How are the audio narrators chosen?
It’s a long and involved process. In self-publishing the writer chooses the narrator themselves. In the traditional publishing, the narrator is typically chosen by the publisher. It used to be that the choice was presented to the writer as a fact, but now the audio publishers even in traditional publishing consult the writer.
Audio readers must be booked in advance. It’s rare when there is an opening in a schedule and someone can read the book on short notice. Due to some admin issues, we ended up being in just that kind of situation with Fated Blades, so the choice had to be made quickly.
The publisher sent us their initial choice. We felt the voice wasn’t right, so we asked for alternative narrators. We also asked for specific samples, because we needed to hear both male and female voices, since half of Fated Blades is in a female point of view.
People often ask why not do two different narrators, a male and a female. It greatly complicates the recording. You are juggling two schedules and there are minute differences in recordings from different studios, which can sound jarring. You have two different audio files to process and proofread, and you must make sure pronunciation is the same. It’s just a whole can of worms that we would open only if we had a lot of time.
Back to the story. We listened to four samples. All of the readers were talented, but now there is a question of who fits better. We tend to pay attention to 4 factors.
Variety of samples.
Each audio book is a performance with its own mood. A narrator with range can sound radically different from one book to the next.
Age of samples
The narrator can sound radically different on a five year old sample. It’s essential that the recording is recent. Sure, his performance was great in 2013, but how does he sound now?
Voice and performance
Narrators tend to specialize. For example, someone who is great at clipped, reserved performances perfect for military SF may not quite do as well with romance scenes that require more emotion. Does the voice itself fit the story?
Accents
This is another sticking point. We once passed on the prospective narrator because he sounded great until he came to an Italian character in his sample and his Italian accent was so terrible, I was offended on Italy’s behalf. Accents are great and help differentiate voices, but you don’t want people to feel mocked.
So you listen to a lot of samples and then you narrow it down to two choices. Sometimes you just know right away, but most of the time it ends up being a choice.
Then we asked for the actual sample of Fated Blades being read and Aaron Shedlock just fit Matias better. There is a kind of dry humor to Matias. His Ramona was good as well.
And that’s how we choose the narrator.
Bill W says
As always interesting.
Valerie says
Thanks. I listen to audio books almost exclusively, so it’s nice to hear about your process. This may have been answered before, but what is the ETA for the audio of Fated Blades?
Moderator R says
Hi Valerie,
The audio CD is confirmed for the 23 of November, so hopefully it will be the same release date for audio book 🙂 https://www.amazon.com/Fated-Blades-Ilona-Andrews/dp/1713643898/ref=sr_1_2?keywords=fated+blades&qid=1633715189&sr=8-2
Valerie says
Thanks R. So weird that the CD is up on Amazon but the audiobook is not up on Audible.
Rena says
I listen to a lot of audio books as well.
I have 2 authors that I instant buy anything they write. Ilona Andrews and another instantly recognizable name. This other author has incredible world building and great books that I enjoy reading and rereading. But their readers seem to be chosen at random and perhaps for as cheaply as possible. 1 sounded like they thought they were a Shakespearean actor on stage, another I couldn’t understand parts of it due to a very heavy accent and a 3rd would drop her voice so low that you couldn’t hear her when she did 1 character. Turning it up would make the other parts too loud. So I quit buying audio books from her. Which is a shame because I love her books.
Linda says
Very interesting and informative, thank you.
Arianna says
+1!
And, since I am Italian, I also thank you for being offended on Italy’s behalf ????
JR says
My very first audiobook was a KD. It was amazing the way it brought the characters I imagined to life.
I second Bill’s comment that knowing the business of what goes into producing the audiobook- very interesting and good to know.
Sally says
Our cat Douglas is also selective concerning narrators. His favorite seems to be Rene Raudman.
My husband and I go on extended camping trips. (We are currently finishing up a two-month, 9 National Park tour.) Our two cats travel with us. Douglas likes to listen to audiobooks while we drive from one park to the next. If we forget to start an audiobook while on the road, Douglas will meow incessantly until we do so and then he will lie quietly in his cage for the duration of the trip. However, there are some narrators that he doesn’t seem to like as he will start meowing again if we play anything with certain narrators. But Rene Raudman results in meow-free driving every time.
Chiray says
That reminds me of my dog and Christmas carols. If anything came on Pandora with children’s voices, he would growl softly and get louder and louder til I finally switched to the next song. Lol!
AP says
Thank you for the explanation – I’d also wondered about the process.
The narrators you have chosen have done a great job so I’d expect the same from Aaron. ????
I’ve listened to books that I have read before (including yours of course) and good narrators (“voice actors” is what I call them) bring a completely different dimension to the story. I’ve loved revisiting old favorite books by listening to them.
Patricia Schlorke says
When I read the section on accents, I started laughing when I read “…he came to an Italian character in his sample and his Italian accent was so terrible, I was offended on Italy’s behalf….” ????
It reminds me of people trying to make a southern accent. I’ve heard some bad ones over time. People can’t tell which part of the country I’m from because any accent I had was younger was gone due to singing in junior high school. My mom taught me not to sing through my nose. ????
JT says
I, too, started laughing out loud. I am also from the south and my mother’s family is from southern Alabama. As a Speech coach, I coach and attend a lot of oral speaking competitions. At one event, a young lady read a piece that takes part in lower (south) Alabama (yes, there is a difference). 7 times in the piece she pronounced the name of a town Doth- ANNE (like the name Anne), which we pronounce Doth-uhn. Spelled Dothan. It was like nails on a chalk board to several of us in the audience. I kindly explained the correct pronunciation to her and her coach — who both insisted adamantly that I was incorrect. I promptly called my mother on speaker phone in front of them, said “Mama, I’m at a contest and need clarification on a pronunciation. How do you say the name of the town you were born in? You know, where Mema lives?” small pause “Doth – uhn. Why? you know how to say it?” I told her I would explain later, thanked her and hung up. Both of them still insisted my momma and her family were wrong. O_o
Young lady advance to the next level, where the judge informed her he “liked her piece, but you should do your research. You miss pronounced 2 of the towns and I had a hard time focusing on anything else.” She did not place in the top 3.
Patricia Schlorke says
My mom was from Massachusetts. Talk about accents! I use to tease her that people from Massachusetts only had 25 letters in the alphabet than 26 since they had no letter “r”. She stuck her tongue out at me.
The eastern part of Southern Missouri, where I was from, had its own regional accent. That’s thanks to the French-speaking people who settled in the region.
Kate says
I’m with you! Being from Texas, I laugh when people just think “random drawl” works for any state bordering the gulf coast. Except Florida. Ha!
Lee Anne says
As a native Floridian, I’ve heard some truly horrific FL accents in movies. But by far, the best one I ever heard was David Ogden Stiers’ accent in Doc Hollywood. It was like listening to my Dad talking to me.
Kate says
I couldn’t place a native Floridian accent to save my soul. It seems like such a melting pot that it should have a million all to itself.
Lee Anne says
There are native Floridians left, mostly in north FL and the keys. I have to admit, I use my “college” accent most of the time now since I live in the Tampa area and people don’t understand me otherwise. But if I speak to someone with a southern accent it comes back.
David Ogden Stiers did an amazing job of a true FL accent like I said before. Keanu Reeves did an atrocious one for the Devil’s Advocate. And I really like him as a person and actor otherwise.
But the worst one ever was when my husband from Baltimore came to get me one day at my Dad’s house. He had the grammar and vocabulary right but said it in his Maryland accent. It was many layers of wrong and I couldn’t stop laughing.
“Come on Lee Annie, we’re fixen’ to go huntin’”
Breann says
Thank you for sharing that! I love learning about what goes on “behind the scenes” of your books. The care and attention to detail that you both do really shows in the finished project. ????
Goldie says
I, for one, am glad you go for a single narrator rather than different voice actors for each role. The minute but noticeable differences in the studio noise and the minute but noticeable mis-matches between how the audio is spliced and how a normal conversation flows really do my head in. There’s another reason why I prefer a single narrator too: it’s kind of nostalgic but, no matter the genre, a good narration gives me the same feeling of comfort I remember from the days when I would be tucked into bed and my Mum would read me a story (or a chapter) before lights out and sleep.
Ana says
Same here.
So happy it is not a dual narration. I find that the additional problem with that approach is that both of them have to sound right as the other gender, since they read by POV not by dialog. You get into situations where the male lead for example has an accent when read by the male narrator and no accent when read by the female. Even if that is not the case books with multiple readers are less immersive, when done on POV.
amanda says
There are two ways to do dual narrator: the correct way with each ‘gender’ handled by one narrator and the incorrect way with each narrator doing every character. I’ve really enjoyed hearing dual narration done the first way (although now that I think on it, in one audiobook I do notice difference in the audio quality when the female narrator speaks during the male POV) because it almost feels like a play. The first time I heard an audiobook done the second way I thought it was a mistake and was so confused (then angry that I spent money buying this book that got really annoying to listen to). I’ve actually left 3 star reviews on books that do the bad dual narration (I always explain that is the specific reason why I left that review).
Starling says
I also liked the female narrator doing the female voices and the male doing the male voices. When they just do all of the voices from the POV of the main character in that chapter, it can be jarring and it takes time to get used to.
However, the worst time I had with the “dramatic” version of a book, I didn’t realize until the second listening that there were not as many characters as I thought. For several characters, the female pronounced the name one way, such as Ian, and the male pronounced it another way, such as Ion. Since I never saw the actual names, I’m still not sure which one is correct! Now it is difficult to go back and listen to that book anymore.
njb says
Having dual voices can be really nice. I’ve got two audiobooks where the reading was done this way and I really like it. I always just figured it was a lot more work and probably more expense. Plus if you’ve got a reader with a lot of voice range, then it’s easy enough to figure out which voice belongs to which character.
Chiray says
Rick Riordan’s Kane Chronicles did a great job with dual narration. Of course, since Sadie and Carter grew up apart with totally different experiences, Sadie needed to sound British and Carter needed to sound American, so 2 readers made total sense. Plus, totally different voices captured their snark, sibling dynamic, and contrasting personalities.
WS says
🙂 I remember liking George Guidall for the Tony Hillerman books, which I think we listened to on some road trips. There were one or two read by someone else, and they were fine but kind of meh.
Janet Evanovich has a narrator that she just loves and apparently (most) fans of hers love, but who made me so frustrated that I was permanently put off not only that book but of reading anything else by Janet Evanovich (even in physical copies). Also audiobooks generally, because I don’t want that sort of experience again.
…So, no pressure…
I expect I’m much more sensitive to voices than most people, but I do appreciate how much thought and effort you’re clearly putting into your choice of narrator. (Even though I’m not getting the audiobooks.)
njb says
Mostly I’ve not been too put off by the reader, but they are certainly not all created equal and I do have my favorites. I buy a lot of audiobooks as I spend way too much of my life in my car. Life savers, frankly, so I look for books read by my favorites as well as new talent.
I must admit I bought a trilogy of audiobooks of an older sci fi author a couple years ago. I love those books and have re-read them several times. That particular reader was so wooden and non-inflective that I’ve never managed to listen even to the first in the trilogy. Such a waste.
Kat says
This one makes me laugh. I know which narrator that your talking about. And while I don’t mind her, when I get any other book narrated by her, all that I hear is Stephanie Plum. A Pacific NW character and a Trenton NJ character (from vastly different genres shouldn’t be red in the same voice to me). It took me awhile to be about to “process” the character change and enjoy that audio book. Thankfully it was a book that I own and have read before, so I was able to zone some of the beginning of the book to get used to the unexpected association.
Kate Rose says
Thank you. I enjoy hearing about all of your experiences in the publishing industry.
Sara Bright says
I’m new to audiobooks so I’m very excited to experience my favourite books in a new medium.
I’m dipping my toe by trying free audiobooks on my library app. The first book I’ve tried is narrated by Jane Mary Wells and its wonderful. Her range of voices and nuances of humour is truly opening my eyes to the pleasure of listening to a story whilst also being free to go for a walk or garden or cook. It’s a whole new world!
I’d love some audiobook recommendations? The library app has lots of free audiobooks and it’s a bit overwhelming. Sadly no Ilona Andrew’s books ????. I live in the UK and the library app is light in the urban fantasy genre
Moderator R says
Hey Sara,
You can look here for the audiobook recommendations motherload https://ilona-andrews.com/2021/audio-recommendations-and-negative-reviews/. Don’t worry about the genre mentioned, the recommendations covered everything 🙂
Cassie Hackney says
I absolutely love the narration in JD Robb’s In Death series. She is so wonderful at accents and personalities that I refuse to actually read any of the 50 (so far) books. There have also been books that were so awfully narrated that I couldn’t finish it and ended up hating the book because of it. The narrator is very important.
Amy Ann says
Anything Neil Gaiman. I think he reads/performs the audiobooks of many of the books he has written and they are amazing.
Nifty says
As someone who has been listening to audiobooks for the last 15 years or so, it’s amazing how much narration has changed. Early audiobooks were just the book read out-loud. The narrator might have made some effort to change voices from character to character, but the change wasn’t too significant. The readings often came across (to me) as similar to a teacher or parent reading a book out-loud.
Current audiobooks are PERFORMANCES. The narrators are genuine voice actors, not just readers. It amazes me how many voices they can manage — with recall, slipping seamlessly into the different characters without forgetting which “voice” goes with which character.
My preference is to digest books in audio format, but there have been times when I’ve so disliked a narration that I refuse to listen to the book…and depending on what kind of mood I’m in, I may not read it, either.
I’ve liked all the House Andrews Books narrations.
Ana says
Happened to me too. There are many books where I prefer to have the app read them to me instead of listening to the audio version. Text to speech technology is really good now.
Wendy Nutchey says
I have been listening to Innkeeper audios, while waiting for the next Kinsman, particularly enjoying Dina’s raves about Orro’s food, which are so well written – I want to eat them.
I have to ask, when is Orro going to publish a Red Cleaver Chef cookery book, which could also include dishes you mention in Edge, Hidden Legace, Kinsmen and the Kate Daniel series.
I would love to attempt some of the meals you have described so beautifully.
Carmalee says
OOOOH, YES!
Pretty please?
Pllor says
heard from a friend of a friend who was an author: she had two narrators for her book, they were supposed to record together, but COVID and all that, ended up recording separate, and when you played both recordings, you could immediately tell the difference in recording quality. Even the she went she previously worked with studio wasn’t able to fix the difference.
Sam says
Interesting… Almost makes me want to try an audio book.
Stacy says
Recommend any of Ilona Andrew’s audibles….just saying so far, love the stories and narrators…for a test
JR says
Or Anne Bishop’s The Others Series or Martha Wells Murderbot Series audiobooks.
Or Patricia Brigg’s Mercy Thompson Series or Faith Hunter’s Jane Yellowrock Series audiobooks.
It just depends on what kind of books you love to read- start there fffirst. Also suggest borrowing from your public library to see iwhat you like before you buy
JR says
T.A. White’s the Firebird Chronicles
Johanna J says
Agree with the others. I really enjoy these “behind the scenes” snippets. Thanks!
Wendy Nutchey says
Audio actors who narrate beloved books get a lot of adverse comment when a readers preconceptions get in the way. For example I like the narrators of Jayne Ann Krentz SF/PNR/Romances, buy my mother who also reads these books does not.
Also I used to buy audiobooks, long after I’d bought the book, but now I get my favourite authors books in Kindle and Audio when they are released, read the kindle first then listen to the story again on long journeys, or late evenings when I’m too tired to read. It all depends – sometimes I listen first “because the pictures are better” ????
SoCoMom says
This post reminded me that my kids are safely at school and I can now listen to Iron Covenant at proper volume for hours during the day – yay!!
Kayeri says
You’ve made awesome choices in readers. The only audiobooks I don’t have are Innkeeper. For some reason, the southern accent caught me by surprise even though I know Dina is from… Georgia? Once it settles, I’ll get them anyway because I have found that I love listening to them as much as reading them! =)
Kate says
I love the inside baseball on this blog! It’s an incredible mix of fun, education, and showing your work. Accent work is definitely make or break when I listen to books. It’s regional American accents that throw me the most, though. Yes, I’m always super impressed when a foreign accent is on point (ex: whoever read for the Discovery of Witches series had a German accent that didn’t sound like a Hogan’s Heroes reject – respect), however, it’s the blanket “southern” accent that distracts me most.
Amy Ann says
Jennifer Ikeda, another fave of mine.
Wendy says
Very informative. Tyvm for sharing!
MeggsH says
Narrators are sooo important and yeah highly subjective. There are some some books where I have read the book and then listened to the audio and it just completely took the books to another level. Dresden Files for example are awesome books but when read by James Marsters….. the whole thing just levels up.
On the other hand I have started some books and the narrator is (for what ever reason to me) incredibly irritating. I actually didn’t like the narrator for Nevada’s books at all. Her Rogan Texas accent sounded forced and constipated to me- again highly subjective I know.
Some books I have literally dropped because no matter how interesting the book was the narrator just killed it stone dead for me and I can’t go back to it because of those associated memories.
I recently discovered a series that I listened to on audio that I absolutely adored. It’s one of those where I think the audio elevated a really good story into a Great one.
If anyone needs something new to listen to that has all kinds of heart/ fun / mystery to it I totally recommend
“The Thursday Murder Club” by Richard Osman. It has a sequel too called “The Man Who Died Twice”
Both are read by Lesley Manville and set in the British suburbs of London. She is absolutely delightful to listen to. A true performance.
It’s one of those series that I recommend to almost everyone I meet because regardless of what genre you usually like to read her performance will totally suck you in.
I’m totally excited to hear the narrator for Fated Blades!! Yay November!
Dyna says
Rogan not Roman. Autocorrect.
Nina says
I’m straight, happily married, yet I have a HUGE crush on Emily Rankin playing Alessandro. It’s not even funny.
So, yeah. Audio narrators can do an amazing job playing the opposite gender. I’m sure your reader will do a great job with the female character.
Nancy says
+1
Judy Schultheis says
The only audiobooks I have listened to that I like better than yours are Tamora Pierce’s – and most of hers have been done by Full Cast Audio.
You choices for readers are wonderful! I have listened to audiobooks (my local library system consistently ranks very high in national ratings for libraries) for at least one book out of each of your series, and since I use Kindle, I have all of the audiobooks related to the Kate Daniels world because they cost less if you buy the ebook first – which I did.
Lisa R. says
Love Aaron! He’s one of my favorite narrators.
Aman Sidhu says
How does one get into narrating books? I read aloud often usually I am the audiobook on long trips with friends and family, by request :). I would never just randomly start reading aloud it has be by consensus. It would be an interesting career path. Maybe I should google it and get out of the tech game.
Vinity says
I listen to a LOT of audiobooks, like I listen to 290 according to audible stats in 2020. I absolutely hate when they use a male and female reader. Unless you are going to break it down to him reading all the male spoken parts and her reading all the female spoken parts, which is a nightmare of production, you are left with the reader having to track each character in two voices, the male reader’s version of all the parts both male and female and then the female reader’s version of each character. I hate it.
I can’t wait to hear this reader.
Camille from France says
Hi
I was born in 1982, and I was really lucky to know my great grant mother, her name was Germaine, I call her Mamen, she was born in 1891 and she die in 1990 at 99 years old .
She was blind,because of premature cataract.
My grand mother volunteer, run, a charity for blind person.
Day to day the charity help blind person go shopping and every thing their need … every few week their was an excursion .
But the main problem was audio book,
finding the money to paid the reader was the first step
choosing the book was the second step (or was it the first ??)
and you can go on …
and when finally you get the book on audio it’s on 20 tapes (for young people tape predate CD who predate DVD ..)
and no at the end it was not the book you want it to hear ….
the reality is , 10 years ago audio book was just for blind people and to record a book was really exorbitant … and people were really peaky about the book but not about who record the book .. there where just happy the audio book exist…
my point is:
stop being a cry baby
stop complaining about every thing
you don’t like the reader … read the book yourself
I don’t remember where I read this but :
“in a world run by potato a carrot will rise”
Lee Anne says
Thank you for the break down of how carefully you chose your narrators. I really appreciate all the care and effort you put into making sure the reader has the experience you intended.
I have only had one audiobook experience and it was off putting to say the least. But all the positive comments make me really curious and buying the audiobook for Iron and Magic and give them a second try. It would help during my commute if I had more entertaining choices than news or pandora.
Helen says
Very interesting insight, as per usual, thank you.
I also read a facinating article last year about Edoardo Ballerini, one of the best voice actors for spoken books, which also gave lots of insight into the process from the actor’s point of view, which others might like to read:
https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2020/05/13/magazine/audiobooks-edoardo-ballerini.html
Susan says
Thank you for the link… I read the article and found it very interesting and informative!
Anke says
Thank you for not switching between a male and a female narrator for the male or female perspective – I find it very hard to listen to audiobooks by two narrators.
In those audiobooks every character has two voices (one by the female and one by the male narrator) and that throws me out of listening.
Naenae says
Do an Italian accent – It’s a me, Mario!
mj says
I don’t like narrators who play characters. For me it’s a show stopper. I just want them to read me the book and let me fill in the rest. I’ve tossed audio books because the person reading them seems to be doing a radio play rather than reading a book.
I think I maybe in a minority these days.
Lynn Thompson says
Thank you, Ilona Andrews for the interesting and informative post.
The talents of voice actors aka narrative person aka whatever is important piece of audiobook. It is very obvious to my canine and feline cohorts when a “real” animal is used. They alert. Some people can make the instructions on boiling water fascinating and others are like using computer droid. Dad didn’t like some of the voices in the audiobooks we got him after his vision failed. However he still enjoyed the story. We got to read aloud to him.
I think you and Gordon are correct to find the best “voices” for your book. After all it’s your imagination/ story/ book. We just have the wonderful pleasure of “reading “ it.
Personally looking forward to dead tree or digital format. Thank you for the education.
Jill says
I just got an email from Amazon with recommendations for books “similar” to ones I’ve read and noticed this very familiar looking cover. Is this art not yours for Hidden Legacies?
Moderator R says
Hey Jill,
It’s not copyright art for HL, so it’s all good ????.
Erika says
Also on a Suzanne Wright book if you’re wanting a collection ;).
Aitch says
I have had a really good good book ruined by a narrator doing a horrendous Scottish accent. The rest of her narration was fine but once something annoys you it’s hard to ignore. I must admit I did a little google search on your chosen narrator and he sounds great ????
Mardee says
Is there a reason you chose a male narrator, as opposed to female (since you said the genders are about equally divided)? Is it typical to always go with a man? And I’m not trying to start a gender war – just curious.
KMD says
The only thing that’s ever annoyed me is when they put music/sound effects in the book. One book I listened to had so much music in a certain scene I couldn’t understand what the narrator was saying, and it completely ruined it for me even though I loved the scene when I read the ebook. Bad accents I can deal with. Music does not belong in an audio book.
Aryn says
I am pleased that there is only (1) reader. For me, the disconnect between two readers each doing a version of a character is crazy; it isn’t just voice, it is the delivery and characterizations that come through a voice. Thank you for the education —
Vicki LENOIR says
I’ve been a long time fan of audiobooks, been a member of audible since its inception. They’ve acquired some of the catalogue of another audiobook production I buy from, Graphic Audio. While I generally despise abbreviated versions of books, I accept GA’s only because of their full cast + sound effects “movie” styling. I recommend their Nuclear Bombshell series and the Serrano Legacy.
Chad says
I’ve learned a few things from listening to various audiobooks you’ve published. One is, if at all possible, DONT switch narrators between books of the same series.
The second is easier. Have the first narrators in a particular universe create a quick pronunciation guide of the major players for the following narrators to follow if they do get switched. There was such a narrated glossary in the middle of the Kate Daniels series. Renee read it wonderfully. The follow on books narrated by others should have had those narrators at least read that glossary before they began their own renditions. Then, pronunciations like “Gas-Tech” or “Si-O-Mon” would have stayed consistent and not be so jarring when they are switched.
Moderator R says
Hey Chad,
The pronunciation of the names in Iron and Magic and Blood Heir are finally correct, to the specifications of the authors wishes, as you can see here https://ilona-andrews.com/2021/blood-heir-audio-is-now-available/.
Furthermore, the Iron Covenant and Aurelia Ryder are separate series within the Kate Daniels World, and have changed narrators because they have changed POV character.
I do hope this helps ????
Chad says
Sorry if I am not following. Are you saying that the inconsistent pronunciations in Blood Heir were fixed and the audiobook updated or are you saying that they were actually correct all along? If the former, then I need to redownload.
Also, the narrator change my wife and I most noticed was not Iron Covenant and Aurelia Ryder, but was in the Innkeeper series where the narrator was switched due a scheduling issue with the original. It was… jarring.
I’m not saying the changes were unavoidable, I’m just saying they were easily noticed and if I ever get around to having audiobooks made of my works, I’d know what to try and avoid.
Moderator R says
Please read the blog article I have linked ????.
The pronunciations of the names in Blood Heir and Iron Covenant are correct, and the way the authors intended for the character names to be pronounced all along.
Good luck with your own audiobooks ????.
Ringo says
I think what the moderator is saying is that Blood Heir had the correct pronunciation. the original Kate Daniels series had Raudman’s interpretation of how things were pronounced and it wasn’t always what the authors intended.
Margaret Doig says
I have a question about something else; maybe Ilona and Gordon can answer it next time they do a Q&A.
Did you ever write little books for your children when they were learning to read? If you did, what were they like? If you didn’t, what kinds of books did they start reading when they were young like that? My older kid is just learning to read, and I find myself writing her wacky little books with all sorts of crazy stories. It’s a lot of fun, and I find myself trying to mirror your humor and imaginative story-telling.
chad says
I tried skimming the post but must have missed the exact answer.
These comments in that post are how I see it.
” Me, too! I always assumed Ghastek was Gas tech, because of the story he tells Kate about his dad. Saiman, I have no idea. In my head, it’s similar to
I’ve heard Gordon pronounce it “Sigh – MAHN.”
Now, I don’t care if the pronunciation changed, but it was clearly noticed by the listeners. Its not a big deal but like I said, I learned two lessons from the IA audiobooks. I thank them for that. thanks.
Nancy says
I’ve been listening to “Sweep with Me” again and am really enjoying the narrator’s interpretations of all the characters. What a talented individual!
Evelyn says
When I am looking for something new to listen to, I will follow my favorite narrators audible link and see what they have recorded that I haven’t listened to before.
Yvette says
I absolutely adore the narrator for the first Hugh d’Ambray book “Iron and Magic.” Love, love, love his voice (even though he did give Andrea an accent 🙂 ). I hope he continues as the narrator for Hughe’s trilogy.