Audiobooks discussion

This section is for books/series where you like the story, but not the audio edition.

I'll start with S.J. Rozan's mysteries featuring Lydia Chin and Bill Smith. Narration ruined the latest one for me.

Magyk and the rest of the Septimus Heap series is much better in print for me. Gerard Doyle does a superb job narrating so I didn't dislike the audio at all, but you miss all the creative worde spellyngs, special BOLD print words and adorable illustrations that print offers which are impossible to convey into audio.

I started Everything I Never Told You in audio and could not understand what everyone was raving about. Then I switched to print and loved it. I know Cassandra Campbell is a popular narrator, but I found her reading of this book very uninteresting.

I also think books like Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close and Night Film would be missing something in audio, as well as the Thursday Next series by Jasper Fforde.

I just read The Museum of Extraordinary Things and loved it, but the reviews on Audible almost unanimously say that Judith Light's narration was terrible.

It's hard for me to know whether or not I'd have preferred the print version of certain books, but I do know that when I find an audiobook to drag or be annoying because of the narrator, I always wonder whether I would have enjoyed the print version better.

I actually liked the audiobook, Everything I Never Told You. What was it about the narration you disliked?

Carole wrote: "It's hard for me to know whether or not I'd have preferred the print version of certain books, but I do know that when I find an audiobook to drag or be annoying because of the narrator, I always w..."

I didn't think Campbell put any feeling or emotion into her reading. It was very dry. She has a soothing voice, which is great, but didn't hold my attention. I don't want to feel like someone is reading to me. I would rather the book be - well, performed isn't exactly the right word, but there's just a quality some narrators possess that makes it seem they are telling you a story rather than simply reading aloud. Campbell, in this book, didn't have that.

I liked Hunger Games in print but did not like it on audio.

I'm half way through The Drunkards Walk, all about probabilities and algorithms. I'm handicapped by no knowledge of higher math. Also I understand complicated nonfiction better in print. My eyes smarter than my ears? It's still holding my interest, especially the historical parts. Narration is good.

I have been trying to listen to The Missing Place by Sophie Littlefield narrated by Joyce Bean has anyone listened to Joyce Bean before? should I give it more of a chance or just switch to paper?

First off I love Kim Harrison the Hollows, it is my favorite series. But with that being said The Outlaw Demon Wails. It was one of my favorite books until I listened to the narration. Now all the other books in the series were read by someone else and they are wonderful. narration can make or break a book.

Brandy wrote: "First off I love Kim Harrison the Hollows, it is my favorite series. But with that being said The Outlaw Demon Wails. It was one of my favorite books until I listened to the narrat..."

I only listened to a few of the books. I got most of them on sale as ebooks. I only switched to audio when I got to the point in the series where the ebooks were $9.99+. The Outlaw Demon Wails was the hardest one for me to get because it was too expensive in ebook and too old for me to justify the audio without it being on sale. I ended up getting it from the library. I wonder what the deal is with that book.

My choice for better in print is the entire Vatta's War series by Elizabeth Moon. It's a great series, but the narrator is truly awful. She so badly mispronounced so many words, I wanted to throw my iPod across the room. I read the third book, but listened to the rest. The one I read was much, much better. The only reason I listened to the rest of the series was that I wanted to know what happened next and didn't have the time to devote to reading the text.

Margaret wrote: "I'm half way through The Drunkards Walk, all about probabilities and algorithms. I'm handicapped by no knowledge of higher math. Also I understand complicated nonfiction better in print. My eyes..."

It seems like the more complicated something is, the easier it is to do in print - you can read more slowly to understand concepts; stop and think about them; go back and re-read a section. I've noticed this even in fiction. When a story has a wealth of characters, locations, or dates, I want to turn back and check something, and can't in audio.

I think Finnikin of the Rock would have been much better in print. It came highly recommended from one of my favorite authors, but the narration was terrible. There were a few things I didn't like in the overall story, but I might have been able to overlook them without the poor narration.

It was almost like he was trying to actually perform the book - and it just pulled me out of the book every time he changed voices.

Ooh! And Eldest!

I don't know if I would have liked the print book. Given it's popularity (the sequel to Eragon), I probably would have though it was at least okay. But I couldn't finish this one on audio. The way the narrator did the voices of the two main characters, it sounded like Obi Wan Kenobi (Ewan McGregor) talking to Cookie Monster. I'm not lying! I finished after the 1st disk; I just couldn't take it.

Jim wrote: "Ooh! And Eldest!

I don't know if I would have liked the print book. Given it's popularity (the sequel to Eragon), I probably would have though it was at least okay. But I couldn't fi..."

This is proof that sometimes it's a matter of taste. Personally, I really enjoyed the first two books in the Inheritance Cycle, both for the story and the narration. I thoroughly enjoyed Gerard Doyle's vocal performance. For the overwritten last two books in the series, it was Gerard Doyle's narration that pulled me through. The advantage of print for the last two books would be that the reader could skim over the over-extended parts.

Anyway, to each his/her own.

Jeanie wrote: "Anyway, to each his/her own."

True! Good point.

Part of it was that I for some reason, I imagined the dragon having a strong female voice. I don't know if that was from reading Eragon, or seeing the movie.

Jim wrote: "Ooh! And Eldest!

The way the narrator did the voices of the two main characters, it sounded like Obi Wan Kenobi (Ewan McGregor) talking to Cookie Monster..."

*snort* That is the best description! I didn't mind his main voice, but his voices for the dragons were terrible! I always thought Saphira sounded like a chain smoker... and Glaedr was even worse!

Sarah wrote: "I started Everything I Never Told You in audio and could not understand what everyone was raving about. Then I switched to print and loved it. I know Cassandra Campbell is a popular..."

Eyre Affair was good in audio but I like the voices I had in my head better. Percy Jackson is fantastic until you get to the last two books in the Heros of Olympus. Changed to a horrid, horrible narrator..so I bought 2 ebooks to finish it out. Kelley Armstrong Otherworld, loved the gal who did Bitten but then they switched to a nasal sounding lady who was just boring.

This might be just me as many people find audio helpful with nonfiction.For me, after a few tries, I realized I don't do well with nonfiction on audio, unless it is fiction-like (The Black Count: Glory, Revolution, Betrayal, and the Real Count of Monte Cristo for instance. There is just too much "Now that we have examined X, let's go on to Y" and that makes me so impatient. I'I'd rather read them in print where I can skim over any sections I'm not interested in. With fiction/mystery/romance/fantasy, it's all about the presentation and I don't care if it takes longer.

I agree with what Karen says about voices in my head. I think it makes a difference if you start a series one way. I listened to Crucible of Gold which is about the 6th of the series, when I had read all the others in print and I kept feeling like the voices were all wrong!

I'm going to take a slightly different tack.

Anne Rice's Prince Lestat dragged a bit in audio, but the chapters I read in text just flew by. I think her writing style lends itself better to reading than to narration.

I should clarify that the narration of the book itself was fine.

Karen wrote: "Sarah wrote: "I started Everything I Never Told You in audio and could not understand what everyone was raving about. Then I switched to print and loved it. I know Cassandra Campbel..."

So much of Fforde's cleverness is in his wordplay, though. He spells things creatively and that would be utterly lost in audio. The mispelling vyrus, for example. Or Jack Schitt's name. Then there are passages where the words are laid out visually. Or, in the fifth Thursday Next book, when she's in The Wasteland, there aren't any words at all. Just pictures.

Revenge Cafe I really loved the story, great book, but the narrator did not, in my opinion, do it justice.
Revenge Cafe

Joy wrote: "I purchased A Common Life by Jan Karon from Audible and promptly returned it. The narrator is Dana Ivey, while the rest of the Mitford books are read by John McDonough. I think I might like Ms Ivey on a different story, but she read Cynthia's voice with a southern accent. If she had read any of the previous Mitford books she would know Cynthia was a Yankee!"

I'd have thought that would have been something caught by the producer or director! That's really bizarre...

Tana French - The Secret Place - may great for the YA even if it is murder? I am not sure it is even a good book to read. The narrative imitates snooty Dublin school girls far too much and the book itself is poorly written - hard to keep track of each self obsessed teenage drama queen. I am a huge Tana French fan and am hopefull this was actually ghost written. - Anyway not enjoyable!!

I wonder if people are referring to fiction or non-fiction books. I only listen to non-fiction audiobooks, so I am not that concerned about the narrator. As long as they speak clearly, I am not affected by the narration.

I think I would be if the book was fiction and would rather read it or see the film.

Jim wrote: "I think Finnikin of the Rock would have been much better in print. It came highly recommended from one of my favorite authors, but the narration was terrible. There were a few things..."

Glad I read it in print then because I loved it.

Love Left Behind

I believe the only qualifications the narrator had was that she could nail a New York accent. Sadly, there was only one character in the title who even spoke with the accent, despite the setting being in NY. The part I am referring to was so small anyone could have muddled through it. The narration just made the lead seem so different from what I read of the title.

Also,


Dark Cravings

This title was re-written before Ellora's Cave picked it up and published it. The original title had already been put to an audible.


*Original edition* Blood Lust Rising

I still wanted the audible because I love the story. After sampling the audio, I serious opted out of purchasing it. I really do love this book but I actually hope they decide to redo/remake the audio for it.

P.G. Wodehouse A lot of the audio versions of his books are great, but I find him so much funnier on the page. It's the way he writes things. For example, I'm not sure how this could be done in audio:

"Mr Beach was too well bred to be inquisitive, but his eyebrows were not.
'Ah!' he said.
’?’, cried the eyebrows. ‘? ? ?’
Ashe ignored the eyebrows.
…
Mr Beach’s eyebrows were still mutely urging him to reveal all, but Ashe directed his gaze at that portion of the room which Mr Beach did not fill. He was hanged if he was going to let himself be hypnotized by a pair of eyebrows into incriminating himself.

I would say anything by Toni Morrison - you need to take notes, turn back, etc.