[Tiste Simeon]

Hmm not sure I can be bothered to wait for another 7 when there's plenty of decent books out there.

Has anyone heard the Earbook version of Ancillary Justice and it's follow ups? Heard those books are good and they're on Audible.

[Tiste Simeon]

Hmm they recommended The Poppy War in the app and I feel that I would enjoy that. Will probably start there.

[Abyss]

Tiste Simeon, on 07 February 2019 - 08:07 PM, said:

Hmm not sure I can be bothered to wait for another 7 when there's plenty of decent books out there.

Has anyone heard the Earbook version of Ancillary Justice and it's follow ups? Heard those books are good and they're on Audible.

The first ANCILLARY book has the single worse earbook narrator I have ever experienced. Had to stop for no reason related to the book itself.

[Tiste Simeon]

Yikes. May give that a miss then.

The Stephen Fry Greek myths book is narrated by Stephen Fry and TRB's glowing recommendation in the other thread means I think I'll have to add that to the list.

[Andorion]

Abyss, on 08 February 2019 - 06:56 AM, said:

Tiste Simeon, on 07 February 2019 - 08:07 PM, said:

Hmm not sure I can be bothered to wait for another 7 when there's plenty of decent books out there.

Has anyone heard the Earbook version of Ancillary Justice and it's follow ups? Heard those books are good and they're on Audible.

The first ANCILLARY book has the single worse earbook narrator I have ever experienced. Had to stop for no reason related to the book itself.

Worse than the Mike Carey Felix Castor narrator?

[Dolmen 2.0]

http://www.lightspee...ction-podcasts/


These are free and marvellous.

I reccommend:

The Last to Matter

Greetings, Humanity! Welcome To Your Choice Of Species!

and

The Greatest One-Star Restaurant in the Whole Quadrant

[Tiste Simeon]

I see that the Mark Lawrence trilogy Red Queens War is on there. Think I'll add that to the list!

Dolmen I love a good podcast I'll check them out. 🙂

[Abyss]

Andorion, on 08 February 2019 - 11:52 AM, said:

Abyss, on 08 February 2019 - 06:56 AM, said:

Tiste Simeon, on 07 February 2019 - 08:07 PM, said:

Hmm not sure I can be bothered to wait for another 7 when there's plenty of decent books out there.

Has anyone heard the Earbook version of Ancillary Justice and it's follow ups? Heard those books are good and they're on Audible.

The first ANCILLARY book has the single worse earbook narrator I have ever experienced. Had to stop for no reason related to the book itself.

Worse than the Mike Carey Felix Castor narrator?

Didn't do the Castor books in audio so i can't comment, on that, but i see it was Michael Kramer and that blows my mind because he does all of Sanderson's male narrator stuff, did all the WoT books, is massively sought after for earbooks, and generally awesome at it.

ANCILLARY JUSTICE's narrator, in the US version iirc, Celeste Ciulla, was deadpan to the point of boring. No inflection, no emotion, it was like listening to transcription software read the book. The UK version uses a different narrator and i have to hunt that down because i do want to 'read' that book and series.


Another one i hated was Luke Daniels' work on Hearn's IRON DRUID series. To be fair that same narrator has done other work i liked, but his accents and ethnic voices and dear god the 'dog-voice' were atrocious, bordering on insulting.

[Tiste Simeon]

Beginning to formulate a list, subject to change...

The Poppy War by RF Kuang
Myths by Stephen Fry
Night's Dawn trilogy by Peter F Hamilton
Red Queen's War by Mark Lawrence.

That gives space for 2 more from my current credits but I can always buy a few more. Maybe MST by Tad Williams if it's on there...

[Tiste Simeon]

I have downloaded THE POPPY WAR by RF Kuang and GREAT NORTH ROAD by Peter F Hamilton on Earbook today. I am looking forward to them both. Think I'll start with GNR. Over 30 hours so it'll keep me entertained for a while. 🙂

[worry]

Tiste Simeon, on 01 March 2019 - 04:31 PM, said:

Think I'll start with GNR.

Welcome to the jungle!

[Tiste Simeon]

worry, on 01 March 2019 - 06:01 PM, said:

Tiste Simeon, on 01 March 2019 - 04:31 PM, said:

Think I'll start with GNR.

Welcome to the jungle!

That Axl-ly took me a second or two to get, good work

[Cyphon]

Necro-ing Tiste style as through the humble bundle of horus heresy I've tried audiobooks for the first time. I am tiring of the 30k world so looking for an auditory break and have some kobo audio tokens.

My question is how do you know a good narrator? What makes people go for audio over written for particular books? Got a few credits to play with so curious to hear peoples views.

[JPK]

Cyphon, on 10 December 2019 - 09:26 PM, said:

Necro-ing Tiste style as through the humble bundle of horus heresy I've tried audiobooks for the first time. I am tiring of the 30k world so looking for an auditory break and have some kobo audio tokens.

My question is how do you know a good narrator? What makes people go for audio over written for particular books? Got a few credits to play with so curious to hear peoples views.

As far as finding a good narrator goes, it's pretty subjective. Most sites will let you hear a sample of the book, so you'll get a good idea of whether the narrator is going to make you want to use a pencil as a qtip or not. Otherwise, there are a few of us on here that have been going the Audiobook route for a few years and have found a few narrator gems. You can always ask for opinions on a narrator you're unsure of.

As for when to pick a physical or ebook over an audiobook, I've found that for anything complicated with multiple pov voices I'll typically stick to ebook unless it's a reread or the book has an ensemble of narrators (see the Dune books). Particularly dense material also generally gets skipped in favor of other formats (see anything Erikson).

Hope that helps a bit.

[Abyss]

There are many great narrators working in earbooks now. I wouldn't buy an earbook solely for the narrator but I'm certainly more likely to try an unknown author if say Michael Kramer or RC Bray were reading, because that means the publisher had enough faith in the book to pay for the best. That said, Luke Daniels is excellent and much in demand, and I just could not with his Iron Druid voices.

I get wary when the author reads their own book, tho that's not always indicative. Neil Gaiman reads his own and he could make a cabbage soup recipe sound like the Iliad.

All of which is to say I start with the book, the earbook narrator might be a secondary factor.

As for why I go earbook... I just dont have much eyetime for books now and when I do there's a decent chance I'll fall asleep trying. I can earbook while driving, commuting, doing chores, walking between offices, even at the gym tho that's rare unless the book is just that good. Certain books, Malazan, Dresden, Red Rising, I'll spring for ear and e books so I can read and listen and reread.

[QuickTidal]

Abyss, on 11 December 2019 - 04:52 AM, said:

Neil Gaiman reads his own and he could make a cabbage soup recipe sound like the Iliad.

Whenever I get gloomy, I'll youtube Neil reading Shoggoth's Old Peculiar, and it always cheers me up.

I also was privilideigd enough to hear him read "FORTUNATELY, THE MILK" live at an event where he signed on of my Sandman Absolute volumes.

[Cyphon]

Thanks all for your helpful answers. I think I'll just have to take the plunge. The 30k books have picked up a bit so I'll keep going with those for a while as the humble bundle provided quite a lot. It will help me build up some more credits while I do that. I'll have to pay more attention in the reading thread on particular audiobooks of note.

On which I guess I'll go for standalone or series I haven't got into reading proper yet. I imagine switching between ear and eyes across the series is disconcerting?

Bubba Cyphon arrives in February so I'm hoping audiobooks will help in the small hours...

edit; Decided I'd go Gideon the ninth as my proper foray into audiobooks and join the hype train.

This post has been edited by Cyphon: 14 December 2019 - 11:11 PM

[Tiste Simeon]

Gideon the Ninth has one of the best narrators I've heard so it's a good one to start with!