They are releasing all the Discworld books with new narrators, and so far they have been superb (and I say that as an enormous fan of the previous narrator Stephen Briggs)

Let me recommend Steven Pacey. I just finished the First Law trilogy and Pacey blew me away with his skill at making each character unique.

I just finished The Sandman Vol.1 and I'd love to find more audio books that are as immersive as that one. The ones I heard before would be some boring old guy putting me to sleep, any recommendations?

Anything from Graphic Audio is going to have a full cast and production similar to The Sandman.

Bray is definitely at the top of the field. I also like Grover Gardner and Susan Ericksen.

Sweet, I'll check them out.

Briggs versions are still better though.

Seconded. He only gets better in the standalone books. It makes it hard to listen to older stuff I have with mediocre or bad narrators for sure.

Voice actors are very under appreciated

Peter Kenny reading The Witcher series did an amazing job doing unique voices for every character in an enormous world. I could listen to that series over and over.

Also Simon Vance reading Clive Barker's books is an amazing voice narrator. I can tell which character is speaking without it even being said because Simon, like Peter, does an amazingly unique voice for each character.

Lastly, Ralph Lister reading the Malazan series does a pretty good job, but I haven't actually dove into that series yet, but really like what I hear from samples of his narration.

I was recently listening to R. C. Bray narrate Weir's The Martian and I was not impressed. Then again, my idea of a good time with narrators is David Ogden Stiers (of M*A*S*H fame) when he narrated Clancy's Hunt For Red October and Wil Wheaton (of Stand By Me fame) when he narrated Cline's Ready Player One, so what do I know? LoL

I really like Todd McLarens narrating.

Also, I think Michael Kramer and Kate Reading do a good job with The Wheel of Time series, but Michael dulls down in The Stormlight Archive series, but Kate has never disappointed yet.

Was recently listening to Briggs narrate The Colour of Magic and I caught myself wishing they'd turn off the reverb. I have severe hearing loss in both ears (for which I do wear hearing aids since 1974 but they only help so much,) and I am not overly fond of effects on the voices of book narrators.

I’m a big fan of Bronson Pinchot (Aliens: Phalanx; Ambergris) and of Ray Porter (Project Hail Mary)

I've recently finished the second first law trilogy and went straight into one of his other series and was soooooo disappointed that Pacey isn't narrating them.

He is, by far, the greatest audio book narrator I have ever listened to.

Anything where Neil Gaiman narrates his work is a treat! Neverwhere (not the full voice cast) would be a good place to start.

RC bray is amazing in the Expeditionary Force series. So funny and very engaging. I see he has done a few other series but his voice is so locked into certain characters for me I don't know what would happen if I listened to another book narrated by him. Voice performers are fantastic but I wonder if they risk trapping themselves into a particular role or series because they killed it so hard.

Ray Porter (Bobiverse) and Nick Podehl (A Pattern of Shadow and Light) are also both amazing.

I'm in about the same boat as you. Now when I see a book I've been waiting for, and they've gotten Wil Wheaton or another bookreader instead of a voice actor I get a little sad.

Nick Podehl is in my opinion an excellent talent, with a ability to perform so many different voices and add characterisation into the pot, I started listening to some series he narrates just because I liked his voices.

Also Michael Kramer and Kate Reading are excellent.

And final because while checking the spelling of Kramer in my library I spotted it, the dialogue and story of "this is how you lose the time war" is at a base level excellent, the voice work by the two narrators Cynthia Farnell and Emily Woo Zeller are perfection.

Came here to mention Steven Pacey. Might be the best narrator out there right now.

Will also add that there's just a plethora of poorly written books out there, likely due at least in part to self publishing, and great narrators can even inject some life into those that wasn't actually there.

Great narrators are Magical Entities!

I proofread audiobooks for a living so am exposed to the difference between readers and narrators on the daily. I do suggest you not to give up entirely on the readers, or those who aren't at their best in one work. Narrating well isn't nearly as effortless as it sounds. Some will improve over time. Some...maybe just belong to non fiction.

Murderbot Series by Martha Wells and narrated by Kevin R. Free is superb.

The Wheel of Time series in its entirety was done fantastically by Michael Kramer and Kate Reading. Different tone and pacing for characters and a variety of accents. Switching between each depending on the Pov character for the section/chapter.

I know what you mean. That is the 15 book series I just finished. Bray does such a fantastic job bringing skippy to life that now if I ever hear him do that voice again in another book I’m going to immediately think of skippy.

Toby Longworth does alot of narrations for black library (warhammer stuff) and he's amazing.

What is the process of proofreading an audiobook? Do you listen and follow along with the text and do quality control before the audiobook is released?

World War Z has an outstanding cast for its audio book.

I follow along with the text and mark a spreadsheet when I find issues in the audio waves. We mark for things such as: Mispronunciations, inconsistencies, misreads, extra words, etc. We also mark or edit out random sounds that can occur, alternate takes, or stuff that doesn't belong, like extra long pauses. The spreadsheet and marked audio waves and book text all get sent back to the narrators for rerecord. Others will perform their magical functions of editing out more challenging things and splicing corrected audio back into the waves and voila, audiobook.

I read a lot of audiobooks and have had experience with some of the worst narrators to the point I had to send the book back. I made it a rule now that I will only take the book after I listen to the sample. In Audible every book has it. If you can make it through the 5 minutes you will learn to appreciate new narrators and also weed out the ones you know you won’t enjoy.

Seconded!

And it really makes a difference! Recently listened The Blade Itself, because everyone swears by the narrator and it was amazing. On the other hand, I switched from listening to Once Upon a Time in Hollywood to reading it because of how terrible the narrator was. I've got a lot of respect for good voice actors.

I'm curious how they adapted it for audio. The art is a big part of the experience for me.

Scott Brick does a good job in the Jack Ryan books, its too bad they didn't have him do them all

Yes! His various accents are a very creative way to give characters more individuality. It makes the experience way better than if I read it myself. It almost feels like listening to a movie with a full cast! I remember one book having French, German, Russian, Spanish, British, and Scottish accents all in one book, simply amazing!

Ray Porter is a freaking wizard.

Rupert Degas narrating The Name of the Wind and The Wiseman's Fear is just perfection!

Tim Gerard Reynolds. Excellent narration in Red Rising trilogies and Riyria series

What do you all think of “full cast” audio books? Personally, I don’t like them. I prefer one narrator/reader. Full cast is one of those things that seemed like a good idea, but in actuality it’s unpleasant/difficult to listen to.

They also did the Stormlight Archives. Very well done

Yes, can second this. It's been great listening to the odd chapter while reading the print mainly. Both actors are superb and the Lan voice is chefs kiss

Same. Listened to the First Law series multiple times just for his narration. Absolutely spectacular performance.

RC Bray and Luke Daniels are my 2 favorites!

If you like them, be sure to check out:

Off to Be the Wizard (how i first heard Luke Daniels) and rest of its series

Iron Druid Chronicles (long series of Luke Daniels with a an awesomely varied cast of characters)

The Dresden Files series (James Marsters from Buffy of all things, but a great performance and fun series)

Anything Ray Porter (especially Bobiverse series)

Check out his narration of the Brian Haig series featuring Sean Drummand as a former special forces soldier turned army lawyer. Awesome books raised o the next level by Scott Brick's narration.

The fist A Series Of Unfortunate Events audiobook was narrated by Tim Curry and it was perfection. Then they replaced him with a guy who uses the most whiny childish voices for the main characters and I had to give up a few books into the series. At that point I’d rather watch the Netflix show and listen to Patrick Warburton.

And Micheal did all the Mistborn books. Love them both so much.

Ya his voice is great for audio books, I've been meaning to check out American Gods or Good Omens.

Yup, world War z complete cast reading has come to the very top of my listen list! I listen to a lot of books, and it is top notch.

Also, anything Stephen King narrated by will Patton.

Alien: phalanx was easily the most surprising book I've listened to as a huge fan of the franchise.

I'm with you. It's too jarring to listen to. I've tried them a few times. There was even a book a few years ago that had really incredible cast lineup. I couldn't get into it.

​

By contrast, I didn't even necessarily like the Dutch House but I liked listening to it just because it was narrated by Tom Hanks.

The American Gods audiobook is full voice cast, and I really love it. It’s great for road trips!

World War Z really changed my mind. Mostly because there is one steady constant, max Brooks reading the interviewer grounded that book for me.

I've sometimes found problems on the other extreme. A few audiobooks are overproduced with music and sound effects in ways that make them hard to listen to.

I'm not sure how much each character needs their own voice but monotones definitely kill the book for me.

I prefer the readers to the performers. We all have our likes and dislikes.

Norse Mythology is a treat!

Jeff Hays narrating Dungeon Crawler Carl is fantastic. You go in thinking Princess Dounut is voiced by a woman, but its not, it's all Hays. Scary good.

Simon Vance is the best

Also Michael Kramer and Kate Reading, good shout Reddit.

Most definitely!

Dresden files and James Marsden there was one book that was narrated by someone else and due to fan uproar they had to get James to go back and do it again

Kobna Holdbrook-Smith reading The Rivers of London series, Barbara Rosenblat reading Elizabeth Peters’ books, and Eric Conger reading John Sandford’s Virgil Flowers books…total pleasure…I wish I had their skills.

I thought I would like it, but I am with you, not really a fan. I am also not a huge fan of music in the background that goes with the scene; it can be done well but I can also be done very poorly.

How did you get into this and does it pay decently? Who do you work for and do you have any suggestions on how to break into that field? Thanks

I know exactly the series narrated by Bray you're referring to. That man is a legend in my book and his rendition of Skippy I will never forget.

I'm not OP. But I prefer one narrator but I do like when they do different voices/accents. I don't have anything against audio dramas but if I'm listening specifically to an audio book I want one narrator.

I'm torn between that one and Witcher. I've read mistborn but not Witcher.

I've got an hour commute so I've got time

Andy Serkis narrates all 3 volumes of LOTR, plus The Hobbit, and he goes hard on it.

​

I also just finished The Hunger Games audiobooks, and Tatiana Maslany does an excellent job with it. Unfortunately, I'm seeing that she's only done two other books outside the trilogy.

I really enjoy Zara Ramm who has narrated Jodi Taylors "Time Police" and "Chronicles of St Mary's". Also Joe Jameson who narrates across a number of genres.

I basically fell into it really. I mean I knew I wanted to work in publishing to make my English Lit degree make some sense. I just online searched publishers in my state. Discovered my current company exists and applied and interviewed several times. They look for people with college degrees (on any subject as we publish a diverse range of stuff) and a love of reading. My coworkers are all geeks in something or other. It's awesome.

The pay isn't overly awesome though, particularly living in a high cost of living area, but it's full time with generous paid time off and holidays, plus 401K and health benefits. I got to select my own schedule which is super helpful. And since Covid it's basically become fully remote minus 1 day a week. They also announced this year we full timers are now allowed to live outside of the state it's in, which was never allowed since I have been there. Essentially that means I am now hopeful of moving somewhere with a lower cost of living so the pay from this place will stretch further.

Suggest you google audiobook jobs near me as a start.

As audiobooks have become more popular the techniques have changed.

I have almost all of Nora Roberts writing as JD Robb - In Death series. The very first book is read by the same reader who reads them all, Susan Erikson. Going from book one to book two there is a huge difference in the quality of the production.

Not sure why. The books were popular before they went to audio so it wasn't that much of a gamble.

Scott Brick is a great audio narrator as well

Thank you!!

George Guidall does a fantastic job on Westerns. I’ve listened to about 10 books from the Longmire series and couldn’t imagine anyone else doing them. I associate his voices with the characters more than the actors from the tv show.

I treat them as something different, I file them away with radio dramas like Sandman and the BBC LotR, I follow Dirk Maggs for ones that are done well, and I was looking forward to Sam.Mendes.Oliver Twist until I realised it's only 2hrs long.

Porters Hail Mary or Webber’s IT are my two favorite

I’ve done a few Audible ones where an actor/actress read them, and most where fantastic. Reece Witherspoon doing “To Kill a Mockingbird” and Jake Gyllenhaal’s “Great Gatsby” were incredible.

Andy Serkis singing is like a kick in the balls everytime, it's so bad. He's really good at the action sequences though.

Simon Slater doing Wolf Hall by Hilary Mantel is so good. It’s too bad they didn’t use him for the other two books in the series.

Sandman II & III are out.

They're adapted by Dirk Maggs and he has some other gems in his back catalogue.

I went on a similar quest recently.

Also I grew up with the LotR BBC radio adaptation and it's incredible.

There's both available I believe.

YES! Scrolled this through to find him, or to comment in his favor if he hadn't been mentioned, yet!

For some, he may also be a good, uh, "step-down" from the more intense character acting in narration, whilst still being very talented, and with definition in his characters. Absolutely recommend looking up Scott Brick's library of narration (his Asimov is great)!

Yeah, surprisingly I agree.

I'm still disappointed the Tony Robinson recordings were abridged.

When I borrow an audiobook from the library I listen to the first chapter ; if the book is read by a “reader” who is boring I return the book right away. There are some great performers out there who make the story come alive!

Yess. I just finished the first trilogy of Red Rising. Couldn't agree with you more

Just so you know the guy who replaced him was the author himself aka Lemony Snicket. But I agree he wasn't great. Fortunately he only does books 3-5.

Tim Curry comes back for book 6 onwards.

Thirded!

Thats funny because I gave up on The Austere Academy. Thanks for the tip!

I've listened to audio books just based off the reader before. Its wild and full on radio theatre in some cases.

Ray Porter 200%

Voice actors really make the book. Simon Vance and Frank Muller are personal favourites.

Cameron bierle for fantasy

Yes! Came here to say this. Just finishing the magnificent Neverwhere now!

Bronson Pinchot reading Wise Blood is really good.

His singing is truely ghastly ‐ like frogs being grated on fingernails. I now fast forward through all the songs ‐ a great pity as I love them in the books: they were the first poems I memorised as a teenager.

I started off being enthusiastic about his reading but now, halfway through the Fellowship, I am getting a bit tired of all his regional brit accents, though I like his "normal" voice when he's doing plain narrative,.

As someone starting out in audiobook voice work, it’s something I never realised. Not only is it a challenge to give each character a unique voice without making it cartoonish you then need to keep it consistent over the time you do the read. I have chapter files for each of the characters where I have a baseline read to lock in the voice.

Oh no. I'd blocked out the people from Gondor having Liverpudlian accents. It's truly horrific.

Faramir sounds like Craig Charles.

I love Craig Charles. But he's not my first pick for Faramir.

seconding Dresden Files! If you're not familiar, it's written in first person, and James becomes Harry. And his distinct voices when he is reading the other characters are fantastic.

James Marsters* from Buffy :)

Oh how perfect! I’ve got some new reading to do! Thank you!

Go look at Graphic Audio.

They have much more expensive audio books, but the quality is amazing.
Full cast, sound effects, and music that fits contextually

Oh I know it's spike I just always get the name confused 😂😂😂

Are there two versions, because the version I listened to was awful. I put it down after two chapters.

You started the second trilogy yet? I put it off for a while based on people’s bad opinions of the multi POV. It’s not quite as well narrated but better written than the first trilogy I think. TGR just has the perfect tone for Darrow it’s eerie

Andy Serkis doing Lord of the rings. Simply amazing

I just listened to Return to Life, a nonfiction book about children with past life memories.

The narrator was so good, I forgot it wasn't narrated by the author and kept thinking , "Wow, this psychiatrist is doing a great job with different voices." Lol.

They’re also married to each other.

[deleted]

[deleted]

I'm editing a novel I wrote and am recording an audiobook to help edit and damn to think there's incidental music and sound effects for hours upon hours of audio in some audiobooks.

I produce audio books. Often the budget does not allow for a real pro reader and the author does their best…

I love Luke Daniels!

I feel like this list is a loooot of men. Who are the best women voice performers?!

Oh yeah, totally. Audiobook narrators are so mindblowingly talented, I've never been able to enjoy booys the way that audiobooks allow me to, because I'm not a voice actor or performer of any sort, and the voice in my head is monotonous af. Michael Kramer remains my favorite narrator/voice performer because he's the only one that I've listened to thus far that can tonally distinguish a comma from a period. If that's not talent, I don't know what is.

Listen to Patrick Stewart reading A Christmas Carol, and Ron Moody reading Oliver Twist. Stephen Fry is superb at reading the Harry Potter series. And I hear you, sometimes narrators have a quirk... I just listened to The Three Body Problem, and the narrator (Luke Daniels) was okay, but pronounces 'calm' as cllllllmm. My regional accent drops the L entirely (cahhmm) , but his dwells on the L. Funny what sticks out, and I think the word calm appears in Three Body Problem about a thousand times. I've heard that Project Hail Mary has a great narration, too.

This. The writing is awesome but Pacey is PERFECT for it

Ray Porter all day

If you haven't listened to Luke Daniels, please go sample his work. I am going to go check out the series you've mentioned, but let me tell you what... I loved reading the Iron Druid Chronicles (urban fantasy), but after listening to Daniels' narration, simply reading the books is not enough. He's amazing.

And Bronson Pinchot in the Hard Magic Series. Love those books. Such a fun listen

Thank you for the IDC comment. Was going to comment the same. Also love James Marsters / Dresden Files. So well narrated. Now, i also have a new series to check out!

This has saved me so many credits.

Also, paying attention to when they change the narrator in the muddle of a series! Why!?

Will do. What book do I start with?

You start the first law with The Blade Itself.

I hear the voices of characters when I read. When I switch to an audiobook sometimes I struggle to accept their voice in the role bc it’s not what I imagined for them. Others are spot on to mine, or are better.

Ray Porter is another amazing narrator for audiobooks

Hounded is the first book in IDC. It did take him a couple books to fully develop, but absolutely worth every second.

Ell Potter narrating Hamnet: Gorgeous. I am wrecked forever. Santino Fontana/ You: I couldn’t get through the ebook, but his narration changed my mind. Ari Fliakos/The Nix : he made all the characters seem different. I wanted to hear more after it ended and it was 21 hours long.

Great female narrator is Julia Whelan.

I recommend anything read by Natalie Naudus. She's brilliant

Yes, he's an incredible reader. He's also read Tony Hillerman books, and "The Gollem and the Jinn".

I totally feel this. This is especially prevalent in the Worm audiobook, which is divided between multiple narrators who each took different sections of the story. A couple of them are fantastic, great to listen to. There is ONE in particular, and she read both the Leviathan and Echidna arcs (some of the best parts of the entire story), and jfc she was so utterly terrible that it ruined two of the series' highest points. I couldn't even get through a couple of chapters of her. I gave up and just reread the arcs physically before returning to the audiobook. And from then on I skipped entire arcs anytime I saw she was the reader.

To each their own. I’m not against readers, I just find the delivery more suited to non-fiction personally.

Frank Herbert’s dune has a complete narrator swap mid book, it was off putting but not so much so as to ruin the experience.

Interesting. I've never consumed Dune as an audiobook. Do they say why they switch?

I got spoiled with Steven Pacey and his reading of Firat Law. Many good audiobooks are hard for me to listen after this series.

The First Fifteen Lives of Harry August narrated by Peter Kenny is almost impossible to turn off. James Lee Burke novels read by Will Patton are awesome. Where the Craw Dads Sing narrated by Cassandra Campbell is hauntingly gripping. So much good stuff out there so little time!

Ooo! Oooo! also Davina Porter narrating the Outlander series is masterful.

Martha Webb or MJ Webb. Fantastic voice with amazing ability to change characters. The talent really came to life with a middle grade book she narrated.

Yes they really do a mind blowing job of bringing books to life. It’s so hard when I go from an amazing narrator to having Siri read to me when the audiobook isn’t available. Though Siri is quite funny when she says “Seriously” in a dramatic voice, the only line she says differently. (Is this really the day I realize I give my phone a gender. Oh jeez)

Whatever world war z did was exceptional

Agreed and wish to add that the earlier ones with Nigel Planer are excellent as well. His reading of Guards, Guards! and Men At Arms were nearly perfect.

If there is an explanation, I never looked I to it. IIRC it’s not even from one chapter the the next, it’s almost mid paragraph.

Nick Podehl also narrated Rothfuss’s Kingkiller Chronicles—great narration!

No not yet. I wanna take couple of days off before jumping back in. Yeah I've seen some mixed comments about the first book but apparently it gets better in the second book? And about TGR, it's not just Darrow, I mean yeah his angry Darrow is definitely one of the best voice acting I've heard (gave me goosebumps at the end of Morning star) but some how he manages to change his voice perfectly for different characters.. His Aja voice is so damn creepy

That's... wtf that's so odd lol

I got the Shades of Magic series on audible and almost returned them because of how bad the narrator was on the first book…such a relief when it switched to those two for the second and third book.

Absolutely. The narrator makes the audiobook. I had an experience listening to the Belgariad where the narrator was just like you said, different voices, different accents. Once I got to the Malloreon, the narrator was so flat I couldn't go on.

Currently listening to Peter V Brett's Painted Man collection narrated by Colin Mace and he's just too good!

In my opinion the problem is the difference between the books and the productions. First of all, I’m Italian so I listen many books in Italian language and about them I think it’s like movies: you can find for example excellent movies with high budget and others with medium or low budget. There are books read by interesting performers as the saga of Harry Potter or Dune. They lead the listener into the story. Others instead are simple readers. I found an interesting podcast if you want try: it is LeVar Burton Reads you know?

Found the filthy monkey. Yuck.

(reference to the 15 book series).

The Malazan Book of the Fallen series had one narrator switch between books, but both narrators are excellent and the narrators for the other book series in the universe are also quality.

listened to the first 3 mistborn books by grahpicaudio. They spoiled me.

[removed]

It's not that they are less talented because they narrate by reading in a straightforward manner, it's a stylistic choice. Not all narrators have a boring monotone. There are also plenty of "performers" who irritate me and I cannot listen to the audiobook. There's times when the content matter doesn't lend itself to someone acting things out.

[deleted]

Depends on the book and how it’s produced. I loved Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society, which is epistolary and each character was a different actor who read their own letters. The Historian, on the other hand, was an overproduced mess where if a character was reading a letter that recounted a conversation between two other people, you’d get all four voices-the recipient, the letter writer, and the two people overheard.

I hate sound effects but will admit to not minding the jazz bumpers in The Rivers of London.

Try some funny light reading with Janet Evanovich, Her Staphane Plum (One for the Money and more) series is read by Lorelei King. Laugh out loud funny!

Also All the Pretty Horses read by of all people Brad Pitt!

There is was time where I thought James Marsters was British. He even showed up in torchwood with the same accent. I was thrown when I heard his real voice. You always see British actors taking American roles. Not the other way around. Insane.

I struggled with Kate Reading during the Storm light Archives but was a big fan by the end of the wheel of time series. Any performer that can help me get through all the "tugging her braid" or "straightening her skirt" in WoT is a talent and money well spent!

Yeah, the ones that act out the scenes are the best. Everyone should do that.

Fair enough! Sorry to be a smarty pants :) To be fair, James Marsden is also very attractive.

The first book is rough due to age or a bad switch to the Audible format. It gets better.

No hassle I was after a few beers last night so I knew I'd get it wrong

He's so damn good. His characterisations combined with the fact that Joe Abercrombie is so good at writing each perspective in a different voice makes those audio books some of my favourite things ever.

I looked up all the books Imogene Church narrated because I liked her voice haha

Davina Porter. She is just amazing.

Give The Martian audiobook a try if you haven't already. It won awards, for good reason.

So true. I listened to The Dutch House read by Tom Hanks. That REALLY set a high bar.

I highly recommend Jim Dale's version of the Harry Potter series. I listened to them after reading the books, and he really brought them to life. Scenes that were amusing when I read them had me laughing out loud when listening to him. And his Hagrid voice sounded exactly like Robby Coltrane, before Coltrane was even cast in the first movie.

You mean more than one person is reading?

He’s not quite as much a performer as some others, but I wholeheartedly recommend Jeremy Irons’ version of Lolita

I’m not an avid audiobook fan but I’ve liked Campbell Scott in them. He’s done a lot of them and he’s generally good at threading that needle where, it’s always him doing his own voice, but his inflections change depending on the character. In The Shining he didn’t outright try to sound like Danny but he sounded like how an adult would do an impression of a kid.

I haven't read many audiobooks (probably like 10 in all my reading years, 5 of which were recent), but the narrator for the Maze Runner series was like this. Albeit, his female voices weren't amazing, but there was never any doubt on who was speaking.

Now I'm sad I didn't really pay attention when listening who did them (I mean I can search later) so I can't give a name right this moment.

some of those people just 'have it' then you read whatever books they do instead of following authors.

Kobna Holbrook-Smith voiced The Rivers of London series. He is so good that even the author, Ben Aaronovitch, says he now writes the characters in Kobna’s voice! It is the perfect collaboration and makes listening to RoL a pure joy.