WoE: Earthsea Audiobooks, Starring Judi Dench!

[Pôl]

What's your experience with A Wizard of Earthsea on audiobook? There's at least three different versions. Apparently, there's a BBC Radio Collection version on cassette only, starring "Judi Dench & Cast". Anyone ever heard of this?

My library has a version narrated by Harlan Ellison, of all people. I don't recommend it. There are some nice moments, but Ellison is a huge ham. I found his dramatic reading to be distracting from the story, and I gave up after the first disc. I'm fascinated by the idea of Ellison reading LeGuin, though. It's clear by how Ellison really gets into the narration that he's a huge fan. When a literary grandmaster is enough of a fan of something to read the entire thing out loud, you take notice.

Finally, the Audible version is narrated by Rob Inglis. I haven't heard this one, but I'd be curious to hear people's opinions on Inglis's narration.

[Louise]

I have the cassette version - Judi Dench narrates and Michael Maloney plays Ged. It isn't an audiobook though; it's an audiodrama. I particularly loved the soundtrack when I was a teen and memorised the whole introductory section of Dench's narration (describing the world of Earthsea and basically an abridged version of the opening paragraphs of the book).

[terpkristin]

I have the one by Harlan Ellison and also didn't like it--it turned me off of this book a few years ago, actually.

I'm currently listening to the version narrated by Rob Inglis. I think his narration works better, but it still can be hard for my (American) ears to sometimes tell what he's saying, especially with weird place and character names. I also find myself getting distracted by the audiobook in general. There are sometimes long-ish passages of descriptions (the "beautiful prose" mentioned in another thread here) and such that, when they come along, take me out of the story, out of the narration.

So...so far, my experience has been decidedly mixed. That said, I far prefer the Rob Inglis version to the Ellison version.

[Pamela]

I am listening to the Ellison version (it is the only one available on Overdrive), and I have to admit that I really like it (and the hamming it up). I feel like Ellison is reading me a bedtime story.

[Joshua]

I have the Rob Inglis / Audible version. The narration is fine. I've heard better, but I'ver heard worse. Just because someone is British doesn't mean they're automatically good narrators, but it does add a little pseudo-medieval flare.

What's odd about this version is that there's a part about halfway through that tells you to flip the cassette over. Yeah; no joke. And at the end, there's a plug to send away for other cassettes with Recorded Books! "Rent a book from our library via mail for 30 days!"

[Scott]

Yeah I found that funny too about the Audible version. It kind of took me out of the story for a while, anticipating when it might tell me to flip again

[Chad]

Ellison's version of 20K Leagues Under the Sea is awesome, and I think it is because he is such a ham. I read this Earthsea book, and wasn't a fan of the style. I think I will Audible the next one in the series.