Best Ken Liu Audiobooks

The best Ken Liu audiobooks — 10 titles ranked by listening experience across Sci-Fi, Fantasy, averaging 3.94 ABR stars.

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Ken Liu is best known in Western markets as the translator who brought Liu Cixin's Remembrance of Earth's Past trilogy to English — but his own fiction deserves equal attention. The Grace of Kings and its sequels in The Dandelion Dynasty reveal a writer obsessed with myth, empire, and the way history erases the people who actually made it. His prose blends ancient Chinese narrative traditions with a silkpunk aesthetic that feels genuinely unlike anything else in epic fantasy. As a short story writer, Liu is peerless — The Hidden Girl and Other Stories showcases his ability to compress enormous emotional and philosophical weight into tight, devastating form. Readers who want fantasy and science fiction that treats ideas seriously, that mourns what civilization costs, and that finds beauty in impermanence will find Liu essential.

Ken Liu's highest-rated audiobook in our collection is The Three-Body Problem, narrated by Luke Daniels (4.26 ABR stars). Performed by narrators including Luke Daniels, P. J. Ochlan, Jonathan Davis, Ashley Eckstein, Janina Gavankar, Jon Hamm, Neil Patrick Harris, January LaVoy, Saskia Maarleveld, Carol Monda, Daniel José Older, Marc Thompson, and more. Rankings here weight the listening experience — narrator performance and Audible ratings factor alongside reader scores.

Where to Start with Ken Liu

  1. 1
    The Three-Body Problem cover

    The Three-Body Problem

    Remembrance of Earth's Past • Book 1

    by Liu Cixin, Ken Liu

    Narrated by Luke Daniels

    4.26 ABR Score (536.6K ratings)
    ★ 4.08 Goodreads (505.3K) ★ 4.39 Audible (31.3K)
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    Scientists discover an alien civilization planning Earth's invasion during China's Cultural Revolution. Luke Daniels navigates Liu's complex physics concepts and historical backdrop with clear, engaging delivery.

  2. 2
    Death's End cover

    Death's End

    Remembrance of Earth's Past • Book 3

    by Liu Cixin, Ken Liu

    Narrated by P. J. Ochlan

    4.53 ABR Score (190.1K ratings)
    ★ 4.4 Goodreads (176.1K) ★ 4.64 Audible (14.0K)
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    Liu's trilogy concludes with humanity's final gambit against alien invasion spanning centuries of technological evolution. P. J. Ochlan handles the complex scientific concepts and emotional weight of civilization's potential extinction with steady authority.

  3. 3
    Star Wars: From a Certain Point of View cover

    Star Wars: From a Certain Point of View

    Star Wars: From a Certain Point of View • Book 1

    by Elizabeth Schaefer, Ben Acker, Jonathan Davis, Tom Angleberger, Janina Gavankar, Ben Blacker, Jon Hamm, Jeffrey Brown, Jason Fry, Neil Patrick Harris, Christie Golden, January LaVoy, Saskia Maarleveld, Pierce Brown, Ashley Eckstein, Carol Monda, Mur Lafferty, Marc Thompson, Ken Liu, Griffin McElroy, John Jackson Miller, Kelly Sue DeConnick, Nnedi Okorafor, Daniel José Older, Ian Doescher, Daniel M. Lavery, Madeleine Roux, Gary D. Schmidt, Matt Fraction, Cavan Scott, Sabaa Tahir, Kieron Gillen, Glen Weldon, Chuck Wendig, Gary Whitta, Meg Cabot, Pablo Hidalgo, Adam Christopher, Rae Carson, Zoraida Córdova, Delilah S. Dawson, Paul Dini, Alexander Freed, Claudia Gray, Paul S. Kemp, Elizabeth Wein, Beth Revis, Greg Rucka, Charles Soule, Wil Wheaton, Renée Ahdieh

    Narrated by Jonathan Davis, Ashley Eckstein, Janina Gavankar, Jon Hamm, Neil Patrick Harris, January LaVoy, Saskia Maarleveld, Carol Monda, Daniel José Older, Marc Thompson

    4.07 ABR Score (20.7K ratings)
    ★ 3.94 Goodreads (15.5K) ★ 4.43 Audible (5.2K)
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    Multiple celebrity narrators including Neil Patrick Harris and Jon Hamm bring variety to these 40 short stories retelling A New Hope from background characters' perspectives.

  4. 4
    The Grace of Kings cover

    The Grace of Kings

    The Dandelion Dynasty • Book 1

    by Ken Liu

    Narrated by Michael Kramer

    3.73 ABR Score (31.7K ratings)
    ★ 3.8 Goodreads (29.8K) ★ 4.15 Audible (1.9K)
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    Liu reimagines Chinese history through a fantasy lens, following two unlikely friends who unite against tyranny only to find themselves on opposite sides once victory is achieved. Michael Kramer handles the epic scope with skill.

  5. 5
    The Wall of Storms cover

    The Wall of Storms

    The Dandelion Dynasty • Book 2

    by Ken Liu

    Narrated by Michael Kramer

    4.22 ABR Score (10.8K ratings)
    ★ 4.35 Goodreads (10.1K) ★ 4.59 Audible (662)
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    Emperor Kuni faces invasion from the distant Lyucu empire while struggling to maintain his fragile kingdom's progress and unity. Michael Kramer tackles Liu's epic scope and intricate political maneuvering with authority.

  6. 6
    The Legends of Luke Skywalker (Star Wars: Journey to Star Wars: the Last Jedi) cover

    The Legends of Luke Skywalker (Star Wars: Journey to Star Wars: the Last Jedi)

    Journey to Star Wars: The Last Jedi

    by Ken Liu

    Narrated by January LaVoy

    3.35 ABR Score (4.9K ratings)
    ★ 3.43 Goodreads (3.4K) ★ 3.8 Audible (1.6K)
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    Cargo ship deckhands swap increasingly wild tales about Luke Skywalker's true nature—Jedi hero, elaborate con artist, or part droid. January LaVoy gives each storyteller a distinct voice, making their conflicting accounts feel authentic.

  7. 7
    Speaking Bones cover

    Speaking Bones

    The Dandelion Dynasty • Book 4

    by Ken Liu

    Narrated by Michael Kramer

    4.25 ABR Score (4.5K ratings)
    ★ 4.53 Goodreads (4.2K) ★ 4.69 Audible (263)
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    Princess Théra's pursuit across continents reaches the World's Edge Mountains and the City of Ghosts. Kramer handles Liu's epic finale with appropriate gravitas.

  8. 8
    The Book of Swords cover

    The Book of Swords

    Sir Hereward and Mister Fitz #7 - A Long, Cold Trail

    by Gardner Dozois, K.J. Parker, Robin Hobb, Ken Liu, Matthew Hughes, Kate Elliott, Walter Jon Williams, Daniel Abraham, C.J. Cherryh, Garth Nix, Ellen Kushner, Scott Lynch, Rich Larson, Elizabeth Bear, Lavie Tidhar, Cecelia Holland, George R.R. Martin

    Narrated by John Lee, Katharine Lee McEwan, Kim Mai Guest, Elliot Hill, Richard Brewer, Nicholas Guy Smith, Kirby Heyborne, Julia Whelan, Mark Deakins, Steve West, Ralph Lister

    3.65 ABR Score (2.6K ratings)
    ★ 3.67 Goodreads (2.2K) ★ 4.16 Audible (419)
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    Seventeen fantasy masters including George R.R. Martin and Robin Hobb contribute sword-and-sorcery tales inspired by classic heroes like Conan. The ensemble of narrators including John Lee and Julia Whelan matches the anthology's varied storytelling styles.

  9. 9
    Deep Magic: Volume 2: A Speculative Fiction Collection: Deep Magic cover

    Deep Magic: Volume 2: A Speculative Fiction Collection: Deep Magic

    Deep Magic • Book 2

    by Jeff Wheeler, Kate Rudd, Amir Abdullah, Elizabeth Wiley, Samara Naeymi, Hannah Curtis, Adam Verner, Anthony Ryan, Ken Liu, Charlie N. Holmberg, Jeanna Mason Stay, Wulf Moon

    Narrated by Kate Rudd, Amir Abdullah, Elizabeth Wiley, Samara Naeymi, Hannah Curtis, Adam Verner

    3.67 ABR Score (3 ratings)
    ★ 4.33 Audible (3)
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    Six talented narrators including Kate Rudd and Adam Verner bring space adventures, mysterious poisoners, and war birds to life across multiple fantastical worlds.

  10. 10
    The Book of Witches cover

    The Book of Witches

    by Jonathan Strahan, Linda D. Addison, P. Djèlí Clark, Kathleen Jennings, Tade Thompson, Ken Liu, Darcie Little Badger, Andrea Hairston, Alaya Dawn Johnson, Cassandra Khaw, Tobi Ogundiran, Kelly Robson, C.L. Clark, Millie Ho, Indrapramit Das, Saad Z. Hossain, Garth Nix, Premee Mohamed, Maureen F. McHugh, Andrea Stewart, Tochi Onyebuchi, Sheree Renée Thomas, Angela Slatter, Fonda Lee, Usman T. Malik, E. Lily Yu, Miyuki Jane Pinckard, Emily Y. Teng, Amal El-Mohtar, Alyssa Winans

    Narrated by Vikas Adam, Anniwaa Buachie, Rainy Fields, Eva Kaminsky, Johnathan McClain, Vyvy Nguyen, Deryn Oliver, Logan Rozos, Bahni Turpin

    3.62 ABR Score (692 ratings)
    ★ 3.46 Goodreads (690) ★ 3 Audible (2)
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    Thirty authors reimagine witchcraft across cultures and genres in this ambitious anthology. Multiple narrators handle the diverse voices, though the collection's uneven quality shows in both writing and performance.

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.

Read our full ranking methodology →