Good audiobooks

[readsaboutd&d]

I have a recently found a need for some good audiobooks and decided to ask the playground for some recommendations. I'm pretty open to anything except romance which kinda bores me (if it's the primary focus, I don't mind if it's a subplot). I'd like some that are not simply good books but which gain something from the conversion. I have already read ASOIAF and have heard that "the gunslinger" by Stephen King is a good one.

[Eldan]

I've started and given up on a lot of audiobooks thanks to bad speakers, but I can wholly recommend the Dresden files, read by James Marsters.

[Weezer]

I'd recommend both Neverwhere and Coraline audiobooks, they're read by Neil Gaiman, the author, and he's very good at it.

Also the Hitchhikkers Guide, as read by Stephen Fry is excellent. He has a perfect voice for narration.

[JCarter426]

Also the Hitchhikkers Guide, as read by Stephen Fry is excellent. He has a perfect voice for narration.

I rather enjoyed the Douglas Adams versions. He did the Dirk Gently books too.

[Roland St. Jude]

The Gunslinger is quite good, as is the whole series. I particularly enjoy Roger Zelazny's Amber series (starting with Nine Princes in Amber) read by the author himself. Also, his Midnight in the Lonesome October.

I found the Silmarillion tedious to read but a delight to listen to, though it was long ago, so I can't recall why. The whole LotR series was a good listen, iirc.

L.Ron Hubbard's Mission Earth Series was an interesting listen. As I recall, it's a multi-cast production with sound effects and such. Sometimes that works and sometimes it doesn't. I recall being entertained by this one.

I'm sure I'll think of some others. I've listened to thousands of hours of books during various jobs and commutes I've had.

[Dumbledore lives]

I've heard tell the Harry Potter audiobooks are very good, as read by Stephen Fry, though I can't say I've listened to them within the last 5 years.

[Maxios]

The Young James Bond audio books are pretty good. Also, Batman: Inferno. That one is really awesome.

[Weezer]

I've heard tell the Harry Potter audiobooks are very good, as read by Stephen Fry, though I can't say I've listened to them within the last 5 years.

Huh, didn't realize he did a version, always listened to Jim Dale's reading, which were excellent btw.

[Gnoman]

Indeed. Dale is an excellent narrator, and does an excellent job of portraying the series.

[Knaight]

I'd recommend Feed. Specifically, I would recommend the Feed that is a dystopian science fiction novel about societal change following the introduction of continual access to a sort of pseudo-internet via a chip in the head, not the recent zombie novel. The audio version has a few major points going for it, not the least of which are that it perfects the use of the book's new slang (including a scene in which an older character uses modern slang and sounds hopelessly archaic), and that there are a handful of advertisements portrayed in the book that really come to life in audio form.

[DiscipleofBob]

Anything in the Fantasy genre (specifically, NOT Dark Fantasy)? I have long days at work and a crucial need to become more familiar with the genre if I ever want to write anything some day.

[Roland St. Jude]

I thought of another series. If you like mysteries, I recommend Tony Hillerman's work. The voice work is great and Hillerman seems to write to be read aloud.

[pffh]

All of Terry Pratchetts works have been turned into excellent audio books.

[Serpentine]

I really like Stephen King audiobooks - my dad and I made it a bit of a long-journey tradition when I was little - but don't bother with "Riding the Bullet", it's boring as Hell. But the rest are good.

[Barmoz]

Robopocalypse by Daniel H. Wilson. Think World War Z but with robots, and it works very well as an audio book because it's presented as an orally recorded memoir anyway.

[Othesemo]

I very much enjoyed American Gods and Stardust, both by Neil Gaiman.

[D+1]

Snow Crash, by Neil Stephenson; read by Jonathan Davis.

[Emmerask]

I've heard tell the Harry Potter audiobooks are very good, as read by Stephen Fry, though I can't say I've listened to them within the last 5 years.

agreed, both jim dales and stephen frys versions are probably the best quality audiobooks you can get (just from a quality standpoint weather or not you like potter is another story).

The wheel of time audiobooks are pretty good too.

Dresden Files audiobooks also very well done.

[Kindablue]

Elliot Gould did great readings of some of Raymond Candler's books. If you're into pulp or detective fiction at all, I'd recommend them.

[Bouregard]

http://succeedinevil.com/

"How to succeed in Evil" written and performed by Patrick E. McLean, also for free.

It's a fairly realistic take on superheroes and villians and if you liked "Soon I will be invincible" then you will love HtsiE.

[GoblinArchmage]

Adam Mansbach's Go the **** to Sleep, read by Samuel L. Jackson. Nobody else could have pulled it off so well.

[Surfing HalfOrc]

Into the Heart of the Sea.

This is the true story that inspired the events of Moby Dick, except it goes into the events after the Essex is sunk by a whale.

21 sailors get into three rowboats, and begin making for South America. Not all of them get there. A fascinating tale of survival, cannibalism and life as a whaler when the odds were roughly equal of you going home with a whale, or a whale going home with you.

(OK, I know THAT word is often used as a childish insult, but it is also half of the title of an iconic book, AND a common shortening of the name Richard. It looks so bad up there with a gap in the middle. And Moby Richard is a really stupid retitle. What's the trick to fixing it? I've tried putting tags in the middle, but I must be using the wrong ones...)

Thank you to the person who explained how to make the title work! I swear to never use this new power for EVIL Purposes!

[GeekGirl]

World War Z is really good. It's kinda slow to listen too, but the voice acting is awesome. Max Brooks does Interviewers voice, even one else has their own actor. I did how ever have to stop listening to it at work. It kept distracting me too much and I would just stop working.

[Hida Reju]

Neuromancer read by William Gibson. He has the most droll voice but for that book it works really well.

[DraPrime]

All of Terry Pratchetts works have been turned into excellent audio books.

Agreed. The narrator is quite excellent for the Discworld series.