One thing I do know about audiobooks: the narrator is extremely important. Many non-audiophiles are leery of audiobooks because they feel like it's just too weird to have someone read a story to them. And that's where a narrator comes in. The best narrators perform a book, rather than just read it. In fact, I often search Audible.com by narrator to find new authors to try.
My favorite narrators:
Barbara Rosenblat: She does all of Elizabeth Peters's books, but my favorites are the Amelia Peabody series. She also does Katie MacAlister's dragon series and the Recorded Books version of Kathy Reich's Tempe Brennan series.
Jim Dale: Famous for his Harry Potter narrations, he also does the Peter and the Starcatchers series.
I started listening to the Vicky Bliss books on audio, also narrated by Barbara Rosenblat. The narrator of the unabridged versions of the Outlander series, Davina Porter, does a wonderful job with the dialects and male voices. I think she's been my favorite narrator. On the other hand, I've turned off audiobooks narrated by Rosalyn Landor more than once. Because she narrates so many books I'm interested in, I still haven't given up on her, though.
ReplyDelete@Hannah,
ReplyDeleteI love the Vicky Bliss books, too. I originally heard them narrated by Kathleen Turner, which was fun, but Barb R does a great job, too.
One narrator I absolutely cannot stand is Juanita Parker. She does the early Christine Feehan Carpathian series. And pronounces Carpathian as Car-path-eons. And Gregori as Gregory. Drives me batty. As if the books themselves weren't annoying enough :)