When an audiobook stretches past 36 hours, it’s not just a story—it’s an experience.
Alchemised by SenLinYu, narrated by Saskia Maarleveld, isn’t content to merely tell a tale. It engulfs you in a gothic labyrinth of memory, magic, and moral decay.
Released on September 23, 2025, through Random House Audio, this unabridged recording has already struck a chord with thousands of fantasy listeners who crave stories as emotionally intricate as they are darkly beautiful.
The Gothic World Brought to Life in Sound
Before diving into the specifics, it’s worth setting the stage. Alchemised exists in a post-war world ruled by necromancers and fractured by forgotten science. It’s not just another fantasy backdrop—it’s an ecosystem of decaying grandeur where every spell has a cost and every choice leaves a scar.
Saskia Maarleveld’s narration infuses the setting with life (and unlife). Her pacing is deliberate, her tone atmospheric. Listening feels less like hearing a book and more like being trapped inside Helena Marino’s fragmented mind—our protagonist who wakes in captivity, missing memories that might hold the key to reshaping an entire world.
A Heroine Unmoored in Time and Memory
Helena’s journey is the thread that keeps this complex narrative from unraveling. When she wakes in chains, disoriented and haunted by gaps in her past, she’s more than a victim—she’s a living mystery.
The Resistance she once fought for has crumbled. The necromantic guilds now hold power. And her captor, High Reeve Kaine Ferron, might be the only person who can (or must) unlock the truth she’s forgotten.
Maarleveld’s delivery of Helena’s voice captures this vulnerability and steel perfectly—quivering in confusion one moment, sharpening with resolve the next. As fragments of memory resurface, so too does the story’s real emotional core: the uneasy bond between Helena and Kaine. It’s a relationship defined not by romance in any conventional sense, but by guilt, longing, and shared damnation.
A Duel Between Alchemy and Necromancy
Magic in Alchemised isn’t a flourish—it’s philosophy. Alchemy represents balance, healing, and transformation; necromancy, domination, and decay. SenLinYu doesn’t draw clean moral lines between the two, and that’s precisely what makes the story so engrossing.
Maarleveld’s narration mirrors this duality. Her tonal shifts between Helena’s calculated precision and Kaine’s weary menace lend dimension to their ideological conflict. You can almost hear the clash between creation and corruption, between a woman reclaiming her agency and a man wielding death like a language.
The Listening Experience: Nonlinear Yet Rewarding
At over 36 hours, Alchemised could easily have felt overwhelming—but its nonlinear storytelling transforms the experience into something almost cinematic. Time fractures. Memories bleed into present scenes. Revelations arrive just when you think you’ve grasped the truth.
This structure demands attention, but it rewards listeners who lean in. Audible’s bookmarking feature becomes your best ally here; moments that seem minor often echo back with devastating clarity later. Each shift in timeline or tone feels intentional, keeping the tension taut even across long listening sessions.
A Word on the Darker Themes
Let’s be clear—this isn’t light listening. Alchemised delves into psychological trauma, torture, and moral corruption. It’s raw and sometimes uncomfortable. But what distinguishes it is intention: none of the darkness feels gratuitous. It’s woven into the fabric of a world trying—and often failing—to survive its own thirst for power.
Maarleveld’s voice lends gravity to these moments without sensationalizing them. Her restraint turns what could be gratuitous into something genuinely haunting.
Why It Works—And Why It Lingers
Few audiobooks manage to feel both vast and intimate. Alchemised achieves this balance through careful storytelling and performance synergy. Every whispered line, every pause, every quiet moment of reflection adds weight. By the time the final chapter fades, it feels less like an ending and more like a spell slowly releasing you.
Listeners describe it as “consuming” and “emotionally exhausting in the best way.” It’s a commitment—but one that pays off in spades.
Should You Listen?
If you crave morally complex characters, if you’re drawn to worlds where beauty and horror intertwine, and if you have a soft spot for immersive performances that make time vanish—then yes, Alchemised deserves a place in your library.
Its success lies not in spectacle but in sincerity. It asks hard questions about memory, control, and redemption—and trusts the listener to sit with the answers.
A New Benchmark in Dark Fantasy Audio
SenLinYu’s Alchemised isn’t just an audiobook—it’s an initiation into a haunting new mythos. At 36+ hours, it’s a marathon of emotion and worldbuilding, but with Saskia Maarleveld’s performance guiding you, it feels less like a task and more like a calling.
Now part of Amazon’s new releases, this gothic fantasy already promises to be one of the year’s standout listens. If you finish it hungry for more, browse other titles in the dark fantasy and romantasy categories—you might just find your next long obsession waiting.
