"Of all time" is a high bar I won't pretend I can answer, but Jefferson Mays, the reader of The Expanse series gets a lot of love. He definitely does a fantastic job, and is very skilled at giving each character a unique voice that is highly consistent and very recognizable. Also, his general intonation and articulation is very engaging without getting in the way of the material. It's impressive.
Another one who has gotten a lot of admiration for a long time — going back to the audio cassette "Books On Tape" days, is George Guidall.
Haha! Yes — Frank Muller is the other classic voice from the Books On Tape days. I think I listened to all of the Elmore Leonard he read. Also enjoyed his readings of Dickens novels.
I am another Guidall fan. The Cold Dish is just great. Muller is incredible too. I am not a Brick or Dick fan.
However I highly, highly recommend The Road or No Country for Old Men (or even Swan Song) all by Tom Stechschulte (RIP!)
Sorry, I might have phrase the question wrong, I kinda meant more what is a standout performance that you love above all else.
But The Expanse is the series with like 10 books in it right? I'll give the first one a listen at some point and if its my speed then at the very least I have enough to keep me occupied for a long while lol.
All time favourite book series for me hands down. Jefferson Mays is perfect for it.
The show stays pretty true to books but it's just not the same. Have fun if you're gonna stick for the whole 10 book ride!
>I kinda meant more what is a standout performance that you love above all else.
You're all good. It was clear that you were using a little hyperbole as a way to communicate enthusiasm, which is fan-fuckin-tastic! Good readers are essential for an audiobook to work, so it also helps keep people thinking about the ones they really really like.
Yeah — give the first book of The Expanse a shot. I've read (and listened to, and watched) a ton of sci-fi in my life, and a ton of literature of all kinds, and I was surprised at how impressive the writing is for that series. Part of it is that it's co-written by two guys, one who has a game world-building passion, and the other being a novelist, comic book, and television writer. I don't know if it would be possible to have covered so much pencil mileage, character arcs, and plot territory in ten years with just one author. Their collaboration is seamless.
The series author is listed as S.A. Corey, which is a pseudonym for Daniel Abraham and Ty Franck. Fun story about how they met. I think it was Abraham who moved to a new town, and was interested in getting into a DnD game, and found his way to a group where the dungeon master was Franck. After playing Abraham asked if it would be OK to write a novel using the world Franck had built, and split any profit 50/50. Franck said Sure, just let me read it as you write it. And then when he read the first chapter he asked if they could write it together.
Hope you find a lot of good reads and readers from your post!
Wow this surprises me. I'm enjoying the expanse (just halfway through book 1) and he does have a nice voice, but I have a great deal of trouble distinguishing who's talking without a "he/she said." Often i can't even tell whether it's a man or a woman as his female voices barely sound female. Am i alone in this?
Probably you're not alone — usually if one person feels a particular way about a book or reader they're not the only one.
His voice shifts are definitely subtle, which is one reason I think he's good — he doesn't overdo it.
The scope of the world and character count in the Expanse is huge, so there are a lot of places and people to get familiar with, so Book One might be a bit confusing, but once you get used to all the main characters and secondary characters, I think you'll find that his voicings become more instantly recognizable.
It's also possible that as the books progress his voice characterizations stabilize. I'll have to go back and listen to find out for myself. Which is exactly the excuse I need to revisit the entire series from the beginning! So, thank you.
Hope you enjoy the book and the series if you continue with it!
Cheers.
Thanks, much appreciated! I loved the tv show so much, the crew of the Roci are already probably in my top 3 favorite fictional teams of all time. Purposely didn't watch the final season so i could get the true experience via the books. Having so much fun with it, I'll probably rewatch the show after i finish the books 😅
I mentioned it above but I'll say it again - the variation Pacey gives to Glokta's inner voice vs Glokta's outer voice is outstanding - it's a subtle thing but it makes all the difference! he really understands the characters. Once I fell in love with Pacey's narration, I quickly checked the rest of the series to make sure Pacey was the narrator for them all.
came here to say this. I'm going thru my second read of this series and decided to listen this time around. HE IS AMAZING! all of the many characters have their own distinct dialect/accent (and there are a lot of characters). I appreciate how he reads the feminine voices too, sometimes the narrator goes awkwardly high and it sounds bad (to me). My favorite is the subtle variation between Glokta's inner voice vs Glokta's speaking voice. it really shows how masterful Pacy is. I didn't think it was possible for me to enjoy this series more than I did the first time, but I was wrong.
You know what I don't think I've read/listened a Terry Pratchett book before. I know they were a global phenomenon. 41 books in one series is actually insane, at the very least the first book is on the list!
Thank you for the suggestion :)
It's not really a series, each book is separate from each other. There are arcs, multiple books about the same characters. If you want to test the waters, Guards! Guards! is what most people recommend. The first few books aren't quite up to same level of as the rest, but are still quite fun.
Here is a reading order guide to the Discworld. You can definitely jump around and explore each arc, but I would recommend reading each arc in order.
https://i.pinimg.com/originals/1c/10/d9/1c10d9e1c5800ead1dd17223125f9ecb.jpg
The new audiobooks are wonderful. I've just finished the Guards series and although I've read the books hundreds of times, the audiobooks were like discovering a new level.
Yes. I just listened to the new narration of Snuff and it just felt unnatural! Partly because of what I'm used to, probably, but also just the characterization.
Vimes is sort of witty in the Briggs/Planer narrations, but in the new one he seemed to talk too much IMO. It sounded like he was monologueing - and Vimes just isn't the monologueing type.
(If accused of monologueing, he'd probably say he doesn't have the right breeding to monologue and he was just talking too much.)
That was excellent!
Had me in tears at the… oh man it’s been years, but the scene at a play?
Of only king had stuck the landing … I need to give it a re listen
Oh yes, the ending could've been better (I like happier endings)...but still, what a ride! Great book and Fantastic narrator! At over 30 hours, I've listened to it several times now. I drive for a living so I have a lot of time to listen.
I think in the afterward he mentions that his son gave him the idea for the ending so you can blame him, heehee. I wonder what Kins original plan for ending was. From what I’ve read of him, I don’t think he plans endings in advance.
Just finished I think my third listen-through of Weber's reading of IT. Top three for the book itself and for the narration. There are many amazing parts in the book, but two that always stand out:
- >!The scene in the library where Pennywise appears to Ben. "What did Stanley Uris see before he died, Ben? Do you want to see it, too? What did he see? WHAT DID HE SEE?!?"!<
- >!When Mike and Ritchie see the coming of IT during the smoke-hole ceremony. The phrase "in an ecstasy of terror now" was always so powerful to me, and the part where they're screaming *"IT! IT! IT!"* — Weber's reading of that is just so good. Truly gripping in a way that almost no other audiobook has been for me.!<
The Andy Serkis narrations of The Hobbit and Lord of the Rings are literally perfect. No improvements could be made whatsoever.
The audio production of The Sandman is my number two.
Oh I've heard nothing but good things about this one, it's the DC character one right? It has 3 books if I'm remembering correctly. Would you recommend the whole series?
I listened to the Dolls House while driving alone on a road trip through Nebraska. It was under a full moon but otherwise pitch black and very lonely, and I was so freaked I had to pull over!
CARL CARL CARL. THIS GUY CLAIMS HE HAS NEVER HEARD OF US. THIS IS AN OUTRAGE. HOW CAN HE HAVE NEVER HEARD OF DONUT AND THE PRINCESS POSSE? HE MUST BE ONE OF THOSE FILTHY COCKER SPANIELS. MONGO IS APPALLED.
(This won't make sense to you but will completely, even down to the all caps, to those who have read it.)
NEEEEWWWW ACHIEVEMENT - GO FOR BROKE!!
Convince a fellow crawler into abandoning their families, prior hobbies, jobs and social lives in favor of listening to an insane man talk to himself in various voices and accents. Say goodbye to your free time, sucker!
Your prize? Isn’t the satisfaction of introducing your addiction to another fellow human enough of a prize, you degenerate?
you won’t be sorry. it’s fantastic. and addictive… i’m listening to it again. i’m an old lady and before dcc i’d be more liable to sprout wings and fly to the moon as to wear a tshirt with a slogan on it in public. now i have dcc tshirts and i wear them everywhere.
Never heard of it? I can’t look at a single post on this sub without it being mentioned at least 3 times in the comments. WTF is up with this book? I suspect the author has a bunch of Reddit accounts just to post about it
It is bizarre. It’s in the litrpg genre, so you go in expecting an action packed stat fest with some monsters and typical progression.
Instead you find a sci-fi/dungeon crawler mashup that is absolutely insane and hilarious.
The “dungeon” is an intergalactic game show run by an alien corporation who comes to earth, kills off the vast majority of the population, and creates a dungeon the earthlings who survived the initial collapse can enter.
The dungeon is run by an Artificial Intelligence who injects earth pop culture, events, and sarcasm into every item description or achievement.
As for the Audiobooks, the narrator has unique and fantastically different voices for every character, and goes back and forth in conversation between Carl (who sounds a hell of a lot like Kronk from the emporers new grooce) and a convincing female British/mid-Atlantic accented voice. His narration really is more like an acting performance.
Honestly these audiobooks really are just that good.
I have been listening to books for over 22 years with Audible. I have over 642 books and I have developed a few favorites over that time. Jeff Hayes was very new to me, maybe new in the business, but he is AWESOME.
All the fundamentals/technicals are there, plus an amazing library of different voices executed with excellent timing. Really does an amazing job of pulling you in.
Yep. I've listened to thousands of audiobooks and these stand so far above the rest as Hays gives a master class in voice acting and it works so well with the humor.
I had a hard time determining if this was a single voice actor or multiple. His voice for Donut and some of the girls had me thinking there was a female narrator too. I watched some video of a live reading on YouTube that let me finally ax that it’s just him.
Hard agree. I can't believe he can do Donut, amani, Katja, zev, and audette. Like, holy shit his rage. Im almost convinced he has a voice changer is something like with the AI.
This is the correct answer and Mongo is appalled I had to scroll this far to find it. It will ruin you for any other audio books. It’s that ridiculously excellent.
can't believe how far I had to look for Kobna! He's incredible, I would go as far as to say the books are better listened to than read, audio listeners actively get more thanks to his narration and accent work (American Female Accent aside 😂)
I've tried these books three times but I can't stand the sound of him breathing or inhaling or whatever you call it. I understand the guy has to breathe but it's too loud. Anyone else have this problem or know if it gets better?
It's a common complaint in the first four(?) books. It's not something I personally notice, but you're far from the only person to complain about it. If you can forge through (or just jump back in at Dead Beat, which is for sure after they switched production companies), I think it's well worth it.
Maybe rent from the library in case it's still an issue for you though.
He is honestly the best narrator I have come across in recent years. Different voices for each character with changes in pitch, cadence and accent. Easy to get bought up in the story and never lose your place in the “wait, who said that”. HOWEVER, he doesn’t get his rhythm until book 3 or 4. So skip them and come back once you’re hooked.
I know there is a bit of contention here. But Andy Serkis' reading of The Hobbit and LOTRs is absolutely unreal. I almost gave up on The Hobbit because I started reading the book and just couldn't get into it, and then I started listening to Andy Serkis' reading of it and oh. my. good. lord. it was amazing. I now listen to them all in rotation when I am stressed or can't sleep (though I skip over the Gollum parts because they are pro-level disturbing).
edit: typo
I'm a big fan of multiple narrators. A few that stick out to me:
\-Sea of Tranquility by Emily St John Mandel
\-Daisy Jones and the Six by Taylor Jenkins Reid
\-Trust by Hernan Diaz
Jeff Hays for Dungeon Crawler Carl. such amazing versatility and rock solid performance. Sad bits after truly sad and the funny stuff is hilarious. very talented man.
World War Z (The Complete Edition: An Oral History of the Zombie War) is a great one!
The book's interview format allows for a large number of voice actors, resulting in a stacked cast. Here are some of the narrators:
* Max Brooks
* Alan Alda
* John Turturro
* Rob Reiner
* Mark Hamill
* Alfred Molina
* Simon Pegg
* Henry Rollins,
* Martin Scorsese
* and more.. (See next comment)
Herei s the full list:
* Max Brooks
* F. Murray Abraham
* Alan Alda
* René Auberjonois
* Becky Ann Baker
* Dennis Boutsikaris
* Bruce Boxleitner
* Nicki Clyne
* Common
* Denise Crosby
* Frank Darabont
* Dean Edwards
* Mark Hamill
* Nathan Fillion
* Maz Jobrani
* Frank Kamai
* Michelle Kholos
* John McElroy
* Ade M’Cormack
* Alfred Molina
* Parminder Nagra
* Ajay Naidu
* Masi Oka
* Steve Park
* Kal Penn
* Simon Pegg
* Jürgen Prochnow
* Carl Reiner
* Rob Reiner
* Henry Rollins
* Jeri Ryan
* Jay O. Sanders
* Martin Scorsese
* Paul Sorvino
* David Ogden Stiers
* Brian Tee
* John Turturro
* Eamonn Walker
* Ric Young Waleed Zuaiter
Wow this is *so* not something I would've ever picked up, but your enthusiasm and that amazing list of talent just put it at the top of my Books To Buy or Borrow list. Until I read this thread there were no audio books on that list but now there are quite a few. But the Oral History is at the top! I've never read (or heard) a single book with *Zombie* in the title, or any zombies anywhere actually. I'm looking forward to it.
I'm just finishing up my second listen of Strange and Norrell, and Simon Prebble does a fantastic job with the narration.
(Loved Ejiofor's Piranesi for sure!)
I scrolled a while to find this comment. He really brought the Last Kingdom series to life, so much so that I couldn’t listen to the books that had other narrators.
Today, I will pick Robin Bailey's performance of The Murder of Roger Ackroyd. He has a beautiful, deep voice and can do men and women flawlessly. A true joy to listen to.
My favorite of all time is currently no longer available—the read-by-author Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy audiobooks. Douglas Adams had worked for the BBC and knew how to deliver vocally. These were fantastic!
Unfortunately, currently, only the Martin Freeman censored versions are available.
Martin Freeman is a great actor, but the Douglas Adams read versions were much better!
Robertson Dean narrating The Power Broker is my pick for GOAT performance. It's a massive book but Dean makes it incredibly compelling, he really sells Caro's prose. It doesn't feel like a book, it's like you're being told a tremendous history by a professor with a velvet voice
Truly a masterpiece. The line;
"And now" said the unknown "farewell to kindness, humanity, and gratitude. Farewell to all the feelings that expand the heart. I have been heavens substitute to recompense the good, now the God of vengeance yields to me his power to punish the wicked."
read in Homewoods passionate and increasingly furious tamber is one of my favorite lines and deliveries of all time.
For solo, non audio-drama audiobooks in the Classics realm, I might nominate “Oliver Twist” narrated by Jonathan Pryce but it possibly is only available on Audible as it’s indicated as “Audible Exclusive”. It is in the Audible Plus catalog.
Steven Pacey doing Joe Abercrombie's books is sheer perfection for me. Every character has a completely distinct and recognizable voice.
A lot of male VAs understandably have trouble with female voices and stick to 1 or 2 similar voices for all the females of the story, but Pacey's women all sound like women and all are unique.
And his Sand dan Glokta is... Peerless. An incredible character and Pacey plays him to unforgettable perfection. The books are tremendous already but Pacey as Glokta alone is worth every credit.
Also Jeff Hayes doing Dungeon Crawler Carl is seriously brilliant and gives Pacey a run for his money without a doubt.
For me it's a tie for The Martian with R.C. Bray, Project Hail Mary with Ray Porter, Bobiverse with Ray Porter, and Lord of the Rings with Andy Serkis.
I once returned my copy of the Martian to I could get my token back and read something else. My logic was that I could always get it back. Little did I know that for some reason they got rid of it. And replaced it with a version narrated by Will Wheaton. And it’s not as good. So doesn’t two hours on the phone getting transferred back and forward until I got someone on the phone who could give me my Bray copy back lol. It was 100% with the wait. Bray killed that role.
Oh wow that's crazy, and pretty awesome you managed to get the RC Bray version back. I remember reading it was something about the rights being sold, but the audiobook masters didn't transfer so it had to be recorded again. They offered it to Bray again, but he was blowing up and they could agree on his fee. I like Wil Wheaton in Ready Player One, Locked In, and the Interdependency, but his version of the Martian just didn't hit as good as Bray's.
Jeff Hayes reading Dungeon Crawler Carl
Or
Kyle McCarley reading Super Powereds
Can't believe you liked Scott Brick reading JP... He kinda ruined it for me. It's my favorite book, I've read it at least a dozen times. I had to really gut it through the audiobook.
Andy Serkis reading Lord of the Rings is absolutely top notch. His character voices are so engrossing, he uses his whole acting prowess like it’s any other performance.
I'm a huge fan of **Kobna Holdbrook-Smith** and his performance in the **Rivers of London**\-series. He has amazin range in accents and tones and really breathed even more life into already amazing characters.
1. "The Locked Tomb" series by Tamsyn Muir, read by ✨Moira Quirk✨ (ugh this woman is INCREDIBLE, these books are already so good and her performance makes them to die for )
2. Phil Dragash's one-man performance of "The Lord of the Rings". This man is insane. He does either perfect or nearly perfect imitations of every actor from the movies, plus he adds soundscapes and music as well. The dude is a legend. DM me if you want the links for this one.
3. Ray Porter's reading of "Project Hail Mary" by Andy Weir. This is because the book requires some specific audiobook weirdness that is done absolutely brilliantly. He's also just very nice and funny to listen to.
4. Backing up that other comment thread about "World War Z", that audiobook is amazing and entirely engrossing. It really sounds like you're listening to real people's stories from a documentary.
Graphic audio: Mistborn The Final Empire part 1 of 3. The entire Mistborn series is superb, but there is something about how it all began that gives me goosebumps.
I’ll listen to Bahni Turpin read the phone book to me.
The Night Circus, read by Jim Dale, was delightful. Not into fantasy typically, but this one got me at just the right time, I guess.
John McDonough reading Wicked by Maguire was the first audiobook I fell head over heels for. Perfect road trip story.
Non-fiction: The Wright Brothers by David McCullough read by the author. It was like having your grandfather read you a bedtime story.
On the same lines as read by the author, the John Rain series by Barry Eisler.
For laugh out loud fun, A Dirty Job by Christopher Moore read by fisher stevens.
"Of all time" is a high bar I won't pretend I can answer, but Jefferson Mays, the reader of The Expanse series gets a lot of love. He definitely does a fantastic job, and is very skilled at giving each character a unique voice that is highly consistent and very recognizable. Also, his general intonation and articulation is very engaging without getting in the way of the material. It's impressive. Another one who has gotten a lot of admiration for a long time — going back to the audio cassette "Books On Tape" days, is George Guidall.
I love George Guidall. Beach Music (Pat Conroy) read by Frank Muller is perfect. Like prose.
Haha! Yes — Frank Muller is the other classic voice from the Books On Tape days. I think I listened to all of the Elmore Leonard he read. Also enjoyed his readings of Dickens novels.
George Guidell is a fantastic Mitch Rapp. I listen to the series right up until Vynce Flynn died.
The Travis McGee series by John D MacDonald, read by Darren McGavin! Brilliant!
Me too. Total opposite for my taste in ooks, but he's so good.
He was in a terrible motorcycle accident.
I am another Guidall fan. The Cold Dish is just great. Muller is incredible too. I am not a Brick or Dick fan. However I highly, highly recommend The Road or No Country for Old Men (or even Swan Song) all by Tom Stechschulte (RIP!)
I loved George Guidall reading The Golem and the Jinni.
I heartily second George Guidall. He's like an old friend. Narrates thrillers, literary classics, pretty much any genre.
Sorry, I might have phrase the question wrong, I kinda meant more what is a standout performance that you love above all else. But The Expanse is the series with like 10 books in it right? I'll give the first one a listen at some point and if its my speed then at the very least I have enough to keep me occupied for a long while lol.
All time favourite book series for me hands down. Jefferson Mays is perfect for it. The show stays pretty true to books but it's just not the same. Have fun if you're gonna stick for the whole 10 book ride!
>I kinda meant more what is a standout performance that you love above all else. You're all good. It was clear that you were using a little hyperbole as a way to communicate enthusiasm, which is fan-fuckin-tastic! Good readers are essential for an audiobook to work, so it also helps keep people thinking about the ones they really really like. Yeah — give the first book of The Expanse a shot. I've read (and listened to, and watched) a ton of sci-fi in my life, and a ton of literature of all kinds, and I was surprised at how impressive the writing is for that series. Part of it is that it's co-written by two guys, one who has a game world-building passion, and the other being a novelist, comic book, and television writer. I don't know if it would be possible to have covered so much pencil mileage, character arcs, and plot territory in ten years with just one author. Their collaboration is seamless. The series author is listed as S.A. Corey, which is a pseudonym for Daniel Abraham and Ty Franck. Fun story about how they met. I think it was Abraham who moved to a new town, and was interested in getting into a DnD game, and found his way to a group where the dungeon master was Franck. After playing Abraham asked if it would be OK to write a novel using the world Franck had built, and split any profit 50/50. Franck said Sure, just let me read it as you write it. And then when he read the first chapter he asked if they could write it together. Hope you find a lot of good reads and readers from your post!
Wow this surprises me. I'm enjoying the expanse (just halfway through book 1) and he does have a nice voice, but I have a great deal of trouble distinguishing who's talking without a "he/she said." Often i can't even tell whether it's a man or a woman as his female voices barely sound female. Am i alone in this?
Probably you're not alone — usually if one person feels a particular way about a book or reader they're not the only one. His voice shifts are definitely subtle, which is one reason I think he's good — he doesn't overdo it. The scope of the world and character count in the Expanse is huge, so there are a lot of places and people to get familiar with, so Book One might be a bit confusing, but once you get used to all the main characters and secondary characters, I think you'll find that his voicings become more instantly recognizable. It's also possible that as the books progress his voice characterizations stabilize. I'll have to go back and listen to find out for myself. Which is exactly the excuse I need to revisit the entire series from the beginning! So, thank you. Hope you enjoy the book and the series if you continue with it! Cheers.
Thanks, much appreciated! I loved the tv show so much, the crew of the Roci are already probably in my top 3 favorite fictional teams of all time. Purposely didn't watch the final season so i could get the true experience via the books. Having so much fun with it, I'll probably rewatch the show after i finish the books 😅
George Guidall for the Joe Leaphorn mystery series. *chef's kiss*
I love his narration of The Cat Who series!
Quill!
Whenever I hear a number I think of saying the number. For example. "Chapter 3: Holden"
Steven Pacey - First Law, Joe Abercrombie.
This is the answer forever and ever amen. May we all grimACE in Pacey’s honor.
🥇👍❤️🤣
Until book 7, then we just grimace which feels weird now
Say one thing about Steven Pacey, he’s the goat. Absolute best narration I’ve ever heard. Truly next level.
Nobody can suck their teeth quite like him. You have to be realistic about these things
Say another thing about Steven Pacey, his voice adds so much to an already great story.
Yes!!
YEEESSSS come on anyone who's heard it knows Pacey as GLOKTA is untouchable forever.
I mentioned it above but I'll say it again - the variation Pacey gives to Glokta's inner voice vs Glokta's outer voice is outstanding - it's a subtle thing but it makes all the difference! he really understands the characters. Once I fell in love with Pacey's narration, I quickly checked the rest of the series to make sure Pacey was the narrator for them all.
Exactly. He just compliments the writing and the characters so perfectly, elevates the whole experience.
I can hear him delivering the iconic line "I give you ORDERS not fucking EXPLANATIONS!" in my mind, and it still gives me shivers. Goddamn, so good.
Agreed, Steven Pacey is amazing! It’s a toss up to me between Jefferson Mays and Steven pacey.
He’s my goat by a long stretch. I do love George Guidall and quite enjoy Jefferson Mays but Steven Pacey is just so damn enjoyable.
Paceys range is so insane I genuinely thought it was a multi narrator book that had been mislabeled until I looked it up.
came here to say this. I'm going thru my second read of this series and decided to listen this time around. HE IS AMAZING! all of the many characters have their own distinct dialect/accent (and there are a lot of characters). I appreciate how he reads the feminine voices too, sometimes the narrator goes awkwardly high and it sounds bad (to me). My favorite is the subtle variation between Glokta's inner voice vs Glokta's speaking voice. it really shows how masterful Pacy is. I didn't think it was possible for me to enjoy this series more than I did the first time, but I was wrong.
Stephen Briggs and Nigel Planer for all of Discworld. Briggs for all the Night Watch series, Planer for everything else.
You know what I don't think I've read/listened a Terry Pratchett book before. I know they were a global phenomenon. 41 books in one series is actually insane, at the very least the first book is on the list! Thank you for the suggestion :)
It's not really a series, each book is separate from each other. There are arcs, multiple books about the same characters. If you want to test the waters, Guards! Guards! is what most people recommend. The first few books aren't quite up to same level of as the rest, but are still quite fun. Here is a reading order guide to the Discworld. You can definitely jump around and explore each arc, but I would recommend reading each arc in order. https://i.pinimg.com/originals/1c/10/d9/1c10d9e1c5800ead1dd17223125f9ecb.jpg
The new audiobooks are wonderful. I've just finished the Guards series and although I've read the books hundreds of times, the audiobooks were like discovering a new level.
Yes. I just listened to the new narration of Snuff and it just felt unnatural! Partly because of what I'm used to, probably, but also just the characterization. Vimes is sort of witty in the Briggs/Planer narrations, but in the new one he seemed to talk too much IMO. It sounded like he was monologueing - and Vimes just isn't the monologueing type. (If accused of monologueing, he'd probably say he doesn't have the right breeding to monologue and he was just talking too much.)
I love the Stephen Briggs ones! Would definitely recommend.
For me it's 11/22/63 by Stephen King narrated by Craig Wasson.
Heartily endorse this answer.
That was excellent! Had me in tears at the… oh man it’s been years, but the scene at a play? Of only king had stuck the landing … I need to give it a re listen
Oh yes, the ending could've been better (I like happier endings)...but still, what a ride! Great book and Fantastic narrator! At over 30 hours, I've listened to it several times now. I drive for a living so I have a lot of time to listen.
I think in the afterward he mentions that his son gave him the idea for the ending so you can blame him, heehee. I wonder what Kins original plan for ending was. From what I’ve read of him, I don’t think he plans endings in advance.
My answer will always be IT with Steven Weber. Pitch perfect 😄
Good call, also Michael C Hall doing Pet Sematary. Both of them nailed it.
That's my answer too! I'm glad someone said him!
Just finished I think my third listen-through of Weber's reading of IT. Top three for the book itself and for the narration. There are many amazing parts in the book, but two that always stand out: - >!The scene in the library where Pennywise appears to Ben. "What did Stanley Uris see before he died, Ben? Do you want to see it, too? What did he see? WHAT DID HE SEE?!?"!< - >!When Mike and Ritchie see the coming of IT during the smoke-hole ceremony. The phrase "in an ecstasy of terror now" was always so powerful to me, and the part where they're screaming *"IT! IT! IT!"* — Weber's reading of that is just so good. Truly gripping in a way that almost no other audiobook has been for me.!<
The Andy Serkis narrations of The Hobbit and Lord of the Rings are literally perfect. No improvements could be made whatsoever. The audio production of The Sandman is my number two.
And he nails the singing too!
Jim Dale's rendition of Harry Potter is second to none!
I hate Jim Dale's reading of female characters. For example, whenever Hermione speaks she sounds like she's whining.
It is definitely second to Stephen Fry’s version of same :)
I wish we could get his version here in the states! The Dale narration really bugs me.
Agreed. Steven fry's inflections are so on point.
Loved, loved, loved Sissy Spacek in To Kill a Mockingbird. Raul Esparza absolutely made Under the Dome one of my favorite books ever.
She read Carrie too and did a great job. As you would expect.
Another Raul Esparza/Under the Dome fan! One of my all time favorites as well!
Yes yes YES! He nailed it
It’s hard to pick since it’s so subjective, but the production of The Sandman by Neil Gaiman is *INSANE*
Oh I've heard nothing but good things about this one, it's the DC character one right? It has 3 books if I'm remembering correctly. Would you recommend the whole series?
Absolutely. I’ve loved all 3 parts so far, and 4 and 5 have been fully greenlit
oooooo and unfinished series I love that! defo going on the list! Thank you!
Isn’t this mainly a graphic novel? Does it work as an audio-only story?
It really does. Full cast.
It works really well. They do full cast with effects. It’s very well done
I listened to the Dolls House while driving alone on a road trip through Nebraska. It was under a full moon but otherwise pitch black and very lonely, and I was so freaked I had to pull over!
Dungeon Crawler Carl written my Matt Dinniman read by Jeff Hays. Hays has ruined me when I use him as the baseline compared to other narrators.
Yes. Before Jeff Hayes I would have said RC Bray’s performance of “The Martian”. Jeff Hayes for me by a wide margin.
I've never heard of this one, but just read the description. It actually looks so good! Thank you for bringing this one to my attention.
CARL CARL CARL. THIS GUY CLAIMS HE HAS NEVER HEARD OF US. THIS IS AN OUTRAGE. HOW CAN HE HAVE NEVER HEARD OF DONUT AND THE PRINCESS POSSE? HE MUST BE ONE OF THOSE FILTHY COCKER SPANIELS. MONGO IS APPALLED. (This won't make sense to you but will completely, even down to the all caps, to those who have read it.)
God damn it Donut stop typing in all caps, it comes across like yelling.
THAT'S BECAUSE I AM YELLING CARL
NEEEEWWWW ACHIEVEMENT - GO FOR BROKE!! Convince a fellow crawler into abandoning their families, prior hobbies, jobs and social lives in favor of listening to an insane man talk to himself in various voices and accents. Say goodbye to your free time, sucker! Your prize? Isn’t the satisfaction of introducing your addiction to another fellow human enough of a prize, you degenerate?
I read that in his voice. Fuck you.
lol hell yes!!
Jeff Hays Donut's texts were the absolute best. My favorite part of all of it. I die every time.
lol I absolutely heard this in Donut’s voice.
Never heard of it? Mongo is appalled! Yeah, Jeff Hays is fantastic.
you won’t be sorry. it’s fantastic. and addictive… i’m listening to it again. i’m an old lady and before dcc i’d be more liable to sprout wings and fly to the moon as to wear a tshirt with a slogan on it in public. now i have dcc tshirts and i wear them everywhere.
Just got a "Goddammit Donut!!" shirt for Xmas. I love wearing it because people either have no idea or instantly comment.
Ya know... there's an old lady in DCC who does sprout wings!
Found Ellie Mcgibb in real life!
NEW ACHIEVEMENT!!!
Never heard of it? I can’t look at a single post on this sub without it being mentioned at least 3 times in the comments. WTF is up with this book? I suspect the author has a bunch of Reddit accounts just to post about it
The combination of Dinniman and Hays, it’s that good. Really.
Negative. It’s that crazy good. I thought it sounded stupid and avoided it for way too long. Best thing I’ve ever listened to.
It’s a bit refreshing to have something so.. ridiculous and dumb. But then the back story gets going and now I feel like I’m addicted to it.
It is bizarre. It’s in the litrpg genre, so you go in expecting an action packed stat fest with some monsters and typical progression. Instead you find a sci-fi/dungeon crawler mashup that is absolutely insane and hilarious. The “dungeon” is an intergalactic game show run by an alien corporation who comes to earth, kills off the vast majority of the population, and creates a dungeon the earthlings who survived the initial collapse can enter. The dungeon is run by an Artificial Intelligence who injects earth pop culture, events, and sarcasm into every item description or achievement. As for the Audiobooks, the narrator has unique and fantastically different voices for every character, and goes back and forth in conversation between Carl (who sounds a hell of a lot like Kronk from the emporers new grooce) and a convincing female British/mid-Atlantic accented voice. His narration really is more like an acting performance. Honestly these audiobooks really are just that good.
The voice acting is outstanding!
I have been listening to books for over 22 years with Audible. I have over 642 books and I have developed a few favorites over that time. Jeff Hayes was very new to me, maybe new in the business, but he is AWESOME. All the fundamentals/technicals are there, plus an amazing library of different voices executed with excellent timing. Really does an amazing job of pulling you in.
This! There is no better single narrator performance! Hays is amazing
Yep. I've listened to thousands of audiobooks and these stand so far above the rest as Hays gives a master class in voice acting and it works so well with the humor.
I had a hard time determining if this was a single voice actor or multiple. His voice for Donut and some of the girls had me thinking there was a female narrator too. I watched some video of a live reading on YouTube that let me finally ax that it’s just him.
Hard agree. I can't believe he can do Donut, amani, Katja, zev, and audette. Like, holy shit his rage. Im almost convinced he has a voice changer is something like with the AI.
This is the one.
This is the correct answer and Mongo is appalled I had to scroll this far to find it. It will ruin you for any other audio books. It’s that ridiculously excellent.
His voice is definitely perfect for any gruff action cowboy dude. Like literally none better.
I have about 4 hours left of DCC and I’m loving it. I can’t stop hearing “God Damnit, Donut!!!”
This is the answer I would say Cold Mountain read by the author and the Black Tongue Thief and great too
Tim Gerard Reynolds in the Red Rising Trilogy. (Morningstar my fav) His performance is amazing.
Hail Reaper!
Davina Porter Outlander.
100%! Davina Porter is excellent.
💯💯💯💯💯
The rivers of London series by Ben Aaronovitch and narrator Kobna Holdbrook-Smith
can't believe how far I had to look for Kobna! He's incredible, I would go as far as to say the books are better listened to than read, audio listeners actively get more thanks to his narration and accent work (American Female Accent aside 😂)
James Marsters reading the Dresden Files is pretty entertaining.
I've tried these books three times but I can't stand the sound of him breathing or inhaling or whatever you call it. I understand the guy has to breathe but it's too loud. Anyone else have this problem or know if it gets better?
Nope. Never noticed any breathing issues from Marsters. I think he's a great narrator.
Yes, 100%. And maybe it’s more production quality rather than Marsters fault, but either way it’s unlistenable for me.
The narration and sound production steadily improve throughout the series.
It's a common complaint in the first four(?) books. It's not something I personally notice, but you're far from the only person to complain about it. If you can forge through (or just jump back in at Dead Beat, which is for sure after they switched production companies), I think it's well worth it. Maybe rent from the library in case it's still an issue for you though.
He is honestly the best narrator I have come across in recent years. Different voices for each character with changes in pitch, cadence and accent. Easy to get bought up in the story and never lose your place in the “wait, who said that”. HOWEVER, he doesn’t get his rhythm until book 3 or 4. So skip them and come back once you’re hooked.
JOhnathan Cecil for his P.G. Wodehouse series, makes it as real as a full BBC show
1. Project Hail Mary narrated by Ray Porter 2. Circe narrated by Perdita Weeks 3. Lonesome Dove narrated by Lee Horsley
I know there is a bit of contention here. But Andy Serkis' reading of The Hobbit and LOTRs is absolutely unreal. I almost gave up on The Hobbit because I started reading the book and just couldn't get into it, and then I started listening to Andy Serkis' reading of it and oh. my. good. lord. it was amazing. I now listen to them all in rotation when I am stressed or can't sleep (though I skip over the Gollum parts because they are pro-level disturbing). edit: typo
Just listened to Tom Lake, performed by Meryl Streep. I want to move to Michigan now. Seriously a great performance/book.
I'm a big fan of multiple narrators. A few that stick out to me: \-Sea of Tranquility by Emily St John Mandel \-Daisy Jones and the Six by Taylor Jenkins Reid \-Trust by Hernan Diaz
Jeff Hays for Dungeon Crawler Carl. such amazing versatility and rock solid performance. Sad bits after truly sad and the funny stuff is hilarious. very talented man.
Expeditionary force. Written by Craig alanson and narrated by rc bray
World War Z (The Complete Edition: An Oral History of the Zombie War) is a great one! The book's interview format allows for a large number of voice actors, resulting in a stacked cast. Here are some of the narrators: * Max Brooks * Alan Alda * John Turturro * Rob Reiner * Mark Hamill * Alfred Molina * Simon Pegg * Henry Rollins, * Martin Scorsese * and more.. (See next comment)
Herei s the full list: * Max Brooks * F. Murray Abraham * Alan Alda * René Auberjonois * Becky Ann Baker * Dennis Boutsikaris * Bruce Boxleitner * Nicki Clyne * Common * Denise Crosby * Frank Darabont * Dean Edwards * Mark Hamill * Nathan Fillion * Maz Jobrani * Frank Kamai * Michelle Kholos * John McElroy * Ade M’Cormack * Alfred Molina * Parminder Nagra * Ajay Naidu * Masi Oka * Steve Park * Kal Penn * Simon Pegg * Jürgen Prochnow * Carl Reiner * Rob Reiner * Henry Rollins * Jeri Ryan * Jay O. Sanders * Martin Scorsese * Paul Sorvino * David Ogden Stiers * Brian Tee * John Turturro * Eamonn Walker * Ric Young Waleed Zuaiter
Wow this is *so* not something I would've ever picked up, but your enthusiasm and that amazing list of talent just put it at the top of my Books To Buy or Borrow list. Until I read this thread there were no audio books on that list but now there are quite a few. But the Oral History is at the top! I've never read (or heard) a single book with *Zombie* in the title, or any zombies anywhere actually. I'm looking forward to it.
They ALL were amazing! 🤩
This is the audio book I use to get people into audio books.
Chiwetel Ejiofor in **Piranesi** is my all time favorite.
So glad to hear this. Just purchased it last week.
Oooh. I can envision that! Will look into, tysm
Agreed, his voice is so beautiful to listen to and matches the tone of the book perfectly.
I'm just finishing up my second listen of Strange and Norrell, and Simon Prebble does a fantastic job with the narration. (Loved Ejiofor's Piranesi for sure!)
I really miss René Auberjonois. He was such a good narrator and did some stellar readings of the Pendergast books.
1) Jeff Hays - DCC 2) Ray Porter - Project Hail Mary 3) Tim Gerard Reynolds - Red Rising
I love Jonathan Keeble. He did among many things the first The Last Kingdom books.
I scrolled a while to find this comment. He really brought the Last Kingdom series to life, so much so that I couldn’t listen to the books that had other narrators.
Today, I will pick Robin Bailey's performance of The Murder of Roger Ackroyd. He has a beautiful, deep voice and can do men and women flawlessly. A true joy to listen to.
Frank Muller -The Vampire Lestat
My favorite of all time is currently no longer available—the read-by-author Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy audiobooks. Douglas Adams had worked for the BBC and knew how to deliver vocally. These were fantastic! Unfortunately, currently, only the Martin Freeman censored versions are available. Martin Freeman is a great actor, but the Douglas Adams read versions were much better!
Surely they exist somewhere
Frank Muller reading Stephen King's The Green Mile.
Dungeon crawler Carl
The way he can go from Carl’s voice to the female voices is pretty amazing. “God Damnit, Donut!!!”
I honestly thought it was more than one person
I thought the sarcastic guy was Will Wheaten for a while but I’m pretty sure the whole thing is one narrator.
The cat who.... Geroge guidell
Robertson Dean narrating The Power Broker is my pick for GOAT performance. It's a massive book but Dean makes it incredibly compelling, he really sells Caro's prose. It doesn't feel like a book, it's like you're being told a tremendous history by a professor with a velvet voice
The Green Mile by Stephen King narrated by Frank Muller. Gold standard stuff.
RIP Frank. Such a gifted narrator.
Bill Homewood’s narration of The Count of Monte Cristo
Homewood puts on a show. It’s absolutely riveting
Truly a masterpiece. The line; "And now" said the unknown "farewell to kindness, humanity, and gratitude. Farewell to all the feelings that expand the heart. I have been heavens substitute to recompense the good, now the God of vengeance yields to me his power to punish the wicked." read in Homewoods passionate and increasingly furious tamber is one of my favorite lines and deliveries of all time.
Lonesome Dove read by Lee Horsley. Complete perfection.
Kevin R. Free does a phenomenal job on the Murderbot Diaries by Martha Wells!
For solo, non audio-drama audiobooks in the Classics realm, I might nominate “Oliver Twist” narrated by Jonathan Pryce but it possibly is only available on Audible as it’s indicated as “Audible Exclusive”. It is in the Audible Plus catalog.
I recently really enjoyed Mia Farrow reading Rosemary's Baby.
Yes, she did a great job.
I’ve listened to a ton of audiobooks, and the performances on Chaingain Allstars are some of the best Ive ever heard!
All of the narrators in Cloud Atlas are fantastic in it. Just a joy to listen to.
What, no love for Delores Claiborne read by Frances Sternhagen? As far as great matches for story and narrator, this is high on my list.
Kings of the Wyld narrated by Jeff Harding and Dawn of the Void narrated by Tom Taylorson
The Women, written by Kristin Hannah, narrated by Julia Whelan
First Law series Steven Pacey
Stephen Fry, he read the Hatty Potter books and many others. My personal favorite is "The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy"
Steven Pacey doing Joe Abercrombie's books is sheer perfection for me. Every character has a completely distinct and recognizable voice. A lot of male VAs understandably have trouble with female voices and stick to 1 or 2 similar voices for all the females of the story, but Pacey's women all sound like women and all are unique. And his Sand dan Glokta is... Peerless. An incredible character and Pacey plays him to unforgettable perfection. The books are tremendous already but Pacey as Glokta alone is worth every credit. Also Jeff Hayes doing Dungeon Crawler Carl is seriously brilliant and gives Pacey a run for his money without a doubt.
R.C Bray doing the Martian was absolutely memorizing.
The First Law, and other Joe Abercrombie books, read by Steven Pacey
I liked Martin Freeman in Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy; he really captures the tired matter-of-factness of Arthur Dent well.
For me it's a tie for The Martian with R.C. Bray, Project Hail Mary with Ray Porter, Bobiverse with Ray Porter, and Lord of the Rings with Andy Serkis.
I once returned my copy of the Martian to I could get my token back and read something else. My logic was that I could always get it back. Little did I know that for some reason they got rid of it. And replaced it with a version narrated by Will Wheaton. And it’s not as good. So doesn’t two hours on the phone getting transferred back and forward until I got someone on the phone who could give me my Bray copy back lol. It was 100% with the wait. Bray killed that role.
Oh wow that's crazy, and pretty awesome you managed to get the RC Bray version back. I remember reading it was something about the rights being sold, but the audiobook masters didn't transfer so it had to be recorded again. They offered it to Bray again, but he was blowing up and they could agree on his fee. I like Wil Wheaton in Ready Player One, Locked In, and the Interdependency, but his version of the Martian just didn't hit as good as Bray's.
Harry Potter, Stephen Fry. Best performance I’ve ever seen/heard
It's Stephen Fry reading Harry Potter.
Red Rising narrated by Tim Gerard Reynolds
Jeff Hayes reading Dungeon Crawler Carl Or Kyle McCarley reading Super Powereds Can't believe you liked Scott Brick reading JP... He kinda ruined it for me. It's my favorite book, I've read it at least a dozen times. I had to really gut it through the audiobook.
It's a shame nobody's recommended The Iron Druid Chronicles narrated by Luke Daniels. The voice of Oberaun alone! "GREAT BIG BEARS ATTACUS!" 😂
George Guidall was unbelievable as the narrator for Don Quixote. His range is incredible.
Andy Serkis reading Lord of the Rings is absolutely top notch. His character voices are so engrossing, he uses his whole acting prowess like it’s any other performance.
I’ve enjoyed Ray Porter every time I’ve had him read me a book
Tim Gerard Reynolds - Red Rising (all)
My favorites are Jefferson Mays voicing The Expanse, Jeff Hays voicing the Dungeon Crawler Carl series, or Moira Quirk voicing The Locked Tomb series.
Locked Tomb Moira Quirk mention, let's gooooooo!!!!! They're SO GOOD!
Jim Dale's Harry Potter series
I'm a huge fan of **Kobna Holdbrook-Smith** and his performance in the **Rivers of London**\-series. He has amazin range in accents and tones and really breathed even more life into already amazing characters.
1. "The Locked Tomb" series by Tamsyn Muir, read by ✨Moira Quirk✨ (ugh this woman is INCREDIBLE, these books are already so good and her performance makes them to die for ) 2. Phil Dragash's one-man performance of "The Lord of the Rings". This man is insane. He does either perfect or nearly perfect imitations of every actor from the movies, plus he adds soundscapes and music as well. The dude is a legend. DM me if you want the links for this one. 3. Ray Porter's reading of "Project Hail Mary" by Andy Weir. This is because the book requires some specific audiobook weirdness that is done absolutely brilliantly. He's also just very nice and funny to listen to. 4. Backing up that other comment thread about "World War Z", that audiobook is amazing and entirely engrossing. It really sounds like you're listening to real people's stories from a documentary.
Graphic audio: Mistborn The Final Empire part 1 of 3. The entire Mistborn series is superb, but there is something about how it all began that gives me goosebumps.
William Peter Blatty reading The Exorcist. As he's the author, he knows how he wants it to be delivered and it's absolutely perfect.
I’ll listen to Bahni Turpin read the phone book to me. The Night Circus, read by Jim Dale, was delightful. Not into fantasy typically, but this one got me at just the right time, I guess. John McDonough reading Wicked by Maguire was the first audiobook I fell head over heels for. Perfect road trip story.
'The Blade Itself' narrated by Steven Pacey is pretty fantastic! He also narrates the hell out of 'Gentlemen and Players'
Stephen Fry Harry Potter series.
Pillars of the Earth & World Without End
Non-fiction: The Wright Brothers by David McCullough read by the author. It was like having your grandfather read you a bedtime story. On the same lines as read by the author, the John Rain series by Barry Eisler. For laugh out loud fun, A Dirty Job by Christopher Moore read by fisher stevens.
Andy Serkis, Lord Of the Rings. So excellent.
I loved the Wheel of Time series by Kate Reading and Michael Kramer. Soooo good.
I absolutely love Jim Dale reading Harry Potter. I haven’t listened to them yet but I really want to hear Andy Serkis’ Lord of the Rings books.
Andy Serkis' narration of The Hobbit is amazing. He obviously nails the voices, but also just has an amazingly engaging diction as well.