
The City We Became
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Narrated by:
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Robin Miles
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By:
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N. K. Jemisin
About this listen
Three-time Hugo Award-winning and New York Times best-selling author N.K. Jemisin crafts her most incredible novel yet, a "glorious" story of culture, identity, magic, and myths in contemporary New York City.
In Manhattan, a young grad student gets off the train and realizes he doesn't remember who he is, where he's from, or even his own name. But he can sense the beating heart of the city, see its history, and feel its power.
In the Bronx, a Lenape gallery director discovers strange graffiti scattered throughout the city, so beautiful and powerful it's as if the paint is literally calling to her.
In Brooklyn, a politician and mother finds she can hear the songs of her city, pulsing to the beat of her Louboutin heels.
And they're not the only ones.
Every great city has a soul. Some are ancient as myths, and others are as new and destructive as children. New York? She's got six.
For more from N. K. Jemisin, check out:
The Inheritance Trilogy
- The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms
- The Broken Kingdoms
- The Kingdom of God
- The Inheritance Trilogy (omnibus edition)
"Shades in Shadow: An Inheritance Triptych" (e-only short fiction)
The Awakened Kingdom (e-only novella)
Dreamblood Duology
- The Killing Moon
- The Shadowed Sun
- The Dreamblood Duology (omnibus)
The Broken Earth
The Fifth Season
The Obelisk Gate
The Stone Sky
How Long 'til Black Future Month? (short story collection)
"A glorious fantasy." (Neil Gaiman)
©2020 N. K. Jemisin (P)2020 OrbitListeners also enjoyed...
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Critic reviews
"A love/hate song to and rallying cry for the author's home of New York... Fierce, poetic, uncompromising." (Kirkus, starred review)
"The City We Became is a wonderfully inventive love letter to New York City that spans the multiverse. A big middle finger to Lovecraft with a lot of heart, creativity, smarts and humor. A timely and audacious allegorical tale for our times. This book is all these things and more." (Rebecca Roanhorse, author of Trail of Lightning)
"It's a glorious fantasy, set in that most imaginary of cities, New York. It's inclusive in all the best ways, and manages to contain both Borges and Lovecraft in its fabric, but the unique voice and viewpoint are Jemisin's alone." (Neil Gaiman)
"Some of the most exciting and powerful fantasy writing of today... Jemisin's latest will attract...even those who don't typically read genre fiction." (Booklist, starred review)
Featured Article: The best audiobooks about aliens for curious humans
Throughout the history of storytelling, we humans have been curious about the possibility of worlds beyond Earth and its inhabitants. Thanks to our endless fascination with extraterrestrial life, there is a mountain of literature, from novels to memoirs, exploring the potential outcomes of interacting with creatures from other planets. Without further ado, here are 20 of our favorite listens about alien life.

Editor's Pick
Don't mess with New York
"So many writers and creators have attempted and brilliantly succeeded at the city-as-character trope, and New York has been featured heavily in these stories—but how many writers can say they literally made New York a sentient being? Wait—don’t think about that too much: just start listening and experience how Jemisin drops you into this wonderfully weird, wild new fantasy series as if you were arriving for the first time in this bewildering and amazing city itself. I love her ability to adapt her unique voice to any story she tells, and this one—fast-paced, surreal, a little jaded—felt so quintessentially New York, I swear wore a permanent grin for the first few chapters. I didn’t really need a reason to get hyped about this new series beyond the fact that it existed—but as a born-and-raised New Yorker, Jemisin has written the love letter to my city that my weird little nerdy heart didn’t even know it yearned for."—Sam D., Audible Editor
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The Nay-Sayers are Wrong.
- By Steve Groves on 02-10-20
By: N. K. Jemisin
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The Wrong Unit
- A Novel
- By: Rob Dircks
- Narrated by: Rob Dircks
- Length: 5 hrs and 37 mins
- Unabridged
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I don't know what the humans are so cranky about. Their enclosures are large, they ingest over 1,000 calories per day, and they're allowed to mate. Plus, they have me: an Autonomous Servile Unit, housed in a mobile/bipedal chassis. I do my job well: keep the humans healthy and happy.
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Futuristic journey without a single misstep
- By Julie W. Capell on 10-03-16
By: Rob Dircks
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How Long 'Til Black Future Month?
- Stories
- By: N. K. Jemisin
- Narrated by: Shayna Small, Gail Nelson-Holgate, Robin Ray Eller, and others
- Length: 14 hrs and 10 mins
- Unabridged
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N. K. Jemisin is one of the most powerful and acclaimed speculative fiction authors of our time. In the first collection of her evocative short fiction, Jemisin equally challenges and delights listeners with thought-provoking narratives of destruction, rebirth, and redemption.
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Great! One quibble with the audiobook editing
- By L on 03-05-19
By: N. K. Jemisin
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The Raven Tower
- By: Ann Leckie
- Narrated by: Adjoa Andoh
- Length: 12 hrs and 2 mins
- Unabridged
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For centuries, the kingdom of Iraden has been protected by the god known as the Raven. He watches over his territory from atop a tower in the powerful port of Vastai. His will is enacted through the Raven's Lease, a human ruler chosen by the god himself. His magic is sustained via the blood sacrifice that every Lease must offer. And under the Raven's watch, the city flourishes. But the power of the Raven is weakening. A usurper has claimed the throne. The kingdom borders are tested by invaders who long for the prosperity that Vastai boasts.
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A Unique Perspective and an Intriguing Mystery
- By Amazon Customer on 05-15-19
By: Ann Leckie
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Parasol Against the Axe
- A Novel
- By: Helen Oyeyemi
- Narrated by: Dorje Swallow
- Length: 8 hrs and 10 mins
- Unabridged
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For reasons of her own, Hero Tojosoa accepts an invitation she was half expected to decline, and finds herself in Prague on a bachelorette weekend hosted by her estranged friend Sofie. Little does she know she’s arrived in a city with a penchant for playing tricks on the unsuspecting. A book Hero has brought with her seems to be warping her mind: the text changes depending on when it’s being listened to and who’s doing the listening, revealing startling new stories of fictional Praguers past and present.
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A surrealist chocolate box of delights
- By Roxanne Abeln-Taylor on 02-20-25
By: Helen Oyeyemi
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Ninefox Gambit
- By: Yoon Ha Lee
- Narrated by: Emily Woo Zeller
- Length: 10 hrs and 52 mins
- Unabridged
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To win an impossible war, Captain Kel Cheris must awaken an ancient weapon and a despised traitor general.
Captain Kel Cheris of the Hexarchate is disgraced for using unconventional methods in a battle against heretics. Kel Command gives her the opportunity to redeem herself by retaking the Fortress of Scattered Needles, a star fortress that has recently been captured by heretics. Cheris' career isn't the only thing at stake. If the fortress falls, the Hexarchate itself might be next.
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Just too confusing with enough context
- By Jose Alvarez on 04-02-17
By: Yoon Ha Lee
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The Volcano Daughters
- A Novel
- By: Gina María Balibrera
- Narrated by: Gisela Chipe, Elena Rey, Alma Cuervo, and others
- Length: 12 hrs and 26 mins
- Unabridged
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El Salvador, 1923. Graciela, a young girl growing up on a volcano in a community of Indigenous women, is summoned to the capital, where she is claimed as an oracle for a rising dictator. There she meets Consuelo, the sister she has never known, who was stolen from their home before Graciela was born. The two spend years under the cruel El Gran Pendejo’s regime, unwillingly helping his reign of terror, until genocide strikes the community from which they hail.
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A Masterpiece, a must read!
- By Plant lover on 09-30-24
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What We Fed to the Manticore
- By: Talia Lakshmi Kolluri
- Narrated by: Nikki Massoud, Neil Shah
- Length: 4 hrs and 56 mins
- Unabridged
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Through nine emotionally vivid stories, all narrated from animal perspectives portraying the complexity of their lives and relationships, WHAT WE FED TO THE MANTICORE explores themes of environmentalism, conservation, identity, belonging, loss, and family with resounding heart and deep tenderness, and ultimately places the listener under the rich canopy of the tree of life.
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Riot Baby
- By: Tochi Onyebuchi
- Narrated by: Tochi Onyebuchi
- Length: 3 hrs and 46 mins
- Unabridged
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Ella has a Thing. She sees a classmate grow up to become a caring nurse. A neighbor's son murdered in a drive-by shooting. Things that haven't happened yet. Kev, born while Los Angeles burned around them, wants to protect his sister from a power that could destroy her. But when Kev is incarcerated, Ella must decide what it means to watch her brother suffer while holding the ability to wreck cities in her hands. Rooted in the hope that can live in anger, Riot Baby is as much an intimate family story as a global dystopian narrative.
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I...wasn’t...ready
- By Amazon Customer1 on 04-28-20
By: Tochi Onyebuchi
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Afterland
- By: Lauren Beukes
- Narrated by: Bianca Amato
- Length: 14 hrs and 6 mins
- Unabridged
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Most of the men are dead. Three years after the pandemic known as The Manfall, governments still hold and life continues - but a world run by women isn't always a better place. Twelve-year-old Miles is one of the last boys alive, and his mother, Cole, will protect him at all costs. On the run after a horrific act of violence - and pursued by Cole's own ruthless sister, Billie - all Cole wants is to raise her kid somewhere he won't be preyed on as a reproductive resource or a sex object or a stand-in son.
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Good book, bad reader
- By Anonymous User on 07-31-20
By: Lauren Beukes
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Black Girl Unlimited
- The Remarkable Story of a Teenage Wizard
- By: Echo Brown
- Narrated by: Echo Brown
- Length: 8 hrs and 29 mins
- Unabridged
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Echo Brown is a wizard from the East Side, where apartments are small and parents suffer addictions to the white rocks. Yet there is magic...everywhere. New portals begin to open when Echo transfers to the rich school on the West Side, and an insightful teacher becomes a pivotal mentor. Each day, Echo travels between two worlds, leaving her brothers, her friends, and a piece of herself behind on the East Side. There are dangers to leaving behind the place that made you.
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A beautiful discovery
- By T. Martin on 01-02-21
By: Echo Brown
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It Rides a Pale Horse
- By: Andy Marino
- Narrated by: Brian Telestai
- Length: 13 hrs and 1 min
- Unabridged
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When Lark goes to deliver one of his latest pieces to a fabulously rich buyer, it seems like a regular transaction. Even being met at the gate of the sprawling, secluded estate by an intimidating security guard seems normal. Until the guard plays him a live feed: Betsy being abducted in real time. Lark is informed that she's safe for now, but her well-being is entirely in his hands. He's given a book. Do what the book says, and Betsy will go free.
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Dark, Surreal ,Entirely Original
- By Michael on 04-17-23
By: Andy Marino
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Moonbound
- A Novel
- By: Robin Sloan
- Narrated by: Gabra Zackman
- Length: 10 hrs and 40 mins
- Unabridged
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It is eleven thousand years from now . . . A lot has happened, and yet a lot is still very familiar. Ariel is a boy in a small town under a wizard’s rule. Like many adventurers before him, Ariel is called to explore a world full of unimaginable glories and challenges: unknown enemies, a mission to save the world, a girl. Here, as they say, be dragons. But none of this happens before Ariel comes across an artifact from an earlier civilization, a sentient, record-keeping artificial intelligence that carries with it the perspective of the whole of human history.
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Now one of my favorite books
- By Leif Hansen on 07-06-24
By: Robin Sloan
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Olivetti
- By: Allie Millington
- Narrated by: Christopher Gebauer, Simon Vance
- Length: 4 hrs and 33 mins
- Unabridged
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Being a typewriter is not as easy as it looks. Surrounded by books (notorious attention hogs) and recently replaced by a computer, Olivetti has been forgotten by the Brindles—the family he’s lived with for years. The Brindles are busy humans, apart from twelve-year-old Ernest, who would rather be left alone with his collection of Oxford English Dictionaries. Once a collector of words, now Olivetti only collects dust. He gets a rare glimpse of action from Ernest’s mom, Beatrice—his used-to-be frequent visitor—only for her to drop him off at Heartland Pawn Shop and leave him behind.
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Absolutely brilliant!
- By Stephanie C. on 05-14-24
By: Allie Millington
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Brown Girl in the Ring
- By: Nalo Hopkinson
- Narrated by: Peter Jay Fernandez
- Length: 7 hrs and 52 mins
- Unabridged
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With nowhere to turn, a young woman must open herself to ancient truths, eternal powers, and the tragic mystery surrounding her mother and grandmother. She must bargain with gods, and give birth to new legends.
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Fascinating, unique story deftly narrated
- By Stef on 03-15-07
By: Nalo Hopkinson
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A Memory Called Empire
- Teixcalaan, Book 1
- By: Arkady Martine
- Narrated by: Amy Landon
- Length: 15 hrs and 42 mins
- Unabridged
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Ambassador Mahit Dzmare arrives in the center of the multi-system Teixcalaanli Empire only to discover that her predecessor, the previous ambassador from their small but fiercely independent mining station, has died. But no one will admit that his death wasn't an accident - or that Mahit might be next to die, during a time of political instability in the highest echelons of the imperial court. Now, Mahit must discover who is behind the murder, rescue herself, and save her station from Teixcalaan's unceasing expansion.
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Story is great, weird editing, not great narration
- By Nadia on 06-10-19
By: Arkady Martine
Admittedly the main idea of this book is wonderful. N.K Jemisin suggests in this novel that cities are multidimensional ententies. Cities like New York have so much history, so much vibrancy so much metaphorical life flowing through their streets that they litterally come to life and manifest an avatar, a personification of what the city is as a whole.
Doing so, however, wipes out and destroys alternate universes where the city presumably doesn't exist or something else exists in its place. This means cities being "born" are vunerable to attack from extra-dimensioanal ententies.
In short, N.K. Jemisin is mixing H.P. Lovecraft with every novel/play/song where the location plays a big role. In theory its a wonderful idea. In practice its very heavy handed as to what constitutes a healthy city and what doesn't. In short, gentrification universally bad, "real" New York good.
Tearing down the old to make way for the new is seen as suspicious at least, dangerous at worst. Never mind the fact that in New York what constitutes as old or new is up for considerable debate. The author picked a date and decided anything more recent wasn't the real New York. Every child does this with the place that they grow up in, hating the changes, good or bad, that inevitably come to a place they love with nostalgic intensity. I suppose New Yorkers are no exception.
Much of what Jemisin says makes sense. For example unique, "family owned" coffee shops making way for corporate soulless Starbucks is literally the sign of the apocalypse. Similarly anything xenophobic, racist or hateful in any way is posionious to the city as a whole. This last statement is one no sane person would disagree with, but the way this idea is shoved into our faces without subltly leaves something to be desired.
Finally, is it just me or is anyone else slightly insulted that New York is the first city in America to come to life? What about Salem, Massachusetts? Or Jamestown, Virginia? Or hell why not the capital of the freaking country, Washington D.C? Aren't there cities in America older than New York with equally diverse cultures and rich histories? New York may be important but it ain't the only game in town.
Heavy handed
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Wonderful story, amazing production
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Amazing performance !
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Robin Miles' Narration was top notch and her ability to inhabit each character so fully was astounding!
The whole premise of the book is very timely in every way and I cannot wait for the next in the series!
I bought this as an Audiobook to listen to when I was driving and after having to pull over to shout at my car speakers I decided I might want to listen to it in a safer space!
I actually need to read this in print or on my Kindle, but Robin Miles voices will inhabit my head when I do!
Wow and Wow! Thank you For Another Special Series
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N.K Jemisin is the fantasy reader you have to read
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So good
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Exceptional
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Loved It!
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Jemisin gets New York
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I believe n.k. jemisin is one of the greatest sci fi authors of the times. I look forward to many more words from her prolific genius
incredible performance
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