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Yeah, Ghost Story was the first of the books where I actually read the hardcopy instead of as an audiobook. Pro: read it in record time, Con: I missed Marsters wonderful voice. What makes it all the more tragic is that they'll never rerecord it with the correct voice actor. 
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Oct 13, 2011 05:10
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I'm terrible at life and have been listening to the Wheel of Time while at work. Just finished The Great Hunt. Overall, very good narration. Only thing I can think of is, don't like the voice the female narrator uses for Min.
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Nov 20, 2011 21:12
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Scrubber posted:I loved Roy Dotrice's voices too but there is no getting around the fact that in ADWD he forgot which voice he was supposed to be using for Dany... It didn't really bother me but it's utterly bizarre that nobody caught it, it must mean they didn't go back and listen to the prior books. I'm listening to this book now and, yeah, it is really weird that no one caught that he had changed her voice. It is easy to blame Roy, I guess, but considering that there were supposedly people working quality control on the audiobook it is an odd error to escape notice everyone's notice. I actually didn't really mind John Lee towards the end of Feast for Crows. I prefer his narration to Roy's, actually, but his characterization obviously left a lot to be desired. Hopefully Dotrice be alive when the last book comes out; I think he is almost 90!
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Nov 21, 2011 02:52
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I thought it was really cool how he could make Tyrion, Jaime and Cersei all have the same accents/speaking quirks/whatever but still have all 3 of them sound like unique people.
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Nov 22, 2011 09:11
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I'm wondering if anyone has given the Ready Player One audio book a listen? Thinking about picking it up but don't want to waste my money if listing to Wil Wheaton read it would get old quickly.
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Nov 24, 2011 00:44
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Norns posted:I'm wondering if anyone has given the Ready Player One audio book a listen? Thinking about picking it up but don't want to waste my money if listing to Wil Wheaton read it would get old quickly. Wheaton is a surprisingly good narrator, and you quickly forget he is the one reading the book. I've listen to two of John Scalzi's books by him, however the narator/main character in either book was kind of a prick who thinks that he is pretty awesome, so maybe Wheaton's reading just kind of fit in.
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Nov 24, 2011 00:56
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jeeves posted:Wheaton is a surprisingly good narrator, and you quickly forget he is the one reading the book. Awesome, thanks. I'll give it a go then. Heard really good things about the book and I want something to listen to that's not a podcast for a change.
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Nov 24, 2011 05:56
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Norns posted:Awesome, thanks. I'll give it a go then. Heard really good things about the book and I want something to listen to that's not a podcast for a change. He's actually perfect for the book. I got the audiobook without knowing he was reading it and was pissed. But seeing as the protagonist is a smug oval office, Wil Wheaton suddenly turned out to be great for the job.
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Nov 24, 2011 20:42
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HUMAN FISH posted:He's actually perfect for the book. I got the audiobook without knowing he was reading it and was pissed. But seeing as the protagonist is a smug oval office, Wil Wheaton suddenly turned out to be great for the job. Scalzi's Agent to the Stars and Fuzzy Nation both also have smug cunts as their main characters/narrators, so it I guess Wheaton has that market totally on lockdown now?
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Nov 25, 2011 23:50
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Hello thread. I have to say that I'm listening to audio books rather than actually reading these days. Occasionally I will crack open a book but I find that audio books are better for multitasking. So while I'm commuting, going to the gym, on a walk or playing a game on my computer I'll often be listening to one. Here are a list of my favorites and least favorites: All of the Dresden Files Books save for book one, two and thirteen. James Marsters did books one through twelve and he was seriously lacking in polish for the first two as a VA, but his voice is the voice in my head for Harry Dresden now. I haven't picked up the last book and I was very sad when Marsters did not record Ghost Story. There was just so much negative feedback that I got the book instead. Snow Crash The story is amazing. It reminds me of the sort of fragmented balkanized world of Shadowrun minus the magic and orcs. The federal government of the US lost control and now everyone owns a piece of the US where you can throw a stone hit a new nation state in every direction. The VA is a smug oval office and makes the story better than it actually is when reading it. I highly suggest it. And you can grab these for free from the internet, specifically iTunes. It has already been mentioned, but I have to say it again. Go to iTunes and check out How to Succeed in Evil. Imagine an amoral lawyer in the world of golden and silver age super heroes. The heroes are simplistic and dumb and the villains are worse. And here's a man with absolutely no powers (except for being tall) but a sharp wit and he is an evil consultant for super villains. Best because it is free. I might catch some poo poo for this, but even though it isn't done yet I'd suggest Harry Potter and the Methods of Rationality. This is a piece of fanfiction which actually is a very decent piece of fiction. It is well put together and a drat fine read. It makes fun of and occasionally rips apart the world of JK Rowling's Harry Potter and approaches a world which doesn't make much sense from a rationalistic, scientific point of view with varied success. And instead of being a brave, naive boy Harry Potter is a shrewd, manipulative, brainy and hilariously selfish little poo poo. The podcast is an amateur one and it has two or three VA's with one main one doing most of the work. It releases weekly and is about 1/3 of the way done with the writing (which is enormous). It is also free, I suggest checking it out.
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Dec 1, 2011 04:04
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David Sedaris did a pretty nice writeup of the constant issue I run into with audiobooks. http://www.newyorker.com/online/blogs/books/2010/12/the-year-in-reading-david-sedaris.htmlquote:Lovers of audio books learn to live with compromise. Do we choose the stellar novel read by a less-than-stellar narrator, or the fantastic narrator reading a so-so novel? I find I can't read anything that isn't read by the original author. Hannibal Rising unabridged read by Thomas Harris. Silence of the Lambs abridged read by some vapid mostly unintelligible woman who completely mangles Clarice Starling is not. The original Wrinkle in Time read by Madeleine L'Engle from 1994 was excellent (It's only on cassette. She did most of her books but I don't know that you can find them anymore unabridged.) Eragon and the rest of Christopher Paolini's Inheritance books aren't bad, though the second one drags. The Reader wasn't read by the author but I think the narrator did an excellent job with the atmosphere around the story.
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Dec 1, 2011 04:50
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Ice Phisherman posted:Snow Crash Interesting. I've read Snow Crash half a dozen times over the years. Might have to pick this one up. I've gotten into the bad habit of listening to audio books at work. It has decreased my productivity.
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Dec 1, 2011 05:55
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Snow Crash is pretty interesting to listen to, because a lot of the good corporation names your mind kind of just skips over when reading, but when said aloud they sound super awesome. However the chapters upon chapters of babylonian fake mythology get a bit old when read aloud. Small quibble.
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Dec 1, 2011 06:43
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jeeves posted:Snow Crash is pretty interesting to listen to, because a lot of the good corporation names your mind kind of just skips over when reading, but when said aloud they sound super awesome. It gets a lot worse in Anathem. Hey kids, who wants to talk for A SOLID loving HOUR about theoretical speculation about theoretical religious fiction and math proofs?! I skipped over that poo poo like I skipped over the songs in Lord of the Rings.
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Dec 1, 2011 10:11
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Ice Phisherman posted:It gets a lot worse in every Stephenson novel after Diamond Age. Think that provides more accurate coverage. Cryptonomicon and the Baroque Cycle were actually painful for me to read. Don't think they're available as unabridged audiobooks, though...
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Dec 1, 2011 15:33
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fordan posted:Think that provides more accurate coverage. Cryptonomicon and the Baroque Cycle were actually painful for me to read. Don't think they're available as unabridged audiobooks, though... Cryptonomicon is available at my local library in a convenient 34 disc set.
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Dec 1, 2011 21:58
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I am one chapter into How To Succeed In Evil and hooked. Thanks for the recommendation!
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Dec 1, 2011 22:14
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Norns posted:I'm wondering if anyone has given the Ready Player One audio book a listen? Thinking about picking it up but don't want to waste my money if listing to Wil Wheaton read it would get old quickly. He did one of the stories in Metatropolis: Cascadia. I thought he did fine. Which reminds me, Michael Hogan did one for the first Metatropolis audiobook, and I believe he's the voice actor of General Tullius in Skyrim. fordan posted:Think that provides more accurate coverage. Cryptonomicon and the Baroque Cycle were actually painful for me to read. Don't think they're available as unabridged audiobooks, though... It's available... Cryptonomicon UNABRIDGED By Neal Stephenson Narrated by William Dufris Length: 42 hrs and 53 mins Mister Facetious fucked around with this message at 10:40 on Dec 3, 2011 |
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Dec 3, 2011 10:30
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Technically not a real audiobook, but always worth a listen is the original Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy radio broadcast. Love the WoT audiobook, but I did have to take a break from the braid pulling. Now on book 8. I'd love Dune or some kind of space opera for the train ride to work with.
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Dec 5, 2011 02:01
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Dune audiobook is great. Got me most of the way through a cross country drive.
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Dec 5, 2011 04:15
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dema posted:Dune audiobook is great. Got me most of the way through a cross country drive. It would be great if halfway through the book they didn't decide to randomly drop the audioplay aspect and have only one narrator read all parts, and then randomly go back to all-actors.
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Dec 5, 2011 04:49
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Curious, I don't recall that at all. Perhaps I was delirious from driving for almost two days straight.
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Dec 5, 2011 04:53
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dema posted:Curious, I don't recall that at all. Perhaps I was delirious from driving for almost two days straight. Happens in about 4 chapters of the first book, half of the second, and by the third the main narrator just takes over full time. It is really jarring when the Baron is a deep low voice when done by an actor, but a Scottish accent when done by the narrator!
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Dec 5, 2011 08:31
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So I really suggest treating yourself to Pathfinder by Orson Scott Card. Looks like a new series of books by him and it looks to be promising from the first book. Imagine if you will, lining up established sci-fi ideas and crapping all over them while reading a good book. That is this book. You want this book.
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Dec 20, 2011 07:09
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blakout posted:if your local library supports it theres a lot who use the overdrive system for free audiobooks. only problem is the DRM its horrible, anyone have experience actually getting your books to work on an ipod? The last time I used overdrive, it recognized my standard thumbdrive as an mp3 player, and allowed me to export (ie, copy drm-free mp3s) to it. The last audiobook I listened to was Lawrence Block's Eight Million Ways to Die, read by the author. He's got a great voice for it; very disappointed he hasn't done many more of his own. WoG fucked around with this message at 20:51 on Dec 20, 2011 |
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Dec 20, 2011 20:46
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dema posted:I'm terrible at life and have been listening to the Wheel of Time while at work. Just finished The Great Hunt. Overall, very good narration. Only thing I can think of is, don't like the voice the female narrator uses for Min. I listened to Way of Kings on audiobook recently (at work) and it was awesome. WoT is next up after I finish slaughterhouse 5 with ethan hawke narrating. I've never read it so I don't know if it's hawke or the book, but I'm finding it hard to follow. Hawke does have a silky smoothe voice though, and is a good narrator. Dune was awesome in audiobook format. I also didn't notice the changes from narrator to actors. Anyone done Enders Game?
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Dec 21, 2011 06:12
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Lascivious Sloth posted:Anyone done Enders Game?
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Dec 21, 2011 06:34
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I just listened to Stephen King's It read by Steven Weber. It's well done but he gets way too intense. I understand wanting to convey emotions and tension but I don't want shouting in an audiobook.
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Dec 22, 2011 06:33
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UltimoDragonQuest posted:I just listened to Stephen King's It read by Steven Weber. Best Stephen King audiobook is The Green Mile, Frank Muller does an incredible job on it.
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Dec 22, 2011 07:00
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blakout posted:Best Stephen King audiobook is The Green Mile, Frank Muller does an incredible job on it. Just bought this because of Frank Muller. Best narrator to have ever lived.
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Dec 22, 2011 12:55
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The full cast version of American Gods was alright. It's not bad but none of the actors are great. I think I would have preferred the George Guidall version. I tried a sample of the first Dresden Files book and the narrator loudly breathes a lot. The producer or engineer really hosed up here.
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Dec 29, 2011 04:46
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UltimoDragonQuest posted:I tried a sample of the first Dresden Files book and the narrator loudly breathes a lot. I noticed that occasionally in one of them, think I started with the third, but that went away in later books.
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Dec 29, 2011 05:58
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Ice Phisherman posted:It gets a lot worse in Anathem. On disc 25 out of 28 right now. i really really like this book, and i think listening to it has allowed me to get more out of it than reading it, but sometimes I have to pause it, and think (what the hell am i listening to? what the hell are they talking about?) An hour of straight fiction based theory can be a tough pill to swallow, but listening to it is better than straight reading.
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Dec 29, 2011 07:34
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Roydrowsy posted:On disc 25 out of 28 right now. True. You can tune out and come in at the interesting points I suppose which is harder (much harder) to do in a book. Still, I don't think I would have bought it if I knew what I was in for. Adventure time and monk time were fine reads. But this really turned me off the book.
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Dec 29, 2011 17:07
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I figure'd I'd update what I've bought in the last while, and give some opinions (because what goon doesn't love doing that?). A History of the World in 6 Glasses Narr.: Sean Runnette Gives a historical summary of the the world's most consumed/famous beverages on earth. Not including water, natch. Beer, Wine, Spirits, Tea, Coffee, and Colas, all get their moment. the guy's a bit dry in his delivery (clean, american accent), but I didn't mind, as I love history. 3.5/5 From Those Wonderful Folks Who Gave You Pearl Harbor Narr.: Eric Meyers Like Mad Men? This is Jerry Della Femina's book, the original insider's account of the Madison Avenue ad agencies, and the guys who worked and ran them. It includes a new intro/prologue/author's note. The Narrator is perfect, and does quite a few accents for some of the quoted speakers. Absolutely brilliant, and funny too. 5/5 Orcs Narr.: John Lee A trilogy combined into one big audiobook, it's a D&D-esque fantasy story, told from the perspective of an Orc Warband, called the Wolverines. Takes place in a world where Humans have arrived in the area relatively recently from across a desert. Starts off a bit slow, but it's alright, I guess. Also, I'd swear the author is a D&D player. 3/5 The Coming of Conan the Cimmerian Narr.: Todd McLaren Rob Howard's first 13 stories of the coolest Fighter-Thief ever to be put to paper, in publication order, as the author preferred. Believe it or not, Conan was about more than blood & guts. Blame Rob's publishers and the movies for that. Howard's work is deeper than you'd think. 4.5/5 The Kitchen Counter Cooking School: How A Few Simple Lessons Transformed Nine Culinary Novices into Fearless Home Cooks Narr.: Marguerite Gavin quote:Publisher's Summary 5/5 Tomatoland: How Modern Industrial Agriculture Destroyed Our Most Alluring Fruit Narr.: Pete Larkin Talks about the "fresh" tomato industry, pesticides, Florida's human trafficking (read: slavery) problem, why tomatoes taste like plastic junk/cardboard, why they all look the same, and how they can survive a fall from a truck doing 55mph, among other things. Certainly opened my eyes. 4/5 Crash Course: The American Automobile Industry's Road from Glory to Disaster Narr.: Patrick Lawlor History of the American automobile industry and the UAW, from the 1800s, right up to the crash, and the subsequent bailout by the U.S., and Canada. Includes some bits about the japanese in the US market, Nissan's turnaround, the various mergers (Daimler Benz, FIAT, etc.) 4/5 Napoleon's Buttons: 17 Molecules That Changed History Narr.: Laural Merlington History of influential materials that changed the world as we know it, including polyphenols in spices, cotton, explosives, caffiene, medicinal sulfa compounds, and other stuff. A bit boring, to be honest. 3/5 Damned Narr.: Tai Sammons Chuck Palahniuk's newest book. Imagine "The Breakfast Club" in Hell, crossed with Chuck's peculiar mindset, and you've got a rather interesting post-life adventure. Told in the first person, by one 13-year-old Madison. 4.5/5 The Extra 2%: How Wall Street Strategies Took a Major League Baseball Team from Worst to First Narr.: Lloyd James History of the Tampa Bay 4/5 Those Guys Have All the Fun: Inside the World of ESPN Narr.: James Andrew Miller, Matt McCarthy, Joan Baker History of ESPN, as told by the people who worked there. I didn't really care for it, as the entire book is pretty much told in attributed quotes, which made it a pain in the rear end to follow. Plus, I don't watch ESPN  , I was just looking for another good sports book. Probably would've been better in hardcopy.2.5/5 The Yugo: The Rise and Fall of the Worst Car in History Narr.: Erik Synnestvedt The short, unhappy life of the car, the men who built it, the men who imported it, and the decade that embraced and discarded it. Funny and weird, proving that Truth is often stranger than fiction. 3.5/5 This is Your Country on Drugs: The Secret History of Getting High in America Narr.: Milton Bagby The History of drug use in the United States of America  . Explains trends, the DEA, the DARE program, cyclic demand, research chemicals, natural drugs, marijuana laws, and why LSD is so loving hard to find... MAAAAANNN.  5/5 Demon Fish: Travels Through the Hidden World of Sharks Narr.: Bernadette Dunne Bor-ing. I can't bring myself to listen to all of it. It starts off with the Shark Fin (soup) trade, and just bored me, to the point that I didn't care to find out what else she had to write about. I was hoping it would talk about different species, but it sure didn't start that way. 1/5 Black Market Billions: How Organized Retail Crime Funds Global Terrorists Narr.: Elisabeth Rodgers Feels like a scare story about how Organized Retail Crime is all done by terrorists. I was hoping for some technical details, but it's light on details, and high on terror. 1.5/5 23 Things They Don't Tell You about Capitalism Narr.: Joe Barrett Wanna know why a lot of very smart people didn't see bad poo poo coming in 2008? Let's just say that a Myths and Facts book about Capitalism should've been written years ago. Well written, well spoken, it's an easy to understand book, even for those without a post-secondary (  ) education. Interestingly, it points out how the Founding Fathers™ (and FDR) would've been on America's and the WTO's shitlist if they were alive today, for their "quaint" federal monetary policies.This book, and Physics for Future Presidents, should be mandatory required reading in every senior high school classroom. 5/5 The Alloy of Law: A Mistborn Novel Narr.: Michael Kramer Mistborn, + late 1890s technology = loving awesome. Reads like classic pulp science fantasy. 5/5 The New New Rules: A Funny Look at How Everybody But Me Has Their Head Up Their rear end Narr.: Bill Maher Topical comedy. Funny. Awesome. Current as of the Charlie Sheen debacle/Bin Laden Assassination, whichever came last. First time I've ever heard his stuff, too. I'm hooked. 5/5 The Sellout: How Three Decades of Wall Street Greed and Government Mismanagement Destroyed the Global Financial System Narr.: Thomas M. Perkins A history of Wall Street starting from the 70s, or so, when things started going to poo poo for Joe Middle Class, ending in the financial crisis. Includes short bios of notable Wall Street CEOs, and others. 4/5 Boomerang: Travels in the New Third World Narr.: Dylan Baker Michael Lewis' newest book about how Iceland, Greece, Ireland, and Germany were affected by the financial crisis. Includes material with former California gov Arnold Schwarzenegger, the mayor of San Jose, and a Vallejo firefighter, about the most hosed state in the Union.  4/5 This month: Extra Virginity: The Sublime and Scandalous World of Olive Oil Narr.: Peter Ganim That nice bottle of "EVOO" (gently caress you, Rachel Ray) with the italian flags, and Tuscan scenery, might not be what you think it is. A book reminding us of the immortal phrase "Caveat Emptor", regarding one of the world's greatest treasures. Let the buyer beware, indeed. 4/5 No One Would Listen: A True Financial Thriller Narr.: Scott Brick, Harry Markopolos, Frank Casey, Neil Chelo, David Kotz, Gaytri Kachroo, Michael Ocrant The story of one whistle-blower's attempt to warn the SEC about Bernie Madoff's Ponzi Scheme, and how they literally didn't give a poo poo to investigate him for almost ten years, letting a 5 billion dollar scam grow to an estimated 65 BILLION DOLLARS. Better than any John Grisham best-seller. Includes an audio-only chapter from some of Madoff's victims. A free supplemental .pdf is also provided in the link above, plus Dr. Gaytri Kachroo's speech to the World Legal Forum. Audible pulled out all the stops for this one. I can't recommend it enough. 5/5 Mister Facetious fucked around with this message at 19:02 on Jan 5, 2012 |
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Jan 5, 2012 10:06
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I must recommend Chef Anthony Bourdain's books from Audible. He's so great reading his own books.
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Jan 10, 2012 02:01
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fritzov posted:I must recommend Chef Anthony Bourdain's books from Audible.
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Jan 10, 2012 02:19
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blakout posted:kitchen confidential is one of my fav audiobooks med raw is too unfocused for my taste I agree with you to a bit but with the chef reading himself it's still a great book.
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Jan 10, 2012 03:59
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I haven't read through the entire thread and this may not be the right place to ask this but I need some help. Specifically, I want to know how audiobooks work for other people because they really don't work for me. I have only tried 2 or 3 audiobooks (I remember Lord of the Flies and The God Delusion) in my life and I've never really gotten into it. I would listen to them on a stationary bike and it would be hard to follow without concentrating on it really hard and I felt that I needed to have the text with the audio. So, I tried reading along with the narrator but that really was a terrible idea because it would be much faster to just read the drat book. I guess my question is about when/how you people listen to audiobooks and whether you think you actually get all the details from the story as you would if you were to read the book. Is it something I just have to take some time to get used to?
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Jan 12, 2012 11:00
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I listen to audiobooks at work, because I'm allowed to use headphones, and our radio stations are so repetitive, that they make a sixteen year old girl's music choices look varied.  I wish I were loving joking, too...  I mostly listen to non-fiction, (not including books by Jim Butcher, Scott Card, and Sanderson) and I've gone through most of my books at least twice. More for the really good ones (I've just listened to "No One Would Listen" for the third time already, and I bought it on the 7th). I find that as long as it's a book you like, and you're not concentrating on something else (like listening to the owners' son), that audiobooks are very easy to follow. If you can listen to a lecture without watching the teacher, following an audiobook shouldn't be a problem. If you're listening to a book you don't like, or a narrator you don't like, then of course it will be easy to tune out. See my previous post for a few books that I just didn't care for. For example: "Those Guys Have All the Fun: Inside the World of ESPN" It's a book that's had great reviews (as a hardcopy), and is narrated by actual ESPN people, but I didn't really care for it. It was slow, jumped from person to person, jumped back and forth in time, changed narrators too often, and had too much boring history, and not enough funny history. Now that I think about it, I'm not even sure why I rated it as high as I did. And you probably know, but unabridged audiobooks give you every word that the hardcopy books do. Abridged books are the Devil's work! (and a ripoff, since it isn't the complete book) Mister Facetious fucked around with this message at 11:47 on Jan 12, 2012 |
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Jan 12, 2012 11:32
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