I Could Listen to Them All Day Long...

[MH]

As audiobooks grow in popularity, more and more people recognize their favorite narrators. What are your experiences with narrators? Do you know their names? Who are some of the best? Ever turned off a very good book because the reader was so bad?

[Amy]

DO NOT listen to Madeleine L'Engle read her own material! It is awful!!

Do listen to:
Luke Daniels (Iron Druid Chronicles)
Davina Porter (great british reader and scottish accents)
Anna Fields (who unfortunately died several years ago)
James Marsters (Dresden Files by Jim Butcher)
Marguerite Gavin (The Hollows series)
Lauren Fortgang (great southern accent)
Lorelei King
George Guidall (reads mostly thrillers)
Stephanie Daniel (British accent)
Llyana Kadushin
Dick Hill
Barbara Rosenblat (American but does a great British accent)


These are just a few to start with

[MH]

I had an interesting experience with a narrator recently! I was listening to A Rogue by Any Other Name on the drive to work and LOVED Rosalyn Landor's Penelope. Actually, I loved the way she performed the whole book and at the end, I was missing the sound of Landor's accent as much as I was missing the characters themselves.

But that's the way of books, so I pop in the first disc of Secrets of a Summer Night by Lisa Kleypas and WHAT?! Rosalyn Landor?! What are YOU doing here? Wait, I mean, let me get you some tea. Please, stay a while.

My most depressing audiobook experience was the change of narrators from Across the Universe to A Million Suns by Beth Revis. The difference in Elders is... jarring. And weird. And did I say jarring? I actually haven't finished 'Suns because of it. I could get used to a different performance... if the second performance was good.

[[deleted user]]

My absolute favorite narrator is Tim Curry, he did the Lemony Snicket's a Series of Unfortunate Events books, and he did a superb job! The voices that he does for each character are just so much fun, and so much than simple tone changes. In The Ersatz Elevator the caregivers have such fun accents that I just did not want them to ever stop talking!

[Hone]

I was filled with absolute nerdy joy by Wil Wheaton's reading of Ready Player One, and I think (though I'm not entirely certain, rose colored glasses and all that) that he did a pretty great job. My favorite audio experience is by far the Brian Jacques books, which are full-cast with songs and all. Absolutely brilliant. I also had a very jarring reader change when Roy Dotrice was no longer reading George R.R. Martin's Song of Ice and Fire series. There were many abominations brought about by the new reader, but the greatest loss, was the brilliant voice that Dotrice had given to Dolorous Edd.

[Clara]

A couple of my favorite narrator's are Jim Dale who did the Harry Potter Boxset and Luke Daniels who did the The Iron Druid Chronicles . One narrator who kinda irritated me was E.B. Stevens who did the Fablehaven series.

[MH]

Clara wrote: "A couple of my favorite narrator's are Jim Dale who did the Harry Potter Boxset..."

One of my most exciting, fangirl-y moments was when Jim Dale "called" me. We'd preordered Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows from Borders and we got a pre-recorded call from Jim Dale reminding us to attend the midnight launch party... which of course we did. I ADORE Jim Dale's voices.

[Hone]

The only "problem" with Jim Dale is that sometimes I get turned around and forget what I'm listening to, it isn't Harry Potter.... But it must be, 'cause that's Jim Dale!!!

[Karen]

I have been listening to the Stephanie Plum series and they start with C.J. Critt. About half way through it switches to Lorelei King who is also good but just not the same as Critt. If the series had been with King the whole time I would probably thought she was fabulous but C.J. Critt is just so amazing that it is a hard act to follow.