Audiobooks by Robbie Arnott

"Brought to you by Penguin. An explosive novel of the wild, and the lengths humans will go to control it The distant highlands, covered in snow and strewn with ancient bones, are an alien home for a puma from South America. But when Dusk escapes her captors, reports of killing sprees of sheep and shepherds are not long to follow. The highlands are no less alien to twins Iris and Floyd, whose family history renders them outcasts. Out of work, money and friends, they hear of the significant bounty on Dusk’s head. They decide to join the hunt. As they journey up into the wild, haunted country, they discover there's far more to the land and people than they imagined. Forced to make an uneasy alliance with a fellow tracker, the twins’ lifelong bond is put at risk. And as the trio close in on their prey, it becomes clear where the true danger lies . . . 'A sublime novel' Hannah Kent 'Magnificent' TIM WINTON, author of Juice 'Starkly beautiful and deeply felt ... the pared-back textures of Dusk’s prose occasionally recall those of Cormac McCarthy' Guardian (Australia) © Robbie Arnott 2025 (P) Penguin Audio 2025"

Robbie Arnott (Author), Zoe Carides (Narrator)

Audiobook

Limberlost

"Ned West dreams of sailing across the river on a boat of his very own. A boat means freedom - the fresh open water, squid-rich reefs, fires on private beaches - a far cry from life on Limberlost, the family farm, where his father worries and grieves for Ned's older brothers. They're away fighting in a ruthless and distant war, becoming men on the battlefield, while Ned - too young to enlist - roams the land in search of rabbits to shoot, selling their pelts to fund his secret boat ambitions. But as the seasons pass and Ned grows up, real life gets in the way. Ned falls for Callie, the tough, capable sister of his best friend, and together they learn the lessons of love, loss, and hardship. When a storm decimates the Limberlost crop and shakes the orchard's future, Ned must decide what to protect: his childhood dreams, or the people and the land that surround him... “Sad and satisfying.” - The Times on The Rain Heron “Timeless and poignant.” - Guardian on The Rain Heron “Shocking... Beautiful... Satisfying.” - Scotsman on The Rain Heron"

Robbie Arnott (Author), Zoe Carides (Narrator)

Audiobook

Limberlost

"The third novel by the award-winning author of Flames and The Rain Heron, Limberlost is an extraordinary chronicle of life and land: of carnage and kindness, blood ties and love. Ned West dreams of sailing across the river on a boat of his very own. To Ned, a boat means freedom – the fresh open water, squid-rich reefs, fires on private beaches – a far cry from life on Limberlost, the family farm, where his father worries and grieves for Ned’s older brothers. They’re away fighting in a ruthless and distant war, becoming men on the battlefield, while Ned – too young to enlist – roams the land in search of rabbits to shoot, selling their pelts to fund his secret boat ambitions. But as the seasons pass and Ned grows up, real life gets in the way. Ned falls for Callie, the tough, capable sister of his best friend, and together they learn the lessons of love, loss, and hardship. When a storm decimates the Limberlost crop and shakes the orchard’s future, Ned must decide what to protect: his childhood dreams, or the people and the land that surround him… At turns tender and vicious, Limberlost is a tale of the masculinities we inherit, the limits of ownership and understanding, and the teeming, vibrant wonders of growing up. In the folkloric spirit of Max Porter’s Lanny, Julia Armfield’s Salt Slow and Paul Kingsnorth’s Beast, this is an unforgettable love letter to the richness of the natural world from a writer of rare, spellbinding talent. ‘A strange and joyous marvel.’ RICHARD FLANAGAN on Flames ‘Arnott’s eco-fable, set in a politically broken near future, explores the constant push-pull that exists between our capacity for enchantment and our need to exploit what we find…It’s sad and satisfying.’ THE TIMES on The Rain Heron"

Robbie Arnott (Author), Zoe Carides (Narrator)

Audiobook

The Rain Heron

"Ren lives alone on the remote frontier of a country devastated by a coup. High on the forested slopes, she survives by hunting and trading - and forgetting. But when a young soldier comes to the mountains in search of a legendary creature, Ren is inexorably drawn into an impossible mission. As their lives entwine, unravel and erupt - as myth merges with reality - both Ren and the soldier are forced to confront what they regret, what they love, and what they fear. A vibrant homage to the natural world, bursting with beautiful landscapes and memorable characters, The Rain Heron is a beautifully told eco-fable about our fragile and dysfunctional relationships with the planet and with each other, the havoc we wreak and the price we pay. “The Rain Heron is genuinely and completely magnificent - a magical thing.” ROBERT LUKINS"

Robbie Arnott (Author), Jessica Douglas-Henry, Zoe Carides (Narrator)

Audiobook

Flames

"SYDNEY MORNING HERALD BEST YOUNG AUSTRALIAN NOVELIST 2019 WINNER OF THE MARGARET SCOTT PRIZE 2019 In Robbie Arnott’s widely acclaimed and much-loved first novel, a young man named Levi McAllister decides to build a coffin for his sister, Charlotte—who promptly runs for her life. A water rat swims upriver in quest of the cloud god. A fisherman hunts for tuna in partnership with a seal. And a father takes form from fire. The answers to these riddles are to be found in this tale of grief and love and the bonds of family, tracing a journey across the southern island. Utterly original in conception, spellbinding in its descriptions of nature and celebration of language, Flames is one of the most exciting debuts of recent years. ‘A strange and joyous marvel.’ Richard Flanagan ‘Ambitious storytelling from a stunning new Australian voice. Flames is constantly surprising—I never knew where the story would take me next. This book has a lovely sense of wonder for the world. It’s brimming with heart and compassion.’ Rohan Wilson ‘Robbie Arnott is a vivid and bold new voice in Australian fiction.’ Danielle Wood ‘Visionary, vivid, full of audacious transformations: there’s a marvellous energy to this writing that returns the world to us aflame. A brilliant and wholly original debut.’ Gail Jones ‘Arnott skilfully switches between different voices and genres in a trick reminiscent of David Mitchell’s Cloud Atlas. The range he displays is impressive, swinging from fable to gothic horror to hardboiled detective story.’ Books+Publishing ‘Flames is an exuberantly creative and confident debut. This is a story that sparks with invention…Invigorating, strange and occasionally brutal.’ Australian Book Review ‘This is the kind of book that you’ll be able to read a second, third, even fourth time, and it will still never reveal all its secrets. Composed with meticulous attention to detail, and a mastery of form rarely found in a debut novel, Flames will keep you stewing long after you’ve finished reading it.’ Readings ‘A surprising story with a definite feminist edge…the novel’s playfulness and poetry make for a fresh and entertaining read.’ Saturday Paper ‘Arnott confidently borrows from the genres of crime fiction, thriller, romance, comedy, eco-literature, and magical realism, throws them in the air, and lets the pieces land to form a flaming new world.’ Sydney Morning Herald ‘This is a startlingly good first novel, stylistically adventurous, gorgeous in its descriptions and with a compelling narrative that should find a wide readership.’ The Australian"

Robbie Arnott (Author), Anna Skellern, Henry Nixon (Narrator)

Audiobook

The Rain Heron

"Ren lives alone on the remote frontier of a country devastated by a coup. High on the forested slopes, she survives by hunting and trading—and forgetting. But when a young soldier comes to the mountains in search of a local myth, Ren is inexorably drawn into her impossible mission. As their lives entwine, unravel and erupt—as myths merge with reality—both Ren and the soldier are forced to confront what they regret, what they love, and what they fear. Robbie Arnott’s stunning second novel remakes our relationship with the natural world. The Rain Heron is equal parts horror and wonder, and utterly gripping. ‘With its emotional power and rich symbolism, The Rain Heron is an immersion in landscape, climate and an animal world that lives despite us, not for us. Robbie Arnott has imagined a creature, by turns exquisitely beautiful and terrifying, the likes of which I have never seen in Australian literature. His titular heron is a source of breathless wonder, of reverence. Arnott is just as wise with his human characters, with their wretchedness and elation, love and mistrust. There are images in this book that are entirely new to me, and I will cherish them.’ Jock Serong ‘Robbie Arnott is singlehandedly reinventing Australian literature. The Rain Heron is a soaring feat of the imagination.’ Bram Presser ‘The Rain Heron is exquisite. It is both fantastical and deeply true.’ Jane Rawson ‘The Rain Heron is genuinely and completely magnificent—a magical thing.’ Robert Lukins ‘The Rain Heron is an intoxicating fable from an extraordinary imagination. Robbie Arnott writes like the words want to be his.’ Anna Spargo-Ryan ‘Robbie Arnott imagines a thoroughly strange, inky-dark land of the near future. Sharp and original, The Rain Heron is a beautiful novel about love, violence and redemption.’ Laura Elvery ‘A journey into a perilous world where the horror of human greed collides with the eloquence of nature.’ Leah Kaminsky ‘In The Rain Heron, Robbie Arnott has turned his gaze to civilisation’s need to control and understand the natural world. This is a book full of heart—it’s so richly imagined, inventive and beautifully written, with a strong message, but is never didactic.’ J. P. Pomare ‘Delightful. He jumps playfully between different writing styles in every chapter…[An] enchanting story that also captures something very real about Tasmanian life.’ Guardian on Flames ‘A rich and memorable picture with prose of an exceptionally high quality.’ Kill Your Darlings on Flames ‘Arnott skilfully switches between different voices and genres in a trick reminiscent of David Mitchell’s Cloud Atlas. The range he displays is impressive, swinging from fable to gothic horror to hardboiled detective story.’ Books+Publishing on Flames ‘An engrossing narrative of mystery and escape …You never quite know which direction the story will take off in as it creates a new kind of fairytale for our fire-prone landscape.’ Judges’ report on Flames, Sydney Morning Herald Best Young Australian Novelist 2019 ‘A book that delivers hard truths that urgently need to be heard.’ Books+Publishing ‘As luminescent as it is devastating, Arnott’s tightly wrought storytelling reveals the myriad harms we wreak both on our planet and on each other. It is mesmerising.’ Ruth Gilligan Shortlisted, Guardian’s Not the Booker Prize (for Flames), United Kingdom, 2019 Shortlisted, Victorian Premier's Literary Award for Fiction (for Flames), 2019 Longlisted, Indie Book Awards for Debut Fiction (for Flames), 2019 Shortlisted, UTS Glenda Adams Award for New Writing, NSW Premier's Literary Awards (for Flames), 2019 Shortlisted, Queensland Literary Awards: University of Queensland Fiction Book Award (for Flames), 2018 Shortlisted, Readings Prize for New Australian Fiction (for Flames), 2018 Shortlisted, Katheen Mitchell Award, 2019 Longlisted, ALS Gold Medal, 2019 Longlisted, Miles Franklin Literary Award, 2019 Shortlisted, Tasmania Book Prize, Premier's Literary Awards, 2019 Shortlisted, Margaret Scott Prize, Premier's Literary Awards, 2019 Longlisted, Voss Literary Prize, 2019"

Robbie Arnott (Author), Jessica Douglas-Henry, Zoe Carides (Narrator)

Audiobook