Best Ralph Lister Audiobooks

The best audiobooks narrated by Ralph Lister — 15 titles spanning Historical Fiction, Sci-Fi, Mystery, Fantasy, Horror, Literature & Fiction, averaging 3.87 ABR stars.

Ralph Lister is the narrator you turn to when a book demands gravitas without grandstanding. His measured baritone carries a natural authority — unhurried, precise, never showy — which makes him an interesting choice for the sheer density of Gardens of the Moon, Erikson's notoriously demanding first Malazan entry. Lister doesn't try to make the book easier than it is; he leans into its weight, which is exactly the right call. He's equally at home in the eerie and the archaic — his work on Powers of Darkness, the lost Icelandic Dracula variant, suits his cadence perfectly, lending the text a genuinely unsettling formality. Listeners who want a narrator to perform for them may find him restrained; listeners who want to be pulled deep into a difficult, atmospheric world will find that restraint is the whole point.

Where to Start with Ralph Lister

  1. 1
    Shōgun, Part One cover

    Shōgun, Part One

    The Asian Saga

    by James Clavell

    Narrated by Ralph Lister

    4.50 ABR Score (2.0K ratings)
    ★ 4.71 Audible (2.0K)
    24h 18m listening time • Released 2023
  2. 2
    The Collected Stories of Arthur C. Clarke cover

    The Collected Stories of Arthur C. Clarke

    The Collected Stories of Arthur C. Clarke #1-5

    by Arthur C. Clarke

    Narrated by Ralph Lister, Ray Porter, Jonathan Davis

    4.24 ABR Score (8.0K ratings)
    ★ 4.3 Goodreads (6.4K) ★ 4.57 Audible (1.6K)
    51h 4m listening time • Released 2016

    Three narrators divvy up Clarke's 51-hour story collection, each bringing distinct voices to everything from hard sci-fi concepts to quiet existential gut-punches. It's the definitive way to experience the author who basically invented modern science fiction.

  3. 3
    Dead Men Can't Complain and Other Stories cover

    Dead Men Can't Complain and Other Stories

    by Peter Clines

    Narrated by Ralph Lister, Ray Porter

    3.99 ABR Score (3.2K ratings)
    ★ 4 Goodreads (967) ★ 4.46 Audible (2.2K)
    4h 54m listening time • Released 2017

    Ralph Lister and Ray Porter tag-team these genre-bending shorts with such distinct voices that each story feels like a separate gift. Clines hits that sweet spot between clever concept and genuine emotional gut-punch that makes you want to immediately restart it.

  4. 4
    The Crime of Miss Oyster Brown and Other Stories cover

    The Crime of Miss Oyster Brown and Other Stories

    by Peter Lovesey

    Narrated by Simon Vance, Kate Reading, Marisa Calin, Ralph Lister, Antony Ferguson, Henrietta Meire, Tim Bruce

    3.96 ABR Score (1.0K ratings)
    ★ 3.96 Goodreads (319) ★ 4.5 Audible (717)
    9h 2m listening time • Released 2019

    Lovesey's razor-sharp crime stories snap to life with a full ensemble cast, each narrator perfectly capturing the twist that makes every tale sting.

  5. 5
    Gardens of the Moon cover

    Gardens of the Moon

    Malazan Book of the Fallen Series • Book 1

    by Steven Erikson

    Narrated by Ralph Lister

    3.94 ABR Score (151.9K ratings)
    ★ 3.94 Goodreads (139.3K) ★ 4.22 Audible (12.7K)
    26h 3m listening time • Released 2012

    The most demanding series opener in epic fantasy — Erikson drops you into a war across a continent with no hand-holding, and those who persist find a reward of unmatched scope.

  6. 6
    The Shifting Tide cover

    The Shifting Tide

    William Monk • Book 14

    by Anne Perry

    Narrated by Ralph Lister

    3.88 ABR Score (3.9K ratings)
    ★ 4.14 Goodreads (3.9K) ★ 4.67 Audible (12)
    13h 28m listening time • Released 2025
  7. 7
    Acceptable Loss cover

    Acceptable Loss

    William Monk • Book 17

    by Anne Perry

    Narrated by Ralph Lister

    3.87 ABR Score (4.1K ratings)
    ★ 4.07 Goodreads (4.0K) ★ 4.83 Audible (12)
    12h 38m listening time • Released 2024
  8. 8
    Death of a Stranger cover

    Death of a Stranger

    William Monk • Book 15

    by Anne Perry

    Narrated by Ralph Lister

    3.86 ABR Score (3.9K ratings)
    ★ 4.01 Goodreads (3.9K) ★ 4.54 Audible (24)
    13h 31m listening time • Released 2024
  9. 9
    A Sunless Sea cover

    A Sunless Sea

    William Monk • Book 18

    by Anne Perry

    Narrated by Ralph Lister

    3.85 ABR Score (4.2K ratings)
    ★ 4.05 Goodreads (4.2K) ★ 4.73 Audible (11)
    15h 27m listening time • Released 2025
  10. 10
    Powers of Darkness: The Lost Version of Dracula cover

    Powers of Darkness: The Lost Version of Dracula

    by Valdimar Ásmundsson, Bram Stoker, Hans Corneel De Roos, Dacre Stoker, John Edgar Browning

    Narrated by Adam Verner, Robertson Dean, Ralph Lister, Derek Perkins, R.C. Bray, various

    3.80 ABR Score (2.0K ratings)
    ★ 3.63 Goodreads (1.6K) ★ 4.27 Audible (392)
    7h 27m listening time • Released 2018

    Multiple narrators elevate this rediscovered Icelandic reimagining of Dracula into something richer than the original, each voice deepening the atmosphere and psychological tension that Stoker's 1901 translator added to the story.

  11. 11
    Funeral in Blue cover

    Funeral in Blue

    William Monk • Book 12

    by Anne Perry, David Colacci

    Narrated by Ralph Lister

    3.80 ABR Score (4.2K ratings)
    ★ 3.97 Goodreads (4.2K) ★ 4.07 Audible (27)
    13h 47m listening time • Released 2024
  12. 12
    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

    3.66 ABR Score (2.6K ratings)
    ★ 3.67 Goodreads (2.2K) ★ 4.16 Audible (419)
    22h 13m listening time • Released 2017
  13. 13
    The Reservoir Tapes cover

    The Reservoir Tapes

    by Jon McGregor

    Narrated by Fiona Hardingham, Justine Eyre, Sarah Nichols, Tim Gerard Reynolds, Ralph Lister, Simon Vance

    3.63 ABR Score (1.5K ratings)
    ★ 3.74 Goodreads (1.5K) ★ 3.63 Audible (30)
    3h 17m listening time • Released 2018

    Six narrators give each villager their own voice, turning a fragmented mystery into something that feels like overhearing real secrets. The audio format makes the unreliable storytelling hit harder.

  14. 14
    For the Sake of the Game cover

    For the Sake of the Game

    Stories Inspired by the Holmes Canon

    by Laurie R. King, Leslie S. Klinger

    Narrated by Grover Gardner, Simon Vance, Derek Perkins, Julie McKay, James Langton, Marisa Calin, Ralph Lister, Suzanne Elise Freeman

    3.59 ABR Score (1.4K ratings)
    ★ 3.45 Goodreads (803) ★ 4.18 Audible (563)
    9h 33m listening time • Released 2018
  15. 15
    Weird Tales Magazine No. 367 cover

    Weird Tales Magazine No. 367

    Weird Tales Magazine

    by Jonathan Maberry

    Narrated by Scott Brick, Robert Fass, James Anderson Foster, Heath Miller, Neil Hellegers, Roger Clark, Joe Hempel, Edoardo Ballerini, Eunice Wong, Simon Vance, Holly Adams, Chris Henry Coffey, Ralph Lister, Natalie Naudus

    3.53 ABR Score (59 ratings)
    ★ 3.79 Goodreads (47) ★ 3.75 Audible (12)
    5h 56m listening time • Released 2023

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 →