The Sound of Literature

Hey everyone!

Week’s just about over, and the third story in “The Exile Son” series is coming out tomorrow! Can’t wait to give you all another read. I hope your day is spectacular. I’ve recently been listening to the third book in the Malazan series, Memories of Ice. I’m about halfway through the audiobook and I’m loving it. I’ll avoid outright spoiling anything, but I’m still reeling from what happens to a certain character because he made the wrong decision, I mean it just goes from bad to worse for the guy. It really is a testament to Steven Erickson’s writing that he can build so much dread and then push it even further in a short amount of time. I think something that can further enhance the writing is a talented narrator. Ralph Lister really does knock it out of the park with his performance, dare I say even sets the bar a too high. But I’ll dive into that later in the post because that’s what I’ll be talking about today.

I picked up a few audiobooks around three maybe even four years ago, but I didn’t get into actively listening to them until two years ago. I had a lot of credits to burn through, so, I spent them on the Dune series. While I’m only three books deep into the series, I can confidently say they were credits well spent. After that I started looking for books that were similar to The Black Company and the series that kept coming up was Gardens of the Moon in the Malazan series. After the fourth or fifth time seeing the series pop up in recommendations I said why not and that’s how I got into Malazan. Then after the continuous praise from one of my friends I picked up some stories from the Drizzt series as well, but I have yet to start them. Then I spent what I had left on the Black Company series. I’ve taken the time to look through my audiobook library I was shocked to find how many of the books I have are twenty hours or longer. That’s a lot of content! I usually listen to audiobooks when I’m at work and doing various household tasks like the dishes or cleaning. I think it’s rather surprising that I can listen and retain what I’m listening to despite doing other things.

I have so far, had the luck of having decent narrators in the audiobooks that I have listened to. I enjoyed the Dune audiobook however the way it is handled may not be to everyone’s liking. The use of music in some sections and using other narrator from time to time to play specific characters is neat. Ultimately, I think they made a mistake not committing to using the full cast for the whole book. That said, I still enjoyed it. They do clean it up in the next few audiobooks. Regarding other series, so far in the Malazan series Ralph Lister has been narrating the books however I’ve read that the narrator changes. I’m not looking forward to that. Ralph Lister has been a fantastic narrator so far. He's able to perform a range of different characters without it getting stale. I really enjoy his version of the character Kruppe who is a fat goofball that is in fact quite cunning. Also, in my experience whenever a narrator is changed it tends to ruin the story. I think keeping the continuity in narrators is something that should be a top priority. Once a narrator gets replaced it becomes something that you can’t shake. Everything in the book just sounds wrong. Furthermore, the narrators should know how to pronounce names and terms in the books they are narrating. I understand that sometimes writers create strange names and terms in their stories, but this tends to happen even with the simplest of names. This seems to be an issue across multiple audiobooks as several of my friends have complained about this. Audiobooks are great, but there’s still room for improvement and that’s okay.

Some family and friends have recommended that I make audio versions of my short stories and put them on YouTube or a similar platform for everyone to listen to. It has crossed my mind more than a dozen times. Before I wanted to become an author, I wanted to become a voice actor and had worked on developing my vocal range for that goal. It has come in handy playing Pathfinder but it’s also just something that I do for fun as well. Making audio versions of my written works may be a great way to improve my voicework so I am tempted to do it. Also, it may be a fantastic way to scratch that voice acting itch that I have. I think I will have to get a better mic and perhaps some recording software but that’s going to be a venture for another day. Should I decide to go through with this I will be happy to announce it to you all. If this is something that would interest you all, let me know in a comment!

There’s been a lot of discussion about audiobooks vs. written books on which is the better medium. Personally, I like them both however I think they have different perks. I like audiobooks because I can listen to them while doing menial tasks. Then it has the entertainment value of hearing someone narrate the book. It’s easy to relax to. The downside comes with having to deal with a poor narrator. Reading a physical book however while still a leisure activity, it’s also feels like a privilege in some regard. It’s a privilege to be able to have the time to just sit down and read at your own pace and take in everything that you’re reading which is, in my opinion, harder to do with audiobooks. Then there is the fact of owning the physical copy. The texture of crisp pages and the smell of a new book is its own special experience that the digital medium lacks. So, what do I like more? I’m going to say I favor audiobooks because I can listen to them whenever I’m able to. Reading a physical book is an experience similar to enjoying a good scotch and cigar. Maybe that’s over the top but it’s how it is for me.

Well, I think it’s about time to wrap things up now. If you haven't tried it yet, give something on Audible a listen. What do you think of audiobooks? Have you listened to any? Do you prefer a physical book or audiobook? Or do you like both? Leave a comment and share your take! Hope you all have a wonderful weekend. Keep an eye out tomorrow for my next short story, “The Wavebreaker.” Thanks for reading, Have a great day!

Best,

Aaron Kirby