Historical Audiobooks | Science Fiction & Fantasy

The Beast of Calatrava: A Foreworld SideQuest

"SideQuests are stand-alone stories or novellas that chronicle the heroes, villains, and adventures in The Foreworld Saga across numerous eras and ages. They can be read in any order with or without prior knowledge of The Foreworld Saga. After a battle left Ramiro Ibáñez de Tolosa’s face terribly disfigured, the knight of the Order of Calatrava abandoned his sword for a pastoral existence. But his beastly appearance horrifies all those who cross his path—with the exception of his adoring and pregnant wife. Can he keep Louisa and their unborn child safe from the war that is coming to Iberia? As Ramiro prepares for his child’s birth, Brother Lazare of the Cistercian order searches for a means to inspire men as he travels with the crusading Templars. He seeks swords of legend—named blades carried by heroes of old—believing such symbols have the ability to rally men in a way no king could ever accomplish. But when he learns of the stories told of the mysterious monster that haunts the Iberian battlefields, he wonders what sort of power this new legend might contain—the legend of a man whose scarred face and cold demeanor cannot hide his heroic soul."

Mark Teppo (Author), Luke Daniels (Narrator)

Audiobook

The Iron King

"‘This is the original game of thrones’ George R.R. Martin From the publishers that brought you A Game of Thrones comes the series that inspired George R.R. Martin’s epic work. France became a great nation under Philip the Fair – but it was a greatness achieved at the expense of her people, for his was a reign characterised by violence, the scandalous adulteries of his daughters-in-law, and the triumph of royal authority."

Maurice Druon (Author), Peter Joyce (Narrator)

Audiobook

[German] - Patrick O'Brian: Geheimauftrag Mauritius: Episode 4

"Käpt'n Jack Aubrey ist ausnahmsweise an Land glücklich, den er hat geheiratet. Aber er ist auch unglücklich: Er hat kein Schiff. Doch Stephen Maturin kann hinter den Kulissen helfend eingreifen und Jack wird Kommodore und soll mit einem Geschwader Mauritius von den Franzosen erobern. Die ihm unterstellten Kapitäne, sture Admiräle, der Nachschub und die Angst, dass andere ihm den Ruhm für das Erreichte streitig machen könnten, machen ihm Probleme. Und das Hauptproblem sind natürlich die Franzosen auf Mauritius und Réunion."

Patrick O'brian (Author), Johannes Steck (Narrator)

Audiobook

The Merchant of Dreams

"Exiled from the court of Queen Elizabeth for accusing a powerful nobleman of treason, swordsman-turned-spy Mal Catlyn has been living in France with his young valet Coby Hendricks for the past year. But Mal harbours a darker secret: he and his twin brother share a soul that once belonged to a skrayling, one of the mystical creatures from the New World.When Mal’s dream about a skrayling shipwreck in the Mediterranean proves reality, it sets him on a path to the beautiful but treacherous city of Venice—and a conflict of loyalties that will place him and his friends in greater danger than ever.“The Merchant of Dreams never fails to entertain. Whether you like action, magic, romance or mystery there is something for you here.” —Mazarkis Williams"

Anne Lyle (Author), Michael Page (Narrator)

Audiobook

Baudolino

"The author of the international sensation The Name of the Rose returns to the Middle Ages in this beguiling tale of history, myth, and invention. It is April 1204, and Constantinople, the splendid capital of the Byzantine Empire, is being sacked and burned by the knights of the Fourth Crusade. Amid the carnage and confusion, one Baudolino saves a historian and high court official from certain death at the hands of the crusading warriors and proceeds to tell his own fantastical story. Born a simple peasant in northern Italy, Baudolino has two major gifts—a talent for learning languages and a skill in telling lies. When still a boy, he meets a foreign commander in the woods, charming him with his quick wit and lively mind. The commander—who proves to be Emperor Frederick Barbarossa—adopts Baudolino and sends him to the university in Paris, where he makes a number of fearless, adventurous friends. Spurred on by myths and their own reveries, this merry band sets out in search of Prester John, a legendary priest-king said to rule over a vast kingdom in the East—a phantasmagorical land of strange creatures with eyes on their shoulders and mouths on their stomachs, of eunuchs, unicorns, and lovely maidens. With dazzling digressions, outrageous tricks, extraordinary feeling, and vicarious reflections on our postmodern age, this is Eco the storyteller at his brilliant best. “Baudolino, with its richly variegated haul of medieval treasures, remains compulsively readable.”—The New York Times Book Review"

Umberto Eco (Author), George Guidall (Narrator)

Audiobook

Hungry Tales

"New York Times bestselling author Jonathan Maberry presents a quirky collection of stories starring a whole cast of the ever-popular undead—including one story written exclusively for Blackstone Audio. Calling Death A nonviolent zombie story set in Appalachia Chokepoint A semi-sequel to Dead of Night in which four army reservists are assigned to hold a small rural bridge during the early days of the zombie apocalypse Pegleg and Paddy Save the World A zombie story involving a couple of idiot moonshiners, a comet, gangsters, zombies, and the Great Chicago Fire The Wind through the Fence A downbeat psychological drama set in the bleak wastelands a few years after the zombie apocalypse Death Poem of Sensei Otoro An exclusive zombie story written especially for Blackstone Audio With humor and rich storytelling, Maberry brings you zombies as you've never seen them before."

Jonathan Maberry (Author), Tom Weiner (Narrator)

Audiobook

The Dead of Winter

"Cora and her husband hunt things - things that shouldn't exist. When the marshal of Leadville, Colorado, comes across a pair of mysterious deaths, he turns to Cora to find the creature responsible, but if Cora is to overcome the unnatural tide threatening to consume the small town, she must first confront her own tragic past as well as her present."

Lee Collins (Author), Kaleo Griffith (Narrator)

Audiobook

Burning Tower

"Return to the 'vivid and unusual' (Kirkus Reviews) world of Larry Niven and Jerry Pournelle's The Burning City, where the fire god has retreated into myth, leaving the residents of Tep's Town unprotected for the first time in their history. Unfortunately, a fiery fate isn't the only danger Tep's Town is facing. Monsters are coming forth from the desert—great birds with blades instead of wings, driven by some unknown force. Although they can be killed, the threat these 'terror birds' pose is worse than death. Danger on the roads means no trade; no trade means the extinction of Tep's Town. Sent to discover the source of the terror birds, Lord Sandry and his beloved, Burning Tower, must travel into a world where magic is still strong—and where someone or something waits to destroy them. Filled with the sweeping adventure, memorable characters, and imaginative world-building that have defined the novels of Larry Niven and Jerry Pournelle, Burning Tower is another triumph."

Jerry Pournelle, Larry Niven (Author), Tom Weiner (Narrator)

Audiobook

The Lion in Chains: A Foreworld SideQuest

"SideQuests are stand-alone stories or novellas that chronicle the heroes, villains, and adventures in The Foreworld Saga across numerous eras and ages. They can be read in any order with or without prior knowledge of The Foreworld Saga. Many were displeased with the “peace” King Richard of England brokered in the Holy Land, and his return from the Crusades wasn’t greeted with cheers, but rather shackles. Now a “guest” of the Holy Roman Emperor, the Lion-Hearted is being held for an exorbitant ransom…so much money that it seems unlikely that the silver will make its way from Britain to Germany. For converging on the caravan are a number of groups with very different motives: French troops who want the silver to continue their war with the English, mercenaries intent on causing chaos, English longbowmen looking to protect their country’s future, and Shield-Brethren hoping to ensure King Richard’s freedom. With a surprising cast of characters, The Lion in Chains is a Foreworld SideQuest that illuminates a decisive moment in European history in an unexpected way, revealing another secret in the long-reaching narrative of the Shield-Brethren."

Angus Trim, Mark Teppo (Author), Luke Daniels (Narrator)

Audiobook

Dominion

"At once a vivid, haunting reimagining of 1950s Britain, a gripping, humane spy thriller and a poignant love story, with Dominion C. J. Sansom once again asserts himself as the master of the historical novel. 1952. Twelve years have passed since Churchill lost to the appeasers and Britain surrendered to Nazi Germany after Dunkirk. As the long German war against Russia rages on in the east, the British people find themselves under dark authoritarian rule: the press, radio and television are controlled; the streets patrolled by violent auxiliary police and British Jews face ever greater constraints. There are terrible rumours too about what is happening in the basement of the German Embassy at Senate House. Defiance, though, is growing. In Britain, Winston Churchill's Resistance organization is increasingly a thorn in the government's side. And in a Birmingham mental hospital an incarcerated scientist, Frank Muncaster, may hold a secret that could change the balance of the world struggle for ever. Civil Servant David Fitzgerald, secretly acting as a spy for the Resistance, is given the mission to rescue his old friend Frank and get him out of the country. Before long he, together with a disparate group of Resistance activists, will find themselves fugitives in the midst of London's Great Smog; as David's wife Sarah finds herself drawn into a world more terrifying than she ever could have imagined. And hard on their heels is Gestapo Sturmbannfuhrer Gunther Hoth, brilliant, implacable hunter of men . . . 'An absorbing, thoughtful, spy-politico thriller set in the fog-ridden London of 1952 . . . Part adventure, part espionage, all encompassed by terrific atmosphere and a well-argued “it might have been”. – The Times"

C.J. Sansom (Author), Daniel Weyman (Narrator)

Audiobook

Dreamer: A Prequel to the Mongoliad

"SideQuests are stand-alone stories or novellas that chronicle the heroes, villains, and adventures in The Foreworld Saga across numerous eras and ages. They can be read in any order with or without prior knowledge of The Foreworld Saga. During the Fifth Crusade, the bloody siege of Damietta grinds to a stalemate and a young Christian soldier begins having visions… Raphael of Acre, a young initiate of the Shield-Brethren, becomes a war hero during a vicious battle for control of a Muslim stronghold. One of his companions, Eptor, is wounded in the battle and falls under the influence of strange hallucinations. When a superior plots to manipulate Eptor’s visions into war propaganda, Raphael struggles between duty to the cause and duty to his faith. Unable to reconcile his roles as Christian and soldier, Raphael seeks out an unlikely source of counsel—the great pacifist Francis of Assisi. Part of the Foreworld Saga, Dreamer confronts the paradox of using sword and fist in an effort to spread a message of humility and compassion. A note on this story: Dreamer is included in The Mongoliad: Book Two Collector’s Edition."

Mark Teppo (Author), Luke Daniels (Narrator)

Audiobook

The Mongoliad: Book Two

"This riveting second installment in Stephenson and company’s epic tale focuses on the aftermath of the world-shattering Mongolian invasion of 1241 and the difficult paths undertaken by its most resilient survivors. The Shield Brethren, an order of warrior monks, search for a way to overthrow the horde, even as the invaders take its members hostage. Forced to fight in the Mongols’ Circus of Swords, Haakon must prove his mettle or lose his life in the ring. His bravery may impress the enemy, but freedom remains a distant dream. Father Rodrigo receives a prophecy from God and believes it’s his mission to deliver the message to Rome. Though a peaceful man, he resigns himself to take up arms in the name of his Lord. Joining his fight to save Christendom are the hunter Ferenc, orphan Ocyrhoe, healer Raphael, and alchemist Yasper, each searching for his place in history. Deftly blending fact and fantasy, The Mongoliad: Book Two captures the indomitable will to survive against immense odds."

Cooper Moo, Erik Bear, Greg Bear, Joseph Brassey, Mark Teppo, Neal Stephenson, Nicole Galland (Author), Luke Daniels (Narrator)

Audiobook

Historical Audiobooks in Science Fiction & Fantasy