SOVAS 2026 Finalist for Outstanding Audiobook Narration – Classics.

‘It is not down on any map; true places never are.’

Regarded as one of the greatest American novels and Melville’s masterpiece, Moby Dick is an epic tale of adventure and vengeance.

Ishmael, a sailor with a flair for reading and writing, signs on to a crew commanded by the vengeful Captain Ahab, who is bent on killing the giant sperm whale that claimed his leg on the ship's previous voyage. What follows is an appalling crusade, as gruesome as it is extraordinary, to track down the whale and win Ahab his revenge. Through Ishmael’s eyes, we witness treacherous races across the sea, shipwrecks and fatal harpoon attacks, all while gaining a compelling education on the history of whaling, with no detail spared. Though not a commercial success on publication, Moby Dick would go onto be admired by prominent twentieth-century authors such as William Faulkner and D.H. Lawrence. It is still widely read and studied to this day.

Herman Melville (1819 – 1891) was an American novelist and poet. He is best known for his works in adventure and travel writing, including Mody Dick (1851) and Typee (1846). His writing was met with mixed reviews by his contemporaries; it wasn’t until the early twentieth century that he gained recognition for his literary genius