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PBCrunch
Jun 17, 2002

Lawrence Phillips Always #1 to Me
I just finished listening to Pride and Prejudice and Zombies narrated by Katherine Kellgren. I would not normally listen to a book read by this woman, but her ye olde English accent and snobby delivery added a lot to this book.

Now listening to Daemon by Daniel Suarez read by Jeff Gurner. I am about 20% of the way through and the story is pretty silly and the narration is very film noir. Still on the fence with this one.

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Syrinxx
Mar 28, 2002

Death is whimsical today

PBCrunch posted:

Now listening to Daemon by Daniel Suarez read by Jeff Gurner. I am about 20% of the way through and the story is pretty silly and the narration is very film noir. Still on the fence with this one.
That's next on my Audible list so let us know how it winds up :ohdear:

jingo
Jul 11, 2002

CharlesWillisMaddox posted:

I haven't even thought of checking for his other books, I must go do this.

I'm half way through it (listening at work) and there have been a couple times I laughed out loud. "For this next part, wake your children up. Its important. I'll wait...... hello children. Stop fidgeting."

Jonathan Coulton also sings little ditties throughout.

I was listening to this with my brother while just starting a 5 hour drive home at night. During the section about portents seeing an owl was mentioned as being especially bad. Directly after this I hit an owl with my loving car. John Hodgman is a wizard.

SnakePlissken
Dec 31, 2009

by zen death robot

The Gibson posted:

`You ever think maybe it gets on my nerves, you coming
on like people I know?' He stood, swatting pale dust from the
front of his black jeans. He turned, glaring back at the dusty
shop windows, the closed door to the street. `What's out there?
New York? Or does it just stop?'
`Well,' said the Finn, `it's like that tree, you know? Falls
in the woods but maybe there's nobody to hear it.' He showed
Case his huge front teeth, and puffed his cigarette. `You can
go for a walk, you wanna. It's all there. Or anyway all the
parts of it you ever saw. This is memory, right? I tap you, sort
it out, and feed it back in.'
`I don't have this good a memory,' Case said, looking
around. He looked down at his hands, turning them over. He
tried to remember what the lines on his palms were like, but
couldn't.
`Everybody does,' the Finn said, dropping his cigarette and
grinding it out under his heel, `but not many of you can access
it. Artists can, mostly, if they're any good. If you could lay
this construct over the reality, the Finn's place in lower Man-
hattan, you'd see a difference, but maybe not as much as you'd
think. Memory's holographic, for you.' The Finn tugged at
one of his small ears. `I'm different.'
`How do you mean, holographic?' The word made him
think of Riviera.
`The holographic paradigm is the closest thing you've worked
out to a representation of human memory, is all. But you've
never done anything about it. People, I mean.' The Finn stepped
forward and canted his streamlined skull to peer up at Case.
`Maybe if you had, I wouldn't be happening.'
`What's that supposed to mean?'
The Finn shrugged. His tattered tweed was too wide across
the shoulders, and didn't quite settle back into position. `I'm
trying to help you, Case.'
`Why?'
`Because I need you.' The large yellow teeth appeared
again. `And because you need me.'
`Bullshit. Can you read my mind, Finn?' He grimaced.
`Wintermute, I mean.'
`Minds aren't _read._ See, you've still got the paradigms
print gave you, and you're barely print-literate. I can _access_
your memory, but that's not the same as your mind.' He
reached into the exposed chassis of an ancient television and
withdrew a silver-black vacuum tube. `See this? Part of my
DNA, sort of...' He tossed the thing into the shadows and
Case heard it pop and tinkle. `You're always building models.
Stone circles. Cathedrals. Pipe-organs. Adding machines. I
got no idea why I'm here now, you know that? But if the
run goes off tonight, you'll have finally managed the real
thing.'

Sorry, hadda.

PBCrunch
Jun 17, 2002

Lawrence Phillips Always #1 to Me

Syrinxx posted:

That's next on my Audible list so let us know how it winds up :ohdear:
I finished it today. The story got a lot better, the narration became more appropriate to the subject matter. I recommend this book and I am moving right on to the sequel Freedom.

There was a ton of whining on Amazon about Daemon having a crappy ending but I disagree. The ending was just about perfect, the rest of the book just isn't quite what you think it is.

Though there is one extremely amoral character that I really want to see dead in the next book, hopefully close to the beginning.

Tornhelm
Jul 26, 2008

PBCrunch posted:

I finished it today. The story got a lot better, the narration became more appropriate to the subject matter. I recommend this book and I am moving right on to the sequel Freedom.

There was a ton of whining on Amazon about Daemon having a crappy ending but I disagree. The ending was just about perfect, the rest of the book just isn't quite what you think it is.

Though there is one extremely amoral character that I really want to see dead in the next book, hopefully close to the beginning.

I was going to grab these, only to find out that they aren't available from Audible if you live in Australia (gently caress you Daniel Suarez!). I've been tempted to cancel my Audible account lately, just because of how many credits are starting to build up in my account from not being able to find fun new things to listen to.

WoG
Jul 13, 2004
Only midway through the book, but to grade the voice performance alone, two thumbs firmly upward for Ron Silver's reading of Roth's American Pastoral.

coyo7e
Aug 23, 2007

by zen death robot

Tornhelm posted:

I was going to grab these, only to find out that they aren't available from Audible if you live in Australia (gently caress you Daniel Suarez!). I've been tempted to cancel my Audible account lately, just because of how many credits are starting to build up in my account from not being able to find fun new things to listen to.
Your avatar is awesome.

Kestral
Nov 24, 2000

Forum Veteran
Regarding Neuromancer, if you're a fan of the book you owe it to yourself to hear Gibson read the abridged version at least once. Yes, abridgments are abominations, yes you should read or listen to the full version first, but Gibson's faint drawl and unusual cadence are absolutely perfect accompaniments to the book. Hell, even the abridgment adds a certain disjointed, psychedelic quality that actually works.

PBCrunch
Jun 17, 2002

Lawrence Phillips Always #1 to Me
I vehemently disagree with that statement. I've read Neuromancer and it was great. I later started the audiobook read by Gibson and it was unlistenable.

Redfont
Feb 9, 2010

Little Mac(kerel)
Not sure if this has been mentioned already:

There's an audio version of World War Z by Max Brooks. I'd only read a little of the original text book, but I recognized quickly that each interviewee having their own voice was a huge difference. And the voice acting is just fantastic, Alan Alda (Hawkeye from M*A*S*H) is the most notable (or at least, recognizable).

You sort of have to be really interested in zombie stuff, but if you can get into it, it's a good book. Definitely worth checking out.

jassa
Nov 7, 2005

"He's so awesome!"
He really is!

Redfont posted:

Not sure if this has been mentioned already:

There's an audio version of World War Z by Max Brooks. I'd only read a little of the original text book, but I recognized quickly that each interviewee having their own voice was a huge difference. And the voice acting is just fantastic, Alan Alda (Hawkeye from M*A*S*H) is the most notable (or at least, recognizable).

You sort of have to be really interested in zombie stuff, but if you can get into it, it's a good book. Definitely worth checking out.

It was mentioned on the very first page of the thread. When the thread only has 4 pages, there's really no excuse for not checking before posting.

Shepdozejr
Feb 10, 2010

, missed the perfume.
Does anyone know of any audiobooks/books-on-tape that were specifically written to be read aloud? (that don't suck)
It sounds like a rather neat idea. Similar to an epic poem or play, but in novel form.

Furry Neo
Nov 18, 2003

Whoa.

Shepdozejr posted:

Does anyone know of any audiobooks/books-on-tape that were specifically written to be read aloud? (that don't suck)
It sounds like a rather neat idea. Similar to an epic poem or play, but in novel form.
Like an audioplay script, or a novel specifically written to be read aloud? If the former, then there are decades' worth of radio dramas available out there. The latter I'm somewhat doubtful of, save for perhaps an exercise in postmodernism (and/or imitation of Ulysses's "Circe").

Syrinxx
Mar 28, 2002

Death is whimsical today

Shepdozejr posted:

Does anyone know of any audiobooks/books-on-tape that were specifically written to be read aloud? (that don't suck)
It sounds like a rather neat idea. Similar to an epic poem or play, but in novel form.
You could always try graphic/comic audiobooks :smugdog:

These probably suck but I think the concept is absurd and funny.

Syrinxx fucked around with this message at 03:00 on Feb 17, 2010

SnakePlissken
Dec 31, 2009

by zen death robot

Kestral posted:

Regarding Neuromancer, if you're a fan of the book you owe it to yourself to hear Gibson read the abridged version at least once. Yes, abridgments are abominations, yes you should read or listen to the full version first, but Gibson's faint drawl and unusual cadence are absolutely perfect accompaniments to the book. Hell, even the abridgment adds a certain disjointed, psychedelic quality that actually works.

Couldn't agree more. Since posting in this thread I've located an online copy of the text and re-read it again during a night of semi-serious drinking, and I am not only impressed once again at the text; but in consideration of how drat well I know every word of his abridged recording I'm equally impressed at the editorial task of selecting what text to leave in or out, or the act of the abridgement itself. Gibson has a talent for words that's more usually found in a gifted advertising copywriter, and made the right choices throughout, IMO. And I'll put it bluntly: he sounds kinda like a real stoner character you might have met at a video arcade in the 1980s in this recording, which is perfect for the book.

An online text for the novel, as well as a few of his best short stories are located here:

http://project.cyberpunk.ru/lib/neuromancer/#part1

MeatwadIsGod
Sep 30, 2004

Foretold by Gyromancy

Agile Sumo posted:

World War Z

The book lends itself perfectly to the audio book format. It is basically a collection of interviews following the war. There are different voice actors for each interview.

I just finished this audiobook (my first one), and it was really enjoyable and varied. The voice actors who really stood out to me were Mark Hamill, Henry Rollins, and Eaomann Walker. When I heard John Turturro had a part, I decided to go for the audiobook instead of a hard copy, even though it's abridged. Maybe my expectations for him were too high, but I felt kind of underwhelmed by his delivery. Some of the Asian characters, despite having interesting stories, were brought down by phoned-in, stilted voice acting. I'd recommend the audiobook of World War Z if you're into this kind of journalism or you really like zombie stuff, but the quality of the voice acting really runs the spectrum from bad to great.

groverat
Aug 5, 2004

$ watch the money pile up $
I've been a BooksFree member for a while and the turnaround times are decent. I'll get 4-5 books per month paying for 2-at-a-time (I rip and send back immediately).

It's gotten slower over time, unfortunately, and after my current queue is done with I'll probably cancel my subscription. Of course, I've gotten so many books from them I'm probably on some kind of "ship to him last" blacklist.

Clinton1011
Jul 11, 2007
Has anyone listened to the audiobooks created by graphicaudio.net ? They don't just have different voice actors for each character but they also do sound effects for things like doors closing and stuff like that. I have been wanting to get one since they have both Elantris and Warbreaker from Brandon Sanderson but I haven't heard anything about their products and I don't think Audible.com carries their products.

I am also starting the Codex Alera series by Jim Butcher since I like his Dresden Files series so much. I just started but it seems to be just as good as the Dresden Files, a lot diferent but just as good of a read/listen.

Clinton1011 fucked around with this message at 18:42 on Feb 18, 2010

onionradish
Jul 6, 2006

That's spicy.
GraphicAudio can be hit and miss. The audio quality is usually excellent, and they do a great job with the sound effects. Depending on what's going on in the scene, it can sometimes be hard to hear the narration over them, and sometimes the audio direction could be better -- an example being a disconnected phone call that continued to play a dialtone through another paragraph of narration becaust it wasn't explicitly said that the character hangs up the phone until then. They're pretty minor complaints.

The biggest issue I've found is their source material. Some of their scripts are really, really terrible. They do their own adaptation of the source to turn it into the dramatized version, and seem to do a better job with action/adventure types of material.

Go look at their podcast. Episode 19 includes the first hour of Elantris so you can evaluate for yourself.

Haggins
Jul 1, 2004

I just finished listening to Dashiell Hammett's The Maltese Falcon read by William Dufris. Dufris does an excellent job narrating this book and acting out all the characters. When you get lost in the book it really feels like each character is read by a different person. Sure his acting is a little over the top, but being a hardboiled novel the characters themselves were written to be over the top. If you're looking for a good fun detective novel, you can't go wrong with this classic.

PBCrunch posted:

I vehemently disagree with that statement. I've read Neuromancer and it was great. I later started the audiobook read by Gibson and it was unlistenable.

I never heard the Gibson version but I just finished the sprawl trilogy read by Jonathan Davis. I think there are three types of audiobook narrators. The kind like Jeremy Irons reading Lolita that make the audiobook better than print, average readers that make it just as good as print, and bad readers that make it worse than the book. Davis falls a little under average if you ask me. He didn't completely ruin it but I think it would have been better actually reading the book.

Strange Matter
Oct 6, 2009

Ask me about Genocide
Anthony Bourdain's books were brought up a few pages back. I just finished Kitchen Confidential and it was just sublime. I could listen to Bourdain read the phone book and be entertained by it, and moreover it's a really fantastic book, moreso if you're actually interested in cooking and the restaurant business.

Audible also has Shalome Auschlander's Foreskin's Lament, narrated by the author. If you've ever listened to Auschlander's (or however you spell his name) stories on This American Life, you sorta know what you're getting into, but it's still a fairly exceptional study of how badly someone can be psychological broken by oppressive religion. Some people might get bored with his fairly monotone drone, but given that the entire book is about the bitter tragedy and malaise of his life, it works out pretty well.

"MORE INFORMATION THAN YOU REQUIRE" is my bathroom book. I must have read it a dozen times. But seeing the cast they have for the audiobook makes it just about irresistable so I know what I'm getting this month from Audible.

Strange Matter fucked around with this message at 04:07 on Mar 2, 2010

Megera
Sep 9, 2008
I finished The Golden Compass last week. It had a full cast and everything, and I can't recommend it enough. No one droned on and on, I rarely had to go back and listen again due to spacing out, and I was pleasantly surprised that it was, in fact, MUCH better than the movie. I've heard the next two suck, so I won't bother. :)

Tornhelm
Jul 26, 2008

I've just grabbed the Percy Jackson books from Audible to chew up my excess credits, and then I sent an email to cancel my subscription. So far, I'm enjoying the first book (about 1/3 of the way through) but glad I've got rid of the account.

jassa
Nov 7, 2005

"He's so awesome!"
He really is!

Tornhelm posted:

I've just grabbed the Percy Jackson books from Audible to chew up my excess credits, and then I sent an email to cancel my subscription. So far, I'm enjoying the first book (about 1/3 of the way through) but glad I've got rid of the account.

The books are ok I guess (considering the genre and target audience), but the guy who narrates the audiobooks is awful. He has this horrible habit of ending every line of dialogue in an upwards inflection? Which makes it sound like characters are constantly asking questions?

Plus some of the voices he gives minor characters are so annoying they had me constantly gritting my teeth. There's a pegasus in the third book (and all books thereafter) who you'll grow to hate within seconds of his introduction.

cbirdsong
Sep 8, 2004

Commodore of the Apocalypso
Lipstick Apathy

Megera posted:

I finished The Golden Compass last week. It had a full cast and everything, and I can't recommend it enough. No one droned on and on, I rarely had to go back and listen again due to spacing out, and I was pleasantly surprised that it was, in fact, MUCH better than the movie. I've heard the next two suck, so I won't bother. :)

They don't, in fact. Get them.

coyo7e
Aug 23, 2007

by zen death robot

MeatwadIsGod posted:

I just finished this audiobook (my first one), and it was really enjoyable and varied. The voice actors who really stood out to me were Mark Hamill, Henry Rollins, and Eaomann Walker. When I heard John Turturro had a part, I decided to go for the audiobook instead of a hard copy, even though it's abridged. Maybe my expectations for him were too high, but I felt kind of underwhelmed by his delivery. Some of the Asian characters, despite having interesting stories, were brought down by phoned-in, stilted voice acting. I'd recommend the audiobook of World War Z if you're into this kind of journalism or you really like zombie stuff, but the quality of the voice acting really runs the spectrum from bad to great.
I recently got this and it's really great, however I've yet to come across these asian characters with terrible voicework, though; the only asian character with a unique Voice Actor (Kwang Jingshu, the doctor from the beginning of the story,) is voiced by Steve Parks to my knowledge. That character was also a fairly rural, older chinese man, so it wouldn't make sense to not give him a fairly thick accent.

I'm curious whether you're asian, or just getting offended by proxy? http://modelminority.com/modules.php?name=News&file=article&sid=1

Edit: oh yeah, I forgot about the japanese dude, although "blind sensei" is a pretty cheesy cliche anyway. ;)

coyo7e fucked around with this message at 02:18 on Mar 3, 2010

jassa
Nov 7, 2005

"He's so awesome!"
He really is!

CDOR Gemini posted:

They don't, in fact. Get them.

The narration is pretty good, the story not so much.

SaviourX
Sep 30, 2003

The only true Catwoman is Julie Newmar, Lee Meriwether, or Eartha Kitt.

Don't listen to typical goons about Pullman. If you're expecting gee whiz bang giant bear fights and steampunk adventures for the rest of the Northern Lights series, then you're missing the point entirely. The next two books introduce new characters and worlds and play out differently than you might expect.

Unlike a lot of YA/fantasy fiction recommended around here, everything does a purpose and is written in a way that doesn't talk down to younger readers or adults. He's blunt with his message, but it's done in a way that so many people take it personally to both ends of the spectrum instead of actually considering the allegory.

Anyway. It's Pullman narrating the audiobooks and the cast is fantastic, so yeah.

Pompous Rhombus
Mar 11, 2007

Redfont posted:

Not sure if this has been mentioned already:

There's an audio version of World War Z by Max Brooks. I'd only read a little of the original text book, but I recognized quickly that each interviewee having their own voice was a huge difference. And the voice acting is just fantastic, Alan Alda (Hawkeye from M*A*S*H) is the most notable (or at least, recognizable).

You sort of have to be really interested in zombie stuff, but if you can get into it, it's a good book. Definitely worth checking out.

I actually hate the whole zombie (sub)genre but most of the stories were pretty good.

Kestral
Nov 24, 2000

Forum Veteran
The degree to which you enjoy His Dark Materials past the first book depends on how enthused you are at reading Pullman's response to Christian fantasy like Chronicles of Narnia. Where the first book touched on religion here and there, books two and three go at it with both barrels. Pullman is an outspoken, unapologetic atheist with an axe to grind against organized religion which he expresses in his books, but he's also a pretty good writer of YA fiction.

Personally, I enjoyed the entire series on audio. They're worth the price of admission for the fantastic production values alone.

DrVenkman
Dec 28, 2005

I think he can hear you, Ray.
'World War Z' is great to listen to once you've already read the book. I don't really understand the point in abridging it, I can only guess it's because the book has such a large cast that it's to keep costs down. As a result the audiobook sort of lacks a flow, and feels like someone reading an early draft of the proper book before it's been fleshed out.

That's not to take away from the performances though, as most of them were fantastic. Henry Rollins is great, as is Alan Alda. But sadly yeah, the asian voices tend to sound like caricatures.

Wreckus
Dec 15, 2007

From birth, man carries the weight of gravity on his shoulders. He is bolted to earth. But man has only to sink beneath the surface and he is free.
I started listening to Stephen King's The Dark Tower series during a long trip and ended up listening to the whole thing over a few weeks while driving back and forth to work.

Now I'm listening to the Drizzt series because I'm a huge nerd.

e: World War Z was pretty good too.

The Haggis Line
Apr 10, 2003

Oh god I'm listening to the Aubrey/Maturin books for the second time in three years why are they so good WHY AM I SUCH A NERD.

(seriously listen to these books or read them even they kick so much rear end)

shady anachronism
Oct 14, 2006

Where's my goddamned milk?!

How is Cryptonomicon as an audiobook? I've wanted my husband to check it out for a while, but he has little enough time to read these days, and it's a loving huge book.

Actually neither of us reads much currently, but we do spend a lot of time listening to the radio and streaming poo poo for our entertainment, so I think audio books might be a good fit for the time being.

PBCrunch
Jun 17, 2002

Lawrence Phillips Always #1 to Me
I couldnt tell you but Snow Crash and The Diamond Age were both made into audiobooks and I liked both productions. I had read both books years prior to listening though.

Happy Hedonist
Jan 18, 2009


I live an hour from work and listen to a lot of audiobooks. I've been using Audible for over a year now and other than the draconian DRM I'm happy.

Also Slaughter House Five read by Ethan Hawke is the best drat audiobook I've heard. Even if you've read the book 100 times like I have, Hawke does an amazing job narrating. I can't recommend it enough.

The General
Mar 4, 2007


Happy Hedonist posted:

I live an hour from work and listen to a lot of audiobooks. I've been using Audible for over a year now and other than the draconian DRM I'm happy.


I have a poo poo ton of respect for audible. They are one of the main sponcers for TWiT and one episode one guest went on and bashed Audible for a good 15minutes and even told the listeners how to get around the DRM. Audible not only approved the episode but continues to support more than a year later.

Sir John Feelgood
Nov 18, 2009

Consider the Lobster by David Foster Wallace is a good audiobook.

You can get it on iTunes.

He also did one for Brief Interviews with Hideous Men, which is out of print and which you can download here.

They're both narrated by Wallace.

Sir John Feelgood fucked around with this message at 05:17 on Mar 13, 2010

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masada00
Mar 21, 2009
Anyone know of any audiobooks similar to the A Very Short Introduction series? I've never been able to get into fiction audiobooks but I'm looking to try out listening to some type of informational audiobook while I'm on the treadmill.

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