Best Audiobook Series for Adults: 10 from £11.29

Quick picks

• Best overall: Mistborn by Brandon Sanderson, read by Michael Kramer, £20.79 to buy. Book 1 of an eight-book Mistborn run on Amazon UK.
• Best budget: Storm Front by Jim Butcher, read by James Marsters, £11.29 to buy, the lowest price in this guide. Book 1 of the Dresden Files.
• Best historical fiction series: Outlander by Diana Gabaldon, read by Davina Porter, £17.59 to buy. Book 1 of nine, and the longest listen here.

The 10 audiobook series starters in more detail

Mistborn by Brandon Sanderson, read by Michael Kramer. Book 1 of 8 in Mistborn; read by Michael Kramer. Audiobook published 18 March 2011. Listening length 24 hours and 59 minutes, unabridged. £20.79 to buy outright on 6 November 2026. A thousand years after evil took the land, ash falls from the sky and ordinary people live in servitude under aristocratic families. A troublemaker arrives with talk of revolt that depends on a criminal few trust and a young girl who must learn Allomancy, the magic that lies in metals. Read by Michael Kramer.

Storm Front by Jim Butcher, read by James Marsters. Lowest-priced pick; Book 1 of 18 in the Dresden Files. Audiobook published 28 Dec. 2008. Listening length 8 hours and 1 minute, unabridged. £11.29 to buy outright on 6 November 2026. Harry Dresden is a wizard working from an office in midtown Chicago, listed under Wizards in the phone book. Short of rent and a decent meal, he takes cases from a distraught wife and from Lt. Murphy of Chicago PD Special Investigations, only to find someone using huge supernatural forces in a string of murders. Read by James Marsters, it is the lowest-priced pick here.

Outlander by Diana Gabaldon, read by Davina Porter. Longest pick at 32 hours and 37 minutes; Book 1 of 9. Audiobook published 12 October 2020. Listening length 32 hours and 37 minutes, unabridged. £17.59 to buy outright on 6 November 2026. In 1945, former combat nurse Claire Randall is reunited with her husband when she touches a boulder in an ancient stone circle and finds herself in a Scotland torn by war and border clans in 1743. She must decide whether she can return to her own time or whether her life is bound up with Clan MacKenzie and James Fraser. Read by Davina Porter, it is the longest pick in this guide.

Leviathan Wakes by James S. A. Corey, read by Jefferson Mays. Book 1 of 9 in The Expanse; read by Jefferson Mays. Audiobook published 15 January 2015. Listening length 19 hours and 9 minutes, unabridged. £16.49 to buy outright on 6 November 2026. Humanity has colonised the solar system, but the mineral-rich outer planets resent their dependence on Earth and Mars. When Captain Jim Holden's ice miner finds a derelict abandoned ship, he uncovers a secret that could tip the system into war, and must uncover who attacked him and why. Read by Jefferson Mays.

The Last Wish by Andrzej Sapkowski, read by Peter Kenny. Book 1 of 9 in The Witcher Saga; read by Peter Kenny. Audiobook published 27 February 2014. Listening length 10 hours and 27 minutes, unabridged. £15.69 to buy outright on 6 November 2026. Geralt of Rivia is a Witcher: a fighter and assassin trained with magic powers to hunt the creatures that ravage the land and attack the innocent. Not everything that looks monstrous is evil, and not everything fair is good, and each tale holds a grain of truth. Read by Peter Kenny. Amazon UK lists Language as Polish on this English-narrated edition (translator Danusia Stok).

Foundation by Isaac Asimov, read by William Hope. Book 1 of 7 in Foundation; read by William Hope. Audiobook published 26 September 2019. Listening length 8 hours and 56 minutes, unabridged. £13.49 to buy outright on 6 November 2026. Against a crumbling Galactic Empire that has prospered for twelve thousand years, psychohistorian Hari Seldon uses a new science to foresee its fall. Exiled to the desolate planet Terminus, he founds a colony of the Empire's leading minds — a Foundation that may change the fate of the galaxy, if it can survive the Empire's death throes. Read by William Hope.

Red Rising by Pierce Brown, read by Tim Gerard Reynolds. Book 1 of 6 in Red Rising; read by Tim Gerard Reynolds. Audiobook published 28 January 2014. Listening length 16 hours and 12 minutes, unabridged. £14.69 to buy outright on 6 November 2026. Darrow is a Red, the lowest caste in a colour-coded future society, working to make Mars livable for later generations — until he learns that humanity reached the surface long ago and that Reds are slaves to a ruling class. Driven by a longing for justice and the memory of lost love, he infiltrates the Institute where the next Gold overlords compete for power. Read by Tim Gerard Reynolds.

Rivers of London by Ben Aaronovitch, read by Kobna Holdbrook-Smith. Book 1 of 10 in Rivers of London; UK setting. Audiobook published 8 April 2011. Listening length 10 hours and 37 minutes, unabridged. £15.69 to buy outright on 6 November 2026. Probationary Constable Peter Grant wants to be a detective in London's Metropolitan Police. After taking a witness statement from a man who is already dead, he comes to the attention of DCI Thomas Nightingale, who investigates crimes involving magic. As brutal and bizarre murders spread across the city, Peter is drawn into a world where gods mingle with mortals. Read by Kobna Holdbrook-Smith.

Fourth Wing by Rebecca Yarros, read by Rebecca Soler. Book 1 of 3 in The Empyrean; read by Rebecca Soler. Audiobook published 2 May 2023. Listening length 22 hours and 2 minutes, unabridged. £18.99 to buy outright on 6 November 2026. Book 1 of Rebecca Yarros's Empyrean series, narrated by Rebecca Soler (the listing also credits Teddy Hamilton on bonus chapters). It is an adventure-filled fantasy with romantic stakes, set around a brutal war college for dragon riders. The Amazon UK listing marks it as Book 1 of 3 in The Empyrean.

The Gunslinger by Stephen King, read by George Guidall. Book 1 of 7 in The Dark Tower; shortest pick here. Audiobook published 14 June 2012. Listening length 7 hours and 19 minutes, unabridged. £20.10 to buy outright on 6 November 2026. Roland of Gilead, the Last Gunslinger, travels a desolate world that echoes our own as he takes his first steps toward the Dark Tower. Along the way he meets Alice, befriends Jake, a boy from New York, and faces a choice between damnation and salvation while pursuing the Man in Black. Read by George Guidall.

How we chose these audiobook series for adults

• Series starters only. Every pick is listed as Book 1 of a multi-book series on Amazon UK (from Book 1 of 3 up to Book 1 of 18), so adult listeners can binge onwards.
• Adult audience. These are adult fantasy, science fiction, historical fiction, urban fantasy and romantasy series, not children's or YA-primary lists.
• Different authors and series. All 10 are by different authors and from different series. We left out titles already used in our other audiobook guides.
• A mix of genres. Fantasy (Mistborn, The Last Wish, The Gunslinger), science fiction (Leviathan Wakes, Foundation, Red Rising), historical fiction (Outlander), urban fantasy (Storm Front, Rivers of London) and romantasy (Fourth Wing).
• The full recording. All 10 are listed as unabridged on Amazon UK. We looked at an abridged Shardlake edition and left it out.
• A real price. Each pick showed a price to buy the audiobook outright on its Amazon UK listing on 6 November 2026. We used the price shown in the Buy row, not any struck-through list price, and skipped anything without a price.
• Narrator shown, not judged. We list who reads each audiobook as the listing credits it. Play the free sample to see if the voice suits you.

How to choose an audiobook series to binge

• Start at book one. The 10 titles above are all listed as the first book in their series on Amazon UK.
• Match the genre you already like. For epic fantasy try Mistborn; for space opera, Leviathan Wakes or Foundation; for historical romance-adjacent fiction, Outlander; for London crime with magic, Rivers of London.
• Check the length. Storm Front (8 hours and 1 minute) and Foundation (8 hours and 56 minutes) suit a short trial. Outlander (32 hours and 37 minutes) and Mistborn (24 hours and 59 minutes) are longer commitments.
• One series at a time. A long series works well with a membership credit each month, or you can buy book one outright and decide later.
• Play the free sample. Each Amazon UK listing has a sample, so you can check the narrator's voice before you buy.

Buy outright or use a membership?

Each title above can be bought outright on Amazon UK, and you keep it. Prefer a membership? At the time of writing, eligible new Audible members can get Audible Standard for £0.99 a month for 3 months, then it renews at the standard monthly price shown on Amazon. Offer ends 17 December 2026; terms apply, cancel anytime. See the Audible offer box near the top of this page for the details.

Prices were checked on Amazon UK on 6 November 2026 and can change at any time. Check the current price on Amazon before you buy.