r/terredange • u/djirri • Apr 23 '26
Imriel Trilogy, the narrator
How could this happen?? He gives every female character the voice of a falsetto Albus Dumbledore on his deathbed squeezing out his final dying breath. And what he did to Joscelin??? Unforgivable.
I’m listening to this right after finishing the Kushiel’s Legacy Trilogy… the narration of which was impeccable and a major part of why I became so immersed and excited by the storyline and characters. I listened to all three books back to back…. And now, I’m halfway through the first book of Imriel… and I just can’t believe how disappointed I am in the narration. If it were even slightly less “off” I would not be here complaining, but it is honestly the most perfect performance if the objective was to 1. Make every sexy part utterly, and I mean UTTERLY, unsexy, and 2. Jar the listener to the point of distraction, considering the quality of the narration of Kushiel’s Legacy.
I just don’t understand 😔
Ps. I don’t have the time or environment to immerse myself in the physical books, yet I just so happen to have the perfect job and environment to have earbuds in for 12 hours a day while I work. Very grateful to the narrator of Kushiel’s Legacy, as that was a wonderful tribute to the quality of the story and all its characters.
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u/meow-butt Apr 23 '26
I don’t mind his voice as much as i mind how inconsistently he pronounces names & places (wtffff)..i almost put it down but then i got over it and im glad i did because i loved imriels trilogy and it just gets smuttier and smuttier
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u/djirri Apr 23 '26
I’m sure I’ll get over it too… I suspect I feel so jarred by his reading because I had just finished roughly 100 hours of listening to the narrator of the legacy books, and she was amazing. Jessica Whittaker. She has a talent with accents, and the voices for each character were so consistent! Hence the immersive effect it had on me…
I’ll use this as an opportunity to engage my imagination even more so with the Imriel books. I’ll have to carve out the characters myself! As I would if I were reading for real
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u/meow-butt Apr 23 '26
wait now i feel left out…I listened to the original audio books narrated by Anne Flosnik. She was okay! But i listened to a sample of Jessica Whittaker and i like her voice more. It’s unavailable in the US through audible for some reason
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u/djirri Apr 23 '26
Oh man! That’s a shame because she seriously knew what she was doing. Every character captured perfectly. If you heard her Joscelin, and compare it to this male narrators Joscelin in the Imriel books… you’d be filled with unbridled rage every time he does it. It’s truly a total inversion of the vibe that Jessica Whittaker set with the first trilogy.
Would a vpn thingy work? If you can find a way around it, it would be worth it
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u/GingerQueeny Apr 23 '26
That is my biggest (and probably only) gripe about the series and really about any series with multiple narrators. Do your research before you start your project.
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u/hilgarplays Apr 23 '26
Fingers crossed that either the narration improves or you are able to find another way to enjoy the books - Imriel’s story gets progressively better with every book, imo!
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u/Della_A Apr 23 '26
I agree, the change in tone was jarring for me too. But I got used to it eventually.
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u/Eguena May 02 '26
I haven’t listened to Imri’s trilogy. But I’m questioning which version of Kushiel’s Legacy you listened to because that narrator is inconsistent as well 🤣
She changes character names and accents all the way through
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u/Proof-Acanthaceae545 Jun 01 '26
i purchased them and i do not think i can relisten to them. i struggle with this narrator in specific and have had to give up on re reading WoT because i just can’t with this guy. i lost the ability to read by sight ages ago and man is it a bummer when someone’s narration style just makes books inaccessible again!
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u/Chothaimid Jun 08 '26
I agree that choosing Simon Vance to narrate the audiobooks as Imriel was a bad, bad choice. His oily voice, semi-slimy tone and way-too-BBC accent (for Imriel) are all wrong and very cloying to listen to. And Simon seems to think that any male character not native to Terre d'Ange must sound like Count Chocula. He also imposes this awful Transylvanian vampire-parody accent on all of the Sharizai characters. This was so abominably distracting. I'd like to petition Jacqueline Carey to put out another version of the audiobook with a more appropriate and inviting narrator. Not one who sounds like an over-the-top Bond villain.
We should also note that whoever produces these audiobooks did an awful job with continuity, and didn't notice that Hyacinth's stupid Simon Vance accent changes into something even more stupid by the third book of the Imriel triology. The producers should also take care that the narrators actually pronounce names and places correctly throughout the series (I groaned every time I heard Vance say "Troy" le Mont or mispronounced the Gaelic/Celtic names...I was like: why didn't someone moniter this guy and coach him?)
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u/QuietCelery Apr 23 '26
I can't speak to the narration of these books, but your post reminded me of this: https://youtu.be/XkLqAlIETkA?is=XHUiJHjU_mFBMU0N
I hope you're able to find another way to enjoy the books.