Best Naomi Novik Audiobooks
Naomi Novik has a gift for taking familiar fairy tale bones and rebuilding them into something stranger and more emotionally honest than the originals. Uprooted and Spinning Silver are the clearest examples — both draw on Eastern European folklore but twist the logic of magic and sacrifice until they feel genuinely surprising, not just atmospheric. Her Scholomance trilogy brings that same sensibility to a dark academia setting: the worldbuilding is mechanically clever, the humor is bone-dry, and the protagonist is prickly and difficult in ways that feel earned rather than quirky. Her earlier Temeraire series — Napoleonic war fiction with dragons fully integrated into military strategy — shows a different register entirely, patient and historically textured. Novik writes for readers who want magic to have real weight and consequences. If you like fairy tale retellings that trust you to keep up, she's essential.
Where to Start with Naomi Novik
- Best entry point → Spinning Silver
- Best standalone → Uprooted
- Start the Temeraire series → His Majesty's Dragon
- What fans keep coming back to → Throne of Jade
- Best narrator for Naomi Novik → Black Powder War
- Highest rated by listeners → Victory of Eagles (Temeraire #5)
Best Naomi Novik Audiobooks
- 1
Spinning Silver
The Mortal Instruments
by Naomi Novik
Narrated by Lisa Flanagan
★ 4.41 ABR Score (163.3K ratings)★ 4.18 Goodreads (154.1K) ★ 4.68 Audible (9.2K)More about this pick
Lisa Flanagan weaves together three women's voices in Novik's Rumpelstiltskin retelling where a moneylender's daughter can turn silver into gold.
- 2
Victory of Eagles
Temeraire • Book 5
by Naomi Novik
Narrated by Simon Vance
★ 4.27 ABR Score (31.5K ratings)★ 4.08 Goodreads (29.0K) ★ 4.69 Audible (2.5K)More about this pick
Dragon Temeraire and Captain Laurence face disgrace after their failed African mission during the Napoleonic Wars. Vance continues this acclaimed alternate history series where dragons serve as aerial cavalry in European conflicts.
- 3
His Majesty's Dragon
Temeraire • Book 1
by Naomi Novik
Narrated by Simon Vance
★ 4.24 ABR Score (118.8K ratings)★ 4.07 Goodreads (112.8K) ★ 4.57 Audible (6.0K)More about this pick
Simon Vance captures the evolving bond between naval Captain Laurence and dragon Temeraire as they enter the aerial corps during an alternate Napoleonic War where dragons rule the skies.
- 4
Empire of Ivory
Temeraire • Book 4
by Naomi Novik
Narrated by Simon Vance
★ 4.22 ABR Score (36.7K ratings)★ 3.99 Goodreads (34.1K) ★ 4.66 Audible (2.6K)More about this pick
Dragons are dying from a mysterious plague, leaving Temeraire and his captain to seek a cure in Africa's unexplored territories.
- 5
Black Powder War
Temeraire • Book 3
by Naomi Novik
Narrated by Simon Vance
★ 4.16 ABR Score (46.7K ratings)★ 3.91 Goodreads (43.8K) ★ 4.61 Audible (2.9K)More about this pick
Captain Laurence and dragon Temeraire journey from China to Prussia via the Silk Road, collecting dragon eggs and battling Napoleon's forces along the way.
- 6
Throne of Jade
Temeraire • Book 2
by Naomi Novik
Narrated by Simon Vance
★ 4.14 ABR Score (59.9K ratings)★ 3.9 Goodreads (56.3K) ★ 4.58 Audible (3.6K)More about this pick
Vance's measured delivery captures both the diplomatic intrigue of Napoleonic-era politics and the emotional bond between dragon and captain as they journey to Imperial China.
- 7
Uprooted
by Naomi Novik
Narrated by Julia Emelin
★ 4.05 ABR Score (275.7K ratings)★ 4.02 Goodreads (266.7K) ★ 4.31 Audible (9.0K)More about this pick
A village girl's magical apprenticeship to a centuries-old wizard becomes something far stranger and more dangerous when an ancient corrupted forest begins its assault on human settlements.
- 8
Crucible of Gold
Temeraire • Book 7
by Naomi Novik
Narrated by Simon Vance
★ 3.92 ABR Score (19.3K ratings)★ 3.99 Goodreads (19.3K) ★ 4.64 Audible (11)More about this pick
Captain Laurence and dragon Temeraire return to action despite being exiled to Australia, facing both Napoleon's forces and their own government's continued suspicion.
- 9
The Improbable Adventures of Sherlock Holmes
BEST AMERICAN SCIENCE FICTION AND FANTASY
by John Joseph Adams, Stephen King, Robert J. Sawyer, Michael Moorcock, Sharyn McCrumb, Stephen Baxter, Anne Perry, Barbara Hambly, Tanith Lee, Neil Gaiman, Rob Rogers, Naomi Novik, Anthony Burgess, Dominic Green, Laurie R. King, Barbara Roden, Tim Lebbon, Peter Tremayne, Bradley H. Sinor, Edward D. Hoch, Vonda N. McIntyre, Darrell Schweitzer, Mary Robinette Kowal, H. Paul Jeffers, Geoffrey A. Landis, Amy Myers, Chris Roden, Tony Pi, Chris Roberson, Mark Valentine
Narrated by Simon Vance, Anne Flosnik
★ 3.88 ABR Score (23.4K ratings)★ 4.39 Goodreads (22.7K) ★ 3.96 Audible (736)More about this pick
Twenty-five years of the best Holmes short fiction gets collected, featuring Stephen King, Neil Gaiman, and other masters reimagining the detective across genres. Simon Vance and Anne Flosnik handle the varied styles with appropriate range.
- 10
Tongues of Serpents
Temeraire • Book 6
by Naomi Novik
Narrated by Simon Vance
★ 3.86 ABR Score (24.1K ratings)★ 3.77 Goodreads (24.1K) ★ 4.48 Audible (31)More about this pick
Simon Vance guides Temeraire and Laurence to the Australian penal colonies, where dragon eggs and political exile create new complications in Novik's alternate Napoleonic world.
- 11
Unfettered III: New Tales
The Chathrand Voyage #Thasha's cure for cabin fever • Book 3
by Shawn Speakman, Tad Williams, Naomi Novik, Megan Lindholm, John Gwynne, David Anthony Durham, Callie Bates, Jason Denzel, Carrie Vaughn, Deborah A. Wolf, Anna Stephens, Patrick Swenson, Ramon Terrell, Peter Orullian, Terry Brooks, Lev Grossman, Seanan McGuire, Delilah S. Dawson, Mark Lawrence, Brian Herbert, Kevin J. Anderson, Brandon Sanderson, Robert Jordan, Todd Lockwood, Cat Rambo, Robert V.S. Redick, Ken Scholes, Scott Sigler, Anna Smith Spark, Marc Turner
Narrated by Khristine Hvam, Natasha Soudek, Mark Bramhall, Michael Page, Vikas Adam, Tim Gerard Reynolds, Andrew Wincott, Luke Daniels, Brian Nishii
★ 3.84 ABR Score (779 ratings)★ 3.98 Goodreads (571) ★ 4.37 Audible (208)More about this pick
This charity anthology features stories from fantasy's biggest names, with multiple narrators bringing each author's unique voice to life.
- 12
Unfettered II: New Tales
Gunnie Rose #0.0 - The Gunnie
by Shawn Speakman, Naomi Novik, Brandon Sanderson, Jim Butcher, Charlaine Harris, Michael J. Sullivan, Janny Wurts, Bradley P. Beaulieu, Mark Lawrence, Seanan McGuire, Peter Orullian, Aidan Moher, Erin Lindsey, John A. Pitts, Anthony Ryan, Scott Sigler, Django Wexler, Rachel Caine, Sarah Beth Durst, David Farland, Terry Brooks
Narrated by Sarah Coomes, Michael Kramer, Emily Woo Zeller, Nick Podehl, Erin Mallon, Tim Gerard Reynolds
★ 3.78 ABR Score (1.5K ratings)★ 3.92 Goodreads (1.1K) ★ 4.25 Audible (340)More about this pick
Twenty-one fantasy heavyweights contribute original stories to this charity anthology, creating a sampler that showcases the genre's current masters across multiple narrative styles.