Top 10 Best Fantasy Audiobooks This list came from BESTFANTASYBOOKS.COM
Nov-11-13 @ 19:58:32 - Posted by Koolaid53
This list was a challenging one to create because the best fantasy audio books combine the quality of the story WITH the quality of the narrator. If the book is great but the narrator sounds like a toad, the whole audio experience isn’t quite the same. So keep in mind that the quality of the narrator is JUST as important as the quality of the story when taking this list into account! There’s also a new kind of audiobook called GraphicAudio(graphicaudio.net). These audiobooks are basically souped up features with sound effects added in, different characters having different voice actors (male and females). Pretty much as close as you can get to making an audiobook experience into a visual one. I generally enjoy Graphic Audiobooks over regular ones, though you do miss out on some of the outstanding voice actors who present some of the book recommendations I give below.
One question I always get asked is where to find (legal) audiobooks for a good price. One of the major complaints people have with audiobooks is that they are simply “too expensive” with most costing straight out between $20 – $30 dollars.
1. Audible.com
One affordable way around this is to join audible.com (you can sign up for free and get 2 free audiobook downloads). These guys have the biggest audiobook selection on the net and many of the current new release fantasy books are available. It’s by far the fastest way to get audiobooks (usually takes a couple minutes only) and the cheapest by far. You basically pay either around $14 bucks a month for any audiobook download of your choice or you can pay $28 bucks for the premium 2 audiobook downloads per month (this is what I do myself). A much better deal than straight out buying the audiobook CD’s via Amazon.com. Here’s a link to sign up and get any free audio book for the first month. You can cancel the plan after downloading and you won’t be charged a cent (and you’ll have a free audiobook).
2. The Library
If you can’t afford to buy the books, you can often find quite a few audiobook CD’s at your local library. You may be pleasently surprised to find some of the top fantasy audiobook titles available to be checked out — so it’s worth looking at.
3. Used on Amazon.com
You can almost always find cheap used audiobook CD’s on amazon.com. You’ll have to deal with shipping and the wait, but it’s worth a look.
Best Fantasy Audio Books
1. Game of Thrones (George Martin)
An amazing book, the start of the Song of Ice and Fire series, and a fantastic narrator that brings the story to life. And who to narrate the fantasy version of The War of the Roses other than a Brit!
Roy Dotrice the narrator does a resounding job bringing this series to brutal life. I have in fact listened to this entire series on audiobook which has done much to bring new life to the series. A fantastic fantasy tale with a superlative narrator make this my top pick. You can find the entire Song of Ice and Fire bundled audiobook series here. Apparently, there were two other narrators who narrated a few of the books (John Lee and Roy Avers?), but seems the publisher ended getting Dotrice to re-narrate them to provide continuity to the audiobook versions).
2. The Way of Kings (Brandon Sanderson)
A rich fantasy tale with the perfect narrator voice. The narrator’s deep, booming voice really adds a fourth dimension to the tale. Hands down, my favorite fantasy audiobook narrator, bar none. Nice use of both male and female narrators for the gender roles. The audio book gets bonus points for that (face it, no matter how good a male narrator is, it’s just not the same when they are narrating a female lead).
While the book starts off slow and take hundreds of pages to build up to the action, be prepared for a roller coaster ride as you approach the end. The Way of Kings is really what epic fantasy should be and there is NO better author to bring the character of Kaladin to life — that deep booming voice IS Kaladin (the lead character) himself. Michael Kramer is probably who I consider the best narrator for those fantasy books with strong, masculine protagonists — that oh-so-deep raspy voice just fits the role.
Michael Kramer narrates The Mistborn Series and The Wheel of Time series.
3. Lies of Locke Lamora (Scott B. Lynch)
Part comedic Robin Hood, part revenge tragedy, and part high adventure fantasy tale. This book is intelligent, clever, funny, and dramatically dark. The narrator Michael Page is perfectly suited for this novel. I would rank Michael Page as my second favorite narrator after Michael Kramer. His clever voicing of different characters just works and he’s got that rich British accent. The key quality I like about Michael Page is his world-class dry, sarcastic tone used in narration. This really brings to life books where there is subtle dry humor throughout the novel.
Michael Page also narrates Joe Abercrombie’s books.
4. The Dark Tower Series (Stephen King)
In pure audiobook terms, amazing voice work. The tale comes alive in a whole new way when narrated by the deep and powerful voiced George Guidall.
Note that there have been two audiobook narrators for the series: Frank Muller and George Guidall. Frank Muller was the original narrator of 1998 audio tape versions of the first 4 Dark Tower books. However, the publisher did a renarration of the first four books with a new narrator, George Guidall who narrates the last 3 books in the series. The reason from what I understand is that Frank Muller caught cancer and was unable to continue with the series as narrator since there were so many years between the first couple of Dark Tower books and the later sequels.
Rest assured that Guidall does a fantastic job of carrying out Muller’s style and tone. If you get ahold of the newer audiobook versions of the first couple books, there won’t be any discrepancy between narrators — you’ll only notice the change if you end up listening to the old audio tape versions (or some online rip of them).
Overall, Guidall’s recounting of (part of) the Dark Tower series is perfectly suited for the dark and chilling story that is The Dark Tower. If you haven’t read The Dark Tower, GOOD. Don’t read it, LISTEN TO IT! It’s better than reading it, seriously.
George Guidall also narrates Neil Gaiman’s American Gods.
5. The Wheel of Time (Robert Jordan)
The most disputed series out there in terms of “good or not”: many will argue the WOT has lost it’s mojo and just as many others will dispute this, especially with Brandon Sanderson finishing off the last 3 books in the series after Jordan died. Regardless of what you think of the printed version, the audiobook versions are very well done and the story comes to life. Even better, the books are narrated by Michael Kramer who I consider to have the best narrator voice in the fantasy genre.The female roles are narrated by Kate Reading which adds another dimension to the books.
6. Abhorsen Trilogy (Garth Nix)
Fantastic fantasy tale and even better narration. Curl up by the fireplace, put a pillow on your rocking chair, and listen to this dark fantasy tale. The books are perfectly narrated by Tim Curry, who’s made quite a name for himself in the horror genre, narrating some of Steven King’s books. So for dark fantasy or horror fantasy, I’d say Tim Curry is one of the best fantasy narrators.
Tim Curry has narrated: The Dune House Trilogy and a number of books set in the horror genre. Basically, the perfect narrator for a dark and creepy tale.
7.The Name of the Wind (Patrick Rothfuss)
A stellar book. The second book has mixed reviews (some people love it, while some thing the author spends the entire book talking about…nothing), but overall it’s a worthy tale and wonderfully written. You lose yourself in the world of Kvothe — and a fascinating world it is indeed. The world is brought to life by Nick Podehl, who’s perfect pitch draws the listener in.
Nick Podehl also narrates the very excellent YA series, The Skinjacker Trilogy
8. The Warded Man (Peter V. Brett)
Action, Adventure, and Horror combined into an epic fantasy setting where night is ruled by the dark. If you want a book that will keep you glued to your seat, this is a one such book. The narrator Pete Bradbury is the perfect fit for this story — his deep voice will lull you into the tale and keep you listening till the end.
Pete Bradbury also narrated Daniel Abraham’s excellent The Dragon’s Path
9. The Magicians (Lev Grossman)
This was one of the most clever and entertaining fantasy book’s I’ve had the privilege of reading. Take a spoiled, rich-kid versions of Harry Potter and co. on downers then send them off to try and rule an ostensibly harmless fairy kingdom that turns out to be as dangerous as it is charming. It’s some entertaining fantasy that’s as serious and deep as it is sarcastic and funny. This is not epic fantasy with Dragon Ball Z like powerups, but rather something more sophisticated that explores some deep questions. It’s not fantasy for everyone, but those who “get it” really “get it.” Some of the best fantasy I’ve ever read — I mean “heard.” The sequel, Magician King, is even better.
The narration by Mark Bramhall is spot on and makes an already entertaining book even more so. Don’t read this book. Listen to it.
10. The Heroes (Joe Abercrombie)
Basically can be summed up as “war sucks really bad.” Read this book and you’ll banish any thoughts about the romance of battle. The Heroes is Joe Abercrombie’s BEST work to date. It’s loosely set in the same world as the First Law (The Blade Itself and sequels) so if you want to be a real stickler to following the chronology of things, you’ll probably want to read The First Law trilogy first as some of the characters do make cameo appearances, but you don’t necessary have to. I also suggest if you want a more traditional fantasy tale, then start with The First Law trilogy. Keep in mind that Joe likes to play tricks on “traditional,” however.
The book is narrated by the awesome Michael Page who also did a standup narration job on Lies of Locke Lamora is PERFECTLY brings his dry sarcastic tone to this book.
A Few Other Recommendations
The Black Company (Glen Cook)
Superb narration by Marc Vietor of an already superb series leads to one of the best fantasy audiobook experiences out there. The voice of Croaker truly comes to life with the narrator, who even has the same raspy sort of voice you’d imagine “Croaker” would have. Note, you’ll have to get these from Audible as you can’t buy the normal Audio CD’s.
Mark Vietor also narrates the totally awesome Hyperion series, which would certainly rank near the top on any Top 10 Best Science Fiction Audiobooks list I make.
Malazan Book of the Fallen (Steven Erikson)
These days, this series is right up there with Martin as the best fantasy series. In fact, many people feel that Martin dropped the ball with his last 2 books (Feast for Crows and Dance with Dragons) and the series is no longer the best (I don’t necessary agree with this). However, the Malazan books on a whole are pretty steller reads, from the first book to the last book (the last book is controversial with some liking the ending and others not so much).
I have mostly read this series, but I have listen to one of them in Audiobook form and was not disappointed. If you are looking for a complex, dark and sweeping epic with loads of battle scenes, complicated magic, and so many characters that you’ll have problems keeping them all in your head as the series progresses, this is YOUR series.
Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell (Susanna Clarke)
One of my favorite fantasy books done just right with the narration. The rich British narrator brings this Dark Fantasy Version of a Jane Austen novel to life.
The book is narrated by Simon Prebble who also has narrated many classics by Charles Dickens, HG Wells, and Jules Verne among others.
Ghormenghast (Mervyn Peake)
All that’s good about this novel is captured by the narrator. People often complain about how “hard” it is to get into the almost poetic descriptive language of this series. The solution is the audiobook which brings to life all the richness of the language used to write it — and it’s understandable! Listen to it.
Robert Whitfield narrates Ghormanghast. He’s also narrates Bram Stoker’s Dracula. Basically, the perfect voice for Gormenghast.
American Gods (Neil Gaiman)
One of my favorite Audiobooks. Narrator and story are superb.