Best Richard Powers Audiobooks

The best audiobooks narrated by Richard Powers — 8 titles spanning Horror, Sci-Fi, Business, Literature & Fiction, averaging 3.86 ABR stars.

Richard Powers has built a quiet reputation narrating the kind of literary fiction and genre work that demands intellectual range rather than showmanship. His voice is measured and precise — the kind of narrator who trusts the material and never oversells it. He's closely associated with Richard Matheson's work, lending his controlled, unhurried delivery to both The Best of Richard Matheson and Nightmare at 20,000 Feet, where his restraint actually amplifies the dread rather than deflating it. He also tackles the sprawling ambition of Larry Kramer's The American People, a performance that requires stamina and tonal consistency across enormous emotional and historical terrain. Powers is the narrator for listeners who find histrionics exhausting — he keeps you anchored in the text rather than in the performance. If you love classic speculative fiction or dense, serious literary work, he's exactly the kind of steady presence that makes long listening sessions feel effortless.

Where to Start with Richard Powers

  1. 1
    Necronomicon: The Best Weird Tales cover

    Necronomicon: The Best Weird Tales

    by H.P. Lovecraft, Les Edwards, Stephen Jones

    Narrated by Richard Powers, Bronson Pinchot, Stephen R. Thorne, Keith Szarabajka, Adam Verner, Tom Weiner, Patrick Cullen

    ★ 4.30 ABR Score (23.6K ratings)
    ★ 4.23 Goodreads (16.6K) ★ 4.32 Audible (7.1K)
    21h 1m listening time • Released 2014
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  2. 2
    Nightmare at 20,000 Feet: Horror Stories cover

    Nightmare at 20,000 Feet: Horror Stories

    by Richard Matheson, Stephen King

    Narrated by Julia Campbell, Richard Powers, Malcolm Hillgartner, Arte Johnson, Jay Karnes, Ray Porter, Yuri Rasovsky, Lorna Raver

    ★ 4.00 ABR Score (9.6K ratings)
    ★ 4.05 Goodreads (8.4K) ★ 4.17 Audible (1.1K)
    10h 17m listening time • Released 2009
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  3. 3
    The Best of Richard Matheson cover

    The Best of Richard Matheson

    by Richard Matheson, Victor LaValle

    Narrated by Donald Corren, Peter Berkrot, Richard Powers, Hillary Huber, Traber Burns, Scott Brick, Devon Sorvari, Kevin Kenerly

    ★ 3.98 ABR Score (2.6K ratings)
    ★ 4.16 Goodreads (2.3K) ★ 4.47 Audible (341)
    15h 7m listening time • Released 2017
    Listen Free on Audible
  4. 4
    The ringworld engineer cover

    The ringworld engineer

    Ringworld • Book 1

    by Larry Niven

    Narrated by Richard Powers

    ★ 3.98 ABR Score (132.0K ratings)
    ★ 3.93 Goodreads (129.6K) ★ 4.28 Audible (2.4K)
    13h 10m listening time • Released 2011
    Listen Free on Audible
  5. 5
    The Hour Between Dog and Wolf cover

    The Hour Between Dog and Wolf

    by John Coates

    Narrated by Richard Powers

    ★ 3.97 ABR Score (2.7K ratings)
    ★ 3.92 Goodreads (2.2K) ★ 4.5 Audible (526)
    10h 30m listening time • Released 2012

    Richard Powers' measured delivery turns this neuroscience-grounded investigation into trading floors and risk into something genuinely unsettling—you'll hear the biology of greed differently after this.

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  6. 6
    The New Space Opera 2 cover

    The New Space Opera 2

    by Gardner Dozois, Jonathan Strahan

    Narrated by Tom Weiner, Bahni Turpin, Caroline Shaffer, Richard Powers, Hillary Huber, Marguerite Gavin, Xe Sands, Erica Sullivan

    ★ 3.63 ABR Score (1.0K ratings)
    ★ 3.79 Goodreads (977) ★ 3.59 Audible (44)
    23h 23m listening time • Released 2013
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  7. 7
    21st Century Dead cover

    21st Century Dead

    Dead of Night #1.1 Jack and Jill

    by Christopher Golden, John M. McIlveen, Rio Youers

    Narrated by Scott Brick, Cassandra Campbell, Bernadette Dunne, Richard Powers, Kirby Heyborne, Malcolm Hillgartner, Chris Patton, John Pruden, Renée Raudman, Stefan Rudnicki

    ★ 3.51 ABR Score (897 ratings)
    ★ 3.45 Goodreads (790) ★ 3.75 Audible (107)
    12h 36m listening time • Released 2012
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  8. 8
    The American People, Vol. 1 cover

    The American People, Vol. 1

    The American People • Book 1

    by Larry Kramer

    Narrated by full cast, Robertson Dean, Traber Burns, Keith Szarabajka, Ray Porter, Kate Reading, Richard Powers

    ★ 3.50 ABR Score (21 ratings)
    ★ 3.86 Audible (21)
    38h 41m listening time • Released 2015
    Listen Free on Audible

Browse Related Lists

Richard Powers — Narrator Profile Scott Brick Ray Porter Adam Verner Abby Craden Michael Kramer Maxine Mitchell Grover Gardner George Guidall Dick Hill Nora Achrati Luke Daniels Simon Vance Barrie Kreinik Bahni Turpin R.C. Bray Robertson Dean January LaVoy Simon Prebble Edoardo Ballerini Travis Baldree Nick Podehl Tim Gerard Reynolds Julia Whelan Andrea Parsneau Davina Porter Best Fantasy Best Sci-Fi Best Thriller Best Mystery Best Horror Best Literature & Fiction

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 →