Philip’s answer to “Excited for Age of the King releasing at the end of April but... and I have no idea how to put this…” > Likes and Comments

Oh, well, now I feel bad. I shouldn't have said anything. My apologies. There are plenty of less-than-favorable comments over at the Audible site. I do like his voice, so let me correct that, but there is no difference in tone from one character to the next, and the tempo between a serene moment to one full of action is never different. As a writer, when the action increases, which is most often the case in a fight scene, you write it to tempo by shortening sentences, the scene less about prose and more about getting the point across, so the reader feels it in the sticcato moments of your style. Mr. Brand just... never makes that evident. And when there's a break in one scene, to switch to a different character in the same chapter, he never pauses and I find myself confused and needing to check the book to see when the change occurred.

To answer your question about reading, I do, actually. I always get the whisper-sync to keep my place between listening and reading. I just travel so much--or, well, I used to. I'm working from home now, but I do listen while at work. I read more at night when things are quiet.

Well, sorry to be such a downer. I do love the books. The end of Kingdom of Bones made me gasp out loud, then cheer because well-- trying not to spoil anyone who hasn't read yet. I do so love Vighon and the scene at the end, the final sentence... WOW!

Anyway. Hey, no worries. I'll be back for more when the next book releases. This series is just too good to walk away from, Mr. Brand notwithstanding :D I just wish someone would give him some direction on changing his tone and tempo a bit.

Cheers!

I see I am not the only person that find an issue with Mr Brand's performances. I very much want to listen to Rise of the Ranger and the other Echos saga books, but he reads in such an odd way that it throws me out of the story. There are parts where there should be a pause, but he just keeps steamrollering on and it is very off-putting. It is a shame that as the author of this series that you do not have a say in who reads it.

Don't worry about having said anything, Julie - it's always good to hear everyone's opinions and I value them all. I too was a little thrown when I first heard the audio, but I'm not an audio listener, so I wasn't sure of the quality. I was expecting sound effects, accents etc. Thank you so much for sticking with the series though in spite of your grievances with the narrator. It could be worse - I could be the narrator! Hahaha!

HAHA! I bet you're not half bad. I saw a 'how to' on youtube by a professional narrator. It was more of him offering a test for people thinking they wanted to get into narration. It was a test, actually, of how you can tell if you were cut out for that job. 1. Find a small room in your house or apartment. 2 drag a laptop to record your voice, a book and a lamp into the closet (or small bathroom). 3 Set a timer for 5 hours and begin reading out loud. 4. Do that every day for a week.

In the end, if you cannot do that, you will not enjoy becoming a narrator. Yea, I couldn't do it. So I just appreciate those who can and leave it at that. :) Let alone write. So again, I appreciate those that can!