Some books, such as the Wheel of Time series, I have read in both the traditional manner and audio format. I began listening to the Wheel of Time series after the eleventh book, Knife of Dreams. The books are long, and the audio books are even longer. Yet I was never bored as I listened, which sometimes occurred while reading the books, especially during the Elayne chapters in Knife of Dreams.
In fact, I found that I enjoyed the audio books even more than the printed books. After the eleventh book, I stopped buying the printed versions and got my Wheel of Time fix exclusively from the audio books. Kate Reading and Michael Kramer are two of the best readers I have heard. They do an excellent job giving each character a different voice. They speak clearly and pronounce well the Wheel of Time names. They also lack the annoying quirks of some readers.
Kate Reading reads all the chapters written from a female point of view, and Michael Kramer all the chapters from a male point of view. Some characters, such as Mat, come through in audio even more interesting than I had imagined them; Kramer nails Mat’s mixture of humor, honor, and dependability. The sum of their efforts is much greater than the parts, even though those parts are in themselves formidable. If you like Michael Kramer, I recommend his reading of Brandon Sanderson’s Mistborn trilogy.
Those who have an interest in Wheel of Time are already reading the books. My purpose here is to offer another way of appreciating these fine works.
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I kinda gave up around book 5… maybe if i have another bout of long term sick and have months to kill
good stuff… way too long for me
“In fact, I found that I enjoyed the audio books even more than the printed books.”
I completely agree with you. I had become bored midway reading Lord of Chaos (Book 6) and drifted off to other books, until I came across its audio version. Even though I had already read half of it, I started the audio book from the beginning and became completely enthralled.
I have nearly finished A Crown of Swords these days because I find myself listening to the audio book for hours at a time. Kate Reading and Michael Kramer really do an excellent job at portraying the characters.
I couldn’t disagree more. The attempts by the readers to give each character a different voice is beyond annoying and falls completely short. They consistently pronounce words incorrectly, and in fact, pronounce many of the the same words differently throughout the series. Hearing Moghedien being called “Mo-gah-deen” was irksome. Kate Reading has an annoying way of reading that borders on simpering a goodly portion of the time. Michael Kramer drawls out his words in a pompous manner, and then suddenly talks so fast I can’t understand him and have to rewind. I may have been able to overlook the style of reading more if the readers had made an attempt to accurately pronounce the words or at the very least, both use the same pronunciation, as the two of them differ from one another. I have listened to all 13 audio books, I fall asleep to them every night, but I really had to work at it to get over these two readers annoyances so that I was able to enjoy the stories I have loved for the past 20 years.
Kristin, I’m surprised you listened to all the books if you dislike the readers so much. Since they are very long, that’s a lot of self-inflicted punishment.
You are correct I had read the first 3 books and became bored .Some of the names are hard to pronounce .Kate Reading and Michael Kramer Do an outstanding job on this .
I am retired truck driver and these books gave me some great enjoyable hours in an otherwise boring job. ! have the entire set for sale on my website for 100.00 on a thumb drive or SD card My original’s were destroyed in a basement Flood ,Thank God I was fully backed up.
http://www.dependableaudiobooks.com