The Sandman is an audio achievement you have to hear to believe. Adapted from Neil Gaiman’s legendary comic book series, it is a lushly designed experience with a star-studded cast including James McAvoy as Morpheus and Gaiman as the narrator. It confidently takes the top spot as our best fantasy pick of the year, and it is among our top 10 audios of 2020, period. Among the runners-up we have no shortage of amazing storytelling with V. E. Schwab’s sprawling literary fantasy The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue; Rebecca Roanhorse’s pre-Columbian-inspired and totally epic Black Sun; The City We Became, an urban fantasy from one of our favorite fantasy authors, N. K. Jemisin; and Brandon Sanderson’s next installment in the Stormlight Archive, Rhythm of War, which has us waiting impatiently for more from him yet again.