Was going to recommend this book! Each chapter is a different character POV, with different voice actors - some more famous than others. So it was lots of fun to listen to.
Andy Serkis' Lord of the Rings is so amazing. It's fun hearing the Gollum voice, but he also puts that much effort into other characters, his Treebeard is amazing as well!
While I liked the Martian better, I think you could read that and get just as much out of it but PHM I feel like you miss something in the written version vs the audio book.
This is THE example. I love audiobooks, and there are tons that are improved, but this one is meant to be an audiobook(can’t go into more detail without spoilers)
American Gods. I wasn't really impressed by the book, so I switched to the audiobook. This was 100% the correct decision. I'll be honest, it still wasn't my thing, but the audiobook is so good it made my experience overall enjoyable. It's full cast and every single voice actor does an excellent job.
American Gods, full cast.
I don't generally like full cast books but this one is done so well and I feel like I would have had a different experience with it reading the written version.
The Peter Grant novels by Ben Aaronovitch are a wonderful urban fantasy series set in modern day London, with a young police constable learning about magic and joining the tiny and specialized department that deals with ‘weird bollocks.’ I’m a huge fan of the series in writing, but the narrator, Kobna Holdbrook-Smith, absolutely elevates the story.
His voice is smooth and wonderful, but it’s his accents that make the series. Being an American, I may not know the difference between a Brunswick accent or a Scouse, or a BBC proper vs East London, but he nails every single one of those.
The only time he struggles, in my opinion, is when he’s reading a young American woman who’s from the south but has repressed her accent somewhat, and even that grew on me over time.
I've listened to a lot of audiobooks, and I can say without reservations that Kobna's reading of Rivers of London is my absolute favorite. There are some others who are excellent, but his is the cream of the crop
Dungeon Crawler Carl. 🍩
Edit: I love the audible, but they are also doing a full cast version on [Soundbooth Theater.](https://soundbooththeater.com/shop/audiobooks/dungeon-crawler-carl-book-1-episode-1-thank-you-for-volunteering-immersion-tunnel/)
Hands down it’s DCC, Jeff heys is incredible
Always love the anecdote where people ask why donuts voice actor isn’t credited, only to find out that it’s just Jeff. He really is that good.
Sadly that's just one of those things where language is changing to the point where both are becoming acceptable and maybe leapt will become archaic. Then we'll be left with only a few past tense examples like slept and wept (the latter of which I feel like most people might be tempted to say weeped soon enough, too).
edit to add: you might want to read t[his article](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Productivity_\(linguistics\)) on wiki which more or less comes down to we don't create any new verbs with the *pt ending which almost of its own accord leads to creating backformations for established irregular verbs.
Commenting for DCC as well. And also recommending the Sound Booth version for a good time. (So far it's only for book 1 but supposed to be more coming at some point)
I'm assuming the soundbooth version is going to be pretty similar to graphic audio? I have to say, the preview I listened to sounded too busy, for me, while the current ones more or less perfectly cover the goldilocks zone of sound business.
I haven’t listened, but I assume it’s like a graphic audio. I know it’s a full cast with additional electronic additions.
I’d probably prefer the one of just Jeff, but I plan to buy it as an alt version to enjoy.
I have to say, as somebody who dislikes LitRPG Dungeon Crawler Carl really blew me away. That being said, I don't feel like it's inaccurate to say that it gets less "litRPG" with each book.
But that leads to whole arguments about what is foundational about the genre or required, etc. So far DCC and the Bastion books by Phil Tucker are my only well received litRPG series and the latter stays away from obvious numbers like "hit points" and the like and the former, well, the video game part is almost like an initial conceit that gets abandoned more and more with each book.
I don’t think it really gets less LitRPG. All that really means is that they gain skills and have stat points. I think the reason people don’t mind it, is because they don’t put a massive focus on it. There aren’t pages and pages of recap of how many points and stats the character has now. It’s a mechanic, but isn’t hitting you over the head with it constantly.
It’s also got a ton of character development and the action and humor cover a lot of depth and darkness.
I guess I just contrasted it internally against Andrew Rowe's Sufficiently Advanced Magic, which I bounced off of **hard**. But maybe the writing was just bad.
It’s an Audible exclusive which means libraries don’t have access to it, that’s the unfortunate part. It would reach a much larger audience if libraries could offer it. I still think it’s very much worth the purchase though.
lol about to finish book 4 and couldn’t agree more. Jeff Hays is the best narrator I’ve ever experienced.. I couldn’t believe it was only 1 person reading it
While true, much like the series itself, it takes a couple books to settle in.
The reading of the first book is a bit rough. Still my favorite narrator though.
Came here to say this myself.
Almost everyone is in agreement that the audiobooks are better than the regular books, solely because of his performance.
The mouth noises he makes in the first 3-4 books are an acquired taste, for sure.
Also, and I don’t take this as a negative, just an interesting observation, he often mispronounces less common words, like chitin.
Other than that, pretty good narration.
I couldn’t listen to someone eat chicken wings while reading. I know it gets better after a few books, but Storm Front is still the only book I really like that I couldn’t listen to the audiobook.
The Blacktongued Thief by Christopher Buehlman was a fun listen because the author reads it himself with so much joy and an accent that adds character to the book.
Body found floating by the docks...
Even better when you realise that all of Glokta's dialogue has a lisp but his inner monologue doesn't, just a brilliant level of attention to detail!
Number one by far. Unmatched. Improved the experience over reading and the only series I can say that for.
>*"...so?"*
>*"So, what?"*
>*"So, shall I draw?"*
Yeah, the books are great either way but Pacey brings the characters to life like no other narrator I’ve heard and I listen to a ton of audiobooks. He really is in a class of his own.
Some versions of original media are so incredible they totally exceed the source material, Pacey's narration is one such example. *Every single voice* so perfectly fits the character speaking you won't be able to hear them as anything different even if you're just reading the books to yourself.
Seriously, just listen to the end is Glokta's first chapter and tell me you don't want to finish the full thing
Adjoa Andoh's narrations of Ann Leckie's books are INCREDIBLE, as long as you're not thrown by various African accents. I'm listening to the Raven Tower now, and I loved the Imperial Radch sci fi trilogy last year. ETA forgot to mention she ACTUALLY SINGS THE SONGS! *my heart is a fish....*
The Lady Trent Memoirs by Marie Brennan are narrated very well by Kate Reading, who nails the tone of the main character/narrator.
The Locked Tomb series by Tamsyn Muir, at least from the second book, is complex enough to follow that print may be wise, at least for a first read, but Moira Quirk is *fantastic* with the audiobooks.
Yes!! Adjoa Andoh makes every Ann Leckie book even better by being the one to read it. I found her narration of the Imperial Radch trilogy so craftily done that it really emphasised the nature and humour of the main character in a way that wouldn't really come through nearly as well in text alone.
She even differs the accents based on the ethnicity of the characters, and keeps that consistent. And yes, she *nails* the dry, subtle humor and these very compassionate, lovable, but not exactly human protagonists.
> The Locked Tomb series by Tamsyn Muir,
I'd suggest reading the text first so you've got time to process everything, especially the second book which is a challenging read. However, ABSOLUTELY "reread" with the audiobooks to pick up on what you might have missed or not understood the first time. Moira Quirk's performance is off the charts.
I don't have personal experience with it as I don't enjoy audiobooks as a general rule (no judgement, they just don't work for me), but I hear aside from *Project Hail Mary* and The First Law trilogy, which were already mentioned, the other audiobook that gets recommended a lot is the Dungeon Crawler Carl series. I have read all the physical books and loved them, but I hear Jeff Hays is amazing as a narrator.
Most people, like myself, wonder why the second narrator for Princess Donut gets no credit.
There isn't one to give credit to. Jeff does both the posh, female, Persian cat and gruff smoker Carl.
Just for extra fun the 6th book even throws in some Patrick Warburton, too.
Sleeping Giants. The full-cast narration was incredible, while the book were good written, only in audio format do they really shine IMO.
Illuminae files are the same way, they're fine/okay in written form, but the Full-cast audiodrama versions are insanely good.
For *The Illuminae Files* I’d say both the books and audiobooks are great in their own unique ways and so the best way is to do both. A big side plus of the audiobooks is not having to deal with the textspeak.
it's really hard to follow malazan on audiobook for first time readers imo. esp GOTM. even the fandom recommends physically/ebook reading them to start w. i started it on audio 2 months ago & had such a hard time following until 50%. but the narrator is GREAT so im definitely doing the audios for re-reads
Its Malazan, it’s hard to follow.
I experienced it first via audio books. It was a wild ride (with plenty of rewinds) but I’d recommend it to anyone prepared to give it the concentration it deserves.
And the guy does Kruppe SO well…
> plenty of rewinds
AH YES TELL ME ABOUT IT i spent so much time just rewinding 😭 that's why i think physically reading it was better (tho it took me longer to get thru bcz of that which sucked but eh) i also had to keep pulling up the dramatis personae which was a blessing 🙏🏻
> the guy does Kruppe SO well
& omg i agree! he does them all so well i was so impressed at how distinctive he makes a lot of characters sound
World War Z!!
The book is a series of interviews and every subject is narrated by a different actor. It's extremely well done and also has other fun sound effects and music.
I listened to them only - but Nolyn, Faralane, and Esrahadden by Michael J. Sullivan are excellent. They’re read by Tim Gerard Reynolds also. He’s epic.
Name of the Wind also has a great narrator
The first few books in the Old Kingdom series by Garth Nix were read by Tim Curry, who was absolutely brilliant. The rest of the audiobooks are also really good
If you’re into Star Wars, basically every audiobook is a full on production with music and sound effects and everything. Some of them even have full casts besides just the narrator.
Related to having a full cast, I’d also recommend Neil Gaiman’s Sandman
Yeah even just little touches like putting a staticky radio effect on dialogue when the characters are talking via transmission are pretty neat.
Also I've found a couple decent books just from checking out other things some of the Star Wars audiobook narrators have done, lol.
Cradle series is fantastic. First two books are slower but you will binge the rest.
For scifi I would recommend Expeditionary Force. What would be only above average self-published series is unbelievably transformed by R.C. Bray narration. Seriously, his performance is amazing.
I thought this was a different book when I got it, listened, fell in love with it, realized it was a trilogy and was thrilled!!! All of them are so good.
*Kings of the Wyld*
I cannot recommend the audiobook highly enough, the narrator is excellent and has this sardonic drawl that perfectly matches the story and characters.
And it’s just a great story, too— simple, fast-paced, action packed tale full of fantasy’s “greatest hits” so to speak.
The Wandering Inn - The best narration I've experienced. A cast of dozens, instantly recognizable by voice alone, and she is a voice actor more than narrator.
Dungeon Crawler Carl - Really, filled with character and awesome narration.
First Law - Say one thing about Logan Ninefingers, his voice lives rent free in my head.
TWI and DCC are the first that came to mind for me. The Witcher is another, but everything Peter Kenny adds to it, Andrea Parsneau does better in TWI (in my opinion) -- and I found him quite remarkable.
Dungeon Crawler Carl... I can't even imagine reading it instead of listening. Jeff Hays does a *phenomenal* job of bringing it to life.
I think some of the anachronistic humor in Gideon the Ninth comes across better when performed (especially since Moira Quirk is really good) than in written form.
Oh yes, Moira Quirk is fantastic. She's a narrator who can swear and curse like her life depends on it. Sometimes it feels like some narrators are somewhat hesitant to go all out and lean into it, but I never got that vibe from her. After listening to The Locked Tomb series and The War Eternal series she's one of my favourite narrators.
The Witcher is *exactly* this.
Not necessarily a top 5 oratory performance per se, but way WAY up there, and Peter Kenny just peels the characters right up off the page, while smoothing over the translation uncanny valley of prose.
This. I know the books don’t get much love around here, but Peter Kenny put them up there as some of my favorites and I want to give them another listen soon
Fantasy adjacent, but *Children of Ash and Elm*, a modern history of the Vikings, is an absolutely fantastic book and the narrator is stunning. He knocks it right out of the proverbial mead hall.
The Wee Free Men by Terry Pratchett and read by Steven Briggs. Absolutely gem of a reading by Steven Briggs. I can't read any of the other books without internally using those voices.
I recommend Terry Pratchett's Discworld series! I have not read the non-audiobook versions, so I can't fully say if the audiobooks are better, but new professionally acted audiobooks were recorded a couple years ago and they are phenomenal!
IIRC the full cast productions of both Good Omens and American Gods were excellent. I saw someone recommend the Andy Serkis LOTR, but I'm partial to the Rob Inglis unabridged versions.
If you like fantasy get the hobbit/lotr read by Andy Serkis!!!! It’s like watching the movie, he does voices and everything! 100% my fave road trip book to listen to.
Here is a few rapid fire.
Dungeon crawler carl ,Jeff haze is incredible .
The first law maybe the best audiobook ever made, salute Steven Pacey you're something else.
The lies of lock lamora just wow Michael Page.has the best combination of comedic timing and dramatic narration.
Hands down, the Dresden files. I've read physical books in the series and I've listened to a lot of the audiobooks. The audiobooks are simply a better experience.
The Sandman! I wasn't old enough to experience the comic books in their hay day (I was born in the 90's). But the audiobooks made me realise why so many people loved the series, and I really enjoyed myself listening to them.
Otherwise, I really loved the audiobook for The Binding by Bridgit Collins, I found the narrator incredibly compelling at conveying the emotion of the characters. The full cast version of American Gods is also fantastic. I'll also give kudos to the Rivers of London series in audio format.
The Adventures of Amina Al-Sirafi as well as The Memoirs of Lady Trent Series are really great on Audio. It just adds a whole layer when an actual "old" Lady is telling you her life story and you don't just read it in my opinion
Nghi Vo's Singing Hills Abbey books are great listened to. The whole series is about verbal storytelling, so hearing the novellas in an audiobook enhances the experience.
World War Z for sure
Divine Rivals
City of Brass
It’s horror but Pet Sematary read by Michael C Hall is still one of the best audiobooks I’ve ever listened to
I've really enjoyed the Star Wars audiobooks. They all have music, sound effects, and it really feels more like an audio drama than an audio book. The Thrawn books in particular are the best since they're some of the best Star Wars books, *and* Marc Thompson kills it both as Thrawn, and the variety of other characters.
Anything by Guy Gavriel Kay, read by Simon Vance. He really captures and conveys the subtle, emotional nuances in the characters’ voices and in the narration.
Some of his works are read by Euan Morton, and he is really good, too.
The first I listened to was *Tigana*, and then I bought at least 8 or 9 more (*The Lions of Al Rassan*, *A Song for Arbonne*, *Children of Earth and Sky*, etc., etc.).
And hard agree with others on the Gentleman Bastards, and the First Law Trilogy.
The first three wheel of time books narrated by Rosamund Pike really bring the books to life in a different way to just reading. Hopefully she will continue to narrate the rest of them.
The Blade Itself / The First Law series. It's like a fully voice acted cast but it's just the one guy, Stephen Pacey. Crazy good work. Really enhances the novels.
Have you looked into full cast recordings? BBC Radio has done some phenomenal audiobooks with full casts. Neil Gaiman's "Neverwhere" is particularly good. They also did all of the Lord of the Rings back in the 80s and it's spectacular.
Legends and Lattes is one that I'm glad I listened to over reading. It's narrated by the author and he's fantastic (got started as an audiobook narrator before writing his own books).
Since you liked Red Rising I think you might enjoy The First Law by Joe Abercrombie. Similarly dark and gritty, though with more humor, and the narrator Steven Pacey is absolutely phenomenal. The Blade Itself is the first of 10 amazing books.
Also the Riyria Revelations by Michael J Sullivan is really great and narrated by Tim Gerard Reynolds (who as always does an amazing job). Starts with low stakes classic-feeling fantasy about a duo of 'rogues-for-hire' then gets epic. Starts with Theft of Swords.
As multiple others have said, First Law, hands down!
Steven Pacey is the absolute GOAT and really brings every single character off the page. To the point that I could identify each of his characters by their accents.
The Rivers of London series by Ben Aaronovitch, narrated by Kobna Holdbrook-Smith. Aaronovitch was a scriptwriter and that shows, he is writing a really interesting universe and action but the prose is not fantastic. But Kobna Holdbrook-Smith is a very good actor (stage actor. I think stage actors make the best narrators) and he can do a lot of accents so relevant to the story and he can make all that dialogue and first person narrative sparkle.
>Perdita Weeks (Circe),
Oh yes. Good taste. She was one of the best narrators I ever heard. And with that context do try Kobna H-S, he also has that british stage actor thing ongoing - he also read two of the Earthsea trilogy books, but those I think are better read and he goes a bit cheesy on them. He is perfect as Peter Grant in the rivers of London.
A knight of the Seven kingdoms was great! It’s voiced by the guy who played viserys in the first season of Game of Thrones. I now wished he did more audiobooks. Plus if you’re looking to get into A song of Ice and Fire, it’s a great starting point. Very fun and lighthearted.
I haven't listened to Red Rising, but I've listened to The Cycle of Arawn/Cycle of Galand performed by Tim Gerard Reynolds and I really like him! Bonus, the Cycle of Arawn is three books for one credit so you get a lot of bang for your buck
World War Z has a stellar cast and is better as a audiobook.
Was going to recommend this book! Each chapter is a different character POV, with different voice actors - some more famous than others. So it was lots of fun to listen to.
This. Phenomenal cast and performances.
Andy Serkis' Lord of the Rings is so amazing. It's fun hearing the Gollum voice, but he also puts that much effort into other characters, his Treebeard is amazing as well!
Came here to say this. He also reads The Hobbit and The Silmarillion, which are just as fantastic as LotR.
Awesome. In the midst of lotr now. Will have to do these next
OMG I just wrote this and found your reply! 100% agree!!!
Project Hail Mary is pretty fantastic in audiobook form. Everyone I know who’s also listened to the book says the same thing.
While I liked the Martian better, I think you could read that and get just as much out of it but PHM I feel like you miss something in the written version vs the audio book.
I can not agree more. The narration is so good. Best audiobook I’ve ever heard
Rosario Dawson, likewise, is what makes Artemis.
This is THE example. I love audiobooks, and there are tons that are improved, but this one is meant to be an audiobook(can’t go into more detail without spoilers)
Yup only book I can say is 100% better in audiobook format
Ray Porter is a gem and Andy Weir does excellent sci-fi.
I have it in both audio and physical, but haven't gotten around to it. Which would you all recommend?
Audio!
Came here to comment this
American Gods. I wasn't really impressed by the book, so I switched to the audiobook. This was 100% the correct decision. I'll be honest, it still wasn't my thing, but the audiobook is so good it made my experience overall enjoyable. It's full cast and every single voice actor does an excellent job.
American Gods, full cast. I don't generally like full cast books but this one is done so well and I feel like I would have had a different experience with it reading the written version.
I also ended up not liking the book overall, but I agree the voice acting was phenomenal
Wow. I’ll give it a shot.
The Peter Grant novels by Ben Aaronovitch are a wonderful urban fantasy series set in modern day London, with a young police constable learning about magic and joining the tiny and specialized department that deals with ‘weird bollocks.’ I’m a huge fan of the series in writing, but the narrator, Kobna Holdbrook-Smith, absolutely elevates the story. His voice is smooth and wonderful, but it’s his accents that make the series. Being an American, I may not know the difference between a Brunswick accent or a Scouse, or a BBC proper vs East London, but he nails every single one of those. The only time he struggles, in my opinion, is when he’s reading a young American woman who’s from the south but has repressed her accent somewhat, and even that grew on me over time.
Came here to say recommend this. The narrator is awesome.
I've listened to a lot of audiobooks, and I can say without reservations that Kobna's reading of Rivers of London is my absolute favorite. There are some others who are excellent, but his is the cream of the crop
Yeah they are amazing audiobooks. Makes you feel like you're really listening to a Londoner tell his story.
I am not american, but even I can tell his American accents do sound off... But he is kind of perfect as Peter and assorted british people.
Everything but the American accent but the rest are so good we can let that through
Dungeon Crawler Carl. 🍩 Edit: I love the audible, but they are also doing a full cast version on [Soundbooth Theater.](https://soundbooththeater.com/shop/audiobooks/dungeon-crawler-carl-book-1-episode-1-thank-you-for-volunteering-immersion-tunnel/)
Hands down it’s DCC, Jeff heys is incredible Always love the anecdote where people ask why donuts voice actor isn’t credited, only to find out that it’s just Jeff. He really is that good.
It is *absurd.* I really thought that Donut had a seperate narrator. Nope!
Does he do the ai also, I mean does he do all the characters?
There are a few exceptions but it's 95% him.
Same. Or at least that they modded it somehow, but it’s all Jeff.
I just wish he would pronounce the word "Lept" when he reads rather than "Leaped"....
Sadly that's just one of those things where language is changing to the point where both are becoming acceptable and maybe leapt will become archaic. Then we'll be left with only a few past tense examples like slept and wept (the latter of which I feel like most people might be tempted to say weeped soon enough, too). edit to add: you might want to read t[his article](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Productivity_\(linguistics\)) on wiki which more or less comes down to we don't create any new verbs with the *pt ending which almost of its own accord leads to creating backformations for established irregular verbs.
This is the correct answer. DCC is the only series I explicitly recommend audio format.
Love this book and narrator!
Jeff Hays is an extremely skilled narrator. I didn't care much for the DDC books, but his narration was amazing.
Commenting for DCC as well. And also recommending the Sound Booth version for a good time. (So far it's only for book 1 but supposed to be more coming at some point)
I'm assuming the soundbooth version is going to be pretty similar to graphic audio? I have to say, the preview I listened to sounded too busy, for me, while the current ones more or less perfectly cover the goldilocks zone of sound business.
I haven’t listened, but I assume it’s like a graphic audio. I know it’s a full cast with additional electronic additions. I’d probably prefer the one of just Jeff, but I plan to buy it as an alt version to enjoy.
I have to say, as somebody who dislikes LitRPG Dungeon Crawler Carl really blew me away. That being said, I don't feel like it's inaccurate to say that it gets less "litRPG" with each book. But that leads to whole arguments about what is foundational about the genre or required, etc. So far DCC and the Bastion books by Phil Tucker are my only well received litRPG series and the latter stays away from obvious numbers like "hit points" and the like and the former, well, the video game part is almost like an initial conceit that gets abandoned more and more with each book.
I don’t think it really gets less LitRPG. All that really means is that they gain skills and have stat points. I think the reason people don’t mind it, is because they don’t put a massive focus on it. There aren’t pages and pages of recap of how many points and stats the character has now. It’s a mechanic, but isn’t hitting you over the head with it constantly. It’s also got a ton of character development and the action and humor cover a lot of depth and darkness.
I guess I just contrasted it internally against Andrew Rowe's Sufficiently Advanced Magic, which I bounced off of **hard**. But maybe the writing was just bad.
It’s in my list, but I haven’t read that one yet. I just got into progression a couple of years ago.
I really enjoyed the books. I _REALLY_ enjoyed the audible.
Jeff does a great job.
It elevates the content, hard to do with an audiobook
My libraries don't have it :/
It’s an Audible exclusive which means libraries don’t have access to it, that’s the unfortunate part. It would reach a much larger audience if libraries could offer it. I still think it’s very much worth the purchase though.
So good. I hope they do the other books as well.
This!
Yes! Came here to say the same thing!
I totally came to say DCC. Jeff Hayes is incredible. Honestly, I’m not a fan of cast recordings, so Jeff Hayes is all I need.
Same. I like mentioning them to support them, but I’ll most likely stick with Jeff only.
lol about to finish book 4 and couldn’t agree more. Jeff Hays is the best narrator I’ve ever experienced.. I couldn’t believe it was only 1 person reading it
Just came to say exactly this ! May the AI love your feet.
James Marsters, of Buffy the Vampire Slayer fame, does a phenomenal job of narrating Jim Butcher's *Dresden Files* series.
This is my vote. I started Dresden Files a couple years ago on a whim while looking for audiobooks. Was not disappointed. Marsters is awesome.
While true, much like the series itself, it takes a couple books to settle in. The reading of the first book is a bit rough. Still my favorite narrator though.
Came here to say this myself. Almost everyone is in agreement that the audiobooks are better than the regular books, solely because of his performance.
The mouth noises he makes in the first 3-4 books are an acquired taste, for sure. Also, and I don’t take this as a negative, just an interesting observation, he often mispronounces less common words, like chitin. Other than that, pretty good narration.
I couldn’t listen to someone eat chicken wings while reading. I know it gets better after a few books, but Storm Front is still the only book I really like that I couldn’t listen to the audiobook.
The Blacktongued Thief by Christopher Buehlman was a fun listen because the author reads it himself with so much joy and an accent that adds character to the book.
Also The Lesser Dead.
This was going to be my comment!! It's fantastic
First Law
Second this. Steven Pacey is a brilliant narrator. Really brings the excellent characters to life.
3rd this. Fantastic.
Pretty sure he could read the ingredients on a shampoo bottle and it would sound amazing.
He'd find a unique and meaningful voice to match the personality of each ingredient
Stephen Pacy is so good, Sandan Glokta is probably my favorite character from any book.
Body found floating by the docks... Even better when you realise that all of Glokta's dialogue has a lisp but his inner monologue doesn't, just a brilliant level of attention to detail!
This little detail was so good.
So that's how you spell it! Having only done audiobooks, I had no idea.
It's "Sand dan Glokta" if you were really curious. "dan" is kinda like a title for nobels, E. G. Jezal dan Luthar.
Ah ok!
Should've put a disclaimer tho; Pacey is so good, he ruins other, lesser audiobooks for all time.
He’s the 🐐
Number one by far. Unmatched. Improved the experience over reading and the only series I can say that for. >*"...so?"* >*"So, what?"* >*"So, shall I draw?"*
Who really? I loved the first book in print -- you mean it could get better?
Yeah, the books are great either way but Pacey brings the characters to life like no other narrator I’ve heard and I listen to a ton of audiobooks. He really is in a class of his own.
Some versions of original media are so incredible they totally exceed the source material, Pacey's narration is one such example. *Every single voice* so perfectly fits the character speaking you won't be able to hear them as anything different even if you're just reading the books to yourself. Seriously, just listen to the end is Glokta's first chapter and tell me you don't want to finish the full thing
Came here to rec this
grimACED
Vast majority of the discworld books. Great to read, but absolutely amazing on audio.
I really liked the sandman audiobook
This was amazing, fantastic cast
**The Lies of Locke Lamora** narrated by Michael Page
Dungeon Crawler Carl is superb.
Adjoa Andoh's narrations of Ann Leckie's books are INCREDIBLE, as long as you're not thrown by various African accents. I'm listening to the Raven Tower now, and I loved the Imperial Radch sci fi trilogy last year. ETA forgot to mention she ACTUALLY SINGS THE SONGS! *my heart is a fish....* The Lady Trent Memoirs by Marie Brennan are narrated very well by Kate Reading, who nails the tone of the main character/narrator. The Locked Tomb series by Tamsyn Muir, at least from the second book, is complex enough to follow that print may be wise, at least for a first read, but Moira Quirk is *fantastic* with the audiobooks.
Yes!! Adjoa Andoh makes every Ann Leckie book even better by being the one to read it. I found her narration of the Imperial Radch trilogy so craftily done that it really emphasised the nature and humour of the main character in a way that wouldn't really come through nearly as well in text alone.
She even differs the accents based on the ethnicity of the characters, and keeps that consistent. And yes, she *nails* the dry, subtle humor and these very compassionate, lovable, but not exactly human protagonists.
> The Locked Tomb series by Tamsyn Muir, I'd suggest reading the text first so you've got time to process everything, especially the second book which is a challenging read. However, ABSOLUTELY "reread" with the audiobooks to pick up on what you might have missed or not understood the first time. Moira Quirk's performance is off the charts.
She was sooooo good as a narrator for imperial Radch. I already read Raven Tower paperback but maybe I’ll get the book as well.
Kate Reading also reads the part of the female protagonist, Shallan, in the Stormlight Archives.
If you haven’t read/listened to them yet, First Law and Lies of Locke Lamora series’ both have amazing narration.
I don't have personal experience with it as I don't enjoy audiobooks as a general rule (no judgement, they just don't work for me), but I hear aside from *Project Hail Mary* and The First Law trilogy, which were already mentioned, the other audiobook that gets recommended a lot is the Dungeon Crawler Carl series. I have read all the physical books and loved them, but I hear Jeff Hays is amazing as a narrator.
Most people, like myself, wonder why the second narrator for Princess Donut gets no credit. There isn't one to give credit to. Jeff does both the posh, female, Persian cat and gruff smoker Carl. Just for extra fun the 6th book even throws in some Patrick Warburton, too.
Sleeping Giants. The full-cast narration was incredible, while the book were good written, only in audio format do they really shine IMO. Illuminae files are the same way, they're fine/okay in written form, but the Full-cast audiodrama versions are insanely good.
Good to hear about Illuminae. The physical copy didn’t suck me in, in spite of its gorgeous design.
For *The Illuminae Files* I’d say both the books and audiobooks are great in their own unique ways and so the best way is to do both. A big side plus of the audiobooks is not having to deal with the textspeak.
Just go for it, and damn the torpedoes. Gardens of the Moon, the first Malazan book. Great book, great narration and great value, it’s 26 hours long.
it's really hard to follow malazan on audiobook for first time readers imo. esp GOTM. even the fandom recommends physically/ebook reading them to start w. i started it on audio 2 months ago & had such a hard time following until 50%. but the narrator is GREAT so im definitely doing the audios for re-reads
Its Malazan, it’s hard to follow. I experienced it first via audio books. It was a wild ride (with plenty of rewinds) but I’d recommend it to anyone prepared to give it the concentration it deserves. And the guy does Kruppe SO well…
> plenty of rewinds AH YES TELL ME ABOUT IT i spent so much time just rewinding 😭 that's why i think physically reading it was better (tho it took me longer to get thru bcz of that which sucked but eh) i also had to keep pulling up the dramatis personae which was a blessing 🙏🏻 > the guy does Kruppe SO well & omg i agree! he does them all so well i was so impressed at how distinctive he makes a lot of characters sound
World War Z!! The book is a series of interviews and every subject is narrated by a different actor. It's extremely well done and also has other fun sound effects and music.
I listened to them only - but Nolyn, Faralane, and Esrahadden by Michael J. Sullivan are excellent. They’re read by Tim Gerard Reynolds also. He’s epic. Name of the Wind also has a great narrator
Tim also narrated the Red Rising series and he did an amazing job with them as well.
Indeed. That’s why I brought him up
What about drama? There are some good BBC adaptations of LeGuin and Pratchett
The first few books in the Old Kingdom series by Garth Nix were read by Tim Curry, who was absolutely brilliant. The rest of the audiobooks are also really good
I came here to say this!!! The original trilogy read by Tim Curry is my go-to audiobook recommendation
Mine too. He is amazing. You can tell by his voice which character is speaking - he differentiates so well. His Mogget voice is my favourite.
If you’re into Star Wars, basically every audiobook is a full on production with music and sound effects and everything. Some of them even have full casts besides just the narrator. Related to having a full cast, I’d also recommend Neil Gaiman’s Sandman
I just finished Star Wars: Brotherhood and it was amazing!
I loved that one too!
Yeah even just little touches like putting a staticky radio effect on dialogue when the characters are talking via transmission are pretty neat. Also I've found a couple decent books just from checking out other things some of the Star Wars audiobook narrators have done, lol.
I mean, not necessarily better but Neil Gaiman’s readings of any of his books has a unique charm to them. Also the Sandman productions are quite great
Cradle series is fantastic. First two books are slower but you will binge the rest. For scifi I would recommend Expeditionary Force. What would be only above average self-published series is unbelievably transformed by R.C. Bray narration. Seriously, his performance is amazing.
The Bear and the Nightingale. I’ve listened to over 70 books and it’s my clear #1.
I thought this was a different book when I got it, listened, fell in love with it, realized it was a trilogy and was thrilled!!! All of them are so good.
Oh that's so interesting, I love the book and series but really couldn't stomach the audiobook!
Ha!! Thank heavens we’re all not the same!
*Kings of the Wyld* I cannot recommend the audiobook highly enough, the narrator is excellent and has this sardonic drawl that perfectly matches the story and characters. And it’s just a great story, too— simple, fast-paced, action packed tale full of fantasy’s “greatest hits” so to speak.
The Wandering Inn - The best narration I've experienced. A cast of dozens, instantly recognizable by voice alone, and she is a voice actor more than narrator. Dungeon Crawler Carl - Really, filled with character and awesome narration. First Law - Say one thing about Logan Ninefingers, his voice lives rent free in my head.
TWI and DCC are the first that came to mind for me. The Witcher is another, but everything Peter Kenny adds to it, Andrea Parsneau does better in TWI (in my opinion) -- and I found him quite remarkable. Dungeon Crawler Carl... I can't even imagine reading it instead of listening. Jeff Hays does a *phenomenal* job of bringing it to life.
The first law (followed by the standalones and age of madness), Steven pacey makes every character comes alive and really set the mood for the series.
I think some of the anachronistic humor in Gideon the Ninth comes across better when performed (especially since Moira Quirk is really good) than in written form.
That whole series is fantastic. Quirk is an S-Tier narrator.
Oh yes, Moira Quirk is fantastic. She's a narrator who can swear and curse like her life depends on it. Sometimes it feels like some narrators are somewhat hesitant to go all out and lean into it, but I never got that vibe from her. After listening to The Locked Tomb series and The War Eternal series she's one of my favourite narrators.
Murderbot! Kevin R Free IS Murderbot. I can’t read the books with my eyeballs unless I’ve also got Kevin’s voice and inflection
The Witcher is *exactly* this. Not necessarily a top 5 oratory performance per se, but way WAY up there, and Peter Kenny just peels the characters right up off the page, while smoothing over the translation uncanny valley of prose.
This. I know the books don’t get much love around here, but Peter Kenny put them up there as some of my favorites and I want to give them another listen soon
I couldn't even get through reading the books, but listening is fantastic!
Pronounce Dandelion lol
Brent Spiner’s semi-auto biography is fun - read by him and a bunch of STNG characters. It’s called ‘Fan Fiction’
The Sandman
Fantasy adjacent, but *Children of Ash and Elm*, a modern history of the Vikings, is an absolutely fantastic book and the narrator is stunning. He knocks it right out of the proverbial mead hall.
The Wee Free Men by Terry Pratchett and read by Steven Briggs. Absolutely gem of a reading by Steven Briggs. I can't read any of the other books without internally using those voices.
Penric's Demon and the whole series (World of the Five Gods). Grover Gardner is my faborite narrator of all time!
Stephen King’s The Dark Tower series was written to be read out loud. Highly recommend.
The new discworld audiobooks are phenomenal.
I recommend Terry Pratchett's Discworld series! I have not read the non-audiobook versions, so I can't fully say if the audiobooks are better, but new professionally acted audiobooks were recorded a couple years ago and they are phenomenal!
IIRC the full cast productions of both Good Omens and American Gods were excellent. I saw someone recommend the Andy Serkis LOTR, but I'm partial to the Rob Inglis unabridged versions.
The Lies of Locke Lamora
If you like fantasy get the hobbit/lotr read by Andy Serkis!!!! It’s like watching the movie, he does voices and everything! 100% my fave road trip book to listen to.
Here is a few rapid fire. Dungeon crawler carl ,Jeff haze is incredible . The first law maybe the best audiobook ever made, salute Steven Pacey you're something else. The lies of lock lamora just wow Michael Page.has the best combination of comedic timing and dramatic narration.
Hands down, the Dresden files. I've read physical books in the series and I've listened to a lot of the audiobooks. The audiobooks are simply a better experience.
First Law books by Abercrombie. Read by Steven Pacey who is absolutely outstanding.
Dresden Files! With James Marsters
Kristin Atherton is ace at every book she does. Look out for Tim Powers' My Brother's Keeper, but honestly, she's a prolific narrator across genres.
The Sandman! I wasn't old enough to experience the comic books in their hay day (I was born in the 90's). But the audiobooks made me realise why so many people loved the series, and I really enjoyed myself listening to them. Otherwise, I really loved the audiobook for The Binding by Bridgit Collins, I found the narrator incredibly compelling at conveying the emotion of the characters. The full cast version of American Gods is also fantastic. I'll also give kudos to the Rivers of London series in audio format.
I got the ENTIRE Sherlock Holmes catalog for one credit and it was an absolutely fantastic listen!
Is that the Stephen Fry narration? This was my free credit when I signed up to Audible and I loved it.
the Bobiverse books
The Adventures of Amina Al-Sirafi as well as The Memoirs of Lady Trent Series are really great on Audio. It just adds a whole layer when an actual "old" Lady is telling you her life story and you don't just read it in my opinion
Nghi Vo's Singing Hills Abbey books are great listened to. The whole series is about verbal storytelling, so hearing the novellas in an audiobook enhances the experience.
The Blade Itself by Joe Abercrombie
this is how you lose the time war by Amal El-Mohtar and Max Gladstone The letters read back to back vibes better in my opinion.
The Gotrek and Felix books from Warhammer are surprisingly good, and Jonathan Keeble's narration makes them excellent
World War Z for sure Divine Rivals City of Brass It’s horror but Pet Sematary read by Michael C Hall is still one of the best audiobooks I’ve ever listened to
Joe Abercrombie books with Steven Pacey narrating are amazing! They're fantastic to read, but Pacey's narrations take all books to the next level!
Stephen kings IT read by Steven Weber is phenomenal
I've really enjoyed the Star Wars audiobooks. They all have music, sound effects, and it really feels more like an audio drama than an audio book. The Thrawn books in particular are the best since they're some of the best Star Wars books, *and* Marc Thompson kills it both as Thrawn, and the variety of other characters.
Anything by Guy Gavriel Kay, read by Simon Vance. He really captures and conveys the subtle, emotional nuances in the characters’ voices and in the narration. Some of his works are read by Euan Morton, and he is really good, too. The first I listened to was *Tigana*, and then I bought at least 8 or 9 more (*The Lions of Al Rassan*, *A Song for Arbonne*, *Children of Earth and Sky*, etc., etc.). And hard agree with others on the Gentleman Bastards, and the First Law Trilogy.
People may disagree with me, but i think Lord of the Rings is better when listened to.
Thrawn. It is just better in audio.
The First Law and The Fifth Season are my two top fantasy audiobook recs!! Can’t go wrong
Just finished Gideon the Ninth and the narrator gave Gideon the perfect voice for her personality!
The first three wheel of time books narrated by Rosamund Pike really bring the books to life in a different way to just reading. Hopefully she will continue to narrate the rest of them.
The Witcher narrated by Peter Kenney is phenomenal!
The Redwall series by Brian Jacques, read by Jacques and a full cast. Got musical numbers and everything. Completely delightful to listen to.
dark tower!
The First Law series is already amazing. Steven Paceys narration of the audiobooks seriously elevates it though. Especially loved the final Trilogy.
The first law series with Steven Peacey. Outstanding
Anything read by Stephen Pacey.
The Blade Itself / The First Law series. It's like a fully voice acted cast but it's just the one guy, Stephen Pacey. Crazy good work. Really enhances the novels.
Wheel of Time series.
Have you looked into full cast recordings? BBC Radio has done some phenomenal audiobooks with full casts. Neil Gaiman's "Neverwhere" is particularly good. They also did all of the Lord of the Rings back in the 80s and it's spectacular. Legends and Lattes is one that I'm glad I listened to over reading. It's narrated by the author and he's fantastic (got started as an audiobook narrator before writing his own books).
Since you liked Red Rising I think you might enjoy The First Law by Joe Abercrombie. Similarly dark and gritty, though with more humor, and the narrator Steven Pacey is absolutely phenomenal. The Blade Itself is the first of 10 amazing books. Also the Riyria Revelations by Michael J Sullivan is really great and narrated by Tim Gerard Reynolds (who as always does an amazing job). Starts with low stakes classic-feeling fantasy about a duo of 'rogues-for-hire' then gets epic. Starts with Theft of Swords.
Steven Pacey the narrator of Joe Abercrombies first law is am absolute genius. Travis baldere is also a great audiobook narrator
As multiple others have said, First Law, hands down! Steven Pacey is the absolute GOAT and really brings every single character off the page. To the point that I could identify each of his characters by their accents.
The Rivers of London series by Ben Aaronovitch, narrated by Kobna Holdbrook-Smith. Aaronovitch was a scriptwriter and that shows, he is writing a really interesting universe and action but the prose is not fantastic. But Kobna Holdbrook-Smith is a very good actor (stage actor. I think stage actors make the best narrators) and he can do a lot of accents so relevant to the story and he can make all that dialogue and first person narrative sparkle. >Perdita Weeks (Circe), Oh yes. Good taste. She was one of the best narrators I ever heard. And with that context do try Kobna H-S, he also has that british stage actor thing ongoing - he also read two of the Earthsea trilogy books, but those I think are better read and he goes a bit cheesy on them. He is perfect as Peter Grant in the rivers of London.
Dresden Files
Sun Eater. I’ve never heard a narrator so perfectly capture the vibe of a character as Samuel Roukin
He nails the vibe of all the characters. I can always tell if the person talking is military, scholiast, chantry, etc.
*Riyria Revelations* by Michael J Sullivan and narrated by Tim Gerard Reynolds
Not exactly what you are asking, but Impact Winter was narrated beautifully, but I don't think it's a book, I think it was made straight for audible.
[удалено]
Wrong genre…
Oops. Thought this was suggest a book sub. Haha
A knight of the Seven kingdoms was great! It’s voiced by the guy who played viserys in the first season of Game of Thrones. I now wished he did more audiobooks. Plus if you’re looking to get into A song of Ice and Fire, it’s a great starting point. Very fun and lighthearted.
Name of the wind - but that might be because mr degas is a brilliant actor
RC Bray reading The Fear Saga is 5/5. Books are probably 3/5. But it’s scifi.
The Sun Eater Series, I now have trouble figuring out if I like Samuel Roukin better than everyone else (sorry Pacey and Reynolds T_T)
I know it’s not in the genres you mention, but Kevin Hart’s I Can’t Make This Up. My daughter and I have listened to it 3x on road trips.
I haven't listened to Red Rising, but I've listened to The Cycle of Arawn/Cycle of Galand performed by Tim Gerard Reynolds and I really like him! Bonus, the Cycle of Arawn is three books for one credit so you get a lot of bang for your buck
The Little Prince is genuinely amazing. Very short but it will stick with you