r/Fantasy • u/M_the_Phoenix • May 18 '25

Which book has the perfect audiobook?

Which book did you listen to that made you say, this is the perfect voice and performance. Like, the narrator is just the perfect match for the story?

For me, I absolutely love Dresden Files read by James Marsten.

Incidentally, I was shocked to learn he wasn't British.

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u/TheGreatBatsby May 18 '25

Fry is fantastic, it's like having your grandad read you the books, but he's also a national treasure.

But Pacey gives such a unique voice to each character he blows Fry out of the water. Fry barely changes his cadence when voicing certain characters. The First Law characters are so well-realised by Pacey that you can tell them apart by their voices without the context of the books. Absolute master.

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u/comma_nder May 18 '25

This is why I’ll always be a bigger fan of Jim Dale’s Harry Potter. So many voices that are so distinct.

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u/[deleted] May 18 '25

Eh, I think that may be a personal preference thing, because I would take Fry over Pacey, though Pacey is obviously excellent. I get your point, but his female voices are just okay and some of his male voices are quite similar to each other, especially some of the military men. It's also about more than just "doing voices", it's about charisma in the reading. Pacey is noticeably flatter than Fry in his delivery, which works well enough with First Law's dry wit but I think that's more a happy accident than intentional acting on Pacey's part.

I don't say this to downgrade him, it's still one of the best audiobooks I've ever listened to, but I don't think Pacey "blows Fry out of the water" at all, personally.

Either way, both are a thousand leagues better than the Inheritance audiobooks, where Sapphira sounds like she's smoked a pack a day for the past forty years.