Audiobook Narrators & Polls
Added 2025-07-25 15:59:08 +0000 UTCAn audiobook is a while away, so this is just a preliminary discussion.
Two topics:
For those of you who listen to a lot of audiobooks—Any suggestions for narrators?
and
What do you think of duet narration, like what Royal Guard Publishing does a lot of? Would you rather have a solo narrator?
Comments
I recommend Soundbooth Theater if they're interested in your story, for me they're the best ones on the market right now, and I adore their full cast productions which make the stories alive.
Andrei
2025-08-26 01:24:12 +0000 UTCLorelei King narrates the Mercedes Thompson series by Patricia Briggs, and does an excellent job.
BelligerentGnu
2025-08-22 21:18:42 +0000 UTCI prefer duet because most narrators aren’t great at doing the opposite sex. It also gives a more diverse set of voices. My understanding is that the top tier narrators are booked way out. Also, most(?) authors use an audio publisher like Podium to handle the all the audio. Podium also prints high quality hardcover editions.
Kreylix
2025-08-17 16:27:13 +0000 UTCandrea parsneau
Jesse
2025-07-30 22:13:55 +0000 UTCSo this will be a long reply. Solo vs dual narration depends on who you get. Below are my ideas and suggestions. The best narrators, Andrea Parsneau and Travis Baldree are generally booked pretty solid for months if not years. Daniel Wisneiski has a great deal of energy and emotion in his deliveries, but I suspect would not be suitable given the protag is female and he does not do women's voices all that well. Jeff Hays and Nick Podehl are both good for male and female voices. In terms of delivery (narration vs voice acting) Jeff is more like Andrea while Nick is more like Travis (Travis being the narrator, Andrea the voice actor). I would suggest avoiding dual narration in the style of one narrator does one half, in full, while the other narrator does the other half of the story in full. Basically, the Arifureta audiobook style. It sucks, and the disconnect between how the characters sound is jarring for us audiobook listeners. The haremlit dual narrator style, where one narrator does male voices and one narrator does female voices, is the better style. This series, overall, would fit Soundbooth Theatre well, as well as Graphic Audio. If you're looking for a single narrator suggestion, I think Jeff Hays would be the most likely to be able to find availability for you. Heath Miller probably too, but he has a limited female range. That said, maybe look into Andrea and Heath as a split? When Town Under had to bererecorded because the guy who did the voices for the male cast (and unfortunately, was brought back for books 2 and 3) used a mic that was basically dead was replaced with Heath Miller (Town Under is Tao Wong's system apocalypse, but set in Australia), him and Andrea played off each other quiet well. The only thing you might want to consider, however, is that some really good narrators and voice actors do haremlit stuff, and you may not want them for that reason. If that's not an issue, Jonathan Waters and Aurora Bliss are great. As are Daniel W or Chris Boucher and either Jessica Threet or Rebecca Woods. Both of those last four do other stuff that isn't haremlit too, but they got their careers started there. Peter Berkrot I would avoid for this series. He is decent enough. His deliveries are clear, and he puts emotion into his delivery, but he has a limited voice range. Avoid Neil Helligers like the plague unless you want your series narrated by someone who sounds like a 90s era Nat Geo narrator. Clear delivery, but no emotion, like two different voices, and he always sounds bored by what he's delivering. Reba Buhr is pretty solid for a single narrator. She can do different voices and accents, and her deliveries are great. She did Wraithwood Botanist, along with Cinnamon Bun, Melody of Mana, ShipCore and Ascendance of a Bookworm. Pavi Proczko is decent. He doesn't have the same range as Jeff, Nick or Travis, but he is decent. He did the Qi-MC^2 series as well as Defiance of the Fall. Derek Shoales did the Natural Laws Apocalypse series. I listenedd to the first book, and remembered i thought he was a decent narrator. Matt Hicks and Erin Bateman did corruption wielder, and I thought their deliveries were really good. Both quiet talented. Tom North and Faye Bishop are also a decent pairing. Though they are (usually) a haremlit pairing. This is all I can... oh! See if you can get David Thorpe. David Thorpe has incredible range, with accents and voices. He narrated/voice acted the Books for the Blind version of Raymond E. Feists Daughter of the Empire trilogy, as well as an extremely hard to get version of Magician and it's sequels to finish that trilogy. He is also doing Feist's current Dragonwar Saga trilogy (I assume trilogy) and did his previous trilogy The Firemane Saga. I have heard him do men and women. Boys and girls. Of all ages from really young to ancient and decrepit. With a variety of accents, from American to British to Asian sounding. About the only thing I've not heard him do is a South American, African, or French accent. He does an incredible job with everything he does. He straddles the line, I think, between 'narrator' and 'voice actor' in his deliveries.
Shannon
2025-07-28 23:43:07 +0000 UTC
