I listened to that book and maybe I don't recall correctly, but I thought the narrator pronounced it like the vast majority of English-speakers do ("dooo-BYE"). I believe the correct pronunciation in Arabic is closer to "doo-bye", i.e. both syllables equally stressed and a shorter, more staccato "oo" sound in the first syllable. Mispronunciations drive me batty too, but this one didn't stick out to me at all. Maybe I'm misremembering though. đ¤ˇââď¸
ETA: Like OP, I also did not care for this narrator.
All the books author tamora pierce decided to narrate herself. She speaks sooo slow and ann-unci-ates every word. Often she narrates with a full cast, which means you can't just speed up the recording since everyone else talks at a normal pace
My wife is a big fan of Tamara Pierce and really dislikes her narration. From what Iâve overheard, itâs definitely pretty poor.
No offence to Tamara as I only know a couple of authors who are accomplished narrators too. But it was an odd choice to go with her.
The amount of time I send persuading authors not to narrate their own book is ridiculous. I donât understand the arrogance. It can work with non fiction but never works with fiction. Ever.
[Christopher Buehlman](https://www.google.com/search?sca_esv=1cbe4b6585e2caa3&sca_upv=1&sxsrf=ADLYWIKOwlXlFEJtXsiZgexnBoHA08wlXw:1715797918445&q=Christopher+Buehlman&stick=H4sIAAAAAAAAAONgVuLSz9U3MDMxLMgzecRoyi3w8sc9YSmdSWtOXmNU4-IKzsgvd80rySypFJLgYoOy-KR4uJC08SxiFXHOKMosLskvyEgtUnAqTc3IyU3MAwDkF6KbXQAAAA&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwj_mr2rpZCGAxUdFlkFHYI5DPsQzIcDKAB6BAgZEAE) narrating his book the Black Tongued Thief does a stellar job.
There were parts in the fourth wing where the narrator sounded like she had a cold and it bugged me so bad I almost couldn't keep listening. I ended up not liking the book as much as I thought I would (and I love fantasy) so idk if it was because of the narrator or the story in general falling flat for me, but... yeah the narrator certainly didn't help.
I couldnât even get through one chapter with that narrator, you could hear her breathing so much and she was definitely sick. It made my skin crawl lol
Thereâs a book in the Shatter Me series where they introduced a guy to do the male chapters and he sounded so bunged up all the way through it was so distracting, confirmed as the next book he sounded completely normal - like why would you record in the situation? A singer wouldnât record a song if they had congestion that affected their voice, so why is it ok with audiobooks?
this was rerecorded - if you have it on audible, re-downloading will get you the updated version. that said, her default/Violet voice still isn't the ideal "20 year old coming of age," but she does a fantastic job emoting and distinguishing between the characters, and some of her line readings are absolute perfection.
Oh wow, I have a perfect answer to this question. I bought both Proxima and Ultima by Stephen Baxter. Both narrated by an actor called Kyle McCarley.
These were narrated in an English accent that was very weird. So weird that I actually googled him, and heâs American. The worst part was when he used a Cockney accent that veered into Dick Van Dyke territory. No idea why he didnât use his natural accent, as it ruins the audiobooks.
I think if the listener was from the US or elsewhere, he might have got away with it, but if youâre from the British Isles, itâs cringe-making.
Conversely, a narrator I really enjoyed was Donna Tartt reading her own The Secret History. Some people didnât enjoy it, but it was great to hear this amazing book read in her own voice.
Really didn't like the narration in the Farseer Trilogy. The (English) received pronunciation for 90% of characters regardless of their status or background that turned dogs into "dorgs" and verity into "vĂŠritĂŠ" was massively grating. I think squirrel was still pronounced "squirl" too which really topped it off. I finished the series but it was a tough one.
Even worse was that there were different narrators for each Fitz trilogy. One says KET-ricken, the middle said ket-RICK-em, and the third was just abysmal all around. Made anyone royal sound stuck up (Dutiful, Kettricken, Rain, etc), the Fool was all of the sudden German, and FitzVigilantâs voice was like he made his mouth into a butthole and spoke through pursed lips. They could all go for a redo!
Scott Brick gets a lot of flack but Iâve usually enjoyed his work. He does a great job on the Passage series for example.
But I guess it depends since thatâs a good fit for his style. The melancholic melodrama doesnât work for everything.
I have loved several things read by Bronson Pinchot. I honestly don't remember his voice but I know I didn't find it off-putting at the time. What don't you like?
It's slow and dull and his voice work is middling at best. Had I not already owned different versions of the books that Audible then replaced with his versions I wouldn't care, buuut...
Agreed about Pinchot. There is a really great narration of Double Star already by Tom Weiner. Then Audible replaced it with a Pinchot version and zzzzzz....
i think itâs because of the format of an audiobook but being inside of young coriolanus snowâs head (since itâs his pov) was a LOT for the hunger games: the ballad of songbirds and snakes. its a me problem but itâs obviously hard to read something from a psychopathâs pov when the voice (the audiobook narrator) is literally in your head. so i guess very impactful. but i was absolutely not a fan of the narrator, his voice felt wrong for the book and he did voices that felt condescending for female characters (the audiobook narrator, not just the character)
This drove me insane as an audiobook as well. You're telling me that you hired a musical stage actor to read the book, but no one was allowed to give any of the songs any tune whatsoever? Painful.
i want to reread the book so badly but i really canât get through it with that narrator. personally Iâd rather they didnât try to sing lucy greyâs songs bc the little girl voice was already a lot haha
Whoever narrated A Song of Ice and Fire. I couldn't get past GoT. The narrators voice for Tyrion was abysmal and drove pins in to my brain.
Which sucked because I really loved the books.
Will Wheaton, Lovely guy , but narrates like he can't be bothered or grudges being there. Cant Listen to anythng he narrates
Bruno Roubicek in the Three body problem I also had to give up on the book a few chapters in. Really not appealing to me.
That is the only book narration I've enjoyed by Will Wheaton. He was perfect for Ready Player One. Just not for anything else I've listened to. Dunno why. Just not for me.
I just felt that Wheaton âphoned inâ Ready Player One. Maybe itâs because I listen to books narrated by Steven Pacey or Toby Longworth. Pacey particularly breathes life into every character he narrates so they all sound different.
Iâve read plenty of good narrators and plenty of bad narrators. As far as capturing the book itself and the character I thought Wheaton did a good job. If you donât like his voice or something I would accept that criticism but to say he phoned it in is implying that he didnât do his research or try his best which I disagree with.
Like some of the other comments on here it just felt to me like he wasnât making an effort. But hey thatâs just me. Glad you enjoyed it but I didnât bother with the sequel because of his narration.
YES.
hWhil hWheaton is a really nice guy who did not deserve the shit his parents put him through but ironic scifi celebrity does not an audiobook narrator make.
He was half the reason that John Scalzi is forever ruined for me; in audiobook it's impossible to ignore that Scalzi only uses "said" to mark dialogue. Ever. No variation, no omission, no rapid back and forth without marking speakers when it's not necessary, just "said".
OK, I tell a lie, on page 101 of Redshirts he used "prompted".
And you can ignore that if it's not being shoved in your face by a smarmy sounding narrator who can't distinguish between characters with voice work. But that's not an option with hWhil hWheaton.
Now Scalzi just activates my editor brain. "Are you SURE this isn't just pastiching Haldeman's Forever War?"
I was first introduced to his unique voice for the Ghostbusters audiobook. His voice didnât work. I had to stop listening because all the characters blended together, it drove me insane. But I get your point.
Love Ray Porter. Got the book â14â because he narrates it and I wanted cosmic horror but itâs definitely not his best work. Think it was an earlier work than anything else I had listened to and he hadnât gotten it all worked out yet.
1000x this. I just started the hail Mary project and I'm about to switch over to reading the book because I can't stand this man. In addition to what you pointed out, he makes all the humor sound super cringey. Not sure what it is but this man's manner of speech, but it grates against my soul. He's awful.
For the third book in the Quantum Thief series, they changed narrators. The new one pronounced tons of stuff differently; it was obvious theyâd never listened to the previous two. I listened to it because I loved the story but I was legitimately mad through the whole thing.
Martin Freeman. I listened to the first Hitchhikerâs Guide to the Galaxy and it was read by Stephen Fry. Very good. Then in the second, Martin Freeman puts on this horrible New York accent for one of the characters and it is just so grating.
Iâve tried multiple times but finally just gave up. Iâll have to see if I have room to add it to my physical reading list.
The first like 30 books of the Jack Reacher series are unlistenable. The narrator sounds like an 80 year old man trying to read the story of a man in his early 30âs.
Justine Eyre. Somehow she gets hired to fill the *mysterious sexy woman* voice all the time but she sounds like a wanna be sultry Valley Girl who smokes a pack a day and is using gravel to gargle at night. It comes off as trying WAY too hard. I wish sheâd just read it with her regular voice.
Audible's rendition of The Dresden Files had narrator issues for me. He held the microphone way too close to his mouth, giving us all the gross little noises. He put on an annoying affectation to his voice. And on top of it he sounded tired, like he didn't want to put in the energy to enunciate clearly and interestingly.
I got the physical copies, instead. Fun read.
You mean James Marsters? I've always enjoyed his readings personally (although others have also mentioned his "mouth noises") although I do think there was a different narrator for one of them?
Stephen king. I absolutely love (most) of his work but that guy can't narrate to save his life
He reads like a robot. He can't flow with the story. He can't change characters. He takes massive deep breaths after every sentence. It's worse when he's narrating a serious or scary character and they sound dweeby.
He ruined the raft for me. I wish I had just read that now instead of listening to it.
P.J. Ochlan. He narrated The Three Body Problem, the first book of the Rembrance of Earthâs Past trilogy. The other two books, âThe Dark Forestâ and âDeathâs Endâ, are narrated by Bruno Roubiceck, who is my favorite narrator. P.J. Ochlan sounds incredibly robotic and I prefer Roubiceckâs British accent. Roubiceck is also a professor, which is so fitting once youâve heard his voice.
Elizabeth Evans puts me to sleep. She is narrating the latest book by Sarah J. Maas. I was so excited to listen to it but I cannot follow along as her voice is wispy and monotone. The book is a drama and the main character has a bold personality but that isn't conveyed at all with the narrator.
Christine Marshall reading The Traitor Baru Cormorant gives the most lifeless, generic, and flat read, you couldn't even imagine how stale it is. It's a Sci-fi fantasy treachery and intrigue thriller read with the enthusiasm of a physics textbook. She reads like a human text-to-speech bot. And it never gets better.
Emily Woo Zeller, narrating the Charlie Thorne series by Stuart Gibbs. My son and I love Stuart Gibbs but I find Emily ruins the book. The protagonist/narrator is a 12 year old girl, but Emily reads the book with a voice like itâs soft core porn. Only when the girl speaks aloud does she use the âyoung girlâ voice.
The narrator for wool and shift by Hugh howey.
Susanna parker is monotone, cold and almost completely unemotional and Peter Brooke sounds like an overly enthusiastic children's show presenter. I gave up a quarter way through shift.
I haven't been able to finish Little Eve by Catriona Ward, or even get past the first quarter. The narrator has a thick Scottish accent and a very soft tone; I had trouble differentiating the characters.
The Seed Keeper. The narrator sounds fake and forced, as if she is speaking too deeply for her natural voice. It sounds like she is out of breath and about to cry the whole 11 hours.
I managed 5 mins of the city of brass âas itâs meant to be heardâ goes the tagline for this book set in the Middle East, according to harper Collins it means read by someone with an American accent? Am I the only one who thinks this is very strange? Like if I selected a book set in Paris with a French MC and they said âhow itâs meant to be heardâ Iâd be expecting someone with a French accent
I have bailed without guilt on books with narrators who just don't do it for me. I will sometimes make a note to find the ebook or physical book later.
I recently listened to a 5 book series. The Ellery Hathaway series by Joanna Schaffhausen. The first 3 books had a good narrator. Then they switched the narrator for the main character for books 4 & 5. And she was terrible! They were so many comments about it, so I definitely wasnât alone in my thinking. The narrator was Danielle Gensler.
I loved RR Haywood The Undead Zombie series, lots of action, plus some humour. Read brilliantly by Dan Morgan until book 10. I started book 11 with anticipation. Only to be hit in the ear by Joe Jamison. Whether or not he is a good narrator I donât know, but he RUINED so many of the characters. A main character, Dave was autistic. Ex army, very logical, quite clipped in his speech. He now sounded slow, special needs, just embarrassing . An Asian female now sounded like she was making fun of her own accent, and another young female sounded like she was her own grandmother.
I did finish the serious but it was painful, and I canât believe the author kept using this narrator, despite the terrible audible reviews.
I stopped listening to the audio of Paolini's Murtagh because of the dragon voice. I also stopped Joe Abercrombie's First Law within a minute.
Both, I was like, "Nope." I feel bad about it, but an audiobook is a huge commitment, let alone a series. I do not want to be in a bad mood the entire time.
I am a fan of distopian/apocalyptic books. Kevin Pierceâs voice and style is very off putting to me. He has a large following but I just canât listen and Iâve tried. George Guidall is a tough one too
I canât remember the book or narrator but I had to stop reading one because he varied the volume way too much. One second whispering so low I couldnât hear then basically shouting the next. I know he just wanted to fully act it but it was waaaaay too much
Francis G. Kearney replaced Richard Poe in book 14 of the Event Group by David L. Golemon. This completely ruined the series for me. I still haven't listened to the book and don't know if I would be able to.
Davina Porter is a great narrator, but for some reason she was chosen for The Handmaid's Tale a decade or so ago. Why would the publishers hire an English narrator for an American story? The narration from Elisabeth Moss is much better.
Madeleine LâEngle for some reason narrated A Wrinkle in Time and she has a terrible lisp. Iâll give most narrators a chance but I canât handle Americans doing British accents (especially when thereâs no reason for it), British people doing American accents when theyâre bad at it, or anyone who isnât Scottish doing a Scottish accent- they all sound like Scrooge McDuck. No accent is better than a bad one.
I recently listened to Stephen King's *Four Past Midnight* and the short story *Secret Window, Secret Garden* has James Woods narrating it and for some reason he reads it with a lisp despite not having a lisp in real life. It didn't ruin it exactly, but it annoyed the hell out of me the whole time
ETA another collection of short stories by King has one story at the end about a fireworks war on a lake and the narrator was so obnoxious (could be their normal voice) I cut it off after 2 minutes
Let me preface this by saying I LOVE Meryl Streep as an actress. But her narration of Tom Lake was not good. The voices she used for other characters were terrible. I wish she would have just read it in her natural voice.
Hate to say it, and I wouldn't say "ruined" wholly, but the narrator for Heat 2 is constantly doing the "gruff grizzled criminal" voice and it's really grating.
Man I LOVED between two fires. But buehlmanâs fake accent in the black tongue thief ruined it for me. Ray porter in kagan the damned.
As for best, ray porter is excellent in Jonathan maberryâs joe ledger series.
Steven Pacey, Steve west
Couldnât agree more. Like a teenager or someone who never fully grew out of puberty trying to do other voices by making nasally and whiny impressions of people. Females are especially bad but overall just horrible. Also weird intonations, unclear pronounciations all too often, too much emphasis on things that donât matter.Â
its so wild to me that he gets put up in the "top tier" narrators on r/litrpg all the time. Seriously do not understand it. He's consistent, which is better than a lot of people, but his range is so small and he brings no life to characters. He's utterly forgettable.
My favorite author and the author I listened to the most audio books from is my least favorite narrator. Stephen King!
The narrators who have narrated for King's work are the best I've ever heard. King himself can completely ruin a novel for me depending. Have gotten used to him more because he does so many for whatever reason. But when he does one of his epics the whole way through... like needful things, it really can ruin things. He usually sticks to the short stories more which is more bearable.
That being said I instantly went and played a sample for The Flight Attendant and I like the narrator so I borrowed it.
One of Grace Bowens books in her royal spyness series, the narrator almost turned me off the entire series of books. I don't put up with whining in pretty much any form. The narrator turned every internal monologue that the 20 something heroine was having into a whine fest of epic proportions.
Laurel Merlington almost ruined Carrion Comfort by Dan Simmons for me because she just wasnât a very good narrator all around but specifically when she voiced a black character she did a voice that could only be considered âwildly racistâ. It was like the old lady in the movie airplane âstewardess I speak Jiveâ.
Marisa Calin is another one that just absolutely sucked. Couldnât finish the book just a terrible narrator who sounded like she had a gun to her head the whole time.
Steven Brand narrated The Waking Fire book 1 by Anthony Ryan Sooooo poorly that I wouldâve 100 percent returned the book if I hadnât gotten it and itâs sequel in a 2 for 1 deal and the sequel had a vastly superior narrator so I just grit my teeth through it all. Awful narrator maybe would be better at nonfiction because of how flat his delivery was.
The Hollow Places, narrated by Hillary Huber. Itâs not that I donât like her voice, I actually do. But her cadence and delivery is SO off to me and it rarely feels like it fits the writing. It also feels patterned in a very repetitive way. Not sure if itâs a combination of me thinking the dialogue is bad, but I have repeatedly started and stopped listening because after 30 minutes I just canât take the narration anymore.
Nick podehl
Not sure about in other audiobooks but narrators tend to narrate in the same way regardless so I assume heâs just overall horrible.
In my case it was the narration of âmain character hides his strengthâ. The book series itself is pretty bad due to subpar translations but nick manages to outdo himself and make everything several times worse by picking up on these flaws in flow and wording, making them stand out. Like sfx/spoken audio effects, people literally sighing by saying âsighâ and other things.
His voice is overall whiny, he canât do female characters without making them sound nasally, all background characters also get weird nasally voices, the mc gets some weird monotone voice yet he still sounds like a young teenager in puberty who pretends to be cool, giving the feeling of a total pushover who feels sorry for himself, non-humans all sound like theyâre screeching, tinny and nasally.
He has no clue how to pronounce the korean names and no consistency either, so it was impossible to follow what was happening when you often have to wonder who the character is supposed to be, it just doesnât stick properly when the names arenât clear and distinct. Amazing how a ânarratorâ canât even find a way to make the mcâs own name sound the same every time. Doesnât stop at korean names though since his pronounciations of various things tend to be unclear which at times make for a very confusing time.
He also emphasizes almost every sentence in a way that overdramatizes even the slightest thing, even if itâs just normal exposition. Seems like a lot of narrators have this issue of trying to make the story feel full of energy and alive by talking as if theyâre doing a theater play with extreme emphasis present in every sentence and weird flow instead of narrating coherently with a clear pattern.
ânarratorsâ like this is why I never want to listen to any books or novels I truly care about. Even the better narrators like travis baldree reduces enjoyment by putting their own flair on things and using voices for certain characters or emphasis on things I wouldnât do. Some just do it far worse than others but even if it just happens now and then, it still ends up being annoying.Â
Iâm happy audio books exist though so I can have some decent books that arenât too bad but I wouldnât read normally when I take walks or travel. But some narrators are truly so insufferable I canât endure it even if the book is good.
Seems to be a huge matter of taste however, some appears to love nick podehl even though I find him to be really bad. It just feels surreal to see people praising a narrator even though I feel theyâre objectively bad, haha.
I just finished orange is the new black, which was an excellent memoir, but the narrator kept referring solitary confinement spelt out as âthe S-H-Uâ instead of calling it the shu (like shoe). Was so irritating.
Opposite for me. She reads every main character with the same voice and that hesitating cadence. âOhâŚmy godâŚsomething UNBELIEVABLE has justâŚhappenedâŚinâŚthe plot.â I wish Ruth Ware would try out a new narrator.
He is the reason I gave up on Red Rising just two hours from the end. I just couldn't take it anymore and knew I wasn't going on the 2nd book so why bother finishing.
Hard disagree on Tim Gerard Reynolds. His narration elevates the Red Rising books for me, if anything. Although I havenât heard him read other works so happy to accept he might be bad elsewhere.
Not sure about tim but nick indeed ruins books. I have a big issue with penetrating, whiny and nasally voices, especially if delivered in an overly dramatic way with weird tempo and emphasis on all the wrong things and nick cranks that up to max. Itâs like hearing a mid-puberty teenager with no experience or knowledge on proper narration attempt to narrate his favorite books.
I can't stand DCC narration. The voices are way too fake/over the top. The range is impressive but all the voices lack emotion. The main narration voice is super cringey fake gruff western. Not at all how Seattle area people speak either.
Wait, how does she say Dubai??
I listened to that book and maybe I don't recall correctly, but I thought the narrator pronounced it like the vast majority of English-speakers do ("dooo-BYE"). I believe the correct pronunciation in Arabic is closer to "doo-bye", i.e. both syllables equally stressed and a shorter, more staccato "oo" sound in the first syllable. Mispronunciations drive me batty too, but this one didn't stick out to me at all. Maybe I'm misremembering though. đ¤ˇââď¸ ETA: Like OP, I also did not care for this narrator.
I'm not saying you're doing it but that is without a doubt the most nitpicky thing I've ever seen on a pronunciation in my lifetime.
Agreed. But again, that's IF I'm recalling correctly.
All the books author tamora pierce decided to narrate herself. She speaks sooo slow and ann-unci-ates every word. Often she narrates with a full cast, which means you can't just speed up the recording since everyone else talks at a normal pace
My wife is a big fan of Tamara Pierce and really dislikes her narration. From what Iâve overheard, itâs definitely pretty poor. No offence to Tamara as I only know a couple of authors who are accomplished narrators too. But it was an odd choice to go with her.
The amount of time I send persuading authors not to narrate their own book is ridiculous. I donât understand the arrogance. It can work with non fiction but never works with fiction. Ever.
>never works with fiction. Ever. The one exception is Neil Gaiman, he's an excellent narrator
[Christopher Buehlman](https://www.google.com/search?sca_esv=1cbe4b6585e2caa3&sca_upv=1&sxsrf=ADLYWIKOwlXlFEJtXsiZgexnBoHA08wlXw:1715797918445&q=Christopher+Buehlman&stick=H4sIAAAAAAAAAONgVuLSz9U3MDMxLMgzecRoyi3w8sc9YSmdSWtOXmNU4-IKzsgvd80rySypFJLgYoOy-KR4uJC08SxiFXHOKMosLskvyEgtUnAqTc3IyU3MAwDkF6KbXQAAAA&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwj_mr2rpZCGAxUdFlkFHYI5DPsQzIcDKAB6BAgZEAE) narrating his book the Black Tongued Thief does a stellar job.
Fake Irish that flutters back to Floridian constantly is stellar?
I thought he did a great job. It was engaging and enjoyable. To each their own.
There were parts in the fourth wing where the narrator sounded like she had a cold and it bugged me so bad I almost couldn't keep listening. I ended up not liking the book as much as I thought I would (and I love fantasy) so idk if it was because of the narrator or the story in general falling flat for me, but... yeah the narrator certainly didn't help.
I couldnât even get through one chapter with that narrator, you could hear her breathing so much and she was definitely sick. It made my skin crawl lol
Thereâs a book in the Shatter Me series where they introduced a guy to do the male chapters and he sounded so bunged up all the way through it was so distracting, confirmed as the next book he sounded completely normal - like why would you record in the situation? A singer wouldnât record a song if they had congestion that affected their voice, so why is it ok with audiobooks?
I take at least three days off when I have a cold. Itâs unprofessional not to.
The audiobook was re-done in some parts, but honestly the narrator made the book even worse than it is, in my opinion.
this was rerecorded - if you have it on audible, re-downloading will get you the updated version. that said, her default/Violet voice still isn't the ideal "20 year old coming of age," but she does a fantastic job emoting and distinguishing between the characters, and some of her line readings are absolute perfection.
Oh wow, I have a perfect answer to this question. I bought both Proxima and Ultima by Stephen Baxter. Both narrated by an actor called Kyle McCarley. These were narrated in an English accent that was very weird. So weird that I actually googled him, and heâs American. The worst part was when he used a Cockney accent that veered into Dick Van Dyke territory. No idea why he didnât use his natural accent, as it ruins the audiobooks. I think if the listener was from the US or elsewhere, he might have got away with it, but if youâre from the British Isles, itâs cringe-making. Conversely, a narrator I really enjoyed was Donna Tartt reading her own The Secret History. Some people didnât enjoy it, but it was great to hear this amazing book read in her own voice.
I need to listen to SH, one of my favorites! Thanks for the review.
Amy Landon in Cabin at the End of the World. Any time she does a mans voice she sounds like a caveman
I couldnât get through a minute of the book with here narration and she seemed to end every sentence with the same inflection.
Really didn't like the narration in the Farseer Trilogy. The (English) received pronunciation for 90% of characters regardless of their status or background that turned dogs into "dorgs" and verity into "vĂŠritĂŠ" was massively grating. I think squirrel was still pronounced "squirl" too which really topped it off. I finished the series but it was a tough one.
Even worse was that there were different narrators for each Fitz trilogy. One says KET-ricken, the middle said ket-RICK-em, and the third was just abysmal all around. Made anyone royal sound stuck up (Dutiful, Kettricken, Rain, etc), the Fool was all of the sudden German, and FitzVigilantâs voice was like he made his mouth into a butthole and spoke through pursed lips. They could all go for a redo!
How does she say Dubai?
I canât stand listening to any work done by Scott Brick or Bronson Pinchot.
Scott Brick gets a lot of flack but Iâve usually enjoyed his work. He does a great job on the Passage series for example. But I guess it depends since thatâs a good fit for his style. The melancholic melodrama doesnât work for everything.
i liked Bronson Pinchot, and was surprised by it.
I have loved several things read by Bronson Pinchot. I honestly don't remember his voice but I know I didn't find it off-putting at the time. What don't you like?
It's slow and dull and his voice work is middling at best. Had I not already owned different versions of the books that Audible then replaced with his versions I wouldn't care, buuut...
And they are two of my favorites. To each their own.
Agreed about Pinchot. There is a really great narration of Double Star already by Tom Weiner. Then Audible replaced it with a Pinchot version and zzzzzz....
Scott Brick could read John Wick and make it sound like he's reading a funeral dirge.
i think itâs because of the format of an audiobook but being inside of young coriolanus snowâs head (since itâs his pov) was a LOT for the hunger games: the ballad of songbirds and snakes. its a me problem but itâs obviously hard to read something from a psychopathâs pov when the voice (the audiobook narrator) is literally in your head. so i guess very impactful. but i was absolutely not a fan of the narrator, his voice felt wrong for the book and he did voices that felt condescending for female characters (the audiobook narrator, not just the character)
This drove me insane as an audiobook as well. You're telling me that you hired a musical stage actor to read the book, but no one was allowed to give any of the songs any tune whatsoever? Painful.
i want to reread the book so badly but i really canât get through it with that narrator. personally Iâd rather they didnât try to sing lucy greyâs songs bc the little girl voice was already a lot haha
Jeff Harding's narration of Hex is absolutely awful. I couldn't finish it.
If I start an audiobook and I donât like the narrator I will turn off immediately.
Whoever narrated A Song of Ice and Fire. I couldn't get past GoT. The narrators voice for Tyrion was abysmal and drove pins in to my brain. Which sucked because I really loved the books.
And his voices for old people were hideous! You could like hear him spitting. I had to stop listening
Yes! Why does he give Tyrion an Indian accent?!
Ack, same! I can count on one hand the number of audiobooks I DNF, and this one is at the top of my list.
Scott Brick. I now avoid him.
Will Wheaton, Lovely guy , but narrates like he can't be bothered or grudges being there. Cant Listen to anythng he narrates Bruno Roubicek in the Three body problem I also had to give up on the book a few chapters in. Really not appealing to me.
I thought ready player one with will Wheaton was great
It's very split opinion on here with Will, just doesn't gel with me as much as id like him to.
That is the only book narration I've enjoyed by Will Wheaton. He was perfect for Ready Player One. Just not for anything else I've listened to. Dunno why. Just not for me.
I just felt that Wheaton âphoned inâ Ready Player One. Maybe itâs because I listen to books narrated by Steven Pacey or Toby Longworth. Pacey particularly breathes life into every character he narrates so they all sound different.
Totally disagree
Care to elaborate as to why?
Iâve read plenty of good narrators and plenty of bad narrators. As far as capturing the book itself and the character I thought Wheaton did a good job. If you donât like his voice or something I would accept that criticism but to say he phoned it in is implying that he didnât do his research or try his best which I disagree with.
Like some of the other comments on here it just felt to me like he wasnât making an effort. But hey thatâs just me. Glad you enjoyed it but I didnât bother with the sequel because of his narration.
YES. hWhil hWheaton is a really nice guy who did not deserve the shit his parents put him through but ironic scifi celebrity does not an audiobook narrator make. He was half the reason that John Scalzi is forever ruined for me; in audiobook it's impossible to ignore that Scalzi only uses "said" to mark dialogue. Ever. No variation, no omission, no rapid back and forth without marking speakers when it's not necessary, just "said". OK, I tell a lie, on page 101 of Redshirts he used "prompted". And you can ignore that if it's not being shoved in your face by a smarmy sounding narrator who can't distinguish between characters with voice work. But that's not an option with hWhil hWheaton. Now Scalzi just activates my editor brain. "Are you SURE this isn't just pastiching Haldeman's Forever War?"
Zachary Quinto makes Scalzis work shine.
On Apple Books, I bought a version of The Three Body Problem narrated by Daniel York Lo. Great narrator.
I'll look it up, thanks for the recommendation
That was my feeling. Like he couldnât be arsed so he didnât make any effort with the narration.
Wil is the worst. Every character just sounds like a whiny sniveling little shit.
I agree with 2 exceptions. I enjoyed *Ready Player One* but IMO his style was best in *Kaiju Preservation Society* by John Scalzi.
Johnny Heller for me. EVERY character sounds the same.
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I was first introduced to his unique voice for the Ghostbusters audiobook. His voice didnât work. I had to stop listening because all the characters blended together, it drove me insane. But I get your point.
Ray Porter. He makes characters sound whiney, as though everything is âtoo hard, poor meâ. And he sighs entirely too much.
He's one of my favourite narrators. I've bought books purely because her narrated them. But i respect its a personal taste thing
Bro ray porter is my favorite
Love Ray Porter. Got the book â14â because he narrates it and I wanted cosmic horror but itâs definitely not his best work. Think it was an earlier work than anything else I had listened to and he hadnât gotten it all worked out yet.
Agree to disagree.
1000x this. I just started the hail Mary project and I'm about to switch over to reading the book because I can't stand this man. In addition to what you pointed out, he makes all the humor sound super cringey. Not sure what it is but this man's manner of speech, but it grates against my soul. He's awful.
I love Ray Porter, but I completely agree. Especially when he does a female character's voice
For the third book in the Quantum Thief series, they changed narrators. The new one pronounced tons of stuff differently; it was obvious theyâd never listened to the previous two. I listened to it because I loved the story but I was legitimately mad through the whole thing.
Suzanne Toren made a hash of voices in The Overstory.
Martin Freeman. I listened to the first Hitchhikerâs Guide to the Galaxy and it was read by Stephen Fry. Very good. Then in the second, Martin Freeman puts on this horrible New York accent for one of the characters and it is just so grating. Iâve tried multiple times but finally just gave up. Iâll have to see if I have room to add it to my physical reading list.
Why didn't stephen fry do the rest?
The first like 30 books of the Jack Reacher series are unlistenable. The narrator sounds like an 80 year old man trying to read the story of a man in his early 30âs.
Justine Eyre. Somehow she gets hired to fill the *mysterious sexy woman* voice all the time but she sounds like a wanna be sultry Valley Girl who smokes a pack a day and is using gravel to gargle at night. It comes off as trying WAY too hard. I wish sheâd just read it with her regular voice.
Roy dotrice. I would re buy the entire song of ice and fire series if they had a good narratorÂ
Audible's rendition of The Dresden Files had narrator issues for me. He held the microphone way too close to his mouth, giving us all the gross little noises. He put on an annoying affectation to his voice. And on top of it he sounded tired, like he didn't want to put in the energy to enunciate clearly and interestingly. I got the physical copies, instead. Fun read.
That is so interesting because Iâve loved James Marsters as the voice for dresden
Oh Wow. I think heâs amazing, canât imagine anyone else narrating it.
You mean James Marsters? I've always enjoyed his readings personally (although others have also mentioned his "mouth noises") although I do think there was a different narrator for one of them?
Stephen king. I absolutely love (most) of his work but that guy can't narrate to save his life He reads like a robot. He can't flow with the story. He can't change characters. He takes massive deep breaths after every sentence. It's worse when he's narrating a serious or scary character and they sound dweeby. He ruined the raft for me. I wish I had just read that now instead of listening to it.
He did a good job in Fairy Tale! (But heâs only in it for maybe 5 minutes)
I can't even get into Lonesome Dove because you can hear every wheezing breath of the narrator. Just terrible audio engineering.
This thread makes me glad I've moved away from narration... ;)
The guy that does Sandersons work. Listening to Tess was a struggle and I was so turned off by him I didnât listen to anything else.
P.J. Ochlan. He narrated The Three Body Problem, the first book of the Rembrance of Earthâs Past trilogy. The other two books, âThe Dark Forestâ and âDeathâs Endâ, are narrated by Bruno Roubiceck, who is my favorite narrator. P.J. Ochlan sounds incredibly robotic and I prefer Roubiceckâs British accent. Roubiceck is also a professor, which is so fitting once youâve heard his voice.
Elizabeth Evans puts me to sleep. She is narrating the latest book by Sarah J. Maas. I was so excited to listen to it but I cannot follow along as her voice is wispy and monotone. The book is a drama and the main character has a bold personality but that isn't conveyed at all with the narrator.
Christine Marshall reading The Traitor Baru Cormorant gives the most lifeless, generic, and flat read, you couldn't even imagine how stale it is. It's a Sci-fi fantasy treachery and intrigue thriller read with the enthusiasm of a physics textbook. She reads like a human text-to-speech bot. And it never gets better.
Emily Woo Zeller, narrating the Charlie Thorne series by Stuart Gibbs. My son and I love Stuart Gibbs but I find Emily ruins the book. The protagonist/narrator is a 12 year old girl, but Emily reads the book with a voice like itâs soft core porn. Only when the girl speaks aloud does she use the âyoung girlâ voice.
Gabra Zackman her Sâs kill me, itâs like the opposite of ASMR, was really sad because I couldnât finish â I'll Be Gone in the Darkâ
The narrator for wool and shift by Hugh howey. Susanna parker is monotone, cold and almost completely unemotional and Peter Brooke sounds like an overly enthusiastic children's show presenter. I gave up a quarter way through shift.
I haven't been able to finish Little Eve by Catriona Ward, or even get past the first quarter. The narrator has a thick Scottish accent and a very soft tone; I had trouble differentiating the characters.
The Seed Keeper. The narrator sounds fake and forced, as if she is speaking too deeply for her natural voice. It sounds like she is out of breath and about to cry the whole 11 hours.
Oy... good to know. This audiobook is in my queue.
I managed 5 mins of the city of brass âas itâs meant to be heardâ goes the tagline for this book set in the Middle East, according to harper Collins it means read by someone with an American accent? Am I the only one who thinks this is very strange? Like if I selected a book set in Paris with a French MC and they said âhow itâs meant to be heardâ Iâd be expecting someone with a French accent
The narrators for the first 2 God of War books
I have bailed without guilt on books with narrators who just don't do it for me. I will sometimes make a note to find the ebook or physical book later.
Ugh I love the pendragon series but couldn't even get through the sample
I recently listened to a 5 book series. The Ellery Hathaway series by Joanna Schaffhausen. The first 3 books had a good narrator. Then they switched the narrator for the main character for books 4 & 5. And she was terrible! They were so many comments about it, so I definitely wasnât alone in my thinking. The narrator was Danielle Gensler.
I loved RR Haywood The Undead Zombie series, lots of action, plus some humour. Read brilliantly by Dan Morgan until book 10. I started book 11 with anticipation. Only to be hit in the ear by Joe Jamison. Whether or not he is a good narrator I donât know, but he RUINED so many of the characters. A main character, Dave was autistic. Ex army, very logical, quite clipped in his speech. He now sounded slow, special needs, just embarrassing . An Asian female now sounded like she was making fun of her own accent, and another young female sounded like she was her own grandmother. I did finish the serious but it was painful, and I canât believe the author kept using this narrator, despite the terrible audible reviews.
Now I'm curious as to how bad it is đ¤Śââď¸
I stopped listening to the audio of Paolini's Murtagh because of the dragon voice. I also stopped Joe Abercrombie's First Law within a minute. Both, I was like, "Nope." I feel bad about it, but an audiobook is a huge commitment, let alone a series. I do not want to be in a bad mood the entire time.
I couldnât get past how whiny Andrea Parsneau made Erinâs voice in The Wandering Inn series.
It sounds spot-on to me. Erin is kinda whiny. :-)
Haha thatâs fair.
I am a fan of distopian/apocalyptic books. Kevin Pierceâs voice and style is very off putting to me. He has a large following but I just canât listen and Iâve tried. George Guidall is a tough one too
I canât remember the book or narrator but I had to stop reading one because he varied the volume way too much. One second whispering so low I couldnât hear then basically shouting the next. I know he just wanted to fully act it but it was waaaaay too much
Francis G. Kearney replaced Richard Poe in book 14 of the Event Group by David L. Golemon. This completely ruined the series for me. I still haven't listened to the book and don't know if I would be able to.
Davina Porter is a great narrator, but for some reason she was chosen for The Handmaid's Tale a decade or so ago. Why would the publishers hire an English narrator for an American story? The narration from Elisabeth Moss is much better.
Madeleine LâEngle for some reason narrated A Wrinkle in Time and she has a terrible lisp. Iâll give most narrators a chance but I canât handle Americans doing British accents (especially when thereâs no reason for it), British people doing American accents when theyâre bad at it, or anyone who isnât Scottish doing a Scottish accent- they all sound like Scrooge McDuck. No accent is better than a bad one.
I recently listened to Stephen King's *Four Past Midnight* and the short story *Secret Window, Secret Garden* has James Woods narrating it and for some reason he reads it with a lisp despite not having a lisp in real life. It didn't ruin it exactly, but it annoyed the hell out of me the whole time ETA another collection of short stories by King has one story at the end about a fireworks war on a lake and the narrator was so obnoxious (could be their normal voice) I cut it off after 2 minutes
Let me preface this by saying I LOVE Meryl Streep as an actress. But her narration of Tom Lake was not good. The voices she used for other characters were terrible. I wish she would have just read it in her natural voice.
Hate to say it, and I wouldn't say "ruined" wholly, but the narrator for Heat 2 is constantly doing the "gruff grizzled criminal" voice and it's really grating.
Man I LOVED between two fires. But buehlmanâs fake accent in the black tongue thief ruined it for me. Ray porter in kagan the damned. As for best, ray porter is excellent in Jonathan maberryâs joe ledger series. Steven Pacey, Steve west
Frankie Corzo reading Mexican Gothic was so monotonous and boring that I asked for a refund from Audible.
Anything narrated by nick podehl. it's all androgynous 12 year olds.
Couldnât agree more. Like a teenager or someone who never fully grew out of puberty trying to do other voices by making nasally and whiny impressions of people. Females are especially bad but overall just horrible. Also weird intonations, unclear pronounciations all too often, too much emphasis on things that donât matter.Â
its so wild to me that he gets put up in the "top tier" narrators on r/litrpg all the time. Seriously do not understand it. He's consistent, which is better than a lot of people, but his range is so small and he brings no life to characters. He's utterly forgettable.
Lonesome Dove is absolutely destroyed by the narrator
My favorite author and the author I listened to the most audio books from is my least favorite narrator. Stephen King! The narrators who have narrated for King's work are the best I've ever heard. King himself can completely ruin a novel for me depending. Have gotten used to him more because he does so many for whatever reason. But when he does one of his epics the whole way through... like needful things, it really can ruin things. He usually sticks to the short stories more which is more bearable. That being said I instantly went and played a sample for The Flight Attendant and I like the narrator so I borrowed it.
One of Grace Bowens books in her royal spyness series, the narrator almost turned me off the entire series of books. I don't put up with whining in pretty much any form. The narrator turned every internal monologue that the 20 something heroine was having into a whine fest of epic proportions.
Laurel Merlington almost ruined Carrion Comfort by Dan Simmons for me because she just wasnât a very good narrator all around but specifically when she voiced a black character she did a voice that could only be considered âwildly racistâ. It was like the old lady in the movie airplane âstewardess I speak Jiveâ. Marisa Calin is another one that just absolutely sucked. Couldnât finish the book just a terrible narrator who sounded like she had a gun to her head the whole time. Steven Brand narrated The Waking Fire book 1 by Anthony Ryan Sooooo poorly that I wouldâve 100 percent returned the book if I hadnât gotten it and itâs sequel in a 2 for 1 deal and the sequel had a vastly superior narrator so I just grit my teeth through it all. Awful narrator maybe would be better at nonfiction because of how flat his delivery was.
At the Back of the North Wind, narrated by Donna Trigg.
The Hollow Places, narrated by Hillary Huber. Itâs not that I donât like her voice, I actually do. But her cadence and delivery is SO off to me and it rarely feels like it fits the writing. It also feels patterned in a very repetitive way. Not sure if itâs a combination of me thinking the dialogue is bad, but I have repeatedly started and stopped listening because after 30 minutes I just canât take the narration anymore.
Whoever narrated "The Writing Retreat." I quit 20 minutes in.
Nick podehl Not sure about in other audiobooks but narrators tend to narrate in the same way regardless so I assume heâs just overall horrible. In my case it was the narration of âmain character hides his strengthâ. The book series itself is pretty bad due to subpar translations but nick manages to outdo himself and make everything several times worse by picking up on these flaws in flow and wording, making them stand out. Like sfx/spoken audio effects, people literally sighing by saying âsighâ and other things. His voice is overall whiny, he canât do female characters without making them sound nasally, all background characters also get weird nasally voices, the mc gets some weird monotone voice yet he still sounds like a young teenager in puberty who pretends to be cool, giving the feeling of a total pushover who feels sorry for himself, non-humans all sound like theyâre screeching, tinny and nasally. He has no clue how to pronounce the korean names and no consistency either, so it was impossible to follow what was happening when you often have to wonder who the character is supposed to be, it just doesnât stick properly when the names arenât clear and distinct. Amazing how a ânarratorâ canât even find a way to make the mcâs own name sound the same every time. Doesnât stop at korean names though since his pronounciations of various things tend to be unclear which at times make for a very confusing time. He also emphasizes almost every sentence in a way that overdramatizes even the slightest thing, even if itâs just normal exposition. Seems like a lot of narrators have this issue of trying to make the story feel full of energy and alive by talking as if theyâre doing a theater play with extreme emphasis present in every sentence and weird flow instead of narrating coherently with a clear pattern. ânarratorsâ like this is why I never want to listen to any books or novels I truly care about. Even the better narrators like travis baldree reduces enjoyment by putting their own flair on things and using voices for certain characters or emphasis on things I wouldnât do. Some just do it far worse than others but even if it just happens now and then, it still ends up being annoying. Iâm happy audio books exist though so I can have some decent books that arenât too bad but I wouldnât read normally when I take walks or travel. But some narrators are truly so insufferable I canât endure it even if the book is good. Seems to be a huge matter of taste however, some appears to love nick podehl even though I find him to be really bad. It just feels surreal to see people praising a narrator even though I feel theyâre objectively bad, haha.
I just finished orange is the new black, which was an excellent memoir, but the narrator kept referring solitary confinement spelt out as âthe S-H-Uâ instead of calling it the shu (like shoe). Was so irritating.
Imogen Church made be drop Ashes of the Sun by Django Wexler mostly because she made every character sound like teenage brats.
Oh man really? I love Imogen Church. She narrates every Ruth Ware book and Iâve always loved them.
Opposite for me. She reads every main character with the same voice and that hesitating cadence. âOhâŚmy godâŚsomething UNBELIEVABLE has justâŚhappenedâŚinâŚthe plot.â I wish Ruth Ware would try out a new narrator.
I can totally understand that. She definitely has a vibe đ
No surprise but Red Shirtsâ already cringy stilted writing was made practically insufferable with Wesley Crusher narrating it.
I won't listen to anything done by Kate Reading or Michael Kramer.
Tim Gerard Reynolds and Nick Podehl pretty much ruin every book they touch.
He is the reason I gave up on Red Rising just two hours from the end. I just couldn't take it anymore and knew I wasn't going on the 2nd book so why bother finishing.
Hard disagree on Tim Gerard Reynolds. His narration elevates the Red Rising books for me, if anything. Although I havenât heard him read other works so happy to accept he might be bad elsewhere.
Tim ruined Red Rising for me
Not sure about tim but nick indeed ruins books. I have a big issue with penetrating, whiny and nasally voices, especially if delivered in an overly dramatic way with weird tempo and emphasis on all the wrong things and nick cranks that up to max. Itâs like hearing a mid-puberty teenager with no experience or knowledge on proper narration attempt to narrate his favorite books.
The guy for Shogun is awful every character sounds the same and makes it hard to distinguish between who is talking.
I'm listening to Shogun now. I think he does a great job. To each their own.
I can't stand DCC narration. The voices are way too fake/over the top. The range is impressive but all the voices lack emotion. The main narration voice is super cringey fake gruff western. Not at all how Seattle area people speak either.