Audiobooks and the importance of the narrator

[Night'sQueen]

Does anyone listen to audiobooks regularly and have opinions about the role of the narrator in the overall experience? I've been turning to audiobooks more frequently in the last few years as a way to increase my book consumption, and I find my (obviously very subjective) opinion on the skill of the narrator to be absolutely crucial to my enjoyment of any given book. Sometimes I will download a book and quit listening part way into the first chapter because I find the voice to be intolerable.

After listening to a number of books I even started seeking out more books read by a particular narrator, rather than searching by subject or author as I normally would. Narrators I enjoy include: Wanda McCaddon who has narrated a number of Jane Austen books as well as Anna Karenina; Anthony Heald, versions of the Iliad and The Odyssey; and Simon Vance, who I recently listened to as he narrated 1421: The Year China Discovered America -- fabulous and fascinating IMHO.

Conversely, for most non-fiction or biographies I would rather hear the author narrate (if living, obv.), especially if I know their voice. Tina Fey's and Amy Poehler's bios are really entertaining reads, but listening to them enhances the experience because they narrate. I checked out Fred Stoller's book, Maybe We'll Have You Back, and to my dismay it was not narrated by the author. I couldn't listen to it. Fred Stoller has a very distinct voice and to hear these first-hand experiences related by a strange voice just didn't work for me.

So I'm wondering if anyone else has strong feelings on this subject? Or recommendations? Also, if anyone has listened to audio versions of ASOIAF? I have not but since I can't find time to do a re-read I'm considering it.

(Sorry if there is an existing thread, I could not find one.)

[Andrew Gilfellon]

I couldn't get into the ASOIF audiobooks. For me the narrator had too many pauses where they shouldn't be.

For example. "We should turn back pause said garred.

The narrator chosen for any audio book can significantly damage an audio experience and there has been plenty of books I've steered clear of because of the narrator.

[C.T. Phipps]

I think a good narrator can make or break a novel. I also think that in the audio book community, picking the right one can actually lead to a lot of serious listeners choosing to follow a reader from one book to another. In a very real way, the narrator is as part of the handling of the story as anything else.

I actually think some books are improved by a really good narrator jelling with the material. I like the Confessions of a D-List Supervillain books as is, but their audio book versions are much-much better than the written version.

[Magnar of Skagos]

The narrator is very important to me, and is sometimes half the reason I choose to listen to a given audiobook.

[Freshwater Spartan]

Poor performance by the narrarator has been the number one reason for me to stop listening. All other reasons combined don't even come close. Make sure your audiobook is read by a trained actor. Won't sVe all audiobooks but it's the first thing I look for after the book and author itself.

For this reason I never listen to books read by the author.

[Wilbur]

You are totally correct, Night's Queen, the narrator makes or breaks an audio book.

Some audio book narrators are the perfect complement to the material. For me, Michael Pritchard is the voice of Archie Goodwin and Nero Wolfe as he reads the Rex Stout mysteries, for example. I have listened to one or two of the short stories read by other narrators, and the experience was just not the same.

At the other end of the spectrum are the auto-read computer voices. Every so often I will load up a book with anticipation, only to hear that $#@ computer voice.

In the middle are the LibriVox readers. Some of them are great, like Andy Minter reading Ernest Bramah. https://archive.org/details/carrados_librivox

Other are just painful to listen to, and you feel bad because they are trying earnestly, but are just not to your taste.

And then there are the readers who don't speak English as their first language, some of whom do a fine job, and others less so.

Some of the readers I recommend, along with complementary books include the following.

• Lisette Lecat reading Alexander McCall Smith's The No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency
  
• Roy Dotrice reading GRRM's first two or three of ASOIAF (but not the latter books)
  
• John Haag reading Steven Erikson's Malazan Book of the Fallen
  
• Arthur Morey reading Jack Vance's Dying Earth series
  
• Kevin T. Collins reading Jack Vance's Lyonesse series
  
• Stefan Rudnicki reading Alex Bledsoe's Eddie LaCrosse series. He is also on point when reading David Drake.
  
• Bernard Setaro Clark reading Steven Brust's Vlad Taltos series
  
• John Lee reading John Maddox Roberts' SPQR series
  
• Bruce Huntey reading Vernor Vinge
  
• Bruce Husey reading Harry Harrison's Hammer and the Cross series
  
• Robertson Dean reading William Gibson
  

To your specific question on ASOIAF, Roy Dotrice started out the audio books with a very unique and stylistic reading for the first two or three books. Because of other commitments, the publishers had other readers, including John Lee, do the latter books.

Listeners (including me) clamored for Roy to return and re-do the latter books, and eventually he did so. http://towerofthehand.com/blog/2006/02/28_dotrice_vs_lee/

For me, however, his reading style changed for the worse. His pronunciation of names and places was different from his earlier readings, and he voice characterizations, which had been generally quite good in his first stint, now sounded quite grating to me.

[Stubby]

James Marsters' performance in his reading of the Dresden Files was outstanding. His voice characterisations and sense of the dramatic were excellent.

I found it difficult to listen to the one book that was read by someone else. Evidently I was not alone this difficulty, as Audible have since gone back and had JM read that one too. Then Audible gave a copy of the JM version to everyone who bought one of the original version.

[red snow]

Bad narration can kill something although I have to try and think about whether it's the quality of the writing that's to blame (in some cases it is the latter). Badly edited narration (where the voice levels go up and down or mispronunciations occur) annoy me too.

I've started to notice good examples - Andrew Marr's "modern britain" is expertly narrated and capture's MArr's voice (and historical figures) really well. I've also just finished "Road to Wigan Peer" and the narrator does so with such conviction that Orwell's anger is perfectly captured. I think a lesser narrator would have ruined such a book as you need to believe that they feel the words they are saying - especially with biographical work.

I tend to read history audiobooks so can't comment on fiction. I guess it's more important in fiction with different characters and viewpoints.

[Ser Scot A Ellison]

Stubby,

Yeah, Marster's voice is how I now hear Dresden speak.

I don't care for Roy Dotrice as a reader. I find his voice a tad difficult to take.

[Night'sQueen]

Lots of interesting recommendations here to check out. Thanks for the list, Wilbur.

I have heard very mixed reviews of Roy Dotrice. :\

@red snow, I agree, bad editing can be really annoying too.

[Pilusmagnus]

Are there audiobooks that are not read by one single narrator but rather by a group of comedians voicing the characters? I suppose it must be rarer and more expensive if it does exist, but I'm sometimes baffled by some narrators' voicing of characters, especially with those of the opposite gender.

[Ser Scot A Ellison]

Dune and Hyperion are read by casts rather than a single reader.

[Pilusmagnus]

Dune and Hyperion are read by casts rather than a single reader.

Thank you. That might be reason enough to start Dune someday. Is the whole series like that?

[red snow]

Are there audiobooks that are not read by one single narrator but rather by a group of comedians voicing the characters? I suppose it must be rarer and more expensive if it does exist, but I'm sometimes baffled by some narrators' voicing of characters, especially with those of the opposite gender.

The BBC does it quite a lot although I think a lot of their works are technically audioplay adaptations rather than pure readings. I have seen some audiobooks advertised with multiple voice actors. I can see it working more with POVs (GRRM style) where that person reads that character. This makes sense for Hyperion, as Scott mentions. Otherwise I guess it's a lot harder to record. I could see the benefit of having two voice actors for male and female as it is hard to buy one gender doing the other. It's not a problem for me if the narrator is skilled enough to do male and female voices though.

[Pilusmagnus]

Yeah, a man and a woman At least would be fine.

[Ser Scot A Ellison]

PM,

No. Some of the epigraphs are read by cast but in the later books none of the text.

[Night'sQueen]

Are there audiobooks that are not read by one single narrator but rather by a group of comedians voicing the characters? I suppose it must be rarer and more expensive if it does exist, but I'm sometimes baffled by some narrators' voicing of characters, especially with those of the opposite gender.

The opposite gender thing can sound weird depending on the narrator, I agree. Some are better at it than others, but it can be jarring/distracting. The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo was narrated by Simon Vance, who I normally like, but his Lisbeth voice got on my nerves.

I have not listened to any books with multiple narrators, but I frequently check out e-book audios of Shakespeare plays from my library. The first time I didn't know what to expect, but to my relief the ones I have encountered have all been performed by a cast of actors.

Dune and Hyperion are read by casts rather than a single reader.

Interesting! I am going to check out Dune very soon then.

[Stego]

Snow Crash by Stephenson is still the gold standard in SF/F audiobooks IMO.

[Deedles]

The Wheel of Time audiobooks have good readers, male and female. I found the audio version easier to get through than the written.

[SilentRoamer]

I have tried and failed a few times listening to audiobooks, the voice actors tended to be over the top American accents (which for some reason to me just feels wrong when reading Fantasy)

I would like to listen to some Audiobooks by Jeremy Irons though, dude has a wicked voice.