10 of the Best Narrator and Audiobook Pairings of All Time

The Amelia Peabody series, narrated by Barbra Rosenblatt.

Asuka0278 wrote: "How on earth does this list NOT include the Harry Potter books narrated by Jim Dale?"
I have no idea why they changed narrator from Stephen Fry for the US versions.

Will Wheaton is way to whiny.

Actually that's in real life and narrating.

He's his generations Shia La'Boof.

Elizabeth Kostova's The Historian read by Joanne Whalley, Martin Jarvis, Dennis Boutsikaris, Jim Ward, Rosalyn Landor, and Robin Atkin Downes was great. As was Her novel The Swan Thieves featuring Anne Heche, Treat Williams, Erin Cottrell, and Sarah Zimmerman.

Another vote for Stephen Fry reading Harry Potter. Sorry, Jim Dale fans - having listened to them both, I think Stephen is in a league of his own.

Juliet Stephenson reading anything by Jane Austen or Jane Eyre - I can't believe she hasn't been mentioned!

Claudia wrote: "Mr. Mercedes by Stephen King, narrated by Will Patton. Perfect!!!"

I agree - great story, great performance !!

As I listen almost exclusively to audiobooks - I have to agree with the comment that the list includes only celebrities and not excellent voice actors.

My favourite of all time, hands down -
Retribution Falls (by Chris Wooding) narrated by Rupert Degas. Degas is unequalled!

Other standouts:
Daniel Sharman narrating Clockwork Princess by Cassandra Clare
Edward Hermann narrating Einstein: His Life & Universe by Walter Issacson
Nick Podehl's narration of The Chaos Walking series by Patrick Ness as well as The Skinjacker Series by Neal Shusterman

And anything narrated by:

Kate Rudd
Zachary Webber
MacLeod Andrews (who is particularly wonderful in the Pillars of Reality Series by Jack Campbell)
Luke Daniels
Jenna Lamia

You guys should listen to Tom Hiddleston read The Red Necklace ;) no only is his voice very soothing and sexy but he also does different voices for all the characters and you get so into it that you forget that it's just ONE MAN saying everything. I absolutely loved the experience of hearing it :)

Asuka0278 wrote: "How on earth does this list NOT include the Harry Potter books narrated by Jim Dale?"
AGREED!!! He is a master!

I loved Dan Stevens (Matthew from Downton Abbey) narration of Murder on the Orient Express by Agatha Christie.

If Marsters reads Ghost Story I'll buy it all over again. I remember something about him not being available to read that one. I agree. It just wasn't the same. I don't care how good the book is, if I can't get into the reader I feel like it ruins the book.
(I'm now going for my pen to write down some of these other great reads).

My Sister Lives on the Mantelpiece by Annabel Pitcher is narrated by David Tennant and it's incredible.

I have listened to about half of this list (I listen a lot!). But I have to include: Stephen Fry (Hitchhiker's Guide) and Jim Dale (anything really. He could make a phone book sound interesting. But I loved him in the Harry Potter books). And these 2 word be the TOP TWO!!!! Snubbed! I agree with Wil Wheaton on this list. He geeked out just as much as you imagined the main character did in Ready Player One.

Join us at the Audiobooks Group for more audiobook recommendations and discussions.

Anything by Neil Gaiman, read by Neil Gaiman.

JenInMKE wrote: "I agree with Wil Wheaton on this list. He geeked out just as much as you imagined the main character did in Ready Player One. "

He really did personify the snarky aspect of geek culture.

Stephen Briggs doing any Terry Pratchett book: the two together are sublime!! Stephen Briggs is an audiobook god.

Also, much as I've never much cared for Mark Twain in general or Huckleberry Finn in particular, Elijah Wood's narration is spot-on and really turns Huck Finn into an enjoyable experience for me. I've relistened to that one several times.

Jim Dale is the worst, ugh. His Hermione voice makes me want to kick puppies. For a listening upgrade, get your hands on the Stephen Fry versions. Fry can do no wrong.

Susan wrote: "Ralph Cosham reading all of Louise Penny's Inspector Gamache series. Graeme Malcom reading many of M.C. Beaton's Hamish MacBeth series. Edwina Wren reading Geraldine Brooks' People of the Book. And..."

I love Ralph Cosham too! He also reads Watership Down.

Got to laugh with Tim Curry narrating A Series of Unfortunate Events. His voice, and a book I've wanted to check out for a while? Yes, please!

Lisette Lecat does a marvelous job of narrating Alexander McCall Smith's "The No. 1 Ladies Detective Agency" series.
Jenna Lamia is superb narrating :The Secret Life of Bees by Sue Monk Kidd.

I loved Tom Stechschulte's narration of Plainsong by Kent Haruf. I will be forever endeared to his Raymond and Harold character interpretations. So vivid and real, you really wished they were your friends.

So far, the audiobooks I've heard for Lois McMaster Bujold's work have been phenomenal. Grover Gardner brings a great deal of wit and wry humor to his readings of her Vorkosigan series.
Lloyd James does a spot-on world-weary voice for Cazaril in The Curse of Chalion, and Kate Reading is a perfect fit for Ista in the sequel, Paladin of Souls.

Anything narrated by Frank Muller, especially the first four Vampire Chronicles by Anne Rice, Great Expectations, and All Quiet on the Western Front.

Frank Herbert’s Dune narrated by George Guidall.

Neil Gaiman narrating his own books.

I enjoyed Jim Dale’s Harry Potter narration (except his Hermione), but I think I prefer Stephen Fry.

Richard Armitage reading Bernard Cornwell's The Lords of the North (The Saxon Stories, #3) is simply amazing. I would be happy listening to him read a phone book, but he does an amazing job with this audiobook.
BTW, you don't need to read the previous 2 books to grasp the plot. This is audiobook perfection!

Wil Wheaton reading Ready Player One and Mae Whitman reading City of Bones are my favorite pairings, so far. Currently listening to Will read Armada.

My Favorite Narrator/Author combos are:

Caroline Lee reading Kate Morton's books

Katherine Kellgren reading the Bloody Jack: Being an Account of the Curious Adventures of Mary "Jacky" Faber, Ship's Boy Series, the Her Royal Spyness series, well really any books she narrates are fabulous

Davina Porter reading the Outlander Series

Emily Gray reading the The Parasol Protectorate Series by Gail Carriger and the Eyre Affair Series by Jasper Fforde

David Thorpe reading the Cycle of Fire Series by Janny Wurts

Julia Whelan reading Until the End of the World series by Sarah Lyons Fleming

Glo wrote: "Lisette Lecat does a marvelous job of narrating Alexander McCall Smith's "The No. 1 Ladies Detective Agency" series.

Oh yes, I love Lisette Lecat's narration for The No. 1 Ladies Detective Agency. Her voice characterizations sound exactly like I imagined them in my head

Tom wrote: "Will Patton is great in the Robicheaux series by James Lee Burke as is Tony Roberts in the Stone Barrington series by Stuart Woods"

I can listen to anything narrated/read by Will Patton. I love that he has teamed up with Stephen King and is giving his characters life. Doctor Sleep, Mr. Mercedes and Finders Keepers.

Andrew Scott for the Magnus Bane novellas

I'm surprised nobody has mentioned the greats in the fantasy genre:

Tim Gerard Reynolds is incredible in The Riyria Revelations.

Michael Page in the Gentleman Bastard series - or anything he reads for that matter.

I will read anything narrated by Frank Muller. He was Roland in The Dark Tower series.

I would add "The Gone-Away World" as ready by Kirby Heyborne and "The Stone Rose" as read by David Tennant (although the latter is partly because of my fan girl status ;) )

Douglas Adams narrating his own books is masterful, my favorite pairing of all!

Roberta wrote: "The Amelia Peabody series, narrated by Barbra Rosenblatt."

YES!!! This is one of the best pairings for sure! I was so glad to see this! Barbara Rosenblat IS Amelia Peabody for me.

Jeanne wrote: "I love audiobooks so I will have to try a couple of these out. My favorite pairing is the Jim Butcher series, The Dresden Files," read by James Marsters (of Buffy the Vampire Slayer fame). The man ..."

I LOVE the Marsters Dresden Files audios! His voice matches so well to the tone and the characters. Another great pairing is Diane Duane's Young Wizard Series read by Christina Moore.

Pietro wrote: "Jim Dale reading the Harry Potter series. It is AMAZING! I like listening to him read the books as much as I like reading them myself, and that is saying something."

I do like Jim Dale's version, but I think I like Stephen Fry's even better.

Susan wrote: "I love Kobna Holdbrook-Smith's narration of the Rivers of London series. He does a brilliant job with all the different characters' accents."

Thoroughly seconded!

Alicia wrote: "Jeremy Irons narrating Brideshead Revisited
and the team of narrators (Baymer, Duerden, Landor, Lee, Mills) from The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society."

Jeremy Irons reading Brideshead Revisited is the BEST THING EVER.

Karen wrote: "Elizabeth wrote: "Neverwhere narrated by Neil Gaiman himself. I love his voice!"

EVERYTHING Neil himself reads is fantastic. He has the most incredible voice. He's my audiobook crush. ;)"

Totally agree! I'm not huge into audiobooks but I make an exception for Neil. :) Neverwhere was my first!

Will Patton reading Stephen King's "Mr. Mercedes, "Finder's Keepers" and "Doctor Sleep" is genius!

Anything read by George Guidall, especially the "Walt Longmire" series by Craig Johnson is outstanding.

Stephen Fry reading Harry Potter, WHERE IS IT ON THE LIST?!?!

And stop saying Jim Dale on Harry Potter, for cripes sake he was flat, emotionless, listen to Stephen Fry instead.

Alfre Woodard reads "Certain Poor Shepherds" in a performance that conveys both the charming naïveté and the depth of the story.

What a funny and cute article.

I have to plug Josh Cohen's performance of The Book of Strange New Things, by Michel Faber. This is a gargantuan book featuring dozens of characters (including numerous non-human characters with a very distinctive vocal pattern), and Cohen handled it all beautifully. One of those pairings of performer and text that really makes you see the possibilities that audiobooks can offer.

Astrid wrote: "Harry Potter, narrated by Stephen Fry."

I love his narration! Wish the recordings were easily accessible in the U.S.

Wendy wrote: "Claudia wrote: "Jason Isaacs reading A Monster Calls"

Seconded so hard. I generally hate audiobooks, and that one I not only listened to the whole way through, I also loved it and ..."

Thirded; he was extraordinary reading this book. I think I sobbed for the whole of the second disc and a lot of the third. He was also excellent reading James Bond; really got the tone and the voices.

Don't forget David Tennant reading Cressida Cowel's How To Train Your Dragon series!!

I had been looking into audiobooks to liven up my commute and had just purchased and started listening to my first audiobook (Yes please, by Amy Poehler) the day before goodreads posted this list. (You mindreaders, you!)
So thank you, both the list and the comments have been very helpful!

It's been over two decades since I last listened to books. I was a child and had a big stack of fairy tales books with matching cassette tapes which I could listen to for hours on end. Fellow Dutch and Flemish people of my generation (80's babies), you know the ones I'm talking about right? The red Lecturama ones! :-)

Ever since I reacquainted myself with the medium, I wonder why I didn't get back into it sooner! It's so efficient and allows me a lot more book time otherwise spent (badly) singing along to my music in the car. I certainly look a lot more dignified and serious behind the wheel now I'm no longer passionately blaring along to The Doctor Who theme (Oweeeooooooo :3)

I certainly agree with the kudos to Wil Wheaton’s performance of Ready Player One. I’ve thoroughly enjoyed Mr. Wheaton’s talent in other audiobooks, as well.

Will Patton is MAGNIFICENT in reading James Lee Burke’s novels, and many others. His performances are riveting, and he does justice to Mr. Burke’s rich prose.

Jim Dale performs the Harry Potter series to PERFECTION. (I have not listened to the Stephen Fry recordings, but Mr. Fry is so talented that I should put that on my To Do list.)

And, there’s James Marsters, who makes Jim Butcher’s Harry Dresden novels so entertaining.

I’ve enjoyed George Guidall’s voice in many audiobooks, but Mr. Guidall’s performance of Craig Johnson’s Longmire series is absolutely worth adding to this list.

I’m impressed with Lisette Lecat’s performance of Alexander McCall Smith’s No. 1 Ladies’ Detective Agency series, with the accent and cadence of Botswana.

I’ve recently discovered Jayne Entwistle bringing to life all the characters of the Flavia de Luce series by Alan Bradley. She adds just the right precociousness and snark to the eleven-year-old heroine.

There are so many more great pairings that it would be tough to limit a list to just ten choices. Now I’m going to be tallying them in my head all day.

Bill Bryson reading any of his own books, but particularly his reading of The Life and Times of the Thunderbolt Kid.

I read the hard copy and laughed, but then listened to the audio version and fell off my chair multiple times laughing. Superb.

Tony Britton is a great narrator; his readings of almost all the Dick Francis books are wonderful.

William Hurt reading Hearts in Atlantis is a wonderful combination. His rhythm takes a while to get used to, but pays off.

Tim Curry was also really well suited to Abhorsen (Garth Nix) even if his girls' voices are a little weird. I hope he did the rest of the trilogy as well. :) And the full cast audios for the Circle of Magic books (including Melting Stones) by Tamora Pierce are FAB. Rosethorn's voice actor especially. (Side note: Full Cast Audio is always great). My absolute favorite, however, was Will Patton narrating The Raven Boys. His accent and voice were perfect for the setting and really helped with the atmosphere (there was a moment or two where the narration described a character's accent and that perfectly fit the voice Patton had actually used. Furthermore, the narration itself was terrific pacing-wise etc.)