when I saw that wasn’t it–but I got over it quickly. This was just a blast to listen to.

Another Girl

by Peter Grainger, Gildart Jackson (Narrator)

My original post
Serena Butler takes center stage here and her UC work makes this entirely different from any of the other books in this series. The level of danger she’s in for significant portionns of the book is also a change of pace for the books. Jackson’s narration somehow conveyed that danger credibly, while remaining the steady and calm presence that he fills Kings Lake Central with.

I know it’s probably not a suprise to find a Grainger/Jackson collaboration on this list–they keep showing on it. But they keep belonging on it.

The Body’s Keepers: A Social History of Kidney Failure and Its Treatments

by Paul L. Kimmel, M.D., read by Lane Hakel

My original post
A Social History of medical treatment of many kinds of Kidney Disease doesn’t really sound like a gripping listen. So the fact that it’s showing up here should underscore just how impressed I was with this. Hakel keeps the listening experience accessible and interesting–even when the text seems just to be a list of names and acronyms. He maintains the appropriate tone and seriousness to the subject, but with simple and subtle changes in inflection and so on to help maintain the listener’s engagement, while helping the little flahses of personality that Kimmel shows shine through.

Also, man, I learned so much…I probably annoyed everyone in my family with sharing little bits and pieces over and over.

Marvel: What If . . . Wanda Maximoff and Peter Parker Were Siblings

by Seanan McGuire, read by Allyson Voller

A Spider-Man story written by McGuire? Take my money, please. Sure, I’ll put up with some Wanda Maximoff stuff (I never really dug her outside of the movies/show, but I never disliked her, either). But in the hands of Voller and McGuire I became a fan. There wasn’t enough Spider-Man for my taste, but I didn’t miss him. And the Doctor Strange content was a great bonus. There’s a case to be made for this being my favorite version of the Web-head, actually. Peter with a sister is a great spin on the character–and this version of Wanda is pretty cool, too. Voller sold me on the heart of the story in a way I may not have been sold had I read this on paper.

Making It So

by Patrick Stewart

My original post
First off, any audiobook narrated by Patrick Stewart is worth your time. And then some. That’s a given, right?

When it’s him recounting events from his life–especially when he makes it clear that he was in the wrong, or foolish, or less-than-ideal in some way? It makes it even better.

I was captivated, I hung on every word (as much as I could while working/driving). I annoyed my family (only some of who are fans of some of his work, the others don’t really care one way or the other) by retelling the stories. Oddly, none of them found them as entertaining as I did. Not that it stopped me…

If you’re a fan of any one of Stewart’s roles, it’s worth the listen just to hear him talk about that role. If you like multiple roles, you’ll have even more fun. If you listen to the whole thing, you’ll be a fan of the man, not just the actor.

I Hope This Finds

by Natalie Sue, read by Nasim Pedrad

I haven’t written anything about this yet, which really bugs me. Was the story predictable? Almost completely. Was the “hook” hard to believe? Yes. Did I enjoy this more than I expected to, even with only moderate expectations? YES.

Nasim Pedrad gets a lot of credit for that (I just now looked her up, and realized I’m a fan of her acting work, no surprise she pulled this off so well). No two ways about it. But Sue’s text, characters, and the way she told the predictable story provided Pedrad the material necessary to get that credit.

Sue’s pacing wasn’t at all what I expected, reaveals happened earlier than I thought they would, the complications were handled in ways I didn’t necessarily see coming, and the resolution wasn’t nearly as tidy as I predicted. And Pedrad had me beliving I was listening to/reading each person.

I thought this would be a nice diversion, and would’ve been satisfied with it. But I got invested pretty easily and didn’t check out until it was over. This also features one of my favorite protagonists of the year. I wish we could hang out sometime.

Zero Stars Do Not Recommend

by MJ Wassmer, read by Stephen R. Thorne

I really don’t know if I’d have stuck with this if I read it in print. But the combination of Thorne and Wassmer kept me going–and I’m so glad I did.

It is funny–both in highbrow and lowbrow ways (well, maybe midbrow and lowbrow). The action is great. The satire is insightful and pointed in just the right ways. The emotional beats were just spot-on. The protagonist is…I don’t even know what to say. I listened to an interview with Brett Goldstein about casting Jason Segal in Shrinking because you need someone you can love even when he does horrible things. Well, if they make a movie based on this book, Segal had better be the first call they make. Or Thorne–because he pulled it off. I was pulling for Dan Foster the whole while, even when he was being a whining jerk (or worse)

This was simply pure entertainment from beginning to end–and it easily couldn’t have been.

PUB DAY REPOST: Adrift in Currents Clean and Clear by Seanan McGuire: Water Loves Falling

By HCNewton

On January 7, 2025

In Authors, Fantasy, Fiction, K-O, Seanan McGuire, Wayward Children

Adrift in Currents Clean and Clear

by Seanan McGuire

DETAILS:
Series: Wayward Children, #10
Publisher: Tordotcom
Publication Date: January 7, 2025
Format: eARC
Length: 160 pgs.
Read Date: December 16-18, 2024

What’s Adrift in Currents Clean and Clear About?

One of the advantages (and, to be fair, aggravating parts) of this series is that each book can be from anywhere on the series timeline. Here in the tenth installment, we get the origin story of someone that we got to know in the third book (Beneath the Sugar Sky). Reality itself is wibbly-wobbly in this series, why not timey wimey?

We meet Nadya at birth—where a young Russian woman who is not ready to be a mother is rushing to give her up—even before she’s freaked out that Nadya is missing an arm. As we watch Nadya growing up, she doesn’t really seem to care about the arm she never had. But when a couple of Americans come to adopt a disadvantaged Russian child, it starts to become a factor in her life.

She’s not comfortable with her new life in the States (yet?), but when a prosthetic arm is imposed on her (in the name of help—see below), she’s made to feel incomplete as well as Other. Her only solace is the pond a short walk from her adoptive parents’ home where she can watch turtles—an animal that has long fascinated her.

Before she knows it, she falls through a Door and ends up in a world she doesn’t understand or recognize (but really isn’t that much stranger than the change from a Russian orphanage to a Colorado suburb).

The Lost and the Lonely

I probably shouldn’t have—but I laughed when she got the “Be Sure” message. It’s in a seemingly-cruel place, but it was original and it meant the story was progressing. I also found her Door rather intriguing.

But better than that was the way her arrival in Belyrreka, the Land Beneath the Lake, was explained to her. Sometimes people come to Belyrreka* because a hero is needed to do something. But sometimes, it’s just that someone isn’t at home in their world and they need a place to fit in. Nadya is the latter, so it seems. Given that most of the children we’ve seen go through a Door to do something heroic, it’s nice to see this option.

This doesn’t mean she’s incapable of heroism, or of doing something important. It just means that she probably ended up in Belyrreka because she belonged there more than on Earth.

This is really a slice-of-life story. We just get to see how Nadya lives and matures in a place where she feels that she belongs, with family, friends, and a purpose. Yes, in the back of our minds, we know that something is going to happen and she’s going to end up at Eleanor West’s Home for Wayward Children. But until then… This novella is like the years between Aslan coronating the Pevensies and the fateful hunt for the White Stag—nothing heroic, nothing particularly notable. Just…life. Regular, ordinary, day-to-day life.

Well, “ordinary” in a world that’s described as Beneath a Lake, where everyone is underwater to one degree or another (breathing without gills), full of talking animals, and where a river can magically endow people with gifts/obligations. So it’s a loose use of the word “ordinary.”

* And by implication, other worlds

I’m Not Entirely Sure This One is Fair

Many of the children we’ve met—particularly if we’ve met their parents, too—aren’t all that fond of their parents. They’re critical of them (even before their Doors appear, definitely afterward). By and large, I’ve been with the children in their critiques and evaluations of the parents—even when it’s clear that the parents are doing their best (which doesn’t happen as often as it should).

I’m not convinced that Nadya is entirely fair when thinking about the adults in her life. Her appraisal of the orphanage staff (at least after they arranged for her to get adopted) is harsh when they really just did what they could to help her get out of the orphanage (which she sees, but attributes it to less-than-altruistic ends). Her parents really don’t understand her (beyond the language) and are clumsy at best in their attempts to help her fit into Colorado. It’s hard to tell how much of the assessment of their motivations and attempts comes from the omniscient narrator and how much is Nadya’s. But really, I think whoever is doing the assessing could be more charitable (without giving blanket approval).

Particularly her adoptive father—I really get the sense that his affection is real and that in time, he’d have become what she needs. I’m not so sure about his wife, however… On some level, they are trying to make life better. But her ideas of better and what needs improved differ.

Now, Nadya is a prepubescent child yanked out of the only home she ever knew, brought to another country and culture without warning (or consent), and forced into a mold and environment that she’s unprepared for. So, sure, she’s going to be less than charitable—it’s justified and understandable. I just wish the narration did a slightly better job of showing that.

So, what did I think about Adrift in Currents Clean and Clear?

That aside…I loved Nadya. Getting to know her like this was great.

This is a book about home. About acceptance. About finding your place in the world, with people who “get” you, who care about you, and who want the best for you—even if that best doesn’t necessarily make a lot of sense to them.

It’s nice, it’s comforting, and it’s reassuring to see Nadya find this for herself and getting to enjoy it for as long as she does. Yes, it’s hard to see her end up back in the “real world” knowing that means some misery before Eleanor comes to her (at least partial) rescue.

There’s a little less whimsy to this novella than many of the other installments in the series—outside of the construction of the world. But if I had to tag this with any description, I’d probably use “cozy.” If I didn’t know this series, I’d assume it would belong with Travis Baldtree or S.L. Rowland. Maybe Heather Fawcett. But I do know better—this series continues to transcend easy categorization. Wayward Children is its own subgenre.

McGuire brings the emotional depth that Nadya and her story need. Belyrreka is a great world that operates on its own (self-aware) logic—it’s a place I’d love to visit (assuming I wouldn’t panic at the whole living underwater thing, which I can’t promise), but wouldn’t want to live. But McGuire brings it to life and fills it with people I wish I could get to know more.

This is definitely one of the stronger books in this series that is on a great roll lately, I commend it to your attention. As with just about every book in the series, it can be read as a stand-alone or as an entry point (but I strongly encourage reading at least Every Heart a Doorway before any of the others). I was sad when it ended—not because of the way it ended, I just wasn’t ready to move on. I predict I won’t be alone in that.

Now, excuse me…I need to go figure out a way to cram in a re-read of Beneath a Sugar Sky to my schedule.

Disclaimer: I received this eARC from Tordotcom Publishing via NetGalley in exchange for this post—thanks to both for this.

4 1/2 Stars

This post contains an affiliate link. If you purchase from it, I will get a small commission at no additional cost to you. As always, the opinions expressed are my own.
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Adrift in Currents Clean and Clear by Seanan McGuire: Water Loves Falling

By HCNewton

On December 27, 2024

In Authors, Fantasy, Fiction, K-O, Seanan McGuire, Wayward Children

Adrift in Currents Clean and Clear

by Seanan McGuire

DETAILS:
Series: Wayward Children, #10
Publisher: Tordotcom
Publication Date: January 7, 2025
Format: eARC
Length: 160 pgs.
Read Date: December 16-18, 2024