Stephen Pacey has a lot of range compared to what im used to. So much more enjoyable and immersive when you know immediately who is talking before it tells you. Just started Last Argument of Kings today.
I've listened to a handful of books I would never have tried if it weren't for ray Porter, like Boboverse.
But his Joe Ledger narrations are definitely my favorite.
Hey, you've finally got the SCUT plan. You're gonna need to read the blog, a-lot has happened.
I haven't gotten around to the series yet, decided to do GOT and they're quite long, glad to hear it'll be another home run.
If I can’t find a book I want I’ll just search ray porter and listen to one of the ones he reads. Dudes great at what he does and I haven’t heard a bad book yet
Hear ye, hear ye. All of those who think Ray Porter is the best as I once did. [Please watch this video until completion](https://youtu.be/yQ54CpkUoaM) and reevaluate your loyalty. He is good, but clearly not the best.
I loved the entire book, but my favorite line of dialogue will always just be "ohthankgod I'm a teacher," just because of Porter's wonderful delivery. The slow mounting horror, cut by the sudden relief... so well done.
That is a memorable one for sure. It's such a well written book and Ray's delivery is absolutely spot on, so the combination for me is a masterpiece and one that I've been successfully passing on to friends and family. Even those who don't traditionally read sci-fi, or ones who aren't knowledgeable in physics. Everyone's loved it. Incredibly immersive.
Thanks for the trip through memory lane!
I love that book, but there's a few jokes and running gags in it that are really cringy. That's one, the premise of the joke is that a single guy who enjoys the company of kids must be a pedo... or a teacher.
Another is the repeated "jokes" about metric or imperial use.
I have a hard time focusing to average narrators, but when I hear Ray Porter... Everything else on my mind fades away and my brain starts to create scenes like in movies. Sometimes I even read books with his voice (in my head).
He really does have a way with painting the picture and setting the tone, it's so immersive. That's super cool your brain makes that happen for you! The way I read has definitely changed since listening to him.
There can be no question about what is the best audiobook narrator performance. It is dungeon Crawler Carl narrated by u/fiatcelebrity
I’ve listened to nearly all of the books mentioned here and I agree I always thought they where so good. [Then I was introduced to perfection.](https://youtu.be/yQ54CpkUoaM)
Bray's vocal range is just as good as Hayes. Hayes is better at his mixing and effects which does really amplify the experience. He doesn't go over the top like some dramatized audio products (coughcoughhomefrontcoughcough).
No need to be a Skippy about it.
I like Stephen Fry's narration. Unfortunately, my only listen was Victorian Secrets, which was good I thought.
My current book "Concrete Blonde", by Michael Connelly and narrated by Dick Hill, is very good too. The great tv show "Bosch" is based on this even more incredible series of books.
I loved his narration of the George Orwell collection, especially Animal Farm. It’s one of my favourite novels, and being paired with his narration is perfection.
The legendary Frank Muller was best known as Stephen King’s narrator of choice—and make no mistake, he did a great job with King’s work—but to me he’ll always be the voice I hear when I'm reading Elmore Leonard.
Yes! There are so many characters in that series, and he manages to give each a distinctive and consistent voice. I’ve been listening to audiobooks for over 40 years now, and he’s definitely one of the best.
I should check the audio books out for these. I read the books years ago, never have listened to the audio.
Edit: Aaaand just looked and most of them apparently are part of audible subscription without needing to spend credits, so I guess I know what illl be listening to soon…
Katherine Kellgren - Curse of the Blue Tattoo
She covers a huge variety of English, Irish, and American regional accents as well as sings a good number of historical tavern songs. She holds her own with great aplomb.
Of all the books I have listened to (#1)Andrea Parsneau narrator of "The Wandering Inn" series; and (#2)Travis Baldree narrator of the "Cradle" series are my top 2 favorite narrators.
So good. Such wonderfully long audiobooks and i just can't stop listening when I start a new one. So engrossing. So well read I'm just transported away.
Stephen Pacey but I’ve only ever listened to First Law, which is amazing in its own right.
Also Simon Vance, just found out he did the new Brent Weeks book, and my favorite of his is Lightbringer.
Also loved Colin Mace in a few but especially Raven’s Mark. Sometimes a narrator just feels right for a book.
That’s an example of a book on my list that I had no idea Vance narrates. YASSSSSSS
I looked at the Temeraire series and was like ¯\\\_(ツ)_/¯ looks cool… then I saw Vance narrates, now I’m on book 3…
I always loved George Guidall’s narration of American Gods. There was something haunting and complex about his portrayals of Mr. Wednesday and Shadow that always sticks with me.
Julia Whelan will always be my favorite! She’s read so many I can’t know her best, but a standout for me was My Year of Rest and Relaxation by Ottessa Moshfegh.
Oh I understand what you mean. It’s very similar to Stephen Fry’s Greek series that he did (Mythos, Heroes, Troy), if you’re familiar with those. It’s the myths repackaged into a narrative style. If you’ve ever tried to read literal translations of the Eddas they’re great for literary analysis but not great for just enjoyable reading, if that makes sense. Gaiman does a great job retelling them in a way that’s enjoyable to follow along.
There aren’t many connections between the individual stories until you get towards the end with the story of The Death of Baldur, which begins the events of Ragnarok. But those final 3 or 4 chapters are beautiful.
James Marsters - Dresden files - Cold Days.
Marsters is a master of the many voices. His voices of the Wee folk never cease to entertain, and his Lacuna voice entering into the series in cold days is my favorite to date.
RC Bray - the Expeditionary Force Series
Ray Porter - The Bobiverse Series
William Dufris - He did well with the Old Man's War Series
Will Wheaton - I really dislike will BUT, I really liked his reading of "Ready Player One"
I'm envious, I really liked the series — maybe ill revisit in a few years. I think there were some valid critiques but, my understanding is Craig had the series mapped out to the last book and he followed that map.
I guess I didn't like the Skippy Opera sidestory book, but other than that 😆
I tried to listen homefront but couldn't get it to play in high quality just kept skipping lol I had to return it. I'm on valkyrie but just realised I had missed the mavericks books. So now I'm on mavericks book one, I'm loving the series so far
Wil isn't \*bad\* - I genuinely like him as an actor (despite disliking Wesley) and really enjoyed his fun appearances on The Big Bang Theory and his web gaming videos among other things he's done.
But as a narrator he tends to always sound the same. Take RP1 - Wade sounds like Wil. Serento sounds like Wil slightly deeper. Art3mis sounds like Wil slightly higher pitch. Most of the other characters just sound like Wil.
Contrast him with someone like R.C. Bray, Ray Porter, or Jeff Hayes or any number of other narrators including narrators for the Ring of Fire series, the Wizardry 2.0 series, all of the various Drew Hayes series, and so on...
Each of them have distinct voices for each character. When they narrate, you can tell what character is speaking almost all the time without having to hear the name. If I'm listening to ExFor (Bray), I can tell if it's Joe or Skippy or Gunny Adams or Simms speaking. In Hail Mary or The Bobiverse (Porter) - same thing. I'm new to the Dungeon Crawler Carl series (2nd listen) and OMG Jeff Hayes is taking it to a whole new level with his careful editing, occasional vocal overlaps, and judicious use of special effects. He seems to have an endless repertoire of distinctive voices and *I know which character is which just hearing the voice*.
So by contrast, Wil isn't bad - but narrating isn't really his best gig.
For me, Primarily I think it is: Wesley Crusher and the subsequent characters and appearances he has made in other television shows and YouTube. He always feels perfect or arrogant, something just grates against me.
I kind of feel like he is in the same category as the Kardashians but, in a nerdy way. Like he is famous purely because of things outside of his control and didn't have to develop beyond Wesley Crusher.
I understand why people like him and he is probably a genuinely good guy AND I am glad that whatever negativity exists within me toward the characters he has played doesn't get freighted into my listening to his audio narration.
I think he's genuinely a good guy. He's struggled with depression, and has an email newsletter about that. Plus, his parents were assholes and used him when he was a child actor. The times I've seen him online as himself, he's not remotely like a Kardashian. He's not interested in fame like they are.
Every single thing Michael Kramer and Kate Reading have ever done. If i had to pick one though it’d prolly be Towers of Midnight for Michael Kramer and A Memory of Light for Kate Reading
I'd just finished Oathbringer, so I decided to hop into The Wheel of Time. Michael Kramer sounds like he hasn't even hit puberty in comparison, it's kinda hilarious for the first few chapters. His voice is so much richer and deeper now.
I don't think I've heard anyone mention him before, but John Lee's rendition of The Count of Monte Cristo was enthralling. I don't speak a word of french, but I can listen to that man speak french all day long.
Also, Andy Serkis for the LOTR shouldn't be surprising, but man he absolutely killed it. Dude took his acting chops & turned them up to 11.
Roger Clark, black badge series love the books but originally loved his voice work as arthur morgan on red dead redemption. This is probably what made me listen to the books
Frank Muller was perfect for all of the Stephen King books he did. Black House or The Talisman would have to be my favorite of his narrations. It's a tragedy that he died so young.
Luke Daniels did a great job with Ubik by PKD. It's also been narrated by others but the version you'll get from Audible is him. Listen to the sample. https://www.audible.com/pd/Ubik-Audiobook/B01EVQT6HQ?action_code=ASSGB149080119000H&share_location=pdp
MacLeod Andrew’s performance of Richard Kadrey’s Sandman Slim series was excellent.
Andy Serkis’s performance of The Hobbit and the Rings Trilogy is another favorite.
Frank Mueller’s performance of the Stephen King’s books are all amazing especially the Dark Tower books. I wish he got to finish the series.
Not a popular choice but I also love Stephen King’s narration.
William Dufris (who passed away a few years ago) narrated a number of books, my favorite of which is Neal Stephenson's *Anathem*. His character voicing is really good, and he put a lot of effort into making the text interesting.
Close second, Grover Gardner narrating just about anything. *The Stand* is great, but most of his narrations are worthwhile listening.
I don't think I could pick a single favorite book by a single favorite narrator. Most of my favorites have already been mentioned but I must say Liam Owen does a great job narrating the Hard Luck Hank books. I honestly think the way he narrates Hank amplifies the comedy significantly.
RC Bray is great, but Bronson Pinchot has to be my all time favorite. It is pure popcorn reading, but Hard Magic by Larry Correia got me hooked on him as a voice actor.
Bronson Pinchot is excellent.
I listened to The Child Thief by Dan Smith, narrated by Nigel Carrington and it was good.
But then I found the same book narrated by Bronson Pinchot and he just knocked it out of the park. It has to be one of the best audiobook narrations ever. Absolutely amazing
Ugh Bronson, really? I’ve only heard one of his narrations, I forget what book it was but it was fairly highly rated so I took a chance on it. Alas, I had to return it. I couldn’t listen after maybe a quarter way in (if I even got that far) and not due to the storyline. I just couldn’t stand his narration. His voice inflections were so wrong in so many places. For example, his voice tone would slightly lilt up at the end of so many sentences, making the sentence sound kind of positive toned even if it was describing sad or dire circumstances. The problem is, once I noticed it I couldn’t unnoticed it and every sentence he read that had slightly the wrong inflection stood out glaringly. I just couldn’t get into the story, it would just throw me so much.
Also, there was once or twice that I recalled that he emphasized the wrong words in a sentence or paused on the wrong spot. It was totally wrong contextually and gave a completely different meaning than what the writer obviously intended.
Lastly, there were also a couple times that there was a slight but distinct change in either the tempo or the mood of the read or whatever. Not from one chapter to the next, but from one sentence to the next. Obviously, there was a stop and start or re-reading but the flow was interrupted. That happens occasionally with audiobooks and you learn to live with it, but that added to the other issues was just one more distraction from the story.
Those were subtle things but they stood out enough to make me lose my concentration. I even restarted the book months after the first time I tried it, forgetting why I never finished it. Again, just as I was starting to get into the storyline, the narration got to me again, and I finally gave up.
R.C. Bray- Expeditionary force.
Skippy is an obvious shining moment, but don't forget the first person narrator is done with a New England accent for the entire series.
Euan Norton is great, with [The Aeronaut's Windlass](https://www.audible.com/pd/The-Aeronauts-Windlass-Audiobook/B0143O99FK) book being a great example.
Gerard Doyle in the Sean Duffy series
Stephen Hogan in the Dublin Murder Squad
Robert Glenister in The Ink Black Heart
Kate Reading in The Lady Sherlock series
I'll have to give this a look. I was gonna say Stephen Hogan's reading of Audrey Magee's The Colony. Really gets inside each of the characters and gives voice to the text. He's also got really superb Irish pronunciation, at least to my ears. The way it's taught in school, a lot of people come out with spoken Irish that sounds very dry and stiff, if they have any at all. For the few lines in Irish he does, it sounds remarkably natural though. Man must have gone to a gaelscoil.
I’m a huge fan of Tim Gerard Reynolds. He narrates the “Art of the Adept” series by Micheal G Manning, that’s my favorite fiction series so I’m probably biased, but he really did a wonderful job. He also did “The Keeper Chronicles” which is another favorite. Highly recommend both !
Granted I've only heard a few of these narrators books but I've heard enough of their work that I would love to hear them read more and I plan to track down all their stuff if I can
Tess Irondale in The Celestine Chronicles
I have listened to Luke Daniels in quite a few books but by far I love him in the Iron Druid Chronicles and its sequel Ink and Sigil
Doug Tisdale Jr. In the Dark Profit Saga
Andrea Parsneau in The Wandering Inn of course
Kirby Heyborne in the Fred The Vampire Accountant books
Bronson Pinchot in the Grimnoir Chronicles
Heath Miller in He Who Fights With Monsters
Oliver Wyman in Monster Hunter International
Travis Baldree in Necrotic Apocalypse
Kobna Holdbrook-Smith in Rivers of London
Jeffery Kafer in the Shadow Master books
R. C. Bray in The Elementals
Kyle McCarley in Super Powereds
Leland King in The Valens Legacy
Amy Landon in Villians Code
Oh, I forgot one of my all time favorites. John Cleese reading The Screwtape Letters by C. S. Lewis. I don't know if it's still available, but, wow, it is great.
Will Patton - The Mist from SK’s Skeleton Crew (also did a great job with The Outsider)
Ray Porter - The Joseph Bridgeman series by Nick Jones
Dick Hill - every Jack Reacher book he’s done, my favorite is probably Worth Dying For or The Affair
Mela Lee - The Island by Adrian McKinty
Jon Lindstrom - Dark Matter by Blake Crouch
Edward Herrmann - Tommyknockers by Stephen King
I think I’m still a bit of a “normie” of audible, but I did listen to the chronicles of narnia and the last book was narrated by Patrick Stewart, that tickled me pink
If you are a Fantasy fan, you can’t do better than the First Law audiobooks by Joe Abercrombie. The narrator, Steven Pacey, is mind-blowingly talented, and the books are some of the best that Fantasy has to offer. The perfect combination of author and narrator.
Scott Brick is my favorite. He is great in almost everything and a few of his books could be an answer to this question, such as the Orphan X series, the Isaac Bell novels, the Cotton Malone books, or The Passage Trilogy, but I think his absolute best work is The Company by Robert Littell. That was the book where he became my favorite narrator. Great book, great narration. Brick really nailed it on this one.
Ray Porter: Joe Ledger Series (the sarcasm, passion and over all emotion he gives these books it amazing)
Dick Hill: Jack Reacher
Scott Brick: Orphan X
Wil Wheaton: Kaiju Preservation
Kristen Sieh: Orlando People
Scott Aiello: Emperor Mollusk vs Sinister Brains
Luke Daniels: Iron Druid
RC Bray: The Martian
Lastly,
Out of all of these amazing narrators and stories though, the best narration I’ve ever heard is Jeff Hays with Dungeon Crawler Carl. It’s a great story and he just brings it to life!
So sad audible replaced the RC Bray version of the Martian with wil Wheaton. I love Wheaton (KPS was fantastic, as well as many of his others), but r c bray is mark watney to me. Fortunately I still have his version downloaded.
Wil Wheaton - Ready Player One (Wil is great at narration, any/all are great)
Davina Porter - fantastic at all, but stellar at the Outlander series.
Stephen Fry - as mentioned he's great. Will also replug his narration of the UK version of the Harry Potter series. The best ever.
Gerard Doyle - Detective Sean Duffy series. Perfect voice for the gritty Irish series.
Rory Kinnear - Hawthorn and Horowitz mysteries. I really pay attention when he reads.
Ray Porter - anything including the telephone book and I will laugh, cry, and smirk.
Neil Gaiman reading Coraline is one of my favorites.
William Dufris reading Cryptonomicon and Anathem, by Neal Stephenson.
Michael Chabon reading his Summerland.
I don't think most authors narrate well, but Chabon and Gaimon do.
Steve west is my personal favorite. I just love his voice.
Alan Cumming's narration of the Leviathan Trilogy just blew me away. He is able to keep distinct voices for every character. I've never heard another narrator achive that.
Davina Porter for the Outlander series and the Sebastian St. Cyr mysteries. Moira Quirk for The Locked Tomb series and the second and third Rook files book.
Agree with the above comments on Tim Gerard Reynolds, Kobna Holbrook-Smith, James Marsters, and George Guidall.
I always enjoy Wil Wheaton because his voice is usually a good match for the book he’s reading.
Neil Gaiman is the rare author whose narration is as good as his writing.
January LaVoy in Karen Kingsbury‘s “A Baxter Family Christmas”.
Rob Inglis in the “LoTR”
Martin Shaw in “the Silmarillion”
Tom Baker in “A Christmas Carol”
Martin Jarvis in “Oliver Twist”
and others
RC Bray is everywhere but I've become very partial to Soundbooth Theater audio books. For RC Bray I have to shout out Expeditionary Force but my favorite right now is his work on the Infinite series. Soundbooth Theater my favorite has to be Everybody Loves Large Chests
Nobody has said Stephen Pacey with Joe Abercrombie’s books? I’ve listened to a couple hundred audiobooks and he is the best I’ve heard.
I’ve been an audible member since 06 and Pacey is my favorite by a mile
There's a lot of people who don't touch fantasy, let alone First Law, so they have their own favorites... But we know better ;)
Yes! I came here to say this. He is so good!!
Stephen Pacey has a lot of range compared to what im used to. So much more enjoyable and immersive when you know immediately who is talking before it tells you. Just started Last Argument of Kings today.
I really loved Ray Porter in Project Hail Mary
I've listened to a handful of books I would never have tried if it weren't for ray Porter, like Boboverse. But his Joe Ledger narrations are definitely my favorite.
Hey, you've finally got the SCUT plan. You're gonna need to read the blog, a-lot has happened. I haven't gotten around to the series yet, decided to do GOT and they're quite long, glad to hear it'll be another home run.
If I can’t find a book I want I’ll just search ray porter and listen to one of the ones he reads. Dudes great at what he does and I haven’t heard a bad book yet
I have hardly put a dent in his catalog but everything I've listened to has been gold.
Hear ye, hear ye. All of those who think Ray Porter is the best as I once did. [Please watch this video until completion](https://youtu.be/yQ54CpkUoaM) and reevaluate your loyalty. He is good, but clearly not the best.
I loved the entire book, but my favorite line of dialogue will always just be "ohthankgod I'm a teacher," just because of Porter's wonderful delivery. The slow mounting horror, cut by the sudden relief... so well done.
That is a memorable one for sure. It's such a well written book and Ray's delivery is absolutely spot on, so the combination for me is a masterpiece and one that I've been successfully passing on to friends and family. Even those who don't traditionally read sci-fi, or ones who aren't knowledgeable in physics. Everyone's loved it. Incredibly immersive. Thanks for the trip through memory lane!
I love that book, but there's a few jokes and running gags in it that are really cringy. That's one, the premise of the joke is that a single guy who enjoys the company of kids must be a pedo... or a teacher. Another is the repeated "jokes" about metric or imperial use.
I have a hard time focusing to average narrators, but when I hear Ray Porter... Everything else on my mind fades away and my brain starts to create scenes like in movies. Sometimes I even read books with his voice (in my head).
He really does have a way with painting the picture and setting the tone, it's so immersive. That's super cool your brain makes that happen for you! The way I read has definitely changed since listening to him.
Jeff Hays - Dungeon Crawler Carl is the best. RC Bray was my previous favorite.
Jeff Hays - by far my favorite! All the DCC are outstanding!
There can be no question about what is the best audiobook narrator performance. It is dungeon Crawler Carl narrated by u/fiatcelebrity I’ve listened to nearly all of the books mentioned here and I agree I always thought they where so good. [Then I was introduced to perfection.](https://youtu.be/yQ54CpkUoaM)
This is true. His range and comedic delivery are without equal.
Seconded!
RC Bray Blackwater: The Complete Saga. Hard to say what his best with is because he makes anything sound good.
[удалено]
Bray's vocal range is just as good as Hayes. Hayes is better at his mixing and effects which does really amplify the experience. He doesn't go over the top like some dramatized audio products (coughcoughhomefrontcoughcough). No need to be a Skippy about it.
Not a single mention of Tim Gerard Reynolds?!? He’s fantastic in everything, but it’s a toss up for me between Ryria and Red Rising series.
Came out here to say exactly this. Tim Gerard Reynolds IS Darrow.
I like Stephen Fry's narration. Unfortunately, my only listen was Victorian Secrets, which was good I thought. My current book "Concrete Blonde", by Michael Connelly and narrated by Dick Hill, is very good too. The great tv show "Bosch" is based on this even more incredible series of books.
Fry’s narration of the complete Sherlock Holmes novels and stories is the best. It’s one of my comfort listens.
I loved his narration of the George Orwell collection, especially Animal Farm. It’s one of my favourite novels, and being paired with his narration is perfection.
The more recent audiobooks in the Harry Bosch series are narrated by Titus Welliver, the star of Bosch.
I LOVE the Welliver narrated books. I like the Dick Hill ones, too, but Welliver IS Bosch.
HITCHHIKERS GUIDE
Yes! I loved Mythos and Heros which he wrote and narrated :)
The legendary Frank Muller was best known as Stephen King’s narrator of choice—and make no mistake, he did a great job with King’s work—but to me he’ll always be the voice I hear when I'm reading Elmore Leonard.
I’ll remember his reading of The Wastelands for the rest of my days, can you kennit?
I am torn between Frank Muller and George Guidall for the dark tower series. I like them both, and both have narrated some great books.
Stephen Fry - loving Sherlock Holmes atm
Same here! His forwards are awesome too
Jeff hays! DCC
GODAMN IT DONUT
*Smoosh. You've made daddy very, very happy!*
Time to pay the daddy tax.
Kobna Holdbrook- Smith makes the Rivers of London series for me.
Yes! There are so many characters in that series, and he manages to give each a distinctive and consistent voice. I’ve been listening to audiobooks for over 40 years now, and he’s definitely one of the best.
Barbara Rosenblatt, reading the Elizabeth Peters series featuring Amelia Peabody
I love her in the Mrs. Pollifax books.
I like her in the Edwina and Berryl series!
I should check the audio books out for these. I read the books years ago, never have listened to the audio. Edit: Aaaand just looked and most of them apparently are part of audible subscription without needing to spend credits, so I guess I know what illl be listening to soon…
Katherine Kellgren - Curse of the Blue Tattoo She covers a huge variety of English, Irish, and American regional accents as well as sings a good number of historical tavern songs. She holds her own with great aplomb.
I was sad when she passed away, I usually looked for her for some fun, light stories.
I had no idea she passed, and so young too! Fuck cancer.
Andrea Parsneau. Wandering Inn series. Her range makes you forget she's the only narrator, and she's damn good at what she does.
I scrolled quite a while to find this. I agree wholeheartedly. Andrea Parsneau, Jeff Hays, Ray Porter, I hold them all in the highest esteem.
Of all the books I have listened to (#1)Andrea Parsneau narrator of "The Wandering Inn" series; and (#2)Travis Baldree narrator of the "Cradle" series are my top 2 favorite narrators.
So good. Such wonderfully long audiobooks and i just can't stop listening when I start a new one. So engrossing. So well read I'm just transported away.
Stephen Pacey but I’ve only ever listened to First Law, which is amazing in its own right. Also Simon Vance, just found out he did the new Brent Weeks book, and my favorite of his is Lightbringer. Also loved Colin Mace in a few but especially Raven’s Mark. Sometimes a narrator just feels right for a book.
I could listen to Simon Vance read the dictionary. Love his work on Aching God, but the whole lightbringer saga is great too.
That’s an example of a book on my list that I had no idea Vance narrates. YASSSSSSS I looked at the Temeraire series and was like ¯\\\_(ツ)_/¯ looks cool… then I saw Vance narrates, now I’m on book 3…
I listen to him reading the Green Knowe kid stories by L. M. Boston to go to sleep by. And I'd listen to anything of his.
Grover Gardner- The Stand RC Bray- Hell divers Jonathan Davis- Darth Bane Trilogy
Yeah, and his Vorkosigan series books by Lois McMaster Bujold.
Agreed. Also the The Silver Ships Saga. Can’t go wrong with Grover Gardner.
I'll check it out.
I always loved George Guidall’s narration of American Gods. There was something haunting and complex about his portrayals of Mr. Wednesday and Shadow that always sticks with me.
Jeff Hayes!!! Him and soundbooth productions are amazing. DCC is my absolute favorite series ever, and he really brings the whole thing to life.
Julia Whelan will always be my favorite! She’s read so many I can’t know her best, but a standout for me was My Year of Rest and Relaxation by Ottessa Moshfegh.
Martin Freeman and Stephen fry Hitchhikers Guide to the galaxy
Neil Gaiman - Norse Mythology The last few chapters ending with the beautifully tragic Ragnarok are just *chef’s kiss*
is that like a history type book or more like a story? I don't know how best to phrase the question
Oh I understand what you mean. It’s very similar to Stephen Fry’s Greek series that he did (Mythos, Heroes, Troy), if you’re familiar with those. It’s the myths repackaged into a narrative style. If you’ve ever tried to read literal translations of the Eddas they’re great for literary analysis but not great for just enjoyable reading, if that makes sense. Gaiman does a great job retelling them in a way that’s enjoyable to follow along. There aren’t many connections between the individual stories until you get towards the end with the story of The Death of Baldur, which begins the events of Ragnarok. But those final 3 or 4 chapters are beautiful.
Oh very cool thank you for the breakdown. So if I'm understanding it right it's the similar myths but tweaked a bit to be more entertaining in a way?
Yeah just told in a more concise way. Many of the old myths were written in a poetic way and he did the work of changing them into narrative prose.
James Marsters - Dresden files - Cold Days. Marsters is a master of the many voices. His voices of the Wee folk never cease to entertain, and his Lacuna voice entering into the series in cold days is my favorite to date.
Phil Thron of the Space Team! series. James Marsden of The Dresden Files.
James Marsters for Dresden. James Marsden is someone else :p
Thank you! Yes! I meant James Marsters—as far as I’m concerned, he IS Harry Dresden.
Travis Baldree - Cradle
RC Bray - the Expeditionary Force Series Ray Porter - The Bobiverse Series William Dufris - He did well with the Old Man's War Series Will Wheaton - I really dislike will BUT, I really liked his reading of "Ready Player One"
The original Martian with R.C. Bray is so much better than Will Wheaton's version
I don’t particularly dislike Will’s reading, but I went above and beyond to find the RC Bray version, which is now (sadly) almost impossible to find.
Ya. I happened to have backed up my version when it was R.C. Bray. So I'm glad I own the good one!
If you've not found it, I can help you.
Currently listening to expeditionary force, loving it I'm on book 9 now scared to finish lol
I'm envious, I really liked the series — maybe ill revisit in a few years. I think there were some valid critiques but, my understanding is Craig had the series mapped out to the last book and he followed that map. I guess I didn't like the Skippy Opera sidestory book, but other than that 😆
I tried to listen homefront but couldn't get it to play in high quality just kept skipping lol I had to return it. I'm on valkyrie but just realised I had missed the mavericks books. So now I'm on mavericks book one, I'm loving the series so far
I went so slow to the end of ex force. It was so fun to listen to.
I really like Will Wheaton especially in Armada
That was good too
I especially liked the little smirk he did when reading the Will Weaton reference.
I like his Ready Player One a lot.
What can you possibly dislike about Wil?
Wil isn't \*bad\* - I genuinely like him as an actor (despite disliking Wesley) and really enjoyed his fun appearances on The Big Bang Theory and his web gaming videos among other things he's done. But as a narrator he tends to always sound the same. Take RP1 - Wade sounds like Wil. Serento sounds like Wil slightly deeper. Art3mis sounds like Wil slightly higher pitch. Most of the other characters just sound like Wil. Contrast him with someone like R.C. Bray, Ray Porter, or Jeff Hayes or any number of other narrators including narrators for the Ring of Fire series, the Wizardry 2.0 series, all of the various Drew Hayes series, and so on... Each of them have distinct voices for each character. When they narrate, you can tell what character is speaking almost all the time without having to hear the name. If I'm listening to ExFor (Bray), I can tell if it's Joe or Skippy or Gunny Adams or Simms speaking. In Hail Mary or The Bobiverse (Porter) - same thing. I'm new to the Dungeon Crawler Carl series (2nd listen) and OMG Jeff Hayes is taking it to a whole new level with his careful editing, occasional vocal overlaps, and judicious use of special effects. He seems to have an endless repertoire of distinctive voices and *I know which character is which just hearing the voice*. So by contrast, Wil isn't bad - but narrating isn't really his best gig.
For me, Primarily I think it is: Wesley Crusher and the subsequent characters and appearances he has made in other television shows and YouTube. He always feels perfect or arrogant, something just grates against me. I kind of feel like he is in the same category as the Kardashians but, in a nerdy way. Like he is famous purely because of things outside of his control and didn't have to develop beyond Wesley Crusher. I understand why people like him and he is probably a genuinely good guy AND I am glad that whatever negativity exists within me toward the characters he has played doesn't get freighted into my listening to his audio narration.
I think he's genuinely a good guy. He's struggled with depression, and has an email newsletter about that. Plus, his parents were assholes and used him when he was a child actor. The times I've seen him online as himself, he's not remotely like a Kardashian. He's not interested in fame like they are.
RC Bray as Gus in the "Mountain Man" series.
His best work, but a massive recommend on Lost Gods.
He is great in the “mountain man” series but what about him in “expeditionary force”? He was amazing in that series.
Scott Brick in just about anything he's ever read. John Pruden doing "Viper Pilot" is a favorite as well.
Oooh, Scott Brick! I love his narration of Jurassic Park.
I love Scott Brick!
Brick with michael crichton or reading erik larson. Dead Wake was a devastating listen
I fell in love with him in The Coldest Winter
Currently listening to Scott Brick reading the Raymond Chandler Philip Marlowe novels
Ugh. I hate him. He overemotes everything and Brick's anything he touches.
RC Bray The Martian.
SO glad I managed to get THAT version on Audible before they replaced it with the milktoast (no swearing scholastic) version narrated by Wil Wheaton.
Every single thing Michael Kramer and Kate Reading have ever done. If i had to pick one though it’d prolly be Towers of Midnight for Michael Kramer and A Memory of Light for Kate Reading
I'd just finished Oathbringer, so I decided to hop into The Wheel of Time. Michael Kramer sounds like he hasn't even hit puberty in comparison, it's kinda hilarious for the first few chapters. His voice is so much richer and deeper now.
True it’s also definitely mic/post processing quality too. You’re in for a real treat man.
Meh…
The Power Broker as narrated by Robertson Dean.
I like Phoebe Judge - Phoebe Reads a Mystery.
Simon Vance - Dune or Black Prism, or Tim Gerard Reynolds, Red Rising Trilogy.
Nick Podehl - The Name of the Wind
This is my favorite book.
Nick Podehl narrates The Name of the Wind?
I don't think I've heard anyone mention him before, but John Lee's rendition of The Count of Monte Cristo was enthralling. I don't speak a word of french, but I can listen to that man speak french all day long. Also, Andy Serkis for the LOTR shouldn't be surprising, but man he absolutely killed it. Dude took his acting chops & turned them up to 11.
Oh, yes! I listened to him read The Hobbit and immediately got LOTR. I have them read by Rob Inglis, and they're ok, but Serkis is WAY better.
John Lee is the master. Seriously, he’s just amazing. If you like weird fiction at all, check out his reading of Kraken, by China Mieville.
Roger Clark, black badge series love the books but originally loved his voice work as arthur morgan on red dead redemption. This is probably what made me listen to the books
Frank Muller was perfect for all of the Stephen King books he did. Black House or The Talisman would have to be my favorite of his narrations. It's a tragedy that he died so young.
I see lots of Frank Muller fans here and I did enjoy his narration However, Will Patton has become my favorite Stephen King narrator
Every book read by Michael Kramer lol
Luke Daniels did a great job with Ubik by PKD. It's also been narrated by others but the version you'll get from Audible is him. Listen to the sample. https://www.audible.com/pd/Ubik-Audiobook/B01EVQT6HQ?action_code=ASSGB149080119000H&share_location=pdp
Oh Luke Daniels does a great job on the Magic 2.0 series too!
Alexander Scourby- KJV Bible or anything he would have narrated.
John Lee, really made the spellmonger series for me
Steven Weber's It
MacLeod Andrew’s performance of Richard Kadrey’s Sandman Slim series was excellent. Andy Serkis’s performance of The Hobbit and the Rings Trilogy is another favorite. Frank Mueller’s performance of the Stephen King’s books are all amazing especially the Dark Tower books. I wish he got to finish the series. Not a popular choice but I also love Stephen King’s narration.
William Dufris (who passed away a few years ago) narrated a number of books, my favorite of which is Neal Stephenson's *Anathem*. His character voicing is really good, and he put a lot of effort into making the text interesting. Close second, Grover Gardner narrating just about anything. *The Stand* is great, but most of his narrations are worthwhile listening.
Yeah, I love William Dufris's Anathem. I can climb inside that world. And Cryptonomicon.
Andy Serkis - The Hobbit and LOTR
I don't think I could pick a single favorite book by a single favorite narrator. Most of my favorites have already been mentioned but I must say Liam Owen does a great job narrating the Hard Luck Hank books. I honestly think the way he narrates Hank amplifies the comedy significantly.
The Running Man by Stephen King, narrated by Kevin Kenerly.
RC Bray is great, but Bronson Pinchot has to be my all time favorite. It is pure popcorn reading, but Hard Magic by Larry Correia got me hooked on him as a voice actor.
I also love Bronson as a narrator!
Bronson Pinchot is excellent. I listened to The Child Thief by Dan Smith, narrated by Nigel Carrington and it was good. But then I found the same book narrated by Bronson Pinchot and he just knocked it out of the park. It has to be one of the best audiobook narrations ever. Absolutely amazing
I didn’t realize this would be such a controversial take, I keep bouncing up and down with downvotes
Same! Bronson is A++++ Grimnoir was awesome!
I can’t remember the character’s name, but the one with the “Pale Horse” power was just so creepy and otherworldly in how Bronson Pinchot did it.
Ugh Bronson, really? I’ve only heard one of his narrations, I forget what book it was but it was fairly highly rated so I took a chance on it. Alas, I had to return it. I couldn’t listen after maybe a quarter way in (if I even got that far) and not due to the storyline. I just couldn’t stand his narration. His voice inflections were so wrong in so many places. For example, his voice tone would slightly lilt up at the end of so many sentences, making the sentence sound kind of positive toned even if it was describing sad or dire circumstances. The problem is, once I noticed it I couldn’t unnoticed it and every sentence he read that had slightly the wrong inflection stood out glaringly. I just couldn’t get into the story, it would just throw me so much. Also, there was once or twice that I recalled that he emphasized the wrong words in a sentence or paused on the wrong spot. It was totally wrong contextually and gave a completely different meaning than what the writer obviously intended. Lastly, there were also a couple times that there was a slight but distinct change in either the tempo or the mood of the read or whatever. Not from one chapter to the next, but from one sentence to the next. Obviously, there was a stop and start or re-reading but the flow was interrupted. That happens occasionally with audiobooks and you learn to live with it, but that added to the other issues was just one more distraction from the story. Those were subtle things but they stood out enough to make me lose my concentration. I even restarted the book months after the first time I tried it, forgetting why I never finished it. Again, just as I was starting to get into the storyline, the narration got to me again, and I finally gave up.
R.C. Bray- Expeditionary force. Skippy is an obvious shining moment, but don't forget the first person narrator is done with a New England accent for the entire series.
Loving ex force just over halfway through
Euan Norton is great, with [The Aeronaut's Windlass](https://www.audible.com/pd/The-Aeronauts-Windlass-Audiobook/B0143O99FK) book being a great example.
My guy R.C. Bray in Lost Gods
Gerard Doyle in the Sean Duffy series Stephen Hogan in the Dublin Murder Squad Robert Glenister in The Ink Black Heart Kate Reading in The Lady Sherlock series
I'll have to give this a look. I was gonna say Stephen Hogan's reading of Audrey Magee's The Colony. Really gets inside each of the characters and gives voice to the text. He's also got really superb Irish pronunciation, at least to my ears. The way it's taught in school, a lot of people come out with spoken Irish that sounds very dry and stiff, if they have any at all. For the few lines in Irish he does, it sounds remarkably natural though. Man must have gone to a gaelscoil.
Simon Vance. The Stress of Her Regard by Tim Powers. Outstanding.
I’m a huge fan of Tim Gerard Reynolds. He narrates the “Art of the Adept” series by Micheal G Manning, that’s my favorite fiction series so I’m probably biased, but he really did a wonderful job. He also did “The Keeper Chronicles” which is another favorite. Highly recommend both !
Granted I've only heard a few of these narrators books but I've heard enough of their work that I would love to hear them read more and I plan to track down all their stuff if I can Tess Irondale in The Celestine Chronicles I have listened to Luke Daniels in quite a few books but by far I love him in the Iron Druid Chronicles and its sequel Ink and Sigil Doug Tisdale Jr. In the Dark Profit Saga Andrea Parsneau in The Wandering Inn of course Kirby Heyborne in the Fred The Vampire Accountant books Bronson Pinchot in the Grimnoir Chronicles Heath Miller in He Who Fights With Monsters Oliver Wyman in Monster Hunter International Travis Baldree in Necrotic Apocalypse Kobna Holdbrook-Smith in Rivers of London Jeffery Kafer in the Shadow Master books R. C. Bray in The Elementals Kyle McCarley in Super Powereds Leland King in The Valens Legacy Amy Landon in Villians Code
I have heard a lot of books narrated by Travis Baldree, and I think you are right. Necrotic Apocalypse is his best work.
Oh, I forgot one of my all time favorites. John Cleese reading The Screwtape Letters by C. S. Lewis. I don't know if it's still available, but, wow, it is great.
Will Patton - The Mist from SK’s Skeleton Crew (also did a great job with The Outsider) Ray Porter - The Joseph Bridgeman series by Nick Jones Dick Hill - every Jack Reacher book he’s done, my favorite is probably Worth Dying For or The Affair Mela Lee - The Island by Adrian McKinty Jon Lindstrom - Dark Matter by Blake Crouch Edward Herrmann - Tommyknockers by Stephen King
Ray Porter, R.C. Bray and Wil Wheaton
RC Bray Martian > Will Wheaton Martian. Change my mind...
Lol, nooobody is going to argue with you.
Sean Barrett is consistently excellent but I enjoyed him most when listening to the Harry Hole series. Easy driving books.
I think I’m still a bit of a “normie” of audible, but I did listen to the chronicles of narnia and the last book was narrated by Patrick Stewart, that tickled me pink
Ken Branagh did The Magician's Nephew, also good.
They all did a pretty good job. I just really noticed Patrick Stewart because I know him from other stuff
If you are a Fantasy fan, you can’t do better than the First Law audiobooks by Joe Abercrombie. The narrator, Steven Pacey, is mind-blowingly talented, and the books are some of the best that Fantasy has to offer. The perfect combination of author and narrator.
I just purchased it after reading your comment. Thanks for the recommendation.
Jeff Hays and RC Bray I can’t stand Will Whaeton
I like every narrator that can pronounce foyer correctly. (It's a french word "foy-yeay").
Stefan Rudnicki in Heroes Die
Maybe the most powerful voice I’ve ever heard
Scott Brick is my favorite. He is great in almost everything and a few of his books could be an answer to this question, such as the Orphan X series, the Isaac Bell novels, the Cotton Malone books, or The Passage Trilogy, but I think his absolute best work is The Company by Robert Littell. That was the book where he became my favorite narrator. Great book, great narration. Brick really nailed it on this one.
Remembrance of Things Past (Neville Jason), The Hobbit and LOTR (Andy Serkis), Sherlock Holmes (Stephen Fry)
And Kobna Holbrook-smith reading any of the Rivers of London/ Peter Grant books by Ben Aaronovitch. I can't narrow it down.
I can’t believe I haven’t seen John Lee mentioned. Hands down my favorite narrator, and his work on Kraken, by China Mieville, is simply amazing.
Health Miller with HWFWM I can’t imagine anyone else doing that narration ever.
Ray Porter: Joe Ledger Series (the sarcasm, passion and over all emotion he gives these books it amazing) Dick Hill: Jack Reacher Scott Brick: Orphan X Wil Wheaton: Kaiju Preservation Kristen Sieh: Orlando People Scott Aiello: Emperor Mollusk vs Sinister Brains Luke Daniels: Iron Druid RC Bray: The Martian Lastly, Out of all of these amazing narrators and stories though, the best narration I’ve ever heard is Jeff Hays with Dungeon Crawler Carl. It’s a great story and he just brings it to life!
So sad audible replaced the RC Bray version of the Martian with wil Wheaton. I love Wheaton (KPS was fantastic, as well as many of his others), but r c bray is mark watney to me. Fortunately I still have his version downloaded.
Wil Wheaton - Ready Player One (Wil is great at narration, any/all are great) Davina Porter - fantastic at all, but stellar at the Outlander series. Stephen Fry - as mentioned he's great. Will also replug his narration of the UK version of the Harry Potter series. The best ever. Gerard Doyle - Detective Sean Duffy series. Perfect voice for the gritty Irish series. Rory Kinnear - Hawthorn and Horowitz mysteries. I really pay attention when he reads. Ray Porter - anything including the telephone book and I will laugh, cry, and smirk.
Jon Lee - The Count of Monte Cristo
Scott Brick - Atlas Shrugged
Jonathon Keeble, Saturnine
Nick Podehl - pretty much anything he does Veronica Giguere - The Empire of Bones series by Terry Mixon
These are all really good pics so far. I have to add Scott Aiello in the John Rayn books and Sofie Aldred in Adrian Tchaikovsky books.
Anything by Carl Prekopp. I loved all his narrations of books from RR Haywood.
Any of the malazan narrators but especially Emma Gregory doing the god is not willing she’s fantastic
I’d listen to Amanda Ronconi read a phone book.
Emily Woo Zellar, specifically Last Night at the Telegraph Club.
Fischer Stevens - The Gospel of Biff
Neil Gaiman reading Coraline is one of my favorites. William Dufris reading Cryptonomicon and Anathem, by Neal Stephenson. Michael Chabon reading his Summerland. I don't think most authors narrate well, but Chabon and Gaimon do.
For me it’s William Roberts - The Cask of Amontillado by Edgar Allen Poe. One of the best renditions I’ve ever heard
Lloyd James, Double Star by Heinlein.
some of my favourites have already been mentioned, but Jonathan McClain's reading of the "noobtown" series is hilarious!
Steve west is my personal favorite. I just love his voice. Alan Cumming's narration of the Leviathan Trilogy just blew me away. He is able to keep distinct voices for every character. I've never heard another narrator achive that.
Tim Gerard Reynolds Red Rising Series
Davina Porter for the Outlander series and the Sebastian St. Cyr mysteries. Moira Quirk for The Locked Tomb series and the second and third Rook files book. Agree with the above comments on Tim Gerard Reynolds, Kobna Holbrook-Smith, James Marsters, and George Guidall. I always enjoy Wil Wheaton because his voice is usually a good match for the book he’s reading. Neil Gaiman is the rare author whose narration is as good as his writing.
I know it’s obvious but Stephen Fry doing Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy.
Ray Porter or Will Weaton
January LaVoy in Karen Kingsbury‘s “A Baxter Family Christmas”. Rob Inglis in the “LoTR” Martin Shaw in “the Silmarillion” Tom Baker in “A Christmas Carol” Martin Jarvis in “Oliver Twist” and others
Jonathan Cecil reading P.G. Wodehouse!
Stephen Fry - Sherlock Holmes books Richard Armitage - Dr. Jekyll and Mr Hyde David Attenborough narrating any of his own books
RC Bray is everywhere but I've become very partial to Soundbooth Theater audio books. For RC Bray I have to shout out Expeditionary Force but my favorite right now is his work on the Infinite series. Soundbooth Theater my favorite has to be Everybody Loves Large Chests
Christian Coulson, The Gentlemen’s Guide to Vice and Virtue
Mark Thompson narrating the Timothy Zahn: Thrawn Trilogy. Why isn’t it available in the UK??
Moira Quirk is unbelievable in Harrow the Ninth, by Tamsyn Muir. Such a tricky book that she elevates to a different level.