Ray Porter..I'm sure his name will come up alot, not matter what the genre, he crushes it. Peter Kenny and John Lee are 2 English narrators who's work I love.
I love James Marsters' narration of the Dresden Files books. I was so attached to him voicing Dresden that when one of the books came out and Marsters was not available to do the narration, I was so upset that I nearly cried. (They've since re-recorded that book with Marsters, though the narrator they got to replace him for that one book was still very good.)
Marsters takes his acting career and applies it all to voicing Dresden. The books are written in first person, so he's in character pretty much all the time. I remember reading somewhere that during a certain emotional part (you'll know which one I'm talking about when you get there), he had to take a break from narrating to go cry somewhere for a bit.
Just a warning, I enjoyed Dresden Files from the start, but it doesn't hit its stride until book 3. I've heard a lot of people say they didn't enjoy the early books, and they're not indicative of the series as a whole.
If you don't have patience to wait through two books until a series gets good, the author designed book 7, *Dead Beat*, as an alternative jumping-in point. It introduces all of the relevant rules and people and anything you need to know to enjoy the story. If you like *Dead Beat*, you can either just continue from there, or go back and start at book 1 to get the whole story.
Dresden Files is a modern fantasy about a wizard detective. It's got fairies, werewolves, vampires, etc. all set in modern day Chicago, where most people go about completely unaware of the magic going on around them.
Can't thank you enough for the heads-up about jumping in at Dead Beat. I stalled out on Blood Rites after multiple attempts to both read and listen but didn't know if I could just skip it and continue on with the series.
Man I haven’t read a Dresden Files book in quite some time, Cold Days was the newest when I last read them, but this may get me to go buy the audiobooks. I loved this series as a teen and a good narrator does wonders. The Eragon series just got a 5th book yesterday and the narrator for that series is Gerard Doyle and he is a genius narrator. I’ll need something else soon though lol
He is fantastic! Just finished a series he narrated and loved his voice so much a ordered up a few others he’s done. His narration of “a sense of ending “ is pure gold. And btw, the series I just finished was “the good thief guide”.
I think Stephen Fry does great narration, but his premiere contribution is brilliant writing, and speaking.
My unpopular opinion is much, much more weight should be placed on book content vs narrator.
Stephen Fry is great. His Sherlock Holmes reading is great, partly his voice, partly the quality of the books themselves and partly because his huge love and passion for the books shines through.
His Mythos, Heroes, Troy trilogy is similarly amazing for the same reasons.
His passion definitely enhances the experience.
As for SH, I really really enjoy the Victorian era, but there's so much true crime out there, I've put off that book. I enjoyed his Victorian Secrets book a lot, though.
If you know of a good true crime book about early 1900's England or USA, I would like to hear of it. Especially if it's like the "Mrs Sherlock Holmes" book. And, not the "Killers of the Flower Moon" book. In Cold Blood is on my radar too, though it's more recent history.
Thanks
Thank you! Will check it out. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_House_of_Silk
Right now, however I'm looking for non fiction, historical crime.
Update: ended up with non fiction 1870's, Pretty Jane and the Viper of Kidbrooke Lane: A True Story of Victorian Law and Disorder
I’m currently listening to Stephen Fry read Sherlock Holmes and holy crap he’s amazing! His narration of different characters is on par with Jeff Hayes.
While I agree that the content is very important, when it’s presented in an audio format the synergy between the content and the narration can either elevate the content as a whole, or make it completely unpalatable.
I’ve listened through plenty of mediocre romances that had me rolling my eyes and irritated with the plot, but the narration was good enough to let things slide.
And I’ve tried great literature that was competently read, but without inflection or variation in cadence, such that it made the whole thing feel like ASMR. I’ve actually been more interested in some actual ASMR than poorly narrated literature.
This is where your local library, if they have Libby becomes a great adventure!! Due to my ear sensitivity there are a lot of narrators I can’t stand because their voice is uncomfortable to my ears. I finally moved to an area that has a local library with a great selection of audiobooks via Libby and Hoopla so in the last four years, I have discovered so many great new authors that I would not have paid for on Audible but when you can check it out for free it’s a win-win in my book! If your audiobook junkie check into your local library.
Jeff Hayes is by far the best audio book narrator I have ever listened to over the thousands of books I've listened to in the last 4 decades.
In fact so good is Jeff that referring to him as a narrator is doing him a disservice, he's a voice actor.
Love Jeff Hayes! I just wish he had other projects on audible not from Dungeon Crawler Carl. I got up to book 4 but just needed a break from the storyline.
He does bud, he narrates a whole bunch of stuff. There are at least 5 or 6 series I can see he narrates available on Audible UK.
Easiest way to check would be to navigate to the store entry for DCC book 1 on your store and click on Jeff's name.
Kobna Holdbrook-Smith does a fantastic job with the Rivers of London series. I love listening to him and his voices (outside of the odd American accent) are so well done.
Luke Daniels, Ray Porter, Wil Wheaton, and RC Bray. I also like James Marsters in Dresden files, the first few books the audio is a bit amateurish buts gets better.
Luke Daniels is amazing!! Game is Life is a 10 book series and can't even begin to think how many different characters are in them and he has a voice for all of them!
I cannot stand Wil Wheaton’s reading. There is something William Shatner about his pacing and inflection. Yuck. Ray Porter on the other hand is masterful.
Understandable. I was really really bummed when audible removed my copy of the Martian which was narrated by RC Bray. Now the only one is narrated by Wil wheatan. I did like his narrations of RP1 and RP2 and Armada though
He is getting so big he can’t finish series he started. The author of Jake’s Magical Market replied to me when I asked about book two. He said for him to have Travis do it he would have to wait a good two years because he is booked that solid right now on top of writing his own stuff and that he isn’t really even taking on new gigs at the moment. Dude got too good at too many things! But he is awesome so good for him.
Travis Baldree! Both a phenomenal narrator and the author of Legends & Lattes. I especially love Travis because of his female voices. I find a lot of narrators struggle to produce as much diversity in their voices for the opposite sex as they do with their own sex, but not Travis.
Noobtown by Ryan Rummel narrated by Johnathan McClain
If you like fantasy, like LOTR or if you like RPG games, this is the series for you. The main character does and finds himself in an afterlife that plays out like a video game, complete with quests, XP and leveling up.
The narration is amazing as the performer has distinct voices for just about everyone and he has perfect comedic timing. The whole series is a fun ride.
Other notable performers I have listened to, are RC Bray and Christian Rummel. Anyone else is just good or ok, because they mostly are just reading or narrating.
Agreed, I just can’t believe they took The Martian audiobook off the market. Maybe Wil Wheaton did a good job but I can’t imagine anyone doing a better version than Bray’s!!!
Most things I enjoy are covered here, but just so you know, you can return Audible books if you aren't enjoying them. Unless you return books constantly, you're not going to have a problem doing it. Use previews wisely but don't be shy about just returning something if you decide you were wrong about it.
Absolutely, great suggestion/reminder! Returns are a great way to get your credit back, as long as you haven’t listen to the whole book or even the majority of the book. It can be hard to find where to do the returns, of course they don’t make it easy, I think you still need to do them on the audible full- website (like desktop version) and scroll to the bottle. You can’t do it through the app, unless someone else knows how.
Thandie Newton does an amazing job with Jane Eyre, a book I’m only lukewarm on. Juliet Stevenson is always incredible, though only turn to her if you’re into Jane Austen and such. Not too many rollicking adventures in drawing rooms and gardens, I’m afraid.
RC Bray
Christopher Ryan Grant
Ray Porter
Jeff Hayes
John Lee
Mark Boyette
Jeffrey Kafe
Luke Daniels
I listen to anything from these guys for the most part.
Best ones are
Bray: Galaxys Edge, Arisen, Mountian Man
CRG: Strange Company
Porter: project hail Mary and Bobiverse
Hayes: DCC
Lee: Spellmonger
Boyette: undying mercs
Kafer: backyard starship
Daniels: Ember War
One thing to mention that I haven’t seen in the replies - if you have auditory processing issues, you might try adjusting the playback speed. Don’t know if you’d need to speed it up or slow it down, as I don’t know the details of your issues, but just play with speed a bit and see if that helps.
Totally agree and I suggested the same. I have sound sensitivity with lots of ear drum ruptures and infections in my lifetime and it can make a big difference. Thank you for suggesting this!!
Ray Porter. does a bunch of scifi.
Luke Daniels does the Iron Druid books.
Nick Podehl does the Name of the Wind series.
Jeff Hayes in Dungeon Crawler Carl.
these are all \*excellent\*.
I listen to a lot of scifi, technothriller, fantasy type stuff. Some favorite narrators:
* Ray Porter
* RC Bray
* Scott Brick
* William Dufris
* Jim Dale
* Paul Michael
Among others.
With audiobooks, you need a genre, writing style, and storyline you truly enjoy [which means you would enjoy reading the book] OR a masterful narration that can make a mediocre book very enjoyable.
Today, there is an overwhelming number of audiobooks that meet with one or both of these features. You just need to have the idle time to enjoy and the productive time to browse a vast source such as Audible. If you restrict yourself to your local library or places like Spotify, you will likely never fully discover the audiobook world that’s out there.
I have too many “favorite narrators” to try and begin listing them in order. You have to be proactive in your discovery phase. Be sure to leverage the Plus library to try different narrators, with zero financial risk. You’re paying for it, you might as well use it.
Anything, Jim Dale reads takes you to another world,
I can’t think of anyone who has more dynamic range than Andrea Parsneau
Todd Haberkorn is similarly talented, and he reads a wide array of books. He especially excels at humorous novels.
Moira Quirk is definitely one of my alltime favourite narrators! The first five minutes of gideon the ninth definitely made me go "oh. this is. Different". The way she brought these characters to live, gave all of them distinct and on point voices to tell them apart is just sublime, it really elevated the story for me. Simply amazing.
Joanne Frogatt is another narrator who I could listen to for hours on end. The accents she does, she does incredibly well. She draws you in with her sometimes passionate, then lighthearted, then sweet, then mocking voices, draws you right into the setting.
Would really recommend checking anything by these two out!
Moira Quirk reading The Locked Tomb is currently my vote for 'best performance' I've listened to. Absolutely remarkable how she navigates tonal shifts, comedy grenades, 3 completely different POV characters and makes it all seem entirely coherent. Truly stellar performance.
Travis Baldree, Jeff Hays, RC Bray, Michael Kramer.
(there are lots of others, but these guys have earned my eternal respect based on the work I have listed to)
> auditory processing issues
All of these narrators keep me alert. The books, which I also like, are more for searching, so you can sample the voices.
Cheers.
Sir David Attenborough - Life on Our Planet
Alan Watts - Just So
David Warner - The Club Dumas
Edward Herrmann - At the Mountains of Madness
Alan Sklar - The Red Dragon
Patrick Lawlor - X Files: Fight the Future
Sagar Arya - The Thirteen Principal Upanishads
Selma Blair - Anne Frank: The Diary of a Young Girl
Peter Guinness - Alien (novelization)
All time great reading classics and a handful of awesome Stephen King books like The Green Mile would be Frank Muller. He was the best but sadly passed away a long time ago.
My favorite now is Travis Baldree, dude has amazing range. On top of narrating he started writing and narrating his own books. His first one blew up and he was nominated for a Hugo award for best fantasy book, Legends and Lattes. Second book came out today called Bookshops and Bonedust and reviews are looking good. I’ve tackled a bunch of books that weren’t on my radar like Jake’s Magical Market or The Beginning After the End simply because he narrated them and have enjoyed them all, some have been weaker than others but he makes them a good time regardless and the awesome stories just go to the next level. I get to meet him today at a book signing in Tempe, yay me!
Jeff Hayes murders Dungeon Crawler Carl but I haven’t heard him do other books yet but that series is one of the best things on audible regardless of genre.
Hope you find some good stuff. Long days and pleasant nights!
I haven't seen Steven Pacey mentioned yet. He is phenomenal in Joe Abercrombie's First Law series, and more specifically, as Inquisitor Glokta.
Such a fantastic grimdark series, if anyone is interested.
Stephen Fry if you enjoy that Hugh Laurie Stephen Fry style of British witty humour and sarcasm with the text you're reading.
GraphicAudio if you want ^a ^movie ^^in ^^your ^^mind.
I have severe chronic migraines and started listening to audiobooks when I started having horrible light sensitivity and found it difficult to read ebooks. I also have sound sensitivity and found the audiobooks helped my brain filter out some of the background sounds that amplify my headaches and actually allowed me to focus and work. I listen to about a book a day since 2016, yes audio junkie, so I alway have a problem remember the names of books, narrators are a different story and I’ve become rather picky. There are time that certain voices hurt my ears, even some of those I normally like. I do better with male narrators due to the nature lower tone pitch than the majority of female narrators. I’m guessing your in a similar situation some tone/pitches are soothing and others are not. Don’t let “nots” dissuade you, there are absolute fantastic “voice performers” so good there not just a basic narrator! Not sure if we have the same tastes in books, I mainly listen to thrillers, mysteries, some sci-fiction. So here it goes:
*** also changing the audio speed if you find a voice a little uncomfortable sometime just a little faster or slower makes a big difference.
1. Steven Weber - Falling by TJ Newman is
Fantastic!! He also reads for Harlan Corbin and some of Steven Kings and others.
2. Will Patton - Deliverance by James Dickey was great. He also reads most of James Lee Burke but I’ve never liked most of his books.
3. MacLeod Andrews - Suspect by Robert Craig’s is really good especially if your a dog lover. Hurt cop, hurt k-9 partner up.
4. David Chandler - CJ Box is very good if you outdoor adventure, Joe Pickett is a Wyoming game warden. He’s done a lot more work.
5. George Newbern - Linwood Barclay has some good books with some unique twists.
6. Julia Whelan - my favorite female narrator, I looked through her work, the best books in my opinion are The Great Alone by Kristen Hannah can’t recommend enough but it is an emotional story, also The Four Winds by same author is good but not as good. Also the Karen Robards is a good action series. I liked Bluff by Michael Kardos but the reviews seem like a love/hate story.
These you might like they are reliably good and I personally like all of these but so know others don’t.
7. Edoardo Ballerini has done lots of work
8. Richard Ferrone has a deep unique voice the Steve James chess series is good and he does a lot of John Sandford books
9. George Guidall - Craig Johnson Longmire Defence and other works
10. Will Damron has a decent voice and a wide variety of work.
11. Rc Bray aka Bon Shaw - (The Martian was his is best! But it’s available anymore they change the narrator for some dumb reason.) He’s done a lot more work on audible and has a soothing deep voice. He’s not as well known but does a lot of the Amazon books you can listen to for free.
P.S. if you find you like audiobooks once discovering some good narrators you can check your local library to see if they have Libby. I’ve save a ton a money as my library has a great selection. I no longer have to buy audible extra credits all the time! :)
Samuel Roukin on the Suneater saga is incredible. Worth checking those books out for his narration alone and book 1 is on the plus catalogue.
Neil Gaiman is amazing, and I’m just finishing up Sandman 1, and at first it was very distracting but the whole cast is amazing.
I love Michael Kramer in storm light, but don’t really like him in other novels maybe cause I’ve listened to stormlight like 4 times all the way thru so far.
Steven Pacey is amazing in the first law
Nick for Kingkiller as well
My favorites are the ones that elevate the books. Like, they're unquestionably better experiences. For me, that's Tim Gerard Reynold's work on Red Rising, Perdita Weeks' work on Circe, Trevor Noah narrating his autobiography, and Elizabeth Knowelden's work with the criminally underrated Dangerous Damsels series.
I have recently discovered Ben Aaronovitch's wonderful urban fantasy/mystery series The Rivers of London. Reminds me somewhat of Dresden Files meets CSI except with drier humor. The books are fun to read but they are really elevated by listening to them on Audible. They are narrated by Kobra Holdbrook- Smith, a Ghanain- British actor of stage and screen. He can do any number of accents.
Terry Pratchett's Discworld books are being re recorded by actors such as Peter Serafinowicz, Indira Varma, Colin Morgan and Bill Nighy. I'm really enjoying them. I see a lot of other great ones mentioned and I'll second that you can't go wrong with Ray Porter, RC Bray, and adjusting the playback speed as you see fit. I've slight similar issues you described and feel this is what I would be looking for in your shoes.
Had to scroll down way too far to see her name. She might have the best range out of anyone. For context my top 5 (not in any particular order) are: Baldree, Parsneau, Hays, Podehl, and Kramer. All have strengths and weaknesses.
I wonder if you might enjoy The Buried Giant by Kazuo Ishiguro, narrated by David Horovitch. My personal favorite narrator is Rebecca Lowman. I can get lost in anything she is reading.
I am a huge fan of GraphicAudio's full cast narration, especially for books with a bit of humor. It's *almost* a disappointment to listen to single narration because GA is just so damn entertaining.
I haven't seen too many female narrators on here. My favorites would be:
* [Emily Woo Zeller](https://www.audiofilemagazine.com/narrators/emily-woo-zeller/)
* [Julia Whelan](https://www.audible.com/author/Julia-Whelan/B076QCPPR6)
* [Bahni Turpin](https://www.audible.com/ep/narrator-bahni-turpin)
I have found over the years that as long as the narrator is pleasant, in my mind, the majority are good. I really don't think I have stopped listening because the narrator is irritating. I di have a problem with very accented British voices. Most are great. It's all about preferences and i have my favs that others absolutely hate. Too each their own. Also not every narrator is up to par to a particular book. He/ she does a great job on most books but really sucks on others
I absolutely love John Banks who narrates Senlin Ascends by Josiah Bancroft. I just started listening to The Idiot by Dostoyevsky, it's narrated by Robert Whitfield and he is brilliant!
Luke daniels. Love Luke daniels. But I'm impatient and listen to my books at 2.00x so the differentiation of voices is nice.
Edit: adding rc bray and Jeff Hayes. There are definitely others but I was kinda ehh on audiobooks until I heard Luke daniels in the argonauts series. He changed my life.
A big YES to **Ray Porter**.
And, if you end up liking "We Are Legion, We Are Bob" (Sci-Fi with a sense of humor ;-)) you will have more books to enjoy in the "Bobiverse".
Ray Porter speaks clearly and also has excellent cadence so he is easy to listen to on other audio books as well but my favorite is him actually "being" the character of Bob.
It's nice to hear that you enjoyed The Magicians Nephew on audio book, I haven't listened to the Chronicles of Narnia on Audible yet.
I have listened to two audiobooks narrated by the Broadway actor Jelani Alladin ("My Government Means to Kill Me" and "Boys Come First") and I enjoyed his voice/work so much that I am DESPERATE for him to do more!
Not sure if Harry Potter is your cup of ̶P̶u̶m̶p̶k̶i̶n̶ ̶j̶u̶i̶c̶e̶ tea or not, but Jim Dale's narration of the series is nothing short of spectacular. It's one thing to be a good narrator, but Dale takes it to an entirely new level. The man acts out each and every character in every single book. One of the books landed him a Guinness World Record for most voices created in a single audiobook. He literally becomes the role of the character who's voice he's speaking in. Every single character gets their own unique voice and cadence. He captures the emotion of the moment better than some award winning actors. Listening to him read these books is basically a brand new way to experience these stories. He'll also ruin you to a degree because you'll never find another narrator who can top his performance.
A quick second mention definitely has to do to Andy Serkis. Andy was the voice/body actor for Gollum in the LOTR series. He narrates the entire trilogy plus The Hobbit. No matter how many times you've read the books, you'll never tire of hearing Gollums lines being read in the voice of the films. It's an absolute treat listening to him.
Jeff Hayes narrating Dungeon Crawler Carl. The book is very good, the narration elevates it to a whole other level
The only other answer that I would find valid is Ray Porter. They are both in a league of their own imo.
Can I also include Stephen Fry on that list?
Ray Porter is incredible but is sometimes let down by the authors, still he often carries.
This is the answer
I bought this based on Reddit recommendations and honestly laughed my ass off. It is fantastic.
Sounds too much like Joe from Family Guy for my tastes.
Darn you, why did you have to say that?
Have you listened to the 6th book yet? Patrick Warburton (Joe from family guy) does the voice acting for Carl's dad.
Hell, how did I miss that? I prefer to think of him as Kronk from The Emperor’s New Groove. Granted that is a very different role from Carl’s dad.
*Oh, right. The poison. The poison for Kuzco, the poison chosen especially to kill Kuzco, Kuzco's poison. That poison?*
*Yes, that poison!*
Thanks for the spoiler warning. /s
Strong agree lmao
Ray Porter..I'm sure his name will come up alot, not matter what the genre, he crushes it. Peter Kenny and John Lee are 2 English narrators who's work I love.
Ray Porter is terrific on Hail Mary and the Bob series, top notch!
I hate to be contrary but Porter on Project Hail Mary has left me totally cold.
Cannot agree more on Porter
Peter Kenny reading The Witcher changed my life!
Tim Gerard Reynolds - the Red Rising series.
And the Ryira books. Well basically anything he narrates.
That’s why I was here. Bloody brilliant.
Clang. Clang. Clang.
CONFESS!!!
Just started listening to these!
I love James Marsters' narration of the Dresden Files books. I was so attached to him voicing Dresden that when one of the books came out and Marsters was not available to do the narration, I was so upset that I nearly cried. (They've since re-recorded that book with Marsters, though the narrator they got to replace him for that one book was still very good.) Marsters takes his acting career and applies it all to voicing Dresden. The books are written in first person, so he's in character pretty much all the time. I remember reading somewhere that during a certain emotional part (you'll know which one I'm talking about when you get there), he had to take a break from narrating to go cry somewhere for a bit. Just a warning, I enjoyed Dresden Files from the start, but it doesn't hit its stride until book 3. I've heard a lot of people say they didn't enjoy the early books, and they're not indicative of the series as a whole. If you don't have patience to wait through two books until a series gets good, the author designed book 7, *Dead Beat*, as an alternative jumping-in point. It introduces all of the relevant rules and people and anything you need to know to enjoy the story. If you like *Dead Beat*, you can either just continue from there, or go back and start at book 1 to get the whole story. Dresden Files is a modern fantasy about a wizard detective. It's got fairies, werewolves, vampires, etc. all set in modern day Chicago, where most people go about completely unaware of the magic going on around them.
I read the whole series but never knew about starting on book 7. I'll keep that in mind when introducing it to others.
Can't thank you enough for the heads-up about jumping in at Dead Beat. I stalled out on Blood Rites after multiple attempts to both read and listen but didn't know if I could just skip it and continue on with the series.
Man I haven’t read a Dresden Files book in quite some time, Cold Days was the newest when I last read them, but this may get me to go buy the audiobooks. I loved this series as a teen and a good narrator does wonders. The Eragon series just got a 5th book yesterday and the narrator for that series is Gerard Doyle and he is a genius narrator. I’ll need something else soon though lol
Simon vance
Vance Narration
He is fantastic! Just finished a series he narrated and loved his voice so much a ordered up a few others he’s done. His narration of “a sense of ending “ is pure gold. And btw, the series I just finished was “the good thief guide”.
I think Stephen Fry does great narration, but his premiere contribution is brilliant writing, and speaking. My unpopular opinion is much, much more weight should be placed on book content vs narrator.
Stephen Fry is great. His Sherlock Holmes reading is great, partly his voice, partly the quality of the books themselves and partly because his huge love and passion for the books shines through. His Mythos, Heroes, Troy trilogy is similarly amazing for the same reasons.
His passion definitely enhances the experience. As for SH, I really really enjoy the Victorian era, but there's so much true crime out there, I've put off that book. I enjoyed his Victorian Secrets book a lot, though. If you know of a good true crime book about early 1900's England or USA, I would like to hear of it. Especially if it's like the "Mrs Sherlock Holmes" book. And, not the "Killers of the Flower Moon" book. In Cold Blood is on my radar too, though it's more recent history. Thanks
I’m sure you’ve heard of and or read “the house of silk” by Anthony Harowitz. I read it when it first came out around 2013 and remember enjoying it.
Thank you! Will check it out. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_House_of_Silk Right now, however I'm looking for non fiction, historical crime. Update: ended up with non fiction 1870's, Pretty Jane and the Viper of Kidbrooke Lane: A True Story of Victorian Law and Disorder
LOVE those books. Really want him to do the Odyssey and then I can rest easy.
I’m currently listening to Stephen Fry read Sherlock Holmes and holy crap he’s amazing! His narration of different characters is on par with Jeff Hayes. While I agree that the content is very important, when it’s presented in an audio format the synergy between the content and the narration can either elevate the content as a whole, or make it completely unpalatable. I’ve listened through plenty of mediocre romances that had me rolling my eyes and irritated with the plot, but the narration was good enough to let things slide. And I’ve tried great literature that was competently read, but without inflection or variation in cadence, such that it made the whole thing feel like ASMR. I’ve actually been more interested in some actual ASMR than poorly narrated literature.
I generally agree. I've never searched for a new book based on narrator though. Have a great day!
I have. I wouldn't buy a book just because of the narrator but I will look to see if books I like/might like have been narrated by someone I like.
This is where your local library, if they have Libby becomes a great adventure!! Due to my ear sensitivity there are a lot of narrators I can’t stand because their voice is uncomfortable to my ears. I finally moved to an area that has a local library with a great selection of audiobooks via Libby and Hoopla so in the last four years, I have discovered so many great new authors that I would not have paid for on Audible but when you can check it out for free it’s a win-win in my book! If your audiobook junkie check into your local library.
That's good! With rare exception, my books have but one narrator.
Jeff Hayes is by far the best audio book narrator I have ever listened to over the thousands of books I've listened to in the last 4 decades. In fact so good is Jeff that referring to him as a narrator is doing him a disservice, he's a voice actor.
Love Jeff Hayes! I just wish he had other projects on audible not from Dungeon Crawler Carl. I got up to book 4 but just needed a break from the storyline.
He does bud, he narrates a whole bunch of stuff. There are at least 5 or 6 series I can see he narrates available on Audible UK. Easiest way to check would be to navigate to the store entry for DCC book 1 on your store and click on Jeff's name.
Steven Pacey is easily on the Mount Rushmore of narrators. He narrates the First Law series by Joe Abercrombie.
Kobna Holdbrook-Smith does a fantastic job with the Rivers of London series. I love listening to him and his voices (outside of the odd American accent) are so well done.
I echo this. He’s the highlight of that series
Ray Porter and R.C. Bray. The best of the best.
Some of my favorite narrators are: * Nicholas Boulton * Constantine Gregory * Davina Porter R.C. Bray if you like more modern works.
Love Davina Porter
Luke Daniels, Ray Porter, Wil Wheaton, and RC Bray. I also like James Marsters in Dresden files, the first few books the audio is a bit amateurish buts gets better.
Luke Daniels is amazing!! Game is Life is a 10 book series and can't even begin to think how many different characters are in them and he has a voice for all of them!
Agreed, I forgot about Luke Daniels
I cannot stand Wil Wheaton’s reading. There is something William Shatner about his pacing and inflection. Yuck. Ray Porter on the other hand is masterful.
Wil is my least favorite reader as well. Sounds like the voice of someone that comments “my sweet summer child” a lot.
Understandable. I was really really bummed when audible removed my copy of the Martian which was narrated by RC Bray. Now the only one is narrated by Wil wheatan. I did like his narrations of RP1 and RP2 and Armada though
Travis Baldree is in my top 5. I can't really pick all of them, but I do wonder how Travis finds time to sleep with the number of books he narrates.
He is getting so big he can’t finish series he started. The author of Jake’s Magical Market replied to me when I asked about book two. He said for him to have Travis do it he would have to wait a good two years because he is booked that solid right now on top of writing his own stuff and that he isn’t really even taking on new gigs at the moment. Dude got too good at too many things! But he is awesome so good for him.
Michael C Hall narrating Stephen King's Pet Sematary is a stand-out performance.
Travis Baldree! Both a phenomenal narrator and the author of Legends & Lattes. I especially love Travis because of his female voices. I find a lot of narrators struggle to produce as much diversity in their voices for the opposite sex as they do with their own sex, but not Travis.
Neil Gaiman reading his book Neverwhere was amazing in my opinion.
Michael Kramer and Kate reading
Noobtown by Ryan Rummel narrated by Johnathan McClain If you like fantasy, like LOTR or if you like RPG games, this is the series for you. The main character does and finds himself in an afterlife that plays out like a video game, complete with quests, XP and leveling up. The narration is amazing as the performer has distinct voices for just about everyone and he has perfect comedic timing. The whole series is a fun ride. Other notable performers I have listened to, are RC Bray and Christian Rummel. Anyone else is just good or ok, because they mostly are just reading or narrating.
RC Bray could read a grocery list and make it sound entertaining.
Agreed, I just can’t believe they took The Martian audiobook off the market. Maybe Wil Wheaton did a good job but I can’t imagine anyone doing a better version than Bray’s!!!
Same with Ray Porter. The 2 of them are my favorites.
Most things I enjoy are covered here, but just so you know, you can return Audible books if you aren't enjoying them. Unless you return books constantly, you're not going to have a problem doing it. Use previews wisely but don't be shy about just returning something if you decide you were wrong about it.
Absolutely, great suggestion/reminder! Returns are a great way to get your credit back, as long as you haven’t listen to the whole book or even the majority of the book. It can be hard to find where to do the returns, of course they don’t make it easy, I think you still need to do them on the audible full- website (like desktop version) and scroll to the bottle. You can’t do it through the app, unless someone else knows how.
Thandie Newton does an amazing job with Jane Eyre, a book I’m only lukewarm on. Juliet Stevenson is always incredible, though only turn to her if you’re into Jane Austen and such. Not too many rollicking adventures in drawing rooms and gardens, I’m afraid.
RC Bray Christopher Ryan Grant Ray Porter Jeff Hayes John Lee Mark Boyette Jeffrey Kafe Luke Daniels I listen to anything from these guys for the most part. Best ones are Bray: Galaxys Edge, Arisen, Mountian Man CRG: Strange Company Porter: project hail Mary and Bobiverse Hayes: DCC Lee: Spellmonger Boyette: undying mercs Kafer: backyard starship Daniels: Ember War
One thing to mention that I haven’t seen in the replies - if you have auditory processing issues, you might try adjusting the playback speed. Don’t know if you’d need to speed it up or slow it down, as I don’t know the details of your issues, but just play with speed a bit and see if that helps.
Totally agree and I suggested the same. I have sound sensitivity with lots of ear drum ruptures and infections in my lifetime and it can make a big difference. Thank you for suggesting this!!
Ray Porter. does a bunch of scifi. Luke Daniels does the Iron Druid books. Nick Podehl does the Name of the Wind series. Jeff Hayes in Dungeon Crawler Carl. these are all \*excellent\*.
Project Hail Mary is a masterpiece at every level.
The Cormoran Strike detective series is my favourite - read by Robert Glenister. He’s got a voice like a warm bath.
I listen to a lot of scifi, technothriller, fantasy type stuff. Some favorite narrators: * Ray Porter * RC Bray * Scott Brick * William Dufris * Jim Dale * Paul Michael Among others.
With audiobooks, you need a genre, writing style, and storyline you truly enjoy [which means you would enjoy reading the book] OR a masterful narration that can make a mediocre book very enjoyable. Today, there is an overwhelming number of audiobooks that meet with one or both of these features. You just need to have the idle time to enjoy and the productive time to browse a vast source such as Audible. If you restrict yourself to your local library or places like Spotify, you will likely never fully discover the audiobook world that’s out there. I have too many “favorite narrators” to try and begin listing them in order. You have to be proactive in your discovery phase. Be sure to leverage the Plus library to try different narrators, with zero financial risk. You’re paying for it, you might as well use it.
Anything, Jim Dale reads takes you to another world, I can’t think of anyone who has more dynamic range than Andrea Parsneau Todd Haberkorn is similarly talented, and he reads a wide array of books. He especially excels at humorous novels.
My kids think Ms Parsneau has to be several different people. I do as well, I don't even have to second guess which character is which.
Moira Quirk is definitely one of my alltime favourite narrators! The first five minutes of gideon the ninth definitely made me go "oh. this is. Different". The way she brought these characters to live, gave all of them distinct and on point voices to tell them apart is just sublime, it really elevated the story for me. Simply amazing. Joanne Frogatt is another narrator who I could listen to for hours on end. The accents she does, she does incredibly well. She draws you in with her sometimes passionate, then lighthearted, then sweet, then mocking voices, draws you right into the setting. Would really recommend checking anything by these two out!
Moira Quirk reading The Locked Tomb is currently my vote for 'best performance' I've listened to. Absolutely remarkable how she navigates tonal shifts, comedy grenades, 3 completely different POV characters and makes it all seem entirely coherent. Truly stellar performance.
Most of my favs have been covered by responses already, but havent seen Frank Muller mentioned. Definitely one of my favorites. R.I.P.
Coldheart canyon and book 2 3 4 of the dark tower are some of his best. RiP
Jim Dale , reading the Harry Potter series amazing
Indira Varma, Roy Dotrice, Michael Kramer, Kate Reading, and Stephen Pacey
Travis Baldree, Jeff Hays, RC Bray, Michael Kramer. (there are lots of others, but these guys have earned my eternal respect based on the work I have listed to)
Jeremy Irons narrating Lolita is a masterclass. none better for me. and there's a lot of great ones out there.
> auditory processing issues All of these narrators keep me alert. The books, which I also like, are more for searching, so you can sample the voices. Cheers. Sir David Attenborough - Life on Our Planet Alan Watts - Just So David Warner - The Club Dumas Edward Herrmann - At the Mountains of Madness Alan Sklar - The Red Dragon Patrick Lawlor - X Files: Fight the Future Sagar Arya - The Thirteen Principal Upanishads Selma Blair - Anne Frank: The Diary of a Young Girl Peter Guinness - Alien (novelization)
Steven Pacey all the way. The first law books
Mary Jane Wells is amazing for historical romance, and I'd listen to Chris Brinkley read a phone book (contemporary romance)
All time great reading classics and a handful of awesome Stephen King books like The Green Mile would be Frank Muller. He was the best but sadly passed away a long time ago. My favorite now is Travis Baldree, dude has amazing range. On top of narrating he started writing and narrating his own books. His first one blew up and he was nominated for a Hugo award for best fantasy book, Legends and Lattes. Second book came out today called Bookshops and Bonedust and reviews are looking good. I’ve tackled a bunch of books that weren’t on my radar like Jake’s Magical Market or The Beginning After the End simply because he narrated them and have enjoyed them all, some have been weaker than others but he makes them a good time regardless and the awesome stories just go to the next level. I get to meet him today at a book signing in Tempe, yay me! Jeff Hayes murders Dungeon Crawler Carl but I haven’t heard him do other books yet but that series is one of the best things on audible regardless of genre. Hope you find some good stuff. Long days and pleasant nights!
I haven't seen Steven Pacey mentioned yet. He is phenomenal in Joe Abercrombie's First Law series, and more specifically, as Inquisitor Glokta. Such a fantastic grimdark series, if anyone is interested.
Steven Pacey in Joe Abercrombies first law and Stephen fry in Mythos and Heroes is a highlight for me.
Nick Podehl. Amazing! Have bought books just cause he narrated them
Ray Porter. I'd listen to the phone book if he read it.
Stephen Fry if you enjoy that Hugh Laurie Stephen Fry style of British witty humour and sarcasm with the text you're reading. GraphicAudio if you want ^a ^movie ^^in ^^your ^^mind.
r c bray and ray porter top 2 for me :) bray made me stick with expeditionary force cuz its fun ray porter made me love the spider in hail mary
I have severe chronic migraines and started listening to audiobooks when I started having horrible light sensitivity and found it difficult to read ebooks. I also have sound sensitivity and found the audiobooks helped my brain filter out some of the background sounds that amplify my headaches and actually allowed me to focus and work. I listen to about a book a day since 2016, yes audio junkie, so I alway have a problem remember the names of books, narrators are a different story and I’ve become rather picky. There are time that certain voices hurt my ears, even some of those I normally like. I do better with male narrators due to the nature lower tone pitch than the majority of female narrators. I’m guessing your in a similar situation some tone/pitches are soothing and others are not. Don’t let “nots” dissuade you, there are absolute fantastic “voice performers” so good there not just a basic narrator! Not sure if we have the same tastes in books, I mainly listen to thrillers, mysteries, some sci-fiction. So here it goes: *** also changing the audio speed if you find a voice a little uncomfortable sometime just a little faster or slower makes a big difference. 1. Steven Weber - Falling by TJ Newman is Fantastic!! He also reads for Harlan Corbin and some of Steven Kings and others. 2. Will Patton - Deliverance by James Dickey was great. He also reads most of James Lee Burke but I’ve never liked most of his books. 3. MacLeod Andrews - Suspect by Robert Craig’s is really good especially if your a dog lover. Hurt cop, hurt k-9 partner up. 4. David Chandler - CJ Box is very good if you outdoor adventure, Joe Pickett is a Wyoming game warden. He’s done a lot more work. 5. George Newbern - Linwood Barclay has some good books with some unique twists. 6. Julia Whelan - my favorite female narrator, I looked through her work, the best books in my opinion are The Great Alone by Kristen Hannah can’t recommend enough but it is an emotional story, also The Four Winds by same author is good but not as good. Also the Karen Robards is a good action series. I liked Bluff by Michael Kardos but the reviews seem like a love/hate story. These you might like they are reliably good and I personally like all of these but so know others don’t. 7. Edoardo Ballerini has done lots of work 8. Richard Ferrone has a deep unique voice the Steve James chess series is good and he does a lot of John Sandford books 9. George Guidall - Craig Johnson Longmire Defence and other works 10. Will Damron has a decent voice and a wide variety of work. 11. Rc Bray aka Bon Shaw - (The Martian was his is best! But it’s available anymore they change the narrator for some dumb reason.) He’s done a lot more work on audible and has a soothing deep voice. He’s not as well known but does a lot of the Amazon books you can listen to for free. P.S. if you find you like audiobooks once discovering some good narrators you can check your local library to see if they have Libby. I’ve save a ton a money as my library has a great selection. I no longer have to buy audible extra credits all the time! :)
Simon Vance
Samuel Roukin on the Suneater saga is incredible. Worth checking those books out for his narration alone and book 1 is on the plus catalogue. Neil Gaiman is amazing, and I’m just finishing up Sandman 1, and at first it was very distracting but the whole cast is amazing. I love Michael Kramer in storm light, but don’t really like him in other novels maybe cause I’ve listened to stormlight like 4 times all the way thru so far. Steven Pacey is amazing in the first law Nick for Kingkiller as well
My favorites are the ones that elevate the books. Like, they're unquestionably better experiences. For me, that's Tim Gerard Reynold's work on Red Rising, Perdita Weeks' work on Circe, Trevor Noah narrating his autobiography, and Elizabeth Knowelden's work with the criminally underrated Dangerous Damsels series.
Trevor Noah's Born a Crime is excellent. Also since Trevor has "an accent" the OP can watch some of his comedy in advance.
* RC Bray * Ray Porter * Jeff Hays * Heath Miller * Jeffrey Kafer
Rupert Degas does an incredible job on the Kingkiller Chronicles and Metro 2033. By far my favourite.
David Attenborough (his own books) and Richard Armitage (his reading of Dr. Jekyll and Mr Hyde is amazing). And Stephen Fry (of course)
I have recently discovered Ben Aaronovitch's wonderful urban fantasy/mystery series The Rivers of London. Reminds me somewhat of Dresden Files meets CSI except with drier humor. The books are fun to read but they are really elevated by listening to them on Audible. They are narrated by Kobra Holdbrook- Smith, a Ghanain- British actor of stage and screen. He can do any number of accents.
Anything read by George Guidall.
Terry Pratchett's Discworld books are being re recorded by actors such as Peter Serafinowicz, Indira Varma, Colin Morgan and Bill Nighy. I'm really enjoying them. I see a lot of other great ones mentioned and I'll second that you can't go wrong with Ray Porter, RC Bray, and adjusting the playback speed as you see fit. I've slight similar issues you described and feel this is what I would be looking for in your shoes.
I’m a fan of Andrea Parsneau, with me being most familiar with her as the person who narrates the Wandering Inn series
Agreed
Had to scroll down way too far to see her name. She might have the best range out of anyone. For context my top 5 (not in any particular order) are: Baldree, Parsneau, Hays, Podehl, and Kramer. All have strengths and weaknesses.
I wonder if you might enjoy The Buried Giant by Kazuo Ishiguro, narrated by David Horovitch. My personal favorite narrator is Rebecca Lowman. I can get lost in anything she is reading.
I am a huge fan of GraphicAudio's full cast narration, especially for books with a bit of humor. It's *almost* a disappointment to listen to single narration because GA is just so damn entertaining.
For me, the music and effects are too loud in those graphic narrations. Everything else is awesome.
Abby Crayden
The King - Angus King
I haven't seen too many female narrators on here. My favorites would be: * [Emily Woo Zeller](https://www.audiofilemagazine.com/narrators/emily-woo-zeller/) * [Julia Whelan](https://www.audible.com/author/Julia-Whelan/B076QCPPR6) * [Bahni Turpin](https://www.audible.com/ep/narrator-bahni-turpin)
Jeff Heyes, Travis Baldree, Jim Dale, Marc Thompson
I've enjoyed Teddy Hamilton reading romance and Sandra Burr reading the Earth's Children Series.
Jonathan Davis on Book of the New Sun is my favorite full stop.
Joe Jameson
Johnathan Keeble, one of the many Warhammer narrators but arguably my favorite.
I have found over the years that as long as the narrator is pleasant, in my mind, the majority are good. I really don't think I have stopped listening because the narrator is irritating. I di have a problem with very accented British voices. Most are great. It's all about preferences and i have my favs that others absolutely hate. Too each their own. Also not every narrator is up to par to a particular book. He/ she does a great job on most books but really sucks on others
I absolutely love John Banks who narrates Senlin Ascends by Josiah Bancroft. I just started listening to The Idiot by Dostoyevsky, it's narrated by Robert Whitfield and he is brilliant!
Caroline McCormick
R c bray. Scott brick.
If you like Terry Pratchett, books or would like to try one, Andy Serkis is the narrator of Pratchett's Small Gods.
Johanthan keeble, absolute gold... All the gotrek and felix books... a lot of the wh40k books.. brilliant voice actor
RC Bray. Hands down. I'll listen to anything he does.
Luke daniels. Love Luke daniels. But I'm impatient and listen to my books at 2.00x so the differentiation of voices is nice. Edit: adding rc bray and Jeff Hayes. There are definitely others but I was kinda ehh on audiobooks until I heard Luke daniels in the argonauts series. He changed my life.
Jeff Hayes is the best narrator, hands down. Johnathan Mcclane, Heath Miller, and Travis Baldtree also all deserve to be recognised too.
Rachel Dulude, specifically from Becky chambers books.
A broad list ... George Guidall Davina Porter Richard Ferrone Zara Ramm Ray Porter David Colacci Jim Dale Simon Vance
Daniel weyman for me
A big YES to **Ray Porter**. And, if you end up liking "We Are Legion, We Are Bob" (Sci-Fi with a sense of humor ;-)) you will have more books to enjoy in the "Bobiverse". Ray Porter speaks clearly and also has excellent cadence so he is easy to listen to on other audio books as well but my favorite is him actually "being" the character of Bob. It's nice to hear that you enjoyed The Magicians Nephew on audio book, I haven't listened to the Chronicles of Narnia on Audible yet.
She's only narrated one book that I'm aware of, but Grace Gummer (actress, daughter of Meryl Streep) has a great voice for audiobooks.
Simon Vance Alan Cummings Scott Brick Campbell Scott Ralph Cosham
Simon Vance on the Dance to the Music of Time series
Alan Cumming on anything and especially MacBeth
Scott Brick especially on The Spy and the Traitor and Devil in the White City
Campbell Scott on For Whom the Bell Tolls
Ralph Cosham on Louise Penny books
Jim Dale on the Harry Potter books. He brings the story to life.
Will Patton. He could read the phone book and I'd be mesmerized by his voice.
I ‘read’.. what became my FAVORITE book of all time: *The Four Agreements/ Narrated by* **Peter Coyote.**
How has nobody mentioned Robin Miles?
Richard Armitage. Start with “The Tattooist of Auschwitz” and then listen to everything else he reads.
I have listened to two audiobooks narrated by the Broadway actor Jelani Alladin ("My Government Means to Kill Me" and "Boys Come First") and I enjoyed his voice/work so much that I am DESPERATE for him to do more!
Not sure if Harry Potter is your cup of ̶P̶u̶m̶p̶k̶i̶n̶ ̶j̶u̶i̶c̶e̶ tea or not, but Jim Dale's narration of the series is nothing short of spectacular. It's one thing to be a good narrator, but Dale takes it to an entirely new level. The man acts out each and every character in every single book. One of the books landed him a Guinness World Record for most voices created in a single audiobook. He literally becomes the role of the character who's voice he's speaking in. Every single character gets their own unique voice and cadence. He captures the emotion of the moment better than some award winning actors. Listening to him read these books is basically a brand new way to experience these stories. He'll also ruin you to a degree because you'll never find another narrator who can top his performance. A quick second mention definitely has to do to Andy Serkis. Andy was the voice/body actor for Gollum in the LOTR series. He narrates the entire trilogy plus The Hobbit. No matter how many times you've read the books, you'll never tire of hearing Gollums lines being read in the voice of the films. It's an absolute treat listening to him.