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Location: Grootfontein, Namibia | Being a busy farmer spending a lot of time in the John Deere, from early morning till often quite late, I don't have the luxury of extra time for reading. It's not that I can't read at all, but we SF/F/H afficionados usually are obsessive about reading and it's this obsession that is now seriously curtailed by my farming activities. Fortunately the John Deere has a cabin with air-conditioner and a stereo system. Hence much of my chosen reading is done ... well ... eh ... through listening.
Of course, having an uncle in the Netherlands that is equally obsessive about our genre, helps. As it is, getting hold of SF/F/H reading material in Namibia is hard, and audiobooks even harder, but the uncle shares through Dropbox and I'm now rarely without listening options.
I'm confident that this is also the case with many others, spending time commuting, or in the gym, or just driving long distances, all of which likely interfere with reading hardcopy text. This challenge is for you too.
It is straightforward. Listen to anything genre related and review not only the story, but also the narration. And if not, well, just have fun. |
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Location: Las Vegas, NV | This is an awesome challenge! 90% of the reading I do is via audiobooks. While I'm I spend my time commuting, working out or even working, I'm listening to a book. I live in Las Vegas, Nevada, and we have a pretty good library system here. There are a a couple of apps called Hoopla & Overdrive that they use where I am able to "check out" the digital files and download them to my phone. And not just audiobooks but ebooks and video, too. If anyone has these programs available in their area, I highly recommend them.
Thank you, Emil. I feel like this challenge was made for me!
And I like the idea of reviewing the narration, as well. It's so important! I just posted on another thread about the audiobook version of Ancillary Justice by Ann Leckie. I couldn't get through the first few chapters. It wasn't the book, it was the delivery. The narrator had this weird inflection when she was talking and I realized that she was using the tonality of an ancillary; flat, and emotionless with an oddly rising inflection of voice at the end of every sentence. Artistically, I really appreciated that level of dedication to world creating and character of the audiobook production but it was so difficult to listen to for any extended period of time. The narrator was also female so I guess that influenced my visual of the character of Breq from the get go, too, even when I stopped listening to the book and read it instead. Everyone in the Radch is referred to in the feminine regardless of gender, making the character's actual genders obscured through most of the book.
Edited by devilinlaw 2015-11-02 11:50 AM
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Location: Fort Myers, Florida USA | In one of the forum threads related to a challenge, Administrator had suggested that an audiobook challenge would be a good thing. I hadn't expected it until 2016, though. I hear a lot of audiobooks and I've completed my other challenges, So, I'm in.
15 audiobooks in 14 months - piece o' cake.
I'll begin with the one I started yesterday, the third book in a trilogy. I read the first two books and never would have gotten the pronunciation of some (most) of the names. Now I know how they are pronounced, but if I had heard the previous books, I couldn't have guessed at their spelling. |
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Location: Las Vegas, NV | spectru - 2015-11-03 1:40 PM
I'll begin with the one I started yesterday, the third book in a trilogy. I read the first two books and never would have gotten the pronunciation of some (most) of the names. Now I know how they are pronounced, but if I had heard the previous books, I couldn't have guessed at their spelling.
That is an inherent risk when it comes to audiobooks. I listened to the Hunger Games series and had no idea how any of the names were spelled until I asked my significant other, who has a general aversion to audiobooks, and who is a huge fan of the series. She read them, I listened to them and it was interesting to compare notes on pronunciations and spelling. I can tell you for sure that I would have had a tough time with some of the names in the Ringworld books had I read and not listened to them. |
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Location: Grootfontein, Namibia | devilinlaw - 2015-11-03 7:42 AM
And I like the idea of reviewing the narration, as well. It's so important! I just posted on another thread about the audiobook version of Ancillary Justice by Ann Leckie. I couldn't get through the first few chapters. It wasn't the book, it was the delivery. The narrator had this weird inflection when she was talking and I realized that she was using the tonality of an ancillary; flat, and emotionless with an oddly rising inflection of voice at the end of every sentence. Artistically, I really appreciated that level of dedication to world creating and character of the audiobook production but it was so difficult to listen to for any extended period of time. The narrator was also female so I guess that influenced my visual of the character of Breq from the get go, too, even when I stopped listening to the book and read it instead. Everyone in the Radch is referred to in the feminine regardless of gender, making the character's actual genders obscured through most of the book.
Ancillary Justice was one of the first books I listened to in the tractor! Can't recall the tonality of the narrator now, but I do remember struggling getting into it and ultimately settled for the print copy, which was a gift from my mother. I guess the narration could have been to blame. I did listen to Ancillary Sword in ts totality, though, and found that one a lot more accessible. Over the next couple of weeks, as we are heading into maize planting season in Namibia, I'll be listening to Ancillary Mercy as well.
You can tell your partner that I too had a strong aversion toward audiobooks. That changed when I found out the John Deere had a stereo system  |
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Location: Grootfontein, Namibia | spectru - 2015-11-04 11:40 AM
In one of the forum threads related to a challenge, Administrator had suggested that an audiobook challenge would be a good thing. I hadn't expected it until 2016, though. I hear a lot of audiobooks and I've completed my other challenges, So, I'm in.
15 audiobooks in 14 months - piece o' cake.
Yeh, Dave and I have been chatting here and there about an audiobook challenge. So I just decided to start it seeing that about 60% of my reading is now done via ... err ... listening.
15 isn't much when you consider that I can spend up to 12 hours in the tractor when working the fields, and then often for a few days. It is easy to get in three or four audiobooks by the time I'm finished. But then I do have a few Neal Stephenson's on my list, and they are ... well ... long! |
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Location: Las Vegas, NV | Just finished listening to "A Canticle for Leibowitz" by Walter Miller. I apparently had some stuff to say about it because my review turned out to be pretty long (for me, anyway). Anyone interested can read it here:
https://www.worldswithoutend.com/novel_review.asp?ID=7476 |
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Location: Gunnison, Colorado | No tractor, but my yard is looking better since I started listening to audiobooks, as they make weeding, etc. much more tolerable!
And Emil, speaking of Stephenson, I'm a little over halfway through Cryptonomicon, which has got to be at least 40 hours long. I'm always reluctant to commit to superlong books, but this one has been worth the time so far... |
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Location: Las Vegas, NV | To keep things rolling right along, I have now finished:
Anansi Boys by Neil Gaiman, narrated by (now Sir) Lenny Henry - fun book, great narration
Time is the Fire: The Best of Connie Willis, narrated by a full cast - each separate story is narrated by a different voice actor giving each story it's own distinct feel
The Martian Chronicles by Ray Bradbury, narrated by Scott Brick - timeless book but I've found that I'm not a huge fan of Brick's |
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Location: Fort Myers, Florida USA | devilinlaw - 2015-11-11 2:51 AM To keep things rolling right along, I have now finished: Anansi Boys by Neil Gaiman, narrated by (now Sir) Lenny Henry - fun book, great narration Time is the Fire: The Best of Connie Willis, narrated by a full cast - each separate story is narrated by a different voice actor giving each story it's own distinct feel The Martian Chronicles by Ray Bradbury, narrated by Scott Brick - timeless book but I've found that I'm not a huge fan of Brick's My spouse and I listen to audiobooks when we travel, instead of listening to the car radio. Neil Gaiman has become a favorite of hers because most of them are read by the author and she loves the sound of his voice. Anansi boys is on our list to hear, but she is reticent because it isn't narrated by Gaiman himself. Brick reads a lot of science fiction. While he isn't a favorite of mine, he usually does an acceptable performance. I heard The Martian Chronicles read by Ray Bradbury. I find that in most cases, (with the exception of Gaiman, perhaps) the author isn't as good a reader as a professional reader would be. This was the case, IMHO, with The Martian Chronicles read by Bradbury. I read The Martian Chronicles years and years ago and wasn't particularly impressed, so I heard the audiobook more recently. My initial opinion of it wasn't changed. So now I wonder if Brick does a better job than Bradbury in making it live up to its status as an acclaimed classic.
Edited by spectru 2015-11-15 1:15 PM
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Location: Austin, Tx | There is a recording of The Martian Chronicles read by Steven Hoye. It is what made me fall in love with the stories. He has just enough of a 50s radio voice to make the stories retrofuturistic instead of feeling dated. His voice and reading style smoothed over a lot of the little issues I probably would have had in print. |
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Location: Dallas, Texas | pizzakarin - 2015-11-16 8:13 AM There is a recording of The Martian Chronicles read by Steven Hoye. It is what made me fall in love with the stories. He has just enough of a 50s radio voice to make the stories retrofuturistic instead of feeling dated. His voice and reading style smoothed over a lot of the little issues I probably would have had in print. I went for the version narrated by Mark Boyett for the same reason you liked Hoye - that 50s radio vibe. I toyed with the radio dramatization version too but opted for the single voice for my first read through. What do you all think of the dramatized productions? I really liked the one for Ender's Game and I will definitely try more in future. It really comes down to what I'm in the mood for at the time. My first read for this challenge is actually a re-read, which I hope counts too. I heard a sample of the narration for Horus Rising, book one of the Horus Heresy and thought I'd like to read that again. It's been some years since I read it on paper and I always seem to get more from a book on audio if I've already read it. Fantastic narration that really fits the theme. I wish Black Library was available on Audible though as they are really expensive. A rec for those looking for a book with a great narrator that also a real hoot is The Necromancer by Jonathan Howard. This is a case where I don't think I would have enjoyed the book near as much had I just read it. I went back immediately for book 2 but to my horror discovered it was done by a different narrator. I find switching voices in a series to be more annoying than a cover art change in the middle of a run - no matter how excellent it is on it's own. I've just started Leviathan Wakes which has a good narrator too. It's been on my list for some time and the preview for the ScyFy series, that looks really excellent by the way, has scared me into reading it now before the show comes out. |
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Location: Las Vegas, NV | spectru - 2015-11-15 11:14 AM
My spouse and I listen to audiobooks when we travel, instead of listening to the car radio. Neil Gaiman has become a favorite of hers because most of them are read by the author and she loves the sound of his voice. Anansi boys is on our list to hear, but she is reticent because it isn't narrated by Gaiman himself.
Anansi Boys was made more fun by the narration, I think. Lenny Henry did a fantastic job on the book. I, too, am a huge Gaiman fan and love his narration of his books. I've just recently finished listening to American Gods in a full voice cast production of the 10th Anniversary edition. Gaiman read the "Coming to America" stories himself. Another great audiobook to listen to. |
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Location: Las Vegas, NV | Just finished The Aeronaut's Windlass by Jim Butcher, the first book in his new series, The Cinder Spires, and I loved it! And the narration by Euan Morton was great! Sad that this is the only book released in the series but at least I can look forward to rereading it in about a year in preparation of book two.
Edited by devilinlaw 2015-11-21 1:36 PM
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Location: Middle TN, USA | I have listened to full cast books but have found that I actually prefer the single reader. I'm not sure why. I just finished The Naked Sun read by William Dufris from Penguin Random House Publishing Group. I think these novels from the 50's lend themselves quite well to an audiobook format. I have started Have Space Suit - Will Travel read by Mark Turetsky up next. |
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Location: Las Vegas, NV | Badseedgirl - 2015-11-21 5:48 PM
I have listened to full cast books but have found that I actually prefer the single reader. I'm not sure why. I just finished The Naked Sun read by William Dufris from Penguin Random House Publishing Group. I think these novels from the 50's lend themselves quite well to an audiobook format. I have started Have Space Suit - Will Travel read by Mark Turetsky up next.
I listened to Have Space Suit - Will Travel in a full cast audio a couple of months ago. Everyone had the the appropriate "gee whiz" kind of delivery suited to the feel of the book. It was the math that I had a hard time with...the lots and lots of math. I know that Heinlein had an ax to grind about education in the US (as seen by a few of the rants of Kip's father in the book) but it at times seemed like it was a textbook instead of a juvenile science fiction romp, lol. |
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Location: Fort Myers, Florida USA | devilinlaw - 2015-11-21 9:00 PM Badseedgirl - 2015-11-21 5:48 PM I have listened to full cast books but have found that I actually prefer the single reader. I'm not sure why. I just finished The Naked Sun read by William Dufris from Penguin Random House Publishing Group. I think these novels from the 50's lend themselves quite well to an audiobook format. I have started Have Space Suit - Will Travel read by Mark Turetsky up next. I listened to Have Space Suit - Will Travel in a full cast audio a couple of months ago. Everyone had the the appropriate "gee whiz" kind of delivery suited to the feel of the book. It was the math that I had a hard time with...the lots and lots of math. I know that Heinlein had an ax to grind about education in the US (as seen by a few of the rants of Kip's father in the book ) but it at times seemed like it was a textbook instead of a juvenile science fiction romp, lol. I also heard that version of Have Space Suit Will Travel. Some of the cast were kids, or at least they sounded like kids, which is appropriate I suppose since the book was aimed at young readers. But I agree with you in that I prefer a single reader over a cast. On occasion an audio book is read by multiple readers, but not as a cast. Ender's Game read by Stefan Rudnicki et al is an example.
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Location: Las Vegas, NV | The Star Wars audiobooks add a lot to the listening experience, including sound and voice effects and even background music at times. And they generally have good narrators, even if the books themselves aren't all 100% fantastic. There are a big number of abridged audiobooks in the Star Wars listening library, too, though, that I refuse to listen to. Reading (or listening to) an abridged book is not reading what the author wrote. I have the same problem watching full screen DVDs or VHS cassettes, lol. I'm missing the edges of the action and pan and scan is just terrible and obvious. Sorry...going on a bit of a rant. Lol. That's probably why I also prefer director's cuts of films usually, because it was their original vision. Not that cut material necessarily makes the film better than the uncut, but it was still the director's original vision, what he wanted to say. |
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Location: Las Vegas, NV | Finished The Fifth Heart by Dan Simmons. The narration by David Pittu was fantastic but the book itself was a bit meandering and I'm not sure it really succeeded in what it was trying to do. It felt pretty unwieldy and bloated, but apparently it was supposed to. I guess it's suppose to be a literary mash-up of Arthur Conan Doyle's Sherlock Holmes stories and novelist Henry James' works. |
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Location: Fort Myers, Florida USA | I just heard my second Robert A Heinlein audio book this month read by Bronson Pinchot. The first was Glory Days - not recommended - and now I have just finished Assignment in Eternity. As far as I have been able to determine, Pinchot has narrated well over a hundred audio books, including two by Heinlein, which just by happenstance I happened to read one after the other. Pinchot's reading was good but not memorable. |
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Location: Fort Myers, Florida USA | Robert A Heinlein - The Rolling Stones
This is a good, old-fashioned, family space opera. clearly intended for a younger audience -this is one of Heinlein's juvenile series- a fun read nevertheless. I heard the audio book by Full Cast Audio, the same company that did Have Space Suit, Will Travel. It may even have been the same cast. They did a pretty good job, (On par with the cast at your local dinner theater) except for the youngest boy in the Stone family, who sounded like a little kid in The Simpsons cartoon show.
Grandmother Hazel is a recurring character, playing a major role as a young woman in The Moon Is a Harsh Mistress, published 13 years later. She also appears in a couple of other Heinlein novels. |
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Location: Las Vegas, NV | The Body Snatchers by Jack Finney
Read by Kistoffer Tabori, son of Don Siegel, director of the 1956 film version. The book was okay as a novel, short and nothing that blew my socks off. Tabori's cadence was a bit strange during portions of the narration and I can't say I was a huge fan. Added was a brief interview of Tabori talking about his father's work on the film. |
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Location: Fort Myers, Florida USA | devilinlaw - 2015-12-02 6:21 PM The Body Snatchers by Jack Finney Read by Kistoffer Tabori, son of Don Siegel, director of the 1956 film version. The book was okay as a novel, short and nothing that blew my socks off. Tabori's cadence was a bit strange during portions of the narration and I can't say I was a huge fan. Added was a brief interview of Tabori talking about his father's work on the film. I heard the same audiobook. Here's an excerpt from my review from March 2013: "I heard the audiobook version read by Kristoffer Tabori, the son of Don Segal, who directed the 1955 movie. Tabori did an absolutely first rate job of it." |
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Location: Las Vegas, NV | The characters seemed to be do a lot of running around for little to no purpose. They clear out of town, spend the night in a motel, then go back to town. The only thing that happened was that Bennell and Becky have sex!
What bothered me about Tabori's delivery is the way that he rushed sentences together as if there were no periods between them, especially when it came to delivering dialogue. Certainly not the worst book to read or audiobook to listen to but I've read better invasion stories and have heard better narration. |
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Location: Middle TN, USA | The Naked Sun by Isaac Asimov
Read by William Dufris. I really enjoyed the audiobook, but that may have been because I just enjoyed the book itself. Interesting factoid, Dufris was the original voice of "Bob The Builder"
Have Space Suit - Will Travel Robert Heinlein
Read by Mark Turetsky. This was a well read audiobook. Mr. Turetsky did not try to do a "female" voice but did modulate his normal reading tone up when speaking in the female characters voices. I enjoyed the reading quite a bit, and the story was great! |
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| I am psyched for this challenge! I'm a home visiting nurse practitioner and spend lots of time in the car, often going back and forth over the same roads. Not only can it get boring but some of the visits are difficult and I need to clear my mind and relax between seeing patients. My library just introduced Hoopla and I've downloaded two new books: Radiance by Valente and A Darker Shade of Magic by Swaab. A great way to save some of my audible credits for harder to find books. |
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Location: Fort Myers, Florida USA | My library has Overdrive, OneClickDigital, and Hoopla. My preferred app is Overdrive. One good thing about Hoopla, you don't have to wait for someone else to finish. If Hoopla has the title, it's available. |
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Location: Dallas, Texas | spectru - 2015-12-05 10:40 AM My library has Overdrive, OneClickDigital, and Hoopla. My preferred app is Overdrive. One good thing about Hoopla, you don't have to wait for someone else to finish. If Hoopla has the title, it's available. I've been reading all my books through Audible. I really need to visit my library to see what are my options. |
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Location: Middle TN, USA | My Library has Overdrive, and I just love it. It allows my tiny local library to have access to the same books as the larger libraries. I listen to audiobooks exclusively through Overdrive.
I am currently listening to Altered Carbon by Richard K. Morgan and read by Todd McLaren. His voice is so smooth and resonant that I have stopped listening to the book at night because it puts me right to sleep. I do fine in the car or if I am doing housework, but as soon as I sit down my head starts to droop. And no, its not the story because I am in love with the plot. It's Mr. McLaren's dulcet tones. |
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Location: Las Vegas, NV | spectru - 2015-12-05 8:40 AM
My library has Overdrive, OneClickDigital, and Hoopla. My preferred app is Overdrive. One good thing about Hoopla, you don't have to wait for someone else to finish. If Hoopla has the title, it's available.
Hoopla and Overdrive are the two apps I use for most of my audiobook listening, although I have also had to get a number of physical disc sets from the library for lack of digital options. Hoopla does not have the waiting periods like Overdrive, which is nice, but I find the Overdrive app more user friendly.
My list for this challenge will probably fluctuate a lot over the course of the challenge since I listen to about 80% of the books I "read." |
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Location: Middle TN, USA | I just finished Armada by Ernest Cline and read by Wil Wheaton, although the book was just so-so Wil Wheaton was pretty darn great. He is a huge gaming and scfi fan and the only more appropriate narrator would have been Chris Hardwick. I would listen to more narrated by Wil Wheaton. |
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Location: Fort Myers, Florida USA | I agree with your assessment of Armada and Wil Wheaton's reading of it. Wheaton also read Ready Player One by Cline. Unfamiliar with Chris Hardwick. |
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Location: Middle TN, USA | spectru - 2015-12-19 12:11 PM
I agree with your assessment of Armada and Wil Wheaton's reading of it. Wheaton also read Ready Player One by Cline. Unfamiliar with Chris Hardwick.
I heard very good things about Mr. Wheaton's reading of Ready Player One, that was one of the reasons I wanted to listen to Armada. Chris Hardwick hosts @Midnight, a comedy show on Comedy Central, he also hosts "Talking Dead" the post Walking Dead recap show on AMC, and is CEO of Nerdist Industries, and hosts "The Nerdist" Podcast. Basically he is a super nerd authority, and very funny by the way. |
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Location: Las Vegas, NV | Hardwick also starred in "House of 1000 Corpses," Rob Zombie's directorial debut, along with Rainn Wilson. I listened to Ready Player One and loved it! Armada was okay but Wheaton killed it. He's narrated a number of John Scalzi audiobooks, too, including Redshirts and Fuzzy Nation. |
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Location: Fort Myers, Florida USA | Anansi Boys by Neil Gaiman
Anansi Boys is a lighthearted story with a supernatural bent, a fun read. Fat Charlie, the main character, is more or less the same character as the protagonaist in Gaiman's Neverwhere.
British actor and comedian Lenny Henry does a terrific Job narrating the audio book. I expect that anything by Henry would be worth hearing. |
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Location: Fort Myers, Florida USA | I've recently become infatuated with Robert Silverberg; started he Lord Valentines castle this morning. It puts me in mind of Ursula K Le Guin's writing. Except that Le Guin's books are usually fairly short, a lot of them novellas; this is pretty long at 19.5 hours. Stefan Rudnicki is doing a great job, as usual, with the narration. So far, I'm enjoying it |
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Location: Salt Lake City, UT | This fits in quite nicely for me. We're doing the Brandon Sanderson challenge this year, and I've already got plans to do a few of the books in audio format. Thanks for putting up the challenge! |
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| I recently finished Planetfall read by the author Emma Newman, who is also a professional narrator. The story and reading are well worth listening too.
I'm also a big fan of CJ Cheeryh's Foreigner series whose narrator Daniel Thomas May is excellent. Ditto Kristine Kathryn Rusch's Diving Universe series read by Jennifer Van Dyck. Rusch's stories might be less sophisticated but are lots of fun. Ditto also for the Expanse series read by Jefferson Mayes. If you are watching the TV show you might find, as I have, that they are similar but different enough that neither is spoiled by the other. |
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| On the other hand I'm currently listening to Corsair by Cambias and it's a pretty thin story. Disappointing as I really loved his The Darkling Sea. Not loving the narrator Victor Bevine. He's not terrible but I can't tell if I might like him better reading a different book.
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Location: suburb of Minneapolis, MN | This challenge will give me the impetus to listen to some of the books I bought back in 2010 and 2011! Yes, I have LOTS of Audible books and want to make sure I listen to all of them. So, I listed only those books from those years. |
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Location: Fort Myers, Florida USA |
The audio book of Robert Silverberg's Lord Valentine's Castle is read by master narrator Stefan Rudnicki. There are songs in the story, as I imagine minstrel songs of the Elizabethan era. Rudnicki does, I'm sure, a better job at singing them than I could, but singing is clearly not what makes him such a great reader.
- An enjoyable, entertaining read.
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Location: Grootfontein, Namibia | I've finished Seveneves and found it an excellent book. Obviously Mary Robinette Kowal does a brilliant job with the narration, or at least for the first two parts of the novel. Part 3 is narrated by Will Damron, which in the end does not compare very well with the preceding parts. No fault of Damron, but Stephenson's excessive descriptive storytelling. I think if I had to read the book, my eyelids would have succumb to gravity. Nonetheless, despite that, I'm totally taken in by the book. Scientifically sound. |
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Location: Fort Myers, Florida USA | With Delany's Babel-17 read by Stefan Rudnicki I've completed the challenge. |
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| Audiobooks aren't really my thing, but I just stumbled across LibriVox, which is a source for public domain works read by volunteers. Look at all the Lord Dunsany they have - wow!
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Location: Grootfontein, Namibia | spectru - 2016-02-05 5:17 PM
With Delany's Babel-17 read by Stefan Rudnicki I've completed the challenge.
Awesome! Well done! For the next round we will need to expand the reading levels  |
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Location: Grootfontein, Namibia | Engelbrecht - 2016-02-06 10:20 AM
Audiobooks aren't really my thing, but I just stumbled across LibriVox, which is a source for public domain works read by volunteers. Look at all the Lord Dunsany they have - wow!
Yes, a great resource. But often amateurish compared the financially backed professional counterparts. I did find a few gems, though. The Barsoom series, for one. E.M.Foster. Some of the Lord Dunsany's were - sadly - a real trudge! |
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Location: Fort Myers, Florida USA | I just discovered AdioPhile. Seems like a useful resource for those of us who enjoy audio books, so I thought I'd share.
http://www.audiofilemagazine.com/
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| My library has Overdrive and Hoopla, along with the physical cd collection. I do like Hoopla because of the lack of wait time and wider selection, but dislike needing to stream them. Usable at home where I have a stable wifi, but not necessarily elsewhere.
During the summer, keep an eye on the Audiobooksynch program. They offer free copies of audiobooks, usually a mix of classic and YA titles. Sometimes there will be a sf/fantasy title in the mix.
http://www.audiobooksync.com/ |
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Location: Fort Myers, Florida USA | juliael71 - 2016-02-20 4:20 PM My library has Overdrive and Hoopla, along with the physical cd collection. I do like Hoopla because of the lack of wait time and wider selection, but dislike needing to stream them. Usable at home where I have a stable wifi, but not necessarily elsewhere. During the summer, keep an eye on the Audiobooksynch program. They offer free copies of audiobooks, usually a mix of classic and YA titles. Sometimes there will be a sf/fantasy title in the mix. http://www.audiobooksync.com/ I learned that you can download books with Hoopla. You don't have to stream them. At least, downloading is possible with my library, with an iPhone. After you borrow the book, on your phone scroll down below the play button. It says "Download to device."
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Member
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| At least with my Android phone, I could download, but it'd be a local copy. So if I exited out of Hoopla and come back I'd have to do it all over again. I haven't tried it on the Fire yet to see if it's the same. |
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Uber User
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Location: Grootfontein, Namibia | spectru - 2016-02-20 4:20 PM
I just discovered AdioPhile. Seems like a useful resource for those of us who enjoy audio books, so I thought I'd share.
http://www.audiofilemagazine.com/
Thanks! This is great resource. Pity they don't list categories. Or I just can't find them. |
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Veteran
Posts: 111
Location: Austin, Tx | I just finished the audiobook for The Fifth Season by N K Jemisin. It was 5 star fantastic. Jemisin manages to do an enormous amount of worldbuilding, keep it focused, and yet still make it seem like a world with history and diversity. The narrator was excellent. Robin Miles also narrates Karen Lord's Redemption In Indigo and she does very well with this type of character while still having a good range of voices. |
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Extreme Veteran
Posts: 305
| Good to know pizzakarin! I like Robin Miles and. Wanted to read the Fifth Season but maybe the audio version would work well for me. |
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Uber User
Posts: 369
Location: Middle TN, USA | I just finished "The Exodus Tower" by Jason M. Hough and I just loved Simon Vance's voice. His narration makes the novel even better. |
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Veteran
Posts: 111
Location: Austin, Tx | Simon Vance has narrated tons of scifi and fantasy stuff. I knew I recognized the name and it turns out I've listened to him narrate The Prestige and Titus Groan, both of which were excellent. |
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Veteran
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Location: Austin, Tx | I just finished Uprooted by Naomi Novik. It was a wonderful take on fairytale fantasy, giving me the same warm fuzzy feelings as The Golem and the Jinni, possibly because the emphasis on friendship and with romance as a naturally built thing (as in, you don't realize it has been building until it's there, but it never feels forced).
I loved Julia Emelin's narration. She either has or does a really good Eastern European accent, which added an extra layer of immersion to the story. It felt like Julia was Agnieszka telling me the story (it's written in 1st person) rather than someone reading a story to me.
I don't know that I'll pick up more of Novik's current books because they seem to be dragon-centered (and I have had enough dragons via Robin Hobb to last me a while), but I will keep her on my list of authors to watch. |
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Uber User
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Location: Grootfontein, Namibia | pizzakarin - 2016-03-31 3:37 AM
I just finished Uprooted by Naomi Novik. It was a wonderful take on fairytale fantasy, giving me the same warm fuzzy feelings as The Golem and the Jinni, possibly because the emphasis on friendship and with romance as a naturally built thing (as in, you don't realize it has been building until it's there, but it never feels forced).
I loved Julia Emelin's narration. She either has or does a really good Eastern European accent, which added an extra layer of immersion to the story. It felt like Julia was Agnieszka telling me the story (it's written in 1st person) rather than someone reading a story to me.
I don't know that I'll pick up more of Novik's current books because they seem to be dragon-centered (and I have had enough dragons via Robin Hobb to last me a while), but I will keep her on my list of authors to watch.
I did too!! Emelin's accent certainly gave the story an authentic layer. Found the whole presentation magical. And I simply loved "The Golem and the Jinni!" |
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Extreme Veteran
Posts: 305
| Uprooted probably was my favorite audiobook last year! The other fantasy I thought was well done was a Darker Shade of Magic narrated by Steven Crossley.
A series I've truly enjoyed (but haven't yet listened to the final book) is Wolfhound Century by Peter Higgins and narrated by Neil Dickson. Has anyone else 'read' this one? I've been talking it up but it seems to have slipped by the general notice of most speculative fiction readers. It's an unusual mix of Russian myth and .... something ... sorta technological. The author builds a detailed world and the narrator adds to the dark oppressive feel. |
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Veteran
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Location: Las Vegas, NV | Just finished "A Wizard of Earthsea" by Usula K. Le Guin as read by Harlan Ellison. It is clear that he has love of the material but my oh my how manic he is when recounting the adventures of Ged Sparrowhawk. It might be interesting to those who are familiar with the source material but might turn off those reading (or rather listening to) it for the first time. |
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Admin
Posts: 3942
Location: Dallas, Texas | I just finished reading League of Dragons by Naomi Novik and I've now completed this challenge! This is my second challenge to complete this year so yay me. I combined this one with the Legendarium's Sanderson reading challenge to knock out half of my Master of Ceremonies level. I hope you'll do this one again next year, Emil! And perhaps make the reading levels higher? This one combines with all the other challenges quite nicely. Now to focus on my other reading challenges -- I've got 6 more to go!
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Uber User
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Location: Middle TN, USA | Administrator - 2016-06-24 4:02 PM
I just finished reading League of Dragons by Naomi Novik and I've now completed this challenge! This is my second challenge to complete this year so yay me. I combined this one with the Legendarium's Sanderson reading challenge to knock out half of my Master of Ceremonies level. I hope you'll do this one again next year, Emil! And perhaps make the reading levels higher? This one combines with all the other challenges quite nicely. Now to focus on my other reading challenges -- I've got 6 more to go!
I second Dave. This was a great challenge! |
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Uber User
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Location: Grootfontein, Namibia | We'll do this again for next year. And yes, more reading levels. |
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Extreme Veteran
Posts: 305
| Yay! Thanks! |
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Audiobook Reading Challenge 2015 - 2016