The Sunless Countries cover art

The Sunless Countries

Book Four of Virga

Preview
Get this deal Try Premium Plus free
Offer ends 29 January 2026 at 11:59PM GMT.
Prime members: New to Audible? Get 2 free audiobooks during trial.
Just £0.99/mo for your first 3 months of Audible.
1 bestseller or new release per month—yours to keep.
Listen all you want to thousands of included audiobooks, podcasts, and Originals.
Auto-renews at £8.99/mo after 3 months. Cancel monthly.
Pick 1 audiobook a month from our unmatched collection - including bestsellers and new releases.
Listen all you want to thousands of included audiobooks, Originals, celeb exclusives, and podcasts.
Access exclusive sales and deals.
£8.99/month after 30 days. Renews automatically.

The Sunless Countries

By: Karl Schroeder
Narrated by: Joyce Irvine, David Thorn
Get this deal Try Premium Plus free

£8.99/mo after 3 months. Cancel monthly. Offer ends 29 January 2026 at 11:59PM GMT.

£8.99/month after 30 days. Renews automatically. See here for eligibility.

Buy Now for £12.99

Buy Now for £12.99

LIMITED TIME OFFER | £0.99/mo for the first 3 months

Premium Plus auto-renews at £8.99/mo after 3 months. Terms apply.

About this listen

The Sunless Countries is the fourth novel in the Virga series of hard science fiction space opera adventures

In an ocean of weightless air where sunlight has never been seen, only the running lights of the city of Pacquaea glitter in the dark. One woman, Leal Hieronyma Maspeth, lives and dreams of love among the gaslit streets and cafés. And somewhere in the abyss of wind and twisted cloud through which Pacquaea eternally falls, a great voice has begun speaking.

As its cold words reach from space to the city walls—and as outlying towns and travelers' ships start to mysteriously disappear—only Leal has the courage to try to understand the message thundering from the distance. Even the city's most famous and exotic visitor, the sun lighter and hero named Hayden Griffin, refuses to turn aside from his commission to build a new sun for a foreign nation. He will not become the hero that Leal knows the city needs; so it is up to her to listen, and ultimately reply, to the voice of the worldwasp—because an astonishing disaster threatens Virga.

©2009 Karl Schroeder (P)2009 Macmillan Audio
Science Fiction Space Opera Steampunk Fiction

Listeners also enjoyed...

Bran Hambric: The Specter Key cover art
First Meetings cover art
The Curse of the Silver Pharaoh cover art
The Revolutions cover art
The Year's Top Short SF Novels 7 cover art
City of Broken Magic cover art
Bookburners: Book 1 cover art
The Year's Top Short SF Novels 2 cover art
Patriots cover art
The Darwin Elevator cover art
Old Venus cover art
Red Leech cover art
Mortal Engines cover art
Doctor Who: Paradox Lost cover art
The Very Best of the Best cover art
Doctor Who: Tales of Terror cover art

Critic reviews

“Inventive and solidly enjoyable… Schroeder paints his unique world with deft touches while keeping the story moving briskly.” —Publishers Weekly, on The Sunless Countries

No reviews yet