By Occasion
The really long audiobooks
Where a credit is worth the most, and where a bad choice costs you a month. Verified runtimes from eleven hours to fifty-five.
We earn a commission if you buy through the links on this page, at no extra cost to you. Prices come from Amazon and were last checked on October 6, 2026. It does not change which books we pick — see how we choose and how we are funded.
Long audiobooks are the best value a subscription offers and the most expensive mistake to get wrong. A credit buys a fifty-five-hour book for the same price as a three-hour one, which makes these the only titles where a credit is unambiguously worth more than cash. They are also a month or more of your listening, so a book you abandon at hour twelve has cost you real time.
The arithmetic, plainly
Audiobook list prices scale roughly with runtime. A subscription credit does not. So:
- Spend a credit on Oathbringer at over fifty hours and the credit has done as much work as it can.
- Spend it on a three-hour novella and you have paid a month's subscription for something often cheap outright.
- Most people do the second, because short feels safer. Audible credits explained goes through it.
The longest audiobooks worth your time
Every runtime below is from a published source, cited under the figure. Longest first.
| # | Title | Best for | Runtime | Price |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |  Oathbringer Brandon Sanderson · read by Michael Kramer & Kate Reading The third Stormlight volume, and the longest. Takes the series' most difficult character and makes him the center of it. | Deep-series listeners with time to spend | 55h 5m | $36.09on Amazon |
| 2 |  The Way of Kings Brandon Sanderson · read by Michael Kramer & Kate Reading The opening volume of the decade's largest fantasy project: a war on a shattered plain, a slave who will not stop, and a magic system built like engineering. | The biggest commitment on this site | 45h 48m | $32.80on Amazon |
| 3 |  This Inevitable Ruin Matt Dinniman · read by Jeff Hays & Travis Baldree The seventh Carl book, and the longest. A siege floor that pays off threads from the entire series. | The longest single listen on this site | 28h 40m | $27.98on Amazon |
| 4 |  The Eye of the Bedlam Bride Matt Dinniman · read by Jeff Hays & Patrick Warburton +2 Carl book six brings in guest performers and the series' most complicated floor yet. | The fullest use of the series' cast | 26h 46m | $27.69on Amazon |
| 5 |  The Butcher’s Masquerade Matt Dinniman · read by Jeff Hays The fifth Carl book is a hunting-ground floor and the series' single best set piece. Also where the page count gets serious. | Listeners who want one enormous listen | 23h 33m | $27.67on Amazon |
| 6 |  A Parade of Horribles Matt Dinniman · read by Jeff Hays Carl book eight. The series is still escalating and still, improbably, funny. | Staying current with the series | 20h 27m | $27.63on Amazon |
| 7 |  The Gate of the Feral Gods Matt Dinniman · read by Jeff Hays Carl book four pushes the scale up again and starts collecting consequences. The series is openly epic by this point. | Committed series listeners | 18h 3m | $22.82on Amazon |
| 8 |  Dungeon Crawler Carl Matt Dinniman · read by Jeff Hays Earth is demolished for an intergalactic dungeon game show, and the only survivors are a man in his boxers and his ex-girlfriend's cat. The funniest book in the genre and the best-performed. | The LitRPG entry point, and the audio showcase | 13h 31m | $19.69on Amazon |
The picks, in detail
Our top pick · Deep-series listeners with time to spend
Oathbringer
by Brandon Sanderson · narrated by Michael Kramer, Kate Reading
- Runtime
- 55h 5m
- Narrators
- 2
- Audio edition
- 2017
The third Stormlight volume, and the longest. Takes the series' most difficult character and makes him the center of it.
On audio
Kramer and Reading again. At this length the continuity of the same two voices across three books becomes the main thing holding it together.
Who should skip it
- The middle section genuinely sags.
- Longer than most people's entire year of listening.
#ad How we are funded · Audible price as of October 6, 2026
Runtime from the audiobooks.com catalog listing.
Pick 2 · The biggest commitment on this site
The Way of Kings
by Brandon Sanderson · narrated by Michael Kramer, Kate Reading
- Runtime
- 45h 48m
- Narrators
- 2
- Audio edition
- 2010
The opening volume of the decade's largest fantasy project: a war on a shattered plain, a slave who will not stop, and a magic system built like engineering.
On audio
Michael Kramer and Kate Reading split the viewpoints, which is the only reason a cast this size stays straight in your head over a listen this long.
Who should skip it
- Enormously long, and the first third is mostly setup.
- You are starting a series that is nowhere near finished.
#ad How we are funded · Audible price as of October 6, 2026
Runtime from the audiobooks.com catalog listing.
Pick 3 · The longest single listen on this site
This Inevitable Ruin
by Matt Dinniman · narrated by Jeff Hays, Travis Baldree
- Runtime
- 28h 40m
- Narrators
- 2
- Audio edition
- 2025
The seventh Carl book, and the longest. A siege floor that pays off threads from the entire series.
On audio
Hays and Baldree across nearly twenty-nine hours.
Who should skip it
- Longer than many trilogies.
- Entirely dependent on the previous six.
#ad How we are funded · Audible price as of October 6, 2026
Runtime from the audiobooks.com catalog listing.
Pick 4 · The fullest use of the series' cast
The Eye of the Bedlam Bride
by Matt Dinniman · narrated by Jeff Hays, Patrick Warburton, Travis Baldree, Annie Ellicott
- Runtime
- 26h 46m
- Narrators
- 4
- Audio edition
- 2023
Carl book six brings in guest performers and the series' most complicated floor yet.
On audio
Hays joined by Patrick Warburton, Travis Baldree and Annie Ellicott. The guest casting is the point of this volume's production.
Who should skip it
- Very long.
- Assumes five previous books.
#ad How we are funded · Audible price as of October 6, 2026
Runtime from the audiobooks.com catalog listing.
Pick 5 · Listeners who want one enormous listen
The Butcher’s Masquerade
by Matt Dinniman · narrated by Jeff Hays
- Runtime
- 23h 33m
- Narrators
- 1
- Audio edition
- 2022
The fifth Carl book is a hunting-ground floor and the series' single best set piece. Also where the page count gets serious.
On audio
Hays sustaining an extremely large cast across more than twenty hours.
Who should skip it
- Enormous.
- Deep-series only.
#ad How we are funded · Audible price as of October 6, 2026
Runtime from the audiobooks.com catalog listing.
Pick 6 · Staying current with the series
A Parade of Horribles
by Matt Dinniman · narrated by Jeff Hays
- Runtime
- 20h 27m
- Narrators
- 1
- Audio edition
- 2026
Carl book eight. The series is still escalating and still, improbably, funny.
On audio
Hays again, with the format now thoroughly established.
Who should skip it
- Not a starting point.
- The series has no end in sight.
#ad How we are funded · Audible price as of October 6, 2026
Runtime from the audiobooks.com catalog listing.
Pick 7 · Committed series listeners
The Gate of the Feral Gods
by Matt Dinniman · narrated by Jeff Hays
- Runtime
- 18h 3m
- Narrators
- 1
- Audio edition
- 2021
Carl book four pushes the scale up again and starts collecting consequences. The series is openly epic by this point.
On audio
Hays, with the production's sound design now a settled part of the experience.
Who should skip it
- Not standalone.
- Very long.
#ad How we are funded · Audible price as of October 6, 2026
Runtime from the audiobooks.com catalog listing.
Pick 8 · The LitRPG entry point, and the audio showcase
Dungeon Crawler Carl
by Matt Dinniman · narrated by Jeff Hays
- Runtime
- 13h 31m
- Narrators
- 1
- Audio edition
- 2021
Earth is demolished for an intergalactic dungeon game show, and the only survivors are a man in his boxers and his ex-girlfriend's cat. The funniest book in the genre and the best-performed.
On audio
Jeff Hays does dozens of voices and the production adds effects for the system announcements. This is the edition people mean when they say the audiobook is better.
Who should skip it
- The system-stat interludes are an acquired taste.
- Crude and extremely violent in the first hours.
#ad How we are funded · Audible price as of October 6, 2026
Runtime from the audiobooks.com catalog listing.
What these two series actually are
The Stormlight Archive
The Way of Kings and Oathbringer are the first and third volumes of the largest fantasy project currently running, narrated throughout by Michael Kramer and Kate Reading. Each volume is longer than most trilogies. Start with The Way of Kings; the second volume, Words of Radiance, is where most people get properly hooked.
The commitment is real and the series is unfinished. We think it is worth it; you should know before you start rather than at hour forty.
Dungeon Crawler Carl
Six of these picks are Dungeon Crawler Carl volumes, and that is not padding — the series genuinely contains some of the longest and best-produced audiobooks available. Jeff Hays does dozens of voices, the production uses sound design on the in-world system announcements, and later volumes bring in guest performers. The whole published run is over 150 hours.
It is also crude, extremely violent in the first hours, and built on a game-system conceit that divides people. Sample it. LitRPG audiobooks has the wider genre.
Long books that are not these two
Plenty of other audiobooks run past twenty hours and belong in this conversation — The Count of Monte Cristo, The Pillars of the Earth, Outlander, The Stand, 11/22/63 and Shantaram among them.
They are not in the table above because we have not been able to verify their exact runtimes from a published source, and a page built on length should not estimate the lengths. They are all genuinely long and all worth a credit; follow the links for what they are actually like.
Where to go next
- For the fantasy context, fantasy audiobooks.
- For the LitRPG context, LitRPG audiobooks.
- For long drives and flights, long drives and long flights.
- For the credit arithmetic, is Audible worth it.
- For the opposite extreme, short audiobooks under four hours.
Frequently asked questions
What is the longest audiobook worth listening to?
Are long audiobooks better value with a credit?
How long does it take to finish a 50-hour audiobook?
Should I start a long series that is not finished?
Why are there only two series on this list?
Sources
Read next
Genres
The best fantasy audiobooks
From one-volume standalones to hundred-hour epics, with the narrator named on every pick.
Genres
The best LitRPG and progression fantasy audiobooks
The most ambitious audio productions in publishing, and almost nobody outside the genre knows.
By Occasion
The best audiobooks for long drives
One book that lasts the whole way, with a voice you can take for ten hours straight.
By Occasion
The best audiobooks for long flights
Eight to fourteen uninterrupted hours and no internet. Download first, and pick one book that lasts.
Guides
Is Audible worth it?
Worth it above roughly one book a month. The arithmetic, who should skip it, and the free option to check first.
By Occasion
Short audiobooks under four hours
Where short stops meaning slight: complete novellas and short novels, every runtime verified.