What are we listening to? (audiobooks)

[ApK]

Originally Posted by Paperbackstash

I am re-reading Jaws in audio but I have to say it's rather boring in this format. I preferred it reading. Of course it's a time when the movie is far superior for most people

I had the same issue with Jurassic Park - loved the book, but the audio wasn't the same

Originally Posted by Catlady

Interesting. When I reread Jaws as an audiobook a couple of years ago, I thought it was much better than I'd remembered. Not in the same league as the movie, but pretty good.

I don't think I ever eye-read Jurassic Park, but I thought the unabridged* audiobook was excellent. I found it almost as different from the movie as the book "Wicked" was different from the Broadway musical**, but excellent.

ApK

* I mention the unabridged version, because I accidently got, and listened to, the abridged version once, and it was awful.
** I loved the musical "Wicked." I found the book depressing, and a bit of a slog at times. It was thought provoking, but I was glad at how they changed it for Broadway!

[CRussel]

IME, if a particular book is less successful as an audio book than as a regular book, the most likely culprit is the narrator. Not all narrators are created equal (!), but even the very best narrators sometimes have duds, or books that they just aren't a good fit for. Saying you found a book less successful as an audio book should, therefore, include the name of the narrator(s). And I'd say it should include whether the book was abridged or unabridged but I rather doubt any of us here opt for unabridged by choice.

[SeaBookGuy]

Originally Posted by ApK

I don't think I ever eye-read Jurassic Park, but I thought the unabridged* audiobook was excellent. I found it almost as different from the movie as the book "Wicked" was different from the Broadway musical**, but excellent.

ApK

* I mention the unabridged version, because I accidently got, and listened to, the abridged version once, and it was awful.
** I loved the musical "Wicked." I found the book depressing, and a bit of a slog at times. It was thought provoking, but I was glad at how they changed it for Broadway!

I have not seen a production of Wicked, but after the incredibly grim (audio)book I'm not inclined to seek one out!

[taosaur]

Originally Posted by ApK

I started, then soon abandoned, "Consider Phlebas," the first of the Culture novels by Iain M. Banks.

I've read the first three Culture books all out of order: Use of Weapons first, which was very dark but fascinating, not least of all for the world building; then Consider Phlebas, which is kind of jarringly episodic, and I actually put down for a while; then The Player of Games, which had me hooked from beginning to end; then I finished Consider Phlebas, which ended up also being very satisfying, if more uneven throughout than the later books. The rest are definitely on my TBR list, but I can see how a lot of people would bounce off hard.

I'm still blazing through Stirling's Emberverse/Change series.

[ApK]

Originally Posted by SeaBookGuy

I have not seen a production of Wicked, but after the incredibly grim (audio)book I'm not inclined to seek one out!

The musical is re-written to be family-friendly, with some really good music and

Spoiler:

a suitably happy ending that I was really wanting after the book!

If you liked the general idea of Elphaba's story in the book, and like Broadway musicals, I highly recommend the play.

ApK

[pwalker8]

Finished up the White Wolf. Another very solid offering. Just the Swords of Night and Day to go in the series.

Started The Oblique Approach by David Drake and Eric Flint. I loved the paper/ebook, but so far I'm not loving the audiobook. The narrator has a Rod Stirling/Charlton Heston style voice, but IMPO, the book ( it's the first in a series) requires someone who is more of a voice actor, with a wide range of voices and most important, more of an over the top performance.

[WT Sharpe]

Originally Posted by ApK

I don't think I ever eye-read Jurassic Park...

Be careful with the terminology you use. Apple may have a trademark on "eye-read".

[Tarana]

I very much enjoyed Sphere by Michael Crichton and narrated by Scott Brick.

Just finished Stephen Fry's Victorian Secrets by John Wolf. This was a freebee one month at Audible and is non-fiction. Each chapter focuses on a different aspect of Victorian England such as how they dealt with bodies, serial killers, image and other stuff. Very interesting. Stephen Fry narrates but investigators also talk about their discoveries or summations.

[pwalker8]

Ended up abandoning the audiobook version of the Oblique Approach. The narrator simply has the wrong voice for the book.

Moved on to Mutineer's Moon, the first book of David Weber's Dahak trilogy. I've read the book a number of time. So far, I like the narrator, Jonathan Todd Ross. He's more of a narrator than a voice actor, but so far it works well.

[Tarana]

Listened to the first two books of the Lost Fleet series by Jack Campbell. Narrated by Christian Rummel. Military scifi written by a retired Navy guy. The battle scenes in Dauntless were excellent but the plot itself wasn't as strong. Plot was much better in Fearless and battle scenes continued to be excellent. EXCELLENT narration.

Currently 1/2 way through Black Beauty by Anne Sewell. Narrated excellently by Nathanial Parker. My sisters and even my Mom read this as kids - somehow I missed it. Got it free from Audible in 2012 when they were first introducing Whispersync. Yeah, just getting to it now.

[Tarana]

Finished Black Beauty, which was a good story. So interesting that some ways of saying stuff has been around for over 140 years. Anne Sewell died a year after her book was published - her one and only book still published and read more than a century later. An author whose words lived on and on. I very much enjoyed Nathanial Parker's narration.

Moved on to Sourcery by Terry Pratchett and narrated by Nigel Planer. Second listen on this one. It was borrowed the first time, but I have since bought it, so first listen to my purchase.

[taosaur]

I took a break from Emberverse with one or two books left and started in on a random sale item: Cast Under an Alien Sun by Olan Thorensen. I was aiming for something more sci-fi, but what I got was A California Grad Student in King Arthur's Court, more or less, so not far off from Stirling. It's keeping my attention well enough (I am a sucker for these stories), but Thorensen doesn't stand up well to Stirling in terms of either writing skill or historical and technical knowledge. Jonathan Davis' narration is also mediocre at best: melodramatic in the action scenes and often just sing-songing in ways that lose the sense of the text. Granted, the text does him few favors. Like I said, it's holding my interest, and it's only 16 hours so I imagine I'll finish it, but I doubt I'll look for more from the author.

[CRussel]

Just started listening to George Eliot's Daniel Deronda, narrated by the incomparable Nadia May (aka Donada Peters, aka Wanda McCaddon). This is for the upcoming discussion in the new Classics Salon.

[issybird]

I’m listening to another Eliot, The Mill on the Floss, read by Laura Paton who is new to me and excellent. Unfortunately, she has a small and limited audiography, as I’d happily listen to her read more Victorian novels.

[WT Sharpe]

Originally Posted by CRussel

Just started listening to George Eliot's Daniel Deronda, narrated by the incomparable Nadia May (aka Donada Peters, aka Wanda McCaddon). This is for the upcoming discussion in the new Classics Salon.

Hoopla had four audiobook versions of Daniel Deronda available. I was tempted to go with Wanda McCaddon (aka Donald Peters aka Nadia May), but decided to borrow the Jill Tanner version instead.