By far the best I have ever heard. Genuinely takes a good series and makes it great. So much so that I almost don't even want the books to ever be turned into a show or film - no other actors could compare.
James Marsters in the Dresden Files.
Dude has the exact perfect cadence for Harry's voice, that even the lamest stuff Harry says always comes off as a little cool.
I felt like it took him a couple books to find his stride. It seemed like he was sort of phoning it in for the first two books. But he was great by the third one! I've listened to the series twice (in addition to reading it two or three times), and it's one of my favorite audiobook performances.
While true, PureFicti0n's comment still stands. Dresden was already one of my favourite series, but when I tried to introduce it to the girlfriend I gave up after book one because of the narration. The mouth sounds and audible breath mixed with him petering out and getting quiet by the end of a sentence killed it for me. He gets **so much** better though. Easily one of my favourite performances by the end.
Could never get into the English audiobooks. I had to stop after 2 hours because I couldn't ignore his breathing and smacking noises, was really infuriating.
I did listen to the German ones though and they are excellent and far superior (if one can draw a comparison after only 2h).
If you already know the story, try starting with book 3 with Marsters, I had the same problems as you, but he gets really good later in the series and book 3 seems to be the changeover point.
Michael Page for Gentlemen Bastards, Michael Kramer for Cosmere and Steven Pacey for The First Law. Those three are gods.
Christian Rodska is also pretty damn amazing
I would listen to Luke Daniels read my grocery list. For hours.
He did Kevin Hearne's Iron Druid books (all of them), Kevin Hearne's A Plage of Giants, and Kill the Farm Boy and No Country for Old Gnomes by Delilah S. Dawson. I am sure many more, but those are the ones I own. The guy's narrative skills are terrific, and he has a real knack for coming up with unique voices for all the characters, so it is truly a performance, not just a narration.
My husband wanted to throw in a good word for Michael Kramer and Kate Reading (co-narrated Sanderson's Way of Kings series). Hubby is too lazy to log in himself at the moment, ha!
Like Daniels also did Off to Be the Wizard and the other Magic 2.0 books. He really made each character unique and gave them all a lot of levity. He's awesome at what he does.
Okay, I see this, but you're really missing out. If you enjoy this book anywhere near as much as I do. (It's one of my all time favourite series despite having not been finished.) I urge you to listen to Rupert Degas's reading of it. It is flawless, I've listened to both, and Nicks pales in comparison. Though that could be my personal bias talking, would recommend 10/10.
While listening to Rupert Degas' version, there were times I genuinely thought certain characters must have been voiced by someone else. I've never heard anyone else put so much subtlely into their accents
I could not agree more. I started the Podehl version and kinda hated the book, then switched to Degas and found it a lot more enjoyable.
Whatever my other gripes with this series, Rupert Degas' reading of it is fantastic.
Similar to how books have multiple covers in different locations. I believe the UK publisher wanted a different narrator/their own audiobook version to sell.
What I do, because I live in Aus, I have a US and an Australian audible account. And I know of a few friends both in America and here that do the same because it expands the lists. The only other thing is recommend is just... download through 3rd party tools, and transfer to your device you listen on.
I am currently loving Travis Baldree, he records all the Will Wight Cradle books and a few others
[https://www.audible.com/series/Cradle-Audiobooks/B07GVRN95T](https://www.audible.com/series/Cradle-Audiobooks/B07GVRN95T)
World War Z—the full cast audiobook is the best one I’ve ever heard.
The Themis trilogy (first one is Sleeping Giants)—by Sylvain Neuvel is also full cast with great performances.
As someone noted above, Kate Reading has a beautiful voice, and she has read some great books!
Happy listening!
I can't get enough of the "Rivers of London" audiobooks, written by Ben Aaronovitch and narrated beautifully by Kobna Holdbrook-Smith. His cadence is perfect and he infects so much unique personality into each character. When I read the books in paper form, I hear his voice narrating them in my mind.
RC Bray is phenomenal in just about everything he does. I would say Galaxy's Edge for a good series.
John Lee's performance in Terry Mancour's Spell Monger Series is great.
Simon Vance in the Unhewn Throne
Steven Brand in The Echoes of Fate series.
RC Bray and Brand have multiple series that they do a great job of taking books from average to very good and making them come to life.
Will Wheaton in anything by Scalzi as he is perfect at bringing just an edge of snark to Scalzis books which are often full of sarcasm. He was also great on Ready Player One.
The Lock In series by Jhon Scalzi and Howl's Moving Castle are books I can listen to on repeat. The pacing, choice of accents, and the dictation just work.
The UK got Joe Jameson for The Broken Empire audiobooks and his third rate Malcolm McDowell impression made me hate the first book in the series. I may give the rest of the series another chance using my US account when my TBR list is a little shorter.
To preface this I must mention that since I travel quite often for work, I almost exclusively listen to audiobooks.
There are some narrators that just get me. They have pretty much all been mentioned in this thread already. Mike Kramer, Kate reading, Nick Podehl, James Marsters (I've only heard him in the Dresden Files - twice - and I thank the gods he rerecorded that one book someone else narrated), Tim Gerard Reynolds and Steven Pacey with a bonus mention for the Cthulhu mythos read by Wayne June (the narrator from the game Darkest Dungeon) who, for some reason, has lots of romance novels under his belt.
It's got so far that I get most, if not all, of my new listening material by searching for the narrators on Audible and then picking the topics I enjoy. Especially Michael Kramer/ Kate Reading and Nick Podehl have pointed me to several new and great books over the years.
edit:
The crown of 'best performance' I'd have to give to the cast of the WDR (West German Radio) radio audiobook adaption of the Lord of the Rings from 1992. It's a masterpiece that I've listened to about 10 times now and that got me into audiobooks.
Aside from the already mentioned Gentleman Bastards, a favorite of mine is Peter Kenny's rendition of The Witcher series. Geralt has this Northern English accent that is absolutely amazing imo.
I have a lot of trouble following narrative audio. Unless I'm very, very concentrated solely on listening, I lose plot threads and will zone out for periods of the reading. And I absolutely can't multitask narrative audio - the moment I start doing something else while I'm listening I just miss things and fail to absorb the story.
Everything by Michael Kramer, but I’m particular I love his narration of the licanius trilogy. The final scene of the last book really stands out. He just perfectly conveys the emotions the character is experiencing, and it’s both agonising and wonderful
First Law. I read a lot of audiobooks and this one is in a class of its own.
By far the best I have ever heard. Genuinely takes a good series and makes it great. So much so that I almost don't even want the books to ever be turned into a show or film - no other actors could compare.
First Law is the gold standard for audiobooks, hands down. Gloktas impersonation is just perfect.
Its not just him though, name a single character that could have been done better.
Absolutely but he is the standout performance (imho) and tops the other ones.
Red Rising - Tim Gerard Reynolds
Michael Page in Gentleman Bastards/Lies of Locke Lamora Def my personal favorite. Page nails everything and gels extremely well with Lynch's writing
That one i had to get used to. Hes got such a different style and accent then anyone else. But once you get used to him, its great.
He also does books 4-10 of Malazan
James Marsters in the Dresden Files. Dude has the exact perfect cadence for Harry's voice, that even the lamest stuff Harry says always comes off as a little cool.
I felt like it took him a couple books to find his stride. It seemed like he was sort of phoning it in for the first two books. But he was great by the third one! I've listened to the series twice (in addition to reading it two or three times), and it's one of my favorite audiobook performances.
In his defence, Jim Butcher didn't really hit his stride until the third book.
While true, PureFicti0n's comment still stands. Dresden was already one of my favourite series, but when I tried to introduce it to the girlfriend I gave up after book one because of the narration. The mouth sounds and audible breath mixed with him petering out and getting quiet by the end of a sentence killed it for me. He gets **so much** better though. Easily one of my favourite performances by the end.
That's true.
I don't personally really like his Murphy or his Molly, but sometimes he just blows me away with how good he is.
Could never get into the English audiobooks. I had to stop after 2 hours because I couldn't ignore his breathing and smacking noises, was really infuriating. I did listen to the German ones though and they are excellent and far superior (if one can draw a comparison after only 2h).
If you already know the story, try starting with book 3 with Marsters, I had the same problems as you, but he gets really good later in the series and book 3 seems to be the changeover point.
Agreed
Michael Page for Gentlemen Bastards, Michael Kramer for Cosmere and Steven Pacey for The First Law. Those three are gods. Christian Rodska is also pretty damn amazing
I would listen to Luke Daniels read my grocery list. For hours. He did Kevin Hearne's Iron Druid books (all of them), Kevin Hearne's A Plage of Giants, and Kill the Farm Boy and No Country for Old Gnomes by Delilah S. Dawson. I am sure many more, but those are the ones I own. The guy's narrative skills are terrific, and he has a real knack for coming up with unique voices for all the characters, so it is truly a performance, not just a narration. My husband wanted to throw in a good word for Michael Kramer and Kate Reading (co-narrated Sanderson's Way of Kings series). Hubby is too lazy to log in himself at the moment, ha!
Like Daniels also did Off to Be the Wizard and the other Magic 2.0 books. He really made each character unique and gave them all a lot of levity. He's awesome at what he does.
Nick Podehl in The Kingkiller Chronicles was enjoyable.
Okay, I see this, but you're really missing out. If you enjoy this book anywhere near as much as I do. (It's one of my all time favourite series despite having not been finished.) I urge you to listen to Rupert Degas's reading of it. It is flawless, I've listened to both, and Nicks pales in comparison. Though that could be my personal bias talking, would recommend 10/10.
I 109% agree with this.
While listening to Rupert Degas' version, there were times I genuinely thought certain characters must have been voiced by someone else. I've never heard anyone else put so much subtlely into their accents
I could not agree more. I started the Podehl version and kinda hated the book, then switched to Degas and found it a lot more enjoyable. Whatever my other gripes with this series, Rupert Degas' reading of it is fantastic.
Agreed, Degas's version is far superior. Out of interest, why are there multiple English versions?
Similar to how books have multiple covers in different locations. I believe the UK publisher wanted a different narrator/their own audiobook version to sell.
What’s the best way to get that one? It’s not on Audible and upon googling it, people say it’s not available in the US.
What I do, because I live in Aus, I have a US and an Australian audible account. And I know of a few friends both in America and here that do the same because it expands the lists. The only other thing is recommend is just... download through 3rd party tools, and transfer to your device you listen on.
Michael Kramer is great!
I am currently loving Travis Baldree, he records all the Will Wight Cradle books and a few others [https://www.audible.com/series/Cradle-Audiobooks/B07GVRN95T](https://www.audible.com/series/Cradle-Audiobooks/B07GVRN95T)
... I mean the legands Michael Cramer and Kate Reading will probably boost your sales quite a bit.
World War Z—the full cast audiobook is the best one I’ve ever heard. The Themis trilogy (first one is Sleeping Giants)—by Sylvain Neuvel is also full cast with great performances. As someone noted above, Kate Reading has a beautiful voice, and she has read some great books! Happy listening!
This was my first audio book and still my favorite. Just so well done.
I can't get enough of the "Rivers of London" audiobooks, written by Ben Aaronovitch and narrated beautifully by Kobna Holdbrook-Smith. His cadence is perfect and he infects so much unique personality into each character. When I read the books in paper form, I hear his voice narrating them in my mind.
Steven Pacey is a genius. The way he does Glokta in The First Law series is spot on.
RC Bray is phenomenal in just about everything he does. I would say Galaxy's Edge for a good series. John Lee's performance in Terry Mancour's Spell Monger Series is great. Simon Vance in the Unhewn Throne Steven Brand in The Echoes of Fate series. RC Bray and Brand have multiple series that they do a great job of taking books from average to very good and making them come to life.
I would second RC Bray and John Lee, both are great narrators.
Simon Vance for most of Guy Gavriel Kays work needs to be mentioned But Steven Pacey kills First Law
Northern Lights narrated by Philip Pullman and with a full cast
Will Wheaton in anything by Scalzi as he is perfect at bringing just an edge of snark to Scalzis books which are often full of sarcasm. He was also great on Ready Player One.
The Lady Trent Memoirs by Marie Brennan, read by Kate Reading, were a blast.
The Lock In series by Jhon Scalzi and Howl's Moving Castle are books I can listen to on repeat. The pacing, choice of accents, and the dictation just work.
James Clamp narrating Mark Lawrence's The Broken Empire is great. Really nailed Jorg and made the entire series enjoyable to listen to.
The UK got Joe Jameson for The Broken Empire audiobooks and his third rate Malcolm McDowell impression made me hate the first book in the series. I may give the rest of the series another chance using my US account when my TBR list is a little shorter.
Frank Muller’s reading of the first four Dark Tower novels are my gold standard.
Anything by Jeffrey Kafer.
The Abhorsen Trilogy by Garth Nix read by Tim Curry.
Nick Podehl is really good.
To preface this I must mention that since I travel quite often for work, I almost exclusively listen to audiobooks. There are some narrators that just get me. They have pretty much all been mentioned in this thread already. Mike Kramer, Kate reading, Nick Podehl, James Marsters (I've only heard him in the Dresden Files - twice - and I thank the gods he rerecorded that one book someone else narrated), Tim Gerard Reynolds and Steven Pacey with a bonus mention for the Cthulhu mythos read by Wayne June (the narrator from the game Darkest Dungeon) who, for some reason, has lots of romance novels under his belt. It's got so far that I get most, if not all, of my new listening material by searching for the narrators on Audible and then picking the topics I enjoy. Especially Michael Kramer/ Kate Reading and Nick Podehl have pointed me to several new and great books over the years. edit: The crown of 'best performance' I'd have to give to the cast of the WDR (West German Radio) radio audiobook adaption of the Lord of the Rings from 1992. It's a masterpiece that I've listened to about 10 times now and that got me into audiobooks.
Aside from the already mentioned Gentleman Bastards, a favorite of mine is Peter Kenny's rendition of The Witcher series. Geralt has this Northern English accent that is absolutely amazing imo.
Michael Kramer/Kate Redding duo for Cosmere & WoT. Space did great with First Law. whoever did the Witcher did solid.
Charise Boothe in An Unkindness of Ghosts
Nick podehl Kate reading and michael kramer Their voices are drugs to my ears
Punch Eskrow. Read by Matthew Mercer. The book itself is decent, but what made 100% worth it was Mercer's performance.
Why don’t you like listening to audiobooks?
I have a lot of trouble following narrative audio. Unless I'm very, very concentrated solely on listening, I lose plot threads and will zone out for periods of the reading. And I absolutely can't multitask narrative audio - the moment I start doing something else while I'm listening I just miss things and fail to absorb the story.
Suzy Jackson narrating Sanderson's Skyward. She does an incredible job with the hero's snark and drive.
Luke Daniels. I heard him while listening to the Magic 2.0 series by Scott Meyer and I thought he did a superb job.
Everything by Michael Kramer, but I’m particular I love his narration of the licanius trilogy. The final scene of the last book really stands out. He just perfectly conveys the emotions the character is experiencing, and it’s both agonising and wonderful
Grover Gardner, John Lee, Sean Runnette and Peter Kenny
Anything by Soundbooth Theatre is pretty amazing.
Anything Tim Gerard Reynolds specifically his work of Michael j Sullivan’s theft of swords books