By any measure of the times were living in, there is a new audio renaissance. More audiobooks are getting made now than ever before. And more SF, Fantasy and Horror audiobooks are being released than ever before. Here’s a list of the top 10 SFF novels from Sci-Fi lists:
1. Frank Herbert Dune
2. Orson Scott Card Ender’s Game
3. Isaac Asimov Foundation
4. Douglas Adams Hitch Hiker’s Guide to the Galaxy
5. George Orwell 1984
6. Robert A. Heinlein Stranger in a Strange Land
7. Ray Bradbury Fahrenheit 451
8. William Gibson Neuromancer
9. Isaac Asimov I, Robot
10. Arthur C. Clarke 2001: A Space Odyssey
All of these novels have had UNABRIDGED AUDIOBOOK releases at some point or another. Several have had more than one unabridged release! That’s wonderful. But I’m still not satisfied. What novels are we still missing? Or rather, what novels are you missing.
Personally I’m missing a few, here’s a list of just 10 titles I’ve picked from out of the air. I’d like to see any and all of these made into unabridged audiobooks:
1. Scott Lynch The Lies Of Loch Lamora
2. Dan Simmons Hyperion
3. Larry Niven and Jerry Pournelle The Mote In God’s Eye
4. Clifford Simak Way Station
5. Alfred Bester The Stars My Destination
6. Steven Gould Jumper
7. Alastair Reynolds Revelation Space
8. Robert J. Sawyer Golden Fleece
9. John Brunner Stand On Zanzibar
10. Ken MacLeod The Star Fraction
What novels are missing from your audiobook shelf?
Posted by Jesse Willis
Here’s ten I’d love to see. Hmmm, maybe Wonder Audio could publish them (like I haven’t thought of that before).
1. The Space Merchants by Fred Pohl and C.M. Kornbluth
2. The Book of Skulls by Robert Silverberg.
3. Starship by Brian Aldiss
4. Hothouse by Brian Aldiss
5. The Demolished Man by Alfred Bester (would have to go beyond traditional audiobook narration on the Bester novels due to the strange typography.)
6. Man Plus by Fred Pohl
7. The End of Eternity by Isaac Asimov
8. Darker Than You Think by Jack Williamson
9. Lyonese Trilogy by Jack Vance (okay, it’s three books, so sue me)
10. Dying Inside by Robert Silverberg
Space Merchants!
Terrific list TT!
Demolished Man was released UNABRIDGED at one point. It may be out of print now.
Audiobooks of the Lyonesse trilogy do exist, although they may be difficult-to-impossible to find and purchase. I tried, and I failed!
Excellent choices, Jesse. The Star My Destination. Yes. Stand on Zanzibar. Yes. SF gets no better than this.
I believe Mote in God’s Eye, another absolute all-time classic, was released as an unabridged reading but I can’t provide any info on that.
How about:
The Dragon Masters, and the Star King novels, by Jack Vance
The City and the Stars by Arthur C. Clarke
A Voyage to Arcturus by David Lindsay
Dragon’s Egg by Robert Forward
Colossus, and The Fall of Colossus, by Dennis Jones
Tau Zero by Poul Anderson
World of Ptaavs by Larry Niven
The Lathe of Heaven by Ursula K. Le Guin
A Wrinkle in Time by Madeleine L’Engle
More Than Human by Theodore Sturgeon
Btw, if any of these HAVE been done, I’d love to hear about it!
I’m reading that the BBC did produce a radioplay version of Bester’s The Stars My Destination, called Tiger! Tiger! (the novel was also, at one time, published under this name). Man, I’d like to hear that. Gully Foyle’s got to be an interesting fellow for an actor to play. ; )
Nabby,
The City and the Stars by Arthur C. Clarke
was released by a company called Landmark audiobooks. I bought a cassette copy on ebay years ago. It is a treasure.
Colossus, and The Fall of Colossus, by Dennis Jones
Great idea! Love the movie.
World of Ptaavs by Larry Niven
Another one I’d kill for.
The Lathe of Heaven by Ursula K. Le Guin
Has been released by Blackstone Audiobooks. :)
A Wrinkle in Time by Madeleine L’Engle
Has too, I think it was Listening Library
Great list.
An audiobook of David R Bunch’s “Moderan” would be an interesting experiment.
I also would like some story by R. A. Lafferty to be adapted. Or maybe one of his novels, like “The Devil is Dead”.
Cool Jesse. Thanks a bunch for the update.
Heinlein, The Star Beast
A. E. Van Vogt The Null-A novels; Mind Cage;
Judy,
Lots of Heinlein novels are available from Blackstone audio and Full Cast Audio. And in Fact, Star Beast is available here:
http://www.fullcastaudio.com/tek9.asp?pg=products&specific=jocncne0
The Null-A series are not yet adapted to audio. They’d certainly be welcome to a lot of people.