Audiobooks: when you're too busy to read

The Something Awful Forums > The Finer Arts > The Book Barn > Audiobooks: when you're too busy to read

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.

# ¿ Feb 13, 2010 20:07

Adbot: ADBOT LOVES YOU

# ¿ Apr 16, 2024 08:49

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.

# ¿ Mar 2, 2010 13:51

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.

# ¿ Mar 3, 2010 05:15

jassa: Nov 7, 2005; "He's so awesome!"
He really is!

Syrinxx posted:

I'm currently listening to The Lightning Thief read by Jesse Bernstein. This guy is a loving terrible narrator. His voices are all the same, he can't make a threatening voice to save his life and his inflection is bad. The book's fun and just what I expected, but this guy is really bringing it down a notch and making me wonder if I'll listen to the next 3 in the series.

Yeah, he's awful. It's a shame, because the books themselves are fairly entertaining for what they are. If you're on the lookout for good young adult books, I highly recommend the Artemis Fowl series. The narrator is a lot better than Bernstein, he's great at doing the different voices for the various characters. The books are quite clever and entertaining as well, significantly better than the Percy Jackson series.

# ¿ Apr 9, 2010 07:30

jassa: Nov 7, 2005; "He's so awesome!"
He really is!

FuSchnick posted:

Speaking of which, I just started Dance of Dragons. Now, Roy Dotrice is great as a narrator, and even for the rough-n-tough male characters. But he makes Dany sound like a little old lady. And maybe I'm spoiled by Peter Dinklage's sheer awesomeness in the TV series, but Roy makes Tyrion sound more like Vern Troyer. I realize he is bringing his own voices to the story and sounding like the TV actors is not his goal. But once you go Dinklage can't go back.

For better or worse I got used to Roy Dotrice as the narrator of the first three books. His voices were the voices for the characters. Then someone else read A Feast For Crows (apparently Dotrice was unavailable to record that at the time) and now Dotrice is back for A Dance With Dragons, a decade or so after his last book in the series. The problem is in this break he seems to have forgotten the voices he used for some of the characters (Dany being the most grating example). On the one hand it has been a long time so I guess it's not too surprising he's forgotten a few of the character voices. On the other hand, I would have thought someone would have pointed it out to him during the recording process, or that he would have done a quick skim through his previous recordings to refresh his memory.

# ¿ Jul 19, 2011 04:04

jassa: Nov 7, 2005; "He's so awesome!"
He really is!

FuSchnick posted:

I don't think that much effort goes into a lot of them.

In the audiobooks for Altered Carbon and its sequels (which I hate), the first book makes a small point about how the main character is annoyed by people mispronouncing his name. In the 2nd and 3rd books the reader makes the exact same mispronunciation throughout.

Yeah, I suspect you're right.

# ¿ Jul 19, 2011 09:16

jassa: Nov 7, 2005; "He's so awesome!"
He really is!

Does anyone know how audiobook narrators get paid? Per-book-sold, or just as a once-off for the initial narration? I was just wondering how companies justify charging almost twice as much for the audiobook than for the printed novel.

On a related note, I'm thinking of signing up for Audible. I'm Australian though, and I'm not sure how our pricing and range of titles compares. Are there any international goons here who can shed light on how good Audible are outside the US?

# ¿ Aug 15, 2011 04:11

jassa: Nov 7, 2005; "He's so awesome!"
He really is!

Mister Macys posted:

You're not just paying the authour and a mass-market book company, you're paying the people required to read, record, produce, and package the audiobook (roughly 1 CD per hour of reading). And any type of performer, whether radio, TV, or voice actor, comes at a premium.
Combined with a lower sale rate compared to books, it adds up. Gotta recoup those costs somehow.

That said, the member price of that specific book on Audible is $19.58, or $11.50, if you're buying with a (Platinum) credit... but they're 100% (proprietary) digital distribution. They don't have to make and ship an rear end-ton of CDs anywhere.

Pretend I specified the digital distribution version then, as that's all I'd be buying. It still doesn't seem like a reasonable increase even taking into account the cost of recording and the relatively small amount of post-production work done.

Part of my question was whether the narrator is paid a percentage of each audiobook sold, or a flat one-time fee. I suppose it's probably the latter.

# ¿ Aug 15, 2011 09:34

jassa: Nov 7, 2005; "He's so awesome!"
He really is!

imnotinsane posted:

I signed up with Audible and I am from Australia. I decided to end my subscription though over the distribution rights - all the awesome things available to American customers aren't available to us

Pricing wasn't really something I considered, I just brought my books with monthly credits.

I would probably sign up again if I had access to everything.

Thanks for the info. I've been delaying making a decision about this since I've been busy, but you've helped make the eventual decision easier. It never ceases to amaze me how difficult copyright holders make it for us to give them our money.

# ¿ Sep 22, 2011 03:23

Adbot: ADBOT LOVES YOU

# ¿ Apr 16, 2024 08:49

jassa: Nov 7, 2005; "He's so awesome!"
He really is!

Clinton1011 posted:

I don't know if this would work or what laws you would be breaking to do it but can't you use a VPN to make it seem like you are in America so you can make those purchases.

I probably could, but legalities aside... :effort:

# ¿ Sep 22, 2011 17:08

The Something Awful Forums > The Finer Arts > The Book Barn > Audiobooks: when you're too busy to read