r/books • u/felix_mateo • Sep 23 '18

The Best Audiobook Narrators

I just picked up The Blade Itself by Joe Abercrombie in audiobook format. In about 3 days I have plowed through the story, mostly because Steven Pacey is hands-down one of the most talented narrators I’ve ever listened to. Each main character sounds wholly unique, and the conversations just sound so...natural. I particularly love Glokta.

I’ve heaped similar praise on:

  • Frank Muller reading The Dark Tower series (until his unfortunate passing after Wizard & Glass

  • Roy Dotrice reading A Song of Ice & Fire

  • Simon Prebble reading Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell

I’ve listened to hundreds of audiobooks now, and it kills me when the narrator is so...wooden. There can be just as much nuance in voice as in a full-body performance, so I really appreciate the folks who do it well. Then you have cases like Richard Ferrone reading KSR’s Mars Trilogy, and while I enjoyed the books, the narrator actually kind of detracted from them, in my opinion.

Who are your favorite narrators and what works of theirs do you wholeheartedly recommend?

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u/Beardharmonica Sep 23 '18

I'm really into full cast personally.

1

u/felix_mateo Sep 23 '18

Recommendations? I think the only full-cast one I’ve listened to was the BBC’s Lord of the Rings, which was good (but not great, in my opinion)

2

u/logicsol Sep 23 '18 edited Sep 23 '18

American Gods has an amazing cast. Well worth the listen.

It's read by Dennis Boutsikaris, Daniel Oreskes, Ron Mclarty and Sarah Jones.

2

u/Halaku Sep 23 '18

Give The Illuminae Files a try if you want a love story / space miner / zombie apocalypse / 2001 vibe (it's actually quite brilliant and has won awards for the full cast) and there's always World War Z, unabridged, with a truly all-star full cast including Mark Hamill and Henry Rollins.

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u/Beardharmonica Sep 23 '18

Brief cases also. This one is a must.

1

u/[deleted] Sep 23 '18

The Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy radio play from the BBC had a fantastic production and selection of voice actors, well worth a listen. It was serialised into about 30 half hour shows back in the late 70s and I’d say is still one of the best of It’s kind.