The first full release week of 2013 is a big one. Of course there’s the decades-awaited conclusion to The Wheel of Time, which at nearly 42 hours could certainly fully occupy a listening month. There’s also an audiobook of an interesting 2012 title that didn’t make it into audio last year, but the second biggest audio news this week is undoubtedly that with more than 200 audiobooks added, Dungeons and Dragons has invaded Audible in a big way, big enough to warrant a new mini-site. I won’t even try to list all the books, but I’ll highlight a few below. There are some big titles — and some misses, too. Meanwhile, John Scalzi’s serialized novel The Human Division launches with episode one next week — tune in for The AudioBookaneers Listen-A-Long! (Oh yeah, and at the end of the post? Another Whispersync for Voice price quirk.)

The Wheel of Time concludes with A Memory of Light: Wheel of Time, Book 14 By Robert Jordan and Brandon Sanderson, Narrated By Michael Kramer and Kate Reading for Macmillan Audio — Length: 41 hrs and 55 mins — “Since 1990, when Robert Jordan’s The Wheel of Time® burst on the world with its first book, The Eye of the World, listeners have been anticipating the final scenes of this extraordinary saga, which has sold over 40 million copies in over 32 languages. When Robert Jordan died in 2007, all feared that these concluding scenes would never be written. But working from notes and partials left by Jordan, established fantasy writer Brandon Sanderson stepped in to complete the masterwork. With The Gathering Storm (Book 12) and Towers of Midnight (Book 13) behind him, both of which were number-one New York Times hardcover best sellers, Sanderson now re-creates the vision that Robert Jordan left behind. Edited by Jordan’s widow, who edited all of Jordan’s books, A Memory of Light will delight, enthrall, and deeply satisfy all of Jordan’s legions of listeners. The Wheel of Time turns, and Ages come and pass. What was, what will be, and what is, May yet fall under the Shadow. Let the Dragon ride again on the winds of time.”

The 2012 title which comes to audio here in early 2013 I mentioned is Libriomancer: Magic ex Libris, Book 1 By Jim C. Hines, Narrated By Brian Eslick for Audible Frontiers — Length: 11 hrs and 13 mins — “Isaac Vainio is a Libriomancer, a member of the secret organization founded five centuries ago by Johannes Gutenberg. Libriomancers are gifted with the ability to magically reach into books and draw forth objects. When Isaac is attacked by vampires that leaked from the pages of books into our world, he barely manages to escape. To his horror he discovers that vampires have been attacking other magic-users as well, and Gutenberg has been kidnapped. With the help of a motorcycle-riding dryad who packs a pair of oak cudgels, Isaac finds himself hunting the unknown dark power that has been manipulating humans and vampires alike. And his search will uncover dangerous secrets about Libriomancy, Gutenberg, and the history of magic….”

Lost Things: The Order of the Air By Melissa Scott and Jo Graham, Narrated By John Lee for Crossroad Press — Length: 11 hrs and 12 mins — David Niall Wilson’s Crossroad Press has consistently been in my radar, but somehow I haven’t picked up one of their titles for review. This may be the one: “In 1929 archeologists began draining Lake Nemi in search of the mysterious ships that have been glimpsed beneath its waters since the reign of Claudius. What they awakened had been drowned for two thousand years. For a very good reason.” And, well, John Lee. There is that.

No Further Messages By Brett Alexander Savory, Narrated By J. Paul Guimont for Audible — Length: 7 hrs and 11 mins — ChiZine’s Savory, blurbed very nicely by Peter Straub: “Savory deserves to make a great impression on both our highly mutable genre and the reading public.” A collection of stories I hope to find time to dip into sometime this year.

So. I’ve been trying to keep tabs on this through watching titles come available in pre-orders, but now we know what’s here: more than 200 D&D titles from various properties, including the “big 6” Dragonlance books (Chronicles and Legends trilogies). In terms of Forgotten Realms, while some of R.A. Salvatore’s later Drizzt books are either available or, in the case of the 4-book Legend of Drizzt: Neverwinter Saga series, listed for pre-order, there’s still no sign yet of the two original trilogies (Dark Elf Trilogy and Icewind Dale Trilogy). Another book I remember reading “back in the day” but not here is Spellfire by Ed Greenwood, neither is Greenwood’s Elminster series, or anything yet from, say, the Spelljammer or Planescape universes, but other than that, wow, you might be hard-pressed to find a title not now in audio. UPDATE: Per Audible, the “missing” books I mentioned are indeed scheduled for 2013 release sometime. Here are some of the titles which most caught my eye along the way of glossy-eyed browsing:

OUT TUESDAY:

EARLIER THIS WEEK:

SEEN BUT NOT HEARD:

Ice Forged by Gail Z. Martin (Orbit, January 8) — no audio news — “Condemned as a murderer for killing the man who dishonored his sister, Blaine “Mick” McFadden has spent the last six years in Velant, a penal colony in the frigid northern wastelands of Edgeland. Harsh military discipline and the oppressive magic of the governor’s mages keep a fragile peace as colonists struggle against a hostile environment. But the supply ships from Dondareth have stopped coming, boding ill for the kingdom that banished the colonists.”

Siege 13: Stories by Tamas Dobozy (Milkweed Editions, January 8) — “Built around the events of the Soviet Budapest Offensive at the end of World War II and its long shadow, the stories in Siege 13 are full of wit, irony, and dark humor. In a series of linked stories that alternate between the siege itself and a contemporary community of Hungarian émigrés who find refuge in the West, Dobozy utilizes a touch of deadpan humor and a deep sense of humanity to extoll the horrors and absurdity of ordinary people caught in the crosshairs of brutal conflict and its silent aftermath.”

Impulse by Steven Gould (Tor, January 8) — after Jumper and Reflex — UPDATE: “will be published next Tuesday, Jan. 15. It’s an Audible Frontiers production, narrated by Emily Rankin”

by Steven Gould (Tor, January 8) — after Jumper and Reflex — “will be published next Tuesday, Jan. 15. It’s an Audible Frontiers production, narrated by Emily Rankin” Teen: The Crossing by Mandy Hager (Pyr, January 8)

by Mandy Hager (Pyr, January 8) Power Under Pressure by Andrew P. Mayer (Pyr, January 8) — in his Society of Steam series

by Andrew P. Mayer (Pyr, January 8) — in his Society of Steam series Broken by A.E. Rought (Angry Robot/Strange Chemistry)

COMING SOON:

WHISPERSYNC FOR VOICE PRICE QUIRK: