Hey all!

 

I'm Brian. New to the series as of December 2024. I watched the Amazon show last summer and finally got into the audiobooks as I have a lot of time at my job for listening. I started with the ones read by Rosamund Pike because I enjoyed her acting. Now I have finished The Shadow Rising and discovered that is as far as she has gotten. I of course, still want to continue with the series, but am nervous I won't like the other narrators now that I am used to Pike's work. Are the others good? Should I just switch to reading them and find something else to listen to at work? 

For reference, I also love the Eragon/Inheritance Cycle books but HATE the narrator of the audiobooks. It's terrible and ruins the immersion for me, so I always just read them. 

What do you recommend? Thanks in advance!

Michael Kramer and Kate Reading are really good. I cannot unfortunately compare to Ms Pike as I have not heard her work, but it would be a high accolade indeed to say she was as good as them. 

 

Audiobook narrators have ruined experiences for me as well, but I cannot imagine that this would be the case here. Given the rate at which new audiobooks are recorded, I guess waiting for future releases by Ms Pike could be an option, but I don't think you need to go that route unless you really want to. 

Kramer and Reading are beloved audiobook narrators, but they will be different from Rosamund Pike. What I would recommend is that you find a different book narrated by them to try, so you get a feel for their style. I don't expect you'll dislike them, but if you want to be on the safe side, trying a different book by them would be a good option.

 

You could try Yumi and the Nightmare Painter by Brandon Sanderson. That's a standalone novel (it does take place in his connected universe The Cosmere, but you don't need to have read anything from that universe for it to make sense). That audiobook isn't super long and it's narrated by Kramer and Reading.

Edited February 4Feb 4 by Asthereal

I initially read the books myself before listening to the Kramer and Reading audiobooks with family members to introduce them to it.  Frankly, I didn't like Kramer initially as I feel his tone is too dark and melodramatic, but I got used to it.  Reading I like better in her chapters.  I haven't listened to Pike.  

I've heard samples of the books read by Kramer and Reading, but ever since I purchased Pike's narration of The Eye of The World I've been hooked on listening to her version. She has an incredible range, considering how many characters she has to play. You can tell she puts a lot of effort and focus into reading these books. I think some of her voice acting is a little inconsistent throughout the books, but it's not very noticeable at all.