Fantasy & romantasy: read or listen?

Six of the 26 books on this shelf are read verdicts. Maps and family trees, many similar-sounding names, several viewpoints read by one narrator and illustrations a recording skips all count for reading, and fantasy books meet them more than any other genre. A praised recording counts on the other side, which is why A Game of Thrones is a Read verdict by only a narrow margin (55%, a close call).

The Full-Cast Edition, led by Cush Jumbo, for every book. Stephen Fry’s and Jim Dale’s readings are shown alongside it on each page. The series guide compares all three recordings and gives the running times.

Book 1 is a Listen verdict at 77%, leaning, because of one viewpoint, one narrator and a 432-page book, although the map is only in print. Books 2 and 3 are listen verdicts at 77% too, the novella A Court of Frost and Starlight is a Read verdict because of its five viewpoints (65%, leaning), and Book 5, A Court of Silver Flames, is either at 50%. All are scored on Elizabeth Evans’s 10th anniversary recordings.

No. They count for one check, Full cast or produced audio, and other checks can outweigh it. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows has the full cast and still only reaches a close-call 62% listen, because its story jumps in time. A Game of Thrones has Roy Dotrice’s record-setting 224 voices in a solo performance and is a Read verdict at 55%, a close call, because eight viewpoints, maps and an appendix of houses weigh against it.

The Hobbit and The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe are on this shelf. The Hobbit is a Read verdict at 61%, a close call, because it has thirteen dwarves with near-identical names and two reference maps in print. The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe is a Listen verdict at 65%, leaning. The Christmas Pig (a full cast, 100%) and A Boy Called Christmas (65%, leaning) are here too. There is no separate children’s shelf yet.