Is there an audiobook of Etna?

Yes. Etna has an Audible audiobook edition, narrated by Shrader Thomas.

How long is the Etna audiobook?

The Etna audiobook runs 3 hr 12 min.

Is Etna on Kindle Unlimited?

No. Etna was not included with Kindle Unlimited when we last checked on July 29, 2026.

Etna by Paul Yoon book cover for the Book of the Day literary fiction book review

Our score

4.7/ 5

Outstanding

Listen to Etna free with an Audible trial Narrator, runtime & our audio review

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EDITION PUBLISHEDAugust 2026

PublisherScribner

Genres

Fiction Literary Fiction War

Themes

The impossibility of going home againNumbness as a survival mechanism in warKindness offered by people with nothing leftLoyalty, memory, and the making of a pack

Etna

Name: Etna
Price: 14.99 USD
Availability: InStock
Author: Paul Yoon

Paul Yoon

Paul Yoon's Etna is a war novel narrated by a bomb-sniffing dog making the long walk back to the coastal farm he was taken from as a puppy. It runs barely 200 pages, told in flat, unadorned sentences and lands harder than novels three times its length. Literary fiction about home, and what peace actually costs.

The Review

Our take

Etna recalls what has happened to him the way a dog truly would: he worked, traveled, killed, men died, and then there were more men and the work began again. Yoon lets that list run flat intentionally, never raising his voice, and that's the entire point. At first glance it appears simplistic. Read it again and you realize you're inside a mind that has lost the ability to rank one trauma above another. War novels rarely get that close to numbness without having to explain it.

He's taken at ten months from a farm near the sea, picked out of a litter of puppies by a woman in uniform named Soojin, who explains that he's to be trained for war. Soojin can hear dogs. That is the one suspension of disbelief you're asked to accept, and you truly should, because it pays back with interest much later when you learn what Soojin was carrying with her at the time. The war itself transpires in just a couple of scenes across four years. It's portrayed as a blur, which is precisely how it would sit in the memory of someone who endured it without ever being told the plan.

The trek home is where the novel does its best work. The sense of smell carries the book. Tone, caution, memory — all of it reaches him through his nose before his eyes. Kindness is a recurring theme, often offered by people whose own houses are rubble, and it's the most persuasive argument this novel makes about anything. If I had one genuine complaint, it's that the last act comes faster than I wanted. There were strangers here I'd have willingly followed another thirty pages. Yes, I'm complaining that a book about loss declined to give me more to lose, and that speaks to how impactful this short read can be.

Why you should read

Spare prose that trusts you to feel it yourself
Animal narrators written for adults, never cutesy
War stories told from the edges instead of the front
Short literary novels you can finish in one sitting

What to expect

Flat, declarative sentences carrying enormous weight
Four years of war compressed into a handful of scenes
A middle stretch that wanders before the last act
Grief handled without sentimentality or melodrama

Etna believes he is walking toward the farm where he was born. In actuality, he's walking toward a memory of himself that existed before anyone taught him how to kill, and no amount of ground covered can ever return that innocence. Yoon doesn't state it. He simply steers Etna in front of humans who also came home, all of them rebuilding on the false assumption that the war ends when the shooting stops. A man Etna meets uses Etna's survival as his own evidence. If this dog survived, then so can we. It is a small, ridiculous, entirely human piece of arithmetic. Yoon lets him keep it, and I'm so glad he did.

Review copyThanks to NetGalley, Paul Yoon, and Scribner for the advance reader copy. All opinions are our own.

Reviewed by John · How our reviews are written

Our verdict

4.7/ 5

Outstanding

Listen to Etna free with an Audible trial Narrator, runtime & our audio review

Buy on Amazon

As an Amazon Associate we earn from qualifying purchases. Prices may vary.

Where to read or listen

Is there an audiobook of Etna?: Yes. Etna has an Audible audiobook edition, narrated by Shrader Thomas.
Listen to Etna free with an Audible trial
We earn from qualifying Amazon purchases.
How long is the Etna audiobook?: The Etna audiobook runs 3 hr 12 min.
Is Etna on Kindle Unlimited?: No. Etna was not included with Kindle Unlimited when we last checked on July 29, 2026.
How much does Etna cost?: On Amazon: Kindle $14.99, Hardcover $28.00. Prices as of August 28, 2026 at 3:20 AM EDT and may change.

Filed underLiterary Fiction War Browse the archive →

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More by Paul YoonSee every Paul Yoon book we've reviewed, with our scores.All Paul Yoon books →

Common questions

What is Etna about?: Etna recalls what has happened to him the way a dog truly would: he worked, traveled, killed, men died, and then there were more men and the work began again. Yoon lets that list run flat intentionally, never raising his voice, and that's the entire point. At first glance it appears simplistic…
Is Etna worth reading?: We scored Etna 4.7 out of 5. Paul Yoon's Etna is a war novel narrated by a bomb-sniffing dog making the long walk back to the coastal farm he was taken from as a puppy. It runs barely 200 pages, told in flat, unadorned sentences and lands harder than novels three times its length. Literary fiction about…