I rather liked the Red Sister series and a large part of that was an excellent narration. Can't second James Marsters' narration of Dresden Files enough. The first few books aren't fantastic, but after book 4 he (and the production) step it up and it's just an amazing ride.

 

I suppose its fitting since the first few books in print were also a bit meh

 

I think thats very much part of it, he needs good material to really shine as a narrator. So the lower quality of the first few books is kind of emphasised by his narration.

 

You can always speed up the playback.
I usually watch youtube videos (except for music) 2x, listen to podcasts and audiobooks from 1.5x to 3x depending on how much it loses quality with speed, how much time I have and, honestly, if i'm in the mood for it at the time lol.
Whenever I have to work on something that I can do on "autopilot", I use a text-to-speech app to listen to fanfics (usually at 2-2.5x).

Nowadays I only ever listen to something at the regular speed if it's a really quality reading and I have a nice chunk of time to properly enjoy it. It makes a world of difference.

I really enjoyed The Golem and the Jinni (it's been a while, don't remember the narrator), Fight Club (narrated by James Colby), and Lock In (both the Amber Benson and the Will Wheaton versions).

I definitely need to look into that, sounds awesome.

 

So, I really enjoyed the voices in Abercrombie's The Blade Itself adaptation. The narrator was fantastic. But before I continue with the series and use a few more of my credits, I have to ask, does the First Law universe's story actually go anywhere in terms of fantasy plot?

Or is it just more or the same sort of cynical grimdark realpolitic story with fantasy elements happening in the background?

Edit: oops. Went through search function and thought this thread was in books and anime. Sorry for bumping a misplaced discussion.

 

Honestly... it’s both. I loved the narration of the first law. His Glokta is fantastic.

There certainly is a fantasy style journey coming up. But it’s very much a cynical grim dark story which means I’ve never reread it. It was this series that made me just over grim dark.

 

I have over the last couple years started listening to audiobooks, because I’ve been driving a lot for work. I’ve listened to almost the entire Stephen King catalogue. The Outsider and the Mr. Mercedes trilogy are voiced by Will Patton, who is incredible. Highly recommended.

I started off buying CDs, because I could get them pretty cheap on Amazon/EBay. But then I bought a new truck that doesn’t have a CD player, so I started using Audible. I’ve had no issues with it, but I still like owning physical media.

 

Audible has been a lifesaver when I've been at work. So much easier when I have a book to listen to.

 

I need to revise this statement. I was at work late today doing some science, and decided to try out Dead Beat's audiobook because why the hell not, and all of the production issues I found in the first couple Dresden Files audiobooks I tried the samples of were completely missing (no more breathing in the microphone thank God). So at some point in the series they figured out how to record the damn things. I'm rather impressed at the quality of Marsters narration, and I find myself surprised yet pleased with some of his artistic choices with certain character voices. Think I'm probably going to pick up more of the audiobooks, until I discover exactly which of the early ones have the breathing problems so I can avoid those like the plague.

I still stand by my earlier assertion that the Star Wars audiobooks have the highest production quality, however.