Audiobooks Like Cibola Burn

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Jefferson Mays narrates The Expanse with the exacting character differentiation that a genuinely large ensemble novel demands — each viewpoint character sounds distinct without the voices becoming caricatures, and the 20-hour political thriller unfolds with a procedural rigor that the series has earned by this fourth entry. The hard-SF politics and the first contact tension are handled with equal weight. Mays narrates another of the recommendations himself, and nearly all of them are among the most highly rated sci-fi titles we carry, built for listeners who want the same rigorous human-scale drama at genuine epic length.

10 audiobooks for fans of Cibola Burn

  1. 1
    The Mercy of Gods cover

    The Mercy of Gods

    The Captive's War • Book 1

    by James S.A. Corey

    Narrated by Jefferson Mays

    ★ 4.26 ABR Score (42.8K ratings)
    ★ 4.16 Goodreads (38.5K) ★ 4.54 Audible (4.2K)
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    Humanity becomes test subjects in an ancient cosmic war, facing alien overlords who view us as expendable lab rats. Jefferson Mays captures the claustrophobic dread perfectly.

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  2. 2
    Too Like the Lightning cover

    Too Like the Lightning

    Terra Ignota • Book 1

    by Ada Palmer

    Narrated by Jefferson Mays

    ★ 3.78 ABR Score (16.8K ratings)
    ★ 3.81 Goodreads (15.9K) ★ 4.17 Audible (865)
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    Jefferson Mays tackles Palmer's genre-bending 25th-century mystery with remarkable range, switching between the narrator's confessional tone and period-appropriate philosophical tangents.

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  3. 3
    Morning Star cover

    Morning Star

    Red Rising • Book 3

    by Pierce Brown

    Narrated by Tim Gerard Reynolds

    ★ 4.81 ABR Score (468.5K ratings)
    ★ 4.55 Goodreads (414.3K) ★ 4.82 Audible (54.2K)
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    Darrow's revolution reaches its bloody crescendo as he leads the rebellion against Gold tyranny in this explosive finale that Tim Gerard Reynolds narrates with fierce intensity.

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  4. 4
    Golden Son cover

    Golden Son

    Red Rising • Book 2

    by Pierce Brown

    Narrated by Tim Gerard Reynolds

    ★ 4.79 ABR Score (560.8K ratings)
    ★ 4.5 Goodreads (505.3K) ★ 4.81 Audible (55.5K)
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    Darrow continues his infiltration of Gold society while planning revolution from within the ruling class. Tim Gerard Reynolds captures the escalating political intrigue and brutal space battles with commanding intensity.

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  5. 5
    Zero Hour cover

    Zero Hour

    Expeditionary Force • Book 5

    by Craig Alanson

    Narrated by R.C. Bray

    ★ 4.63 ABR Score (56.2K ratings)
    ★ 4.37 Goodreads (14.8K) ★ 4.81 Audible (41.4K)
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    The Merry Band of Pirates faces their biggest crisis yet as their stolen alien ship falls apart and Skippy the AI apparently dies, stranding them thousands of lightyears from Earth.

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  6. 6
    Black Ops cover

    Black Ops

    Expeditionary Force • Book 4

    by Craig Alanson

    Narrated by R.C. Bray

    ★ 4.61 ABR Score (58.2K ratings)
    ★ 4.34 Goodreads (16.5K) ★ 4.8 Audible (41.7K)
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    The pirate crew of the Flying Dutchman discovers that preventing another alien attack on Earth isn't as simple as they hoped. R.C. Bray keeps the military sci-fi humor sharp.

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  7. 7
    The Dark Forest cover

    The Dark Forest

    Remembrance of Earth's Past • Book 2

    by Liu Cixin, Joel Martinsen

    Narrated by P. J. Ochlan

    ★ 4.56 ABR Score (243.0K ratings)
    ★ 4.4 Goodreads (224.9K) ★ 4.65 Audible (18.1K)
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    Liu Cixin's solution to the Fermi Paradox unfolds through cosmic sociology and interstellar hide-and-seek across P.J. Ochlan's measured performance.

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  8. 8
    A Civil Campaign cover

    A Civil Campaign

    Vorkosigan Saga (Publication Order) • Book 12

    by Lois McMaster Bujold

    Narrated by Grover Gardner

    ★ 4.47 ABR Score (23.4K ratings)
    ★ 4.41 Goodreads (20.4K) ★ 4.74 Audible (2.9K)
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    Miles Vorkosigan applies military strategy to courtship, pursuing the widow Ekaterin while navigating Barrayaran high society's treacherous politics.

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  9. 9
    Children of Time cover

    Children of Time

    Children of Time • Book 1

    by Adrian Tchaikovsky

    Narrated by Mel Hudson

    ★ 4.41 ABR Score (221.0K ratings)
    ★ 4.3 Goodreads (180.0K) ★ 4.47 Audible (41.1K)
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    Humanity's last survivors discover their promised planet is now ruled by highly evolved spiders in this sweeping tale of parallel evolution.

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  10. 10
    Mirror Dance cover

    Mirror Dance

    Vorkosigan Saga (Publication Order) • Book 8

    by Lois McMaster Bujold

    Narrated by Grover Gardner

    ★ 4.37 ABR Score (26.2K ratings)
    ★ 4.32 Goodreads (23.4K) ★ 4.64 Audible (2.8K)
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    Clone-brother Mark impersonates Miles Vorkosigan to rescue other clones, but the mission goes catastrophically wrong in this identity-swapping space opera.

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How We Rank Audiobooks

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.

Unlike most book lists, we weight audiobook-specific factors: narrator performance, production quality, and how well a story translates to audio. A great book with a poor narration isn't a great audiobook.

We don't accept paid placements or prioritize new releases. These rankings reflect what listeners actually enjoy, not what's being promoted.

Rankings update periodically as new ratings come in and new titles are added to the collection.

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