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submitted 2 days ago* (last edited 2 days ago) by [email protected] to c/[email protected]

*audiobook; corrected

Do they do anything particular with their voice or tone in order to enhance the story?

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[-] [email protected] 2 points 12 hours ago

Going to give a less well known book here, but figure some of Lemmy would appreciate it. Wrath Goddess Sing is a good book made amazing by a narrator who was actively working with the author.

[-] [email protected] 1 points 11 hours ago

World War Z is phenomenal as an audio book. Absolute all-star cast of readers with a great story, 1000x more entertaining than the movie.

[-] [email protected] 4 points 18 hours ago

Gideon the Ninth. Hands down. The book is 100% strong female POV, which I usually like, but as dude, I was missing a lot of subtlety. My kid lent me their audio book and holy shit, Moira Quirk does an absolutely fantastic job. The characters jump right out of the speakers and into my brain, highlighting all the understated humor that I was missing. 10/10, wish I could hear it again for the first time.

[-] [email protected] 2 points 12 hours ago

Ooh I’ll have to try it. I loved the paper books

[-] [email protected] 1 points 12 hours ago

I'm in love with Moira Quirk's voice, great suggestion.

[-] [email protected] 3 points 19 hours ago

Tolkien’s work is wonderful as audio books just ‘cause they’re written like they should be presented as an oral history. Lots of editions exist out there.

[-] [email protected] 2 points 9 hours ago

I really liked Rob Inglis' read

[-] [email protected] 2 points 9 hours ago
[-] [email protected] 1 points 17 hours ago

Astrophysics for People in a Hurry cause its read by NdgT

[-] [email protected] 6 points 1 day ago

'Toast on Toast' read by Steven Toast.

[-] [email protected] 2 points 18 hours ago

Didn't know that existed but I'll download it right now

[-] [email protected] 15 points 1 day ago

Gilbert Gottfried reads 50 Shades of Gray

[-] [email protected] 5 points 18 hours ago

Fun story: my boyfriend and his sister used to live together and we'd all party at their place. After months of his sister crushing hard on this guy she worked with, she and him had gone to her room for some alone time. Her asshole brother decided that was the time to blast this audio directly through her bedroom door.

8 years later and they're still dating so I guess it worked.

[-] [email protected] 15 points 1 day ago

Fun fact fyi, unlike Reddit, post titles are editable on Lemmy

[-] [email protected] 24 points 2 days ago

My copy of the Hitchikers Guide to the Galaxy, narrated by Stephen Fry. It is relentlessly british.

[-] [email protected] 6 points 1 day ago

The version read by Douglas himself is also great

[-] leprasmurf 2 points 1 day ago

Jim Butcher's The Dresden Files, read by James Marsters (Spike, from Buffy the Vampire Slayer).

Marsters does a unique voice for most of the characters, and it's a treat. I repurchased Ghost Stories because the narrator had changed and the Marsters version was released afterwards.

[-] [email protected] 1 points 1 day ago

No one has posted an example of one read by the author, so I will: Born a Crime by Trevor Noah. Funny, insightful, and a truly incredible autobiography in his own voice and with full knowledge of all the languages he can speak.

[-] [email protected] 21 points 2 days ago

You can edit titles here on Lemmy btw

[-] [email protected] 1 points 1 day ago* (last edited 1 day ago)

Merlin Sheldrake reading his Entangled Life is one I've listened to numerous times. Delightful, educating. Always uplifting.

His pace is a little slow, so I listen to him at 1.10 or 1.15 speed.

That said, the content carries better with his voice as it is his experiences he's written about. And he's a decent musician

[-] [email protected] 3 points 1 day ago

I listened to Dubliners by James Joyce narrated by irish actor Andrew Scott (Moriarty in Sherlock) and it was hands down the best narration I've ever heard.

[-] [email protected] 19 points 2 days ago

Do you mean audiobook rather than ebook?

[-] [email protected] 6 points 2 days ago
[-] [email protected] 17 points 2 days ago

Listen to samples of books read by Stephen Fry. He's among the best reading voices out there.

[-] jo3shmoo 6 points 2 days ago

Anything I've listened to with Ray Porter reading it. His intonation is great and just brings that something extra to the stories. In particular Project Hail Mary and the Bobiverse books. He also did Paradox Bound, which felt like a fine time travel story but his portrayal of the voice of the "faceless men" made the character 's menace come to life for me in a way I don't think would be captured in text.

[-] [email protected] 12 points 2 days ago

Any of the Terry Pratchett audiobooks that were read by Nigel Planer! Most probably know him best as Neil from The Young Ones in the 80s but he's been in a ton of things since then including a few of the live action Discworld tv specials! He really has a great talent for bringing the books to life usind the right amount of humor that series really needs!

[-] [email protected] 7 points 2 days ago
[-] [email protected] 2 points 1 day ago

And sandman. Kat dennings as death is perfection.

[-] [email protected] 3 points 1 day ago

Neil gaimon is always good with his narration. The audible books that include a full cast are absolutely superb.

Bonus points for nigel plainar as solo narrator for his discworld books. Does an amazing job.

[-] [email protected] 7 points 2 days ago

Wil Wheaton brings a lot to the books he narrates, but the best combo I've heard so far is John Malkovich reading Breakfast of Champions.

[-] [email protected] 1 points 18 hours ago

Dear god no. Wil Wheaton has the most grating, whiny, nasal voice I've ever heard, immediately puts me off any book he narrates. He only has one reading style which doesn't translate at all between different books

[-] [email protected] 1 points 16 hours ago

Eat a dick, Captain Picard

[-] [email protected] 2 points 1 day ago

I highly recommend Super Powereds by Drew Hayes, largely because of Kyle McCarley’s narration. They’ve been my “comfort books” for over 5 years, getting around 10 listens from me despite the series being ~179 hours. (I never listen at 1x speed, though.) He has a unique voice for every single character, which is frankly insane because there are ~65 recurring characters and over 150 total different speakers in the series. He makes it so easy to get into.

Also, there’s at least one mysterious moment where a character is not named. Thanks to the voice he does, audiobook listeners were able to conclusively determine which character that was.

Travis Baldree has also become a favorite narrator of mine. The Cradle series is great, and it just wouldn’t be the same without Travis’s performance.

[-] [email protected] 5 points 2 days ago

The Alan Partridge autobiography's voiced by Steve Coogan as Alan Partridge but I suppose you'd only like it if you'd seen enough Alan Partridge.

[-] [email protected] 1 points 1 day ago

Steven Pacey reading Joe Abercrombie's First Law series is outstanding. The books themselves are among my favourites, but Steven makes them even more special. He has different voices (and accents) for the characters and manages to stay consistent with them. His pacing is also excellent.

[-] [email protected] 5 points 2 days ago

Wow. Gee whiz. My suggestions can’t compete with John Malkovich or Nigel Planer, but…

Some (maybe most?) Star Wars novels are packed with sound effects and electronic voice distortion effects. I’ve listened to Labyrinth of Evil, Darth Plagueis, and Path of Destruction.

Also, I recall being impressed listening to the Silmarillion and the narrator’s pronunciation. Sure, it was a professional production so they had to get it right, but still impressive to hear.

[-] [email protected] 5 points 2 days ago

Anything with George Guidall.

He has a deep, resonant voice. I don't know how else to describe it, but it's very comforting.

He has done probably hundreds of audiobooks but one series I remember him doing was The Cat Who... line of mysteries. Very lightweight but fun books.

[-] [email protected] 4 points 2 days ago* (last edited 2 days ago)

Simon Vance is my personal favourite narrator. The Dune audiobooks have a cast of narrators/actors but I wish Simon voiced the whole books, he's amazing. The way he intonates adds so much to the text, but doesn't ever get annoying. His acting for the characters is great too.

He also narrated Scaramouche and I genuinely can't tell if I liked the book or his narration of the book.

[-] [email protected] 3 points 2 days ago

A stitch in time by Andrew Robinson. Written and narrated by the actor that played Garak on DS9.

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this post was submitted on 02 Jul 2024
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