It’s Armchair Audies time and once again I will be taking on three categories, Fantasy, Paranormal and Science Fiction. Like last year, there is 16 nominees, and like last year, I have already listened to 6 of them, leaving me 10 titles to listen to. To add to my burden, I have two nominees, Agatha H and the Clockwork Princess and The Bride Wears Black Leather that are both part of a series. In fact, The Bride Wears Black Leather has 11 books before it and is the final book of that series. I don’t think I will listen to all of the prequel novels, but I will try and listen to a few.
The total time commitment of all three categories is: 215 Hrs 21 Min
The total time of the audiobooks I have already listened to: 75 Hrs 1 Min
The total time for new to me audiobooks: 140 Hrs 20 Min
Fantasy
For the Fantasy category, I neither successfully predicted any of the nominees, nor did I listen to an of the titles before the nominations were announced. It’s the biggest time commitment coming in at 93 Hrs and 38 Minutes. Due to this I will listen to the category first, in order of length.
All Men of Genius by Lev AC Rosen
Read by Emily Gray
Length: 17 Hrs 2 Min
Theft of Swords by Michael J. Sullivan (The Riyria Revelations, Volume 1)
Read by Tim Gerard Reynolds
Recorded Books
Length: 22 Hrs 37 Min
The Restorer by Amanda Stevens (The Graveyard Queen, Book 1)
Read by Khristine Hvam
Harlequin Enterprises, Ltd. \ Audible
Length: !0 Hrs 52 Min
Anita by Keith Roberts
Read by Nicola Barber
Length: 9 Hrs
Princess of Wands by John Ringo
Read by Suzy Jackson
Audible Frontiers
Length: 11 Hrs 29 Min
Heroes Die: The First of the Acts of Caine by Matthew Woodring Stover
Read by Stefan Rudnicki
Audible Frontiers
Length: 22 Hrs 28 Min
Paranormal
For the Paranormal Category, I successfully predicted a nomination for Spellbound. I have listened to two of the titles nominated, Spellbound and The Greyfriar prior to the nominations. The combined length of the audiobooks is 54 Hrs and 28 minutes. Due to the fact that one nominee has multiple prequels, I plan to tackle this category last.
The Greyfriar (Vampire Empire Book One) by Clay and Susan Griffith
Read by James Marsters
Length: 10 Hrs 41 Min
Gunmetal Magic by Ilona Andrews
Read by Renee Raudman
Length: 12 Hrs 43 Min
My Life as a White Trash Zombie by Diane Rowland
Read by Allison McLemore
Audible Frontiers
Length: 8 Hrs 44 Min
Spellbound by Larry Correia (Book 2 of the Grimnoir Chronicles)
Read by Bronson Pinchot
Length: 16 Hrs 25 Min
The Bride Wore Black Leather by Simon. R. Green (Nightside, Bk. 12)
Read by Marc Vietor
Audible Frontiers
Length: 10 Hrs 31 Min
Science Fiction
For the Science Fiction Category, I successfully predicted a nomination for 14 by Peter Clines. Prior to the announcement of nominees I had lstened to all but one of these titles, Agatha H and the Clockwork Princess being the only new to me title. The total time for this category is 66 Hrs and 15 Minutes.
Read by Khristine Hvam, Joshua Swanson, Kevin T. Collins and Casey Holloway
Length: 14 Hrs and 9 Min
The Age of Miracles by Karen Thompson Walker
Read by Emily Janice Card
Length: 9 Hrs and 3 Min
Agatha H and the Clockwork Princess by Phil Foglio and Kaja Foglio (A Girl Genius Novel, Bk. 2)
Read by Angela Dawe
Length: 18 Hrs 35 Min
14 by Peter Clines
Read by Ray Porter
Audible Frontiers/Permuted Press
Length: 12 Hrs 42 Min
Invincible (The Lost Fleet: Beyond the Frontier, Bk. 2) by Jack Campbell
Read by Christian Rummel
Audible Frontiers
Length: 11 Hrs 46 Min
The Guilded Earlobe 
You end up with some of the categories I’m least knowledgeable about, and I love that I can read up here on them and get a well-informed, balanced opinion. Age of Miracles is the only one I’ve listened to, and I was delighted with it, but I would have placed it in a straight fiction category instead of SF – genre-bending, sure, but not a true SF novel. What do I know, though? 🙂
I admire your listening-fu, Bob. I’m just cherry picking a few of the nominees to listen to. For what it’s worth, the Agatha H audiobooks are excellent and a whole lot of fun and it’s worth starting with book one, even though it piles time on your already full plate.
Excited to see your thoughts on a number of the Fantasy books–I considered doing that category myself, but it was SUCH a huge time commitment. Good luck! I really enjoyed both Gunmetal Magic (but I’m a Kate Daniels fan–at least this one CAN be read as a stand alone) and All Men of Genius in print.
I don’t know how I missed that AGE OF MIRACLES is in your category. I really need to give that audiobook a listen. Thanks again for being the listening cornerstone for the Armchair Audies and for creating the Facebook page. You are more awesome than the best title in all three of your categories. 🙂