[OB] Oathbringer Audiobook discussion

[+Wax]

Hi guys - this is just a discussion on reactions to the audiobook.  More for people who are ordering audiobook.  Personally I'm getting both ebook and audiobook.

I personally loved tWoK and WoR's audiobooks (and Edgedancer).  My personal favourite audio scenes from them were:-

• Shallan's final scene with Tyn
• Shallan's scene with her father as flashback during the highstorm
• Shallan's confrontation of Jasnah in tWoK
• Kaladin's scene with Syl from tWoK where she appears in full woman's shape during their aborted escape attempt
• Lift's interlude in WoR
• Lift's scenes in Edgedancer with Szeth and the final scene with Arclo (Sleepless)

 

Now, I do understand audiobooks are not for everyone.  But for others who are working/busy or just enjoy audio it is a godsend to make their favourite books accessible.

Note:  People who would like to post that they don't like audiobooks or prefer written words - please avoid posting that in this thread.  It is like saying some people don't like pink or blue.  Totally redundant.

Now that the Oathbringer audiobook is almost out (a few hours away on audible's pre-order page, what are your thoughts).

Edited November 18, 2017 by axcellence
Edit:fixed title for post release

[+Wax]

Guys... great audiobook!  Enjoyed heaps and the had a few red eye moments in there.

But, just one bit at the end.  The audiobook does not include the endnote ketek as shown in the book version.

Did anyone else notice that?

I'll have a much longer review of the audiobook later on...

[ScavellTane]

Teared when Teft floated with his shardspear.

[+Wax]

Ok.. one issue that I found with the audiobook was the part split by Audible.

For big books like this one, I downloaded in parts. So, 5 parts of audiobook download - BUT, they don’t align with the end of EACH PART.

So, I’d reach the end of the audiobook part, and Audible would go, “you’ve reached the end of the part”.  So, I’d rush in to comment on the part only to be spoiled / realise that I had only reached the end of the audio part but not the end of the book.

Next time Audible should align book ends and audio parts for SA books!

[deddinty]

Yeah I didn't care for the forced split either, but my understanding was it was really rushed at the end. I hope we may get an updated version someday. 

I didn't really care for Jasnah's voice change, but otherwise it's really enjoyable. I do hope we get a graphic audio eventually. 

[Fifth of Daybreak]

I'm listening now for my reread. Just started part four. 

 

Michael Kramer is voicing Pattern...this isn't ok. Pattern is a Kate Reading character. Ahhhhhh!

 

*Twitches*

[Willow]

9 hours ago, Ookla the Obtuse said:

I'm listening now for my reread. Just started part four. 

 

Michael Kramer is voicing Pattern...this isn't ok. Pattern is a Kate Reading character. Ahhhhhh!

 

*Twitches*

I always have this when main POV characters show up when the other narrator is speaking. That's not what Kaladin's voice sounds like! Pattern hums differently! etc.

For some other general comments about the audiobook, I didn't see the necessity of changing the characters' voices when they were disguised to enter Kholinar, especially since I'm not sure Shallan completely figured out how to different voices yet? (She did it on herself later in the story, but at this point voice changes aren't mentioned, as far as I remember). The different voices sound dumber, and no one mentioned that their voices will be recognised.

I was also a bit annoyed that some minor characters (e.g. Lirin and Hesina) completely changed voices, but with such a big book it's probably understandable that the narrators couldn't go back to check what each character sounded like.

[KidWayne]

Michael Kramer & Kate Reading took me through the Wheel of Time, both Mistborn series, and the first two Stormlight books.

*begin rant*

However, Kate got on my nerves in WoK when she mispronounced Sadeas toward the end ("Sa-dee-es" vs. the generally accepted "Sad-ee-as"). Then, she changed, forgot, or mixed up her accent for the Thaylens between the Karbranth scenes in WoK and the Wind's Pleasure scenes in WoR.

Oathbringer was just poorly directed / edited in my opinion. It was probably one of the biggest/longest reads they've done, but there are just all kinds of narration errors and discontinuities throughout the book. My frustrations with OB are mostly inconsistent/mispronounced names, but it wasn't just names... Kramer actually transposes a letter and reads the wrong word at one point (it's killing me that I can't remember the exact word/phrase; I'll edit this if it comes to me).  

Also, yes Kramer doing Pattern was odd, but the narrators don't switch based on character; they switch based on character viewpoint. At least he tried to imitate Kate's Pattern voice.

I still have nothing but love for Michael Kramer & Kate Reading (I worry about their age / impending retirement considering they've been narrating since at least 1990). However, some better directing would be appreciated on such large projects that are almost assured to be best sellers.

*end rant*

Some of this might be my own fault, I couldn't wait on them to read to me for OB. Also I could download the digital ebook at midnight and Audible.com made me wait until like 2 or 3 a.m. on Nov. 14. So, I tried to read on my iPad when I could get away with it and then switch to audio at work. Curiously, I heard Kramer and Reading's character voices in my head as I read through OB in print. That was weird but I felt like it added to my enjoyment of the print version.

[Stairdweller]

Shallan changed their voices too.  It says so in the text.  I did have a This post has been reported for attempting to skirt the rules moment about Elhokar's lady voice though.

[Fifth of Daybreak]

18 minutes ago, Ookla the Hatter said:

Also, yes Kramer doing Pattern was odd, but the narrators don't switch based on character; they switch based on character viewpoint. At least he tried to imitate Kate's Pattern voice

I totally understand, it just wasn't something I expected having read through the scenes already and heard my favorite pattern lines in Kate Reading's voice. And Reading's Syl was equally terrible when compared to Kramer's. 

 

I didn't get the impression that Kramer had tried to imitate Reading though. I had always been under the impression that they didn't communicate much on their interpretations (admittedly mostly because of the Sadeas thing you mentioned earlier.)

I also have been completely thrown for a loop by the sudden change of the Thaylens to sound like the Seanchan now in OB.

[StormingTexan]

Oh man the multiple parts thing was such a PIA. I wish they could have at least corresponded with the parts in the book but I guess it didn't make much sense to do that since the part lengths in the books are so varied it wouldn't help with the file size. I also wish whispersync was enabled since I often go back and forth between the audio book and ebook especially if there is something I want to read for clarification. 

Other than that I liked it and thought Michael and Kate did a good job. I agree there were some things that could be tightened up. Michael has a way of making scenes a lot more emotional than my headcannon voice so he got some crys out of me. I also like Michael's Nightblood voice a lot more than the narrator for Warbreaker. All in all pretty good and I will enjoy re-listening to it. 

@Ookla the Hatter OMG the Sadeas thing drives me crazy too! They are married and literally record in the same house you'd think they can make sure they say the name the same. 

[Fifth of Daybreak]

10 minutes ago, StormingTexan said:

I also like Michael's Nightblood voice a lot more than the narrator for Warbreaker.

To be fair, this isn't a high threshold to cross. 

 

I'm being overly hyperbolic with my complaints on Spren voices. I love Kate and Michael. This was another stellar performance, I just wanted to hear Kate make those Pattern jokes to Adolin. 

10 minutes ago, StormingTexan said:

They are married and literally record in the same house

Mind blown.

[Runyan Firetree]

 

15 minutes ago, Ookla the Obtuse said:

26 minutes ago, StormingTexan said:

I also like Michael's Nightblood voice a lot more than the narrator for Warbreaker. All in all pretty good and I will enjoy re-listening to it. 

 

To be fair, this isn't a high threshold to cross.

 

There's actually a Michael Kramer version of Warbreaker, but as far as I know it's only available through the National Library Service for the Blind.  I'd certainly like to know if his rendition of the three Warbreaker characters in OB is consistent with this recording.  That being said, I feel like I'm the only person who liked the James Yaegashi version.

 

As for the Oathbringer recording, I was presently surprised that Kramer/Reading actually provided additional context when reading the illustrations and maps.  In previous Cosmere volumes they just read out the words as they appear on the page without adding any descriptive context.

 

[Bernem]

25 minutes ago, Runyan Firetree said:

That being said, I feel like I'm the only person who liked the James Yaegashi version.

I liked it too. It was a little bit weird at first, but I felt like the voice ended up fitting Lightsong's character. I was disappointed when I went back for a re-listen and it had changed.

I actually didn't like Michael's Nightblood voice. Was anyone else in the same boat?

[Fifth of Daybreak]

36 minutes ago, Runyan Firetree said:

That being said, I feel like I'm the only person who liked the James Yaegashi version

Let's not say that I didn't like his version. It's just there's a lot of stellar Audiobook narrators in my life better KR and MK, Simon Vance, James Marsters, and Roy Dotrice (RIP). 

I've also listened to so much Kate Reading and Michael Kramer since they did WoT and Kate Reading did Jim Butcher's Calderon series.

I enjoyed Warbreaker, and I'll probably listen to his again even though I got the humble bundle with the Graphic Audios. 

I can say with certainty, however, the same can't be said for Jack Garrett's Elantris. He just sounds so smarmy the whole time.

[StormingTexan]

22 minutes ago, Bernem said:

I liked it too. It was a little bit weird at first, but I felt like the voice ended up fitting Lightsong's character. I was disappointed when I went back for a re-listen and it had changed.

Ok so Lightsongs voice did change right? I just re-listened to Warbreaker before OB (man I love that book) and I thought I remembered his voice being like almost suffer dude'ish then this time around it wasn't. I thought I was imaging this from the first time I listened to it.. 

8 minutes ago, Ookla the Obtuse said:

Let's not say that I didn't like his version. It's just there's a lot of stellar Audiobook narrators in my life better KR and MK, Simon Vance, James Marsters, and Roy Dotrice (RIP). 

I've also listened to so much Kate Reading and Michael Kramer since they did WoT and Kate Reading did Jim Butcher's Calderon series.

I enjoyed Warbreaker, and I'll probably listen to his again even though I got the humble bundle with the Graphic Audios. 

I can say with certainty, however, the same can't be said for Jack Garrett's Elantris. He just sounds so smarmy the whole time.

Yeah I agree. Kate and Michael, Simon Vance and Tim Reynolds are my favorite. Good narrators really make an Audio Book,. 

[+Wax]

I think the whole book was such a big deal.  I am starting again and still in Part 1 (my commute is shorter now so I have 10-15 minutes to listen each day).  

Part 1 is so overanalysed already that I’ve skipped chapters there.

When I heard it, there was even a point when Michael went to the wrong pronounciation of Nale (ie Nal-lay rather than Nail).  It was jarring.  Thankfully he corrected later on.

Again, I love their stuff overall. But this project was just very big to not have minor errors.

I think BS should split it in 2 audible credit portions like Kingkiller is - just so that more resources can be put to quality assurance.

 

Edited December 4, 2017 by axcellence

[Fifth of Daybreak]

13 minutes ago, axcellence said:

I think BS should split it in 2 audible credit portions like Kingkiller is - just so that more resources can be put to quality assurance.

Is this a regional thing? You also mentioned earlier OB being downloaded in parts, but this isn't the case for me in either KKC or OB.

[Stairdweller]

So, you may have reasons to not do this, but there's actually an option in audible's options to seamlessly meld multipart books back together. It's called "seamless multipart play."  

[+Wax]

28 minutes ago, Ookla the Obtuse said:

Is this a regional thing? You also mentioned earlier OB being downloaded in parts, but this isn't the case for me in either KKC or OB.

Maybe you are talking about the audible app’s single file download vs multi-part download option?

A lot of people download the multi part way to make the full download more managable.

Kingkiller chronicle was 2 audible credit purchase for me for one of the books.

Audible do implement US vs International geo-selection and pricing for books on audible.com

 

[+Hoiditthroughthegrapevine]

7 hours ago, Willow said:

For some other general comments about the audiobook, I didn't see the necessity of changing the characters' voices when they were disguised to enter Kholinar, especially since I'm not sure Shallan completely figured out how to different voices yet?

This did make it a little difficult to follow, but I thought it was well worth it to hear the voice that Michael Kramer gave to the female Elhokar. Kaladin's disguised voice was not very good, he got the old country farmer voice, but holy crap, that warbly Elohkar voice was SO FUNNY!

I think one thing to think about in regards to lots of errors, different voices, etc. is that Kate and Michael couldn't have possibly had the same kind of lead time on this project that they've had in the past. I know from the WoT days that sometimes the audiobook would come out as much as 6 months after the Hardback (and I also know, from WoT audibook days, that if you are having trouble with a cassette playing correctly you should rap it smartly against a table).

I'm only midway through part 3 now, I see that the quality is little off because this project was so rushed, but the quality being slightly off makes this only better than 95% of the other audiobooks out there instead of Kate and Michael's reading being better than 99% of the other audio books out there.

 

1 hour ago, Ookla the Obtuse said:

Let's not say that I didn't like his version. It's just there's a lot of stellar Audiobook narrators in my life better KR and MK, Simon Vance, James Marsters, and Roy Dotrice (RIP). 

Sad about Roy Dotrice, that guy was the voice of Westeros. Peter Dinklage deserves much credit for his Tyrion Lanister, but I still think Roy Dotrice got that character better and does a better Tyrion.

Just like Roy's Tyrion is the voice of Tyrion that I will always hear when I read the Song of Ice and Fire books, Michael Kramer is the voice of Dalinar, I will always hear his voice when I read SLA books.

Back to work, with the Oathbringer audiobook playing, alternating with Christmas music.

[Fifth of Daybreak]

14 minutes ago, axcellence said:

A lot of people download the multi part way to make the full download more managable.

Kingkiller chronicle was 2 audible credit purchase for me for one of the books.

Ah, I just checked my settings, I had never noticed that before. 

That's unfortunate that you were charged two credits for it. I mean, I'd definitely have paid it given no other options, but still, ouch. 

15 minutes ago, hoiditthroughthegrapevine said:

Sad about Roy Dotrice, that guy was the voice of Westeros. Peter Dinklage deserves much credit for his Tyrion Lanister, but I still think Roy Dotrice got that character better and does a better Tyrion.

Absolute, every bit of this.`

[Willow]

1 hour ago, hoiditthroughthegrapevine said:

This did make it a little difficult to follow, but I thought it was well worth it to hear the voice that Michael Kramer gave to the female Elhokar. Kaladin's disguised voice was not very good, he got the old country farmer voice, but holy crap, that warbly Elohkar voice was SO FUNNY!

I mean you're right about Elhokar, but his normal voice is also hilarious. It's so whiny. Everytime I think about him I just hear Michael Kramer saying 'but WHYYYYYYYYY' in his Elhokar voice. And yeah, most of my complaint was focused on Kaladin's voice. It just wasn't very good, made the narration more confusing, and it wasn't necessary, since I don't think his voice would've given him away, considering I don't think he needed to speak when they were entering Kholinar.

Edited December 4, 2017 by Willow

[StormingTexan]

1 hour ago, hoiditthroughthegrapevine said:

I think one thing to think about in regards to lots of errors, different voices, etc. is that Kate and Michael couldn't have possibly had the same kind of lead time on this project that they've had in the past. I know from the WoT days that sometimes the audiobook would come out as much as 6 months after the Hardback (and I also know, from WoT audibook days, that if you are having trouble with a cassette playing correctly you should rap it smartly against a table).

It was really rushed. I follow them on Facebook and I want to say they were still working on it in September/October. 

Edit: HAHHA So I was cleaning out some stuff the other day and found some old cassettes and my kids minds were blown. I showed them how to rewind it with a pencil. 

Edited December 4, 2017 by StormingTexan

[Fifth of Daybreak]

2 minutes ago, StormingTexan said:

I follow them on Facebook

I'm going to go do that now, to avoid future mind blowing about my favorite narrators.