I'd recommend the Dresden Files books, narrated by James Masters of Buffy the Vampire Slayer fame.
The first two books are a bit rough around the edges (still good though!), but by the third the author Jim Butcher figured out what what works and what doesn't and the story really takes of.
Its taken years for me to accept that I must listen to Scott Brick's stupid sing-song performances.
Marc Thompson doing any of Zahn's work is exceptional. I'm also a sucker for Simon Vance, even though with some performances you can hear traffic in the background. He can also get like Porter where Bond and the Girl with the Dragon Tattoo / Millennium trilogy blend.
I like Joe Barrett a lot. He did an excellent reading of The Hustler by Tevis.
Tom Stechschulte is also absolutely perfect for all of Cormac McCarthy's novels, but No Country for Old Men really stood out.
I hope Scott Brick retires. Some people feel this way about Peter Giles, though -- and I really like his voice. He was great for Heat 2
Wayne June, the voice actor of the narrator in the darkest dungeon video game has voiced a couple HP lovecraft audiobooks that you can find for free on youtube.
I would listen to literally anything Stephen Fry narrates. He did the Harry Potter audiobooks in England but he’s also written several books that he narrates himself and has done some classics like the entirety of Sherlock Holmes. He’s such a good voice actor, you really forget sometimes that you’re only listening to one person, and then his natural narration voice is so smooth and calming to listen to
I've really been enjoying Steven Weber's "It". Great range, and nails the quirks of every character.
George Guidall is great in everything he reads. His rendition of Dune is spot on, though old so it has some pops and cracks in the audio. It does mean you don't need to listen to the weird Simon Vance/Scott Brick version though. He's also a perfect fit for the gunslinger (Dark Tower anthology).
The Dark Tower was also partially recorded by Frank Muller, who I felt had a better range for the characters, but had a less "Western" feeling than George. Both bring something unique to it.
I liked Jefferson Mays doing the Expanse novels, but that may just be because I enjoyed them so much. But he remained clear and consistent throughout, which is all I can ask of any narrator.
My favorite narrators are Michael Kramer and Kate Reading - either Kramer solo, or as the Kramer/Reading duo for multi-narrator books. They've become the primary narrators for Brandon Sanderson, with Kramer handling the Mistborn books and the pair of them doing Stormlight.
I had a couple I was going to recommend that I recently went through and liked (Project Hail Mary which was significantly elevated in audiobook form vs paper, and the Bobiverse books)... then I checked and saw they were Ray Porter >.>
Wil Wheaton has done quite a bit of audio book narration lately with an understandable focus on sci fi - he narrates a lot of John Scalzi's books.
The version of Dune that was read by a whole cast of people, with the main narrator being Simon Vance. It is the version that I had listened to, the performance that the cast had done was really good. It just brought the book to life, verses of it was just one narrator doing the reading.
Neil Gaiman narrates a lot of his own books, and he's got an exceptional voice. It's also nice knowing that the speaker is perfectly following the author's intentions, because they're the same person.
Heath Miller does an amazing job with the He Who Fights with Monsters LitRPG series by Shirtaloon. I don't yet have any other books that he's narrated yet, but I definitely look forward to any he does.
I really enjoyed "Infinite Jest" as narrated by Sean Pratt. It is such a journey of a book, and I absolutely think he enhanced it for me. He made the funny parts more funny, and the tender parts more heartfelt.
The only tricky thing - I'm not sure if they have resolved this in another edition, but the endnotes were in a separate audiobook. So I was bouncing back and forth.
It made it rougher, but was worth it. One endnote in particular was probably one of my favorite narrated parts in the whole book.
(A second comment but the first was already being voted so I wanted to not ride its tails with these)
Say what you will about some of the flaws of the book itself, but the narration of Neil Stephenson's Seveneves was well done by Mary Robinette Kowal and Will Damron. Anathem and Diamond Age also have good audio books. I've just recently started listening to Baroque Cycle so no room to comment there yet (and I only read Snow Crash and Cryptonomicon in paper form).
World War Z's audio book is quite well done with a cast of people, it's just unfortunate that the audio book is heavily abridged and hence loses out significantly to the paper book. Still better than that abomination of a movie though...
I like John Lee in general but when he reads Alastair Reynolds books it's a very good match. He narrates mosy of Reynolds' books but not Revenger etc, which is good because I don't think he would have fit the tone.
Some of my favorites:
R.C. Bray and Will Wheaton do a lot of sci-fi. John Lee did Pillars of the Earth wonderfully (hard recommend) and Bill Bryson did all of his own books, and they’re all excellent.
Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit read by Phil Dragash. It is a fan recording. Dragash just made it himself and published it. It has since been DMCA'd off his website, but it is still available at the internet archive. https://archive.org/search?query=phil+dragash+lord+of+the+rings
I have tried both of the official LOTR recordings, and this one is by far the best. It is definitely amateur; there are some minor issues and sections that should have been re-recorded. But these are very few and do not distract from the work.
World War Z is one of my go-to audiobook recommendations for anything, period. it's structured as "an oral history of the zombie war", and the audiobook version has an incredible ensemble cast (the author is Mel Brooks' son so he has a ton of Hollywood connections).
Andy Weir's Artemis isn't as good as The Martian or Project Hail Mary (in particular, Weir is not good at writing female protagonists) but the audiobook version was narrated by Rosario Dawson who I thought did a wonderful job with it.
I've mentioned this before, but it deserves repeating - The Haunting of Hill House by Shirley Jackson read by the late David Warner. Here we have one of the cornerstone works of a quietly influential and brilliant author narrated by a classically trained stage and screen actor (who passed away days after I finished listening. It was eerie.). The setting descriptions have a resonance because of his performance. It was chilling, a real listening experience. Anyone who might be turned off because of the more recent adaptations (Current Netflix and c.2000 film adaptation) - listen to the OG. It's the kind of subtle scary that creeps up on you and disappears without a trace rather than the kind that jump-scares you into indifference.
I also really liked Hitchhikers Guide. Stephen Fry could narrate a phone book and find a way to make it interesting, I'm convinced.
Anthony Heald (Dr. Chilton from Silence of the Lambs) can narrate the absolute shit out of a Star Wars book. I think he only did a few, but I remember having those tapes on loop as a child.
Jefferson Mays. He narrated all of the audiobooks for the The Expanse series.
Such a phenomenal job, to this day my favourite narration performance. His performance is also a big part of the reason why I couldn't get into the TV adaptation. The vocal performances, accent choices etc. were just a huge downgrade after having listened to all of the books that had been released by the time the first episode of the TV series aired.
Suzy Jackson really nailed it in the Skyward series by Brandon Sanderson. All the cute little voices for doom slug and boom slug really brought depth to some arguably throw away characters. Managed to capture male voices very well too!
Stephen Pacey does an excellent job with all of Joe Abercrombies books. Really gets into his characters and feels like a cast instead of just one person. Really enjoy his voicing of Inquisitor Glokta
I’m genuinely shocked I haven’t seen Tim Gerard Reynolds recommended on here. He narrates the Red Rising trilogy. He is an amazing narrator. I’ve never felt so proud to be Irish than I did while listening to the beginning of Red Rising and I’m not even Irish.
Gathering Moss and Braiding Sweetgrass authored and red by Robin Wall Kimmerer. Some of the most beautifully layered tangently described areas of topics from bryology, ecology, new kinder economic models, life stories, indigenous history and more. The way she wrote and reads feels so gentle and woven together, it warms the soul while teaching you so much about her areas of expertise and broader life.
My favorite is Roy Dotrice narrating the A song of ice and fire books. He would consistently surprise me with a range of voices in a book with so many characters to keep track of. Not only that, but how recognizable all of the characters became by his portrayal of them, knowing who was talking with little context. I can still hear his interpretation of multiple characters in my heads years after I last heard them.
I'd recommend the Dresden Files books, narrated by James Masters of Buffy the Vampire Slayer fame.
The first two books are a bit rough around the edges (still good though!), but by the third the author Jim Butcher figured out what what works and what doesn't and the story really takes of.
Its taken years for me to accept that I must listen to Scott Brick's stupid sing-song performances.
Marc Thompson doing any of Zahn's work is exceptional. I'm also a sucker for Simon Vance, even though with some performances you can hear traffic in the background. He can also get like Porter where Bond and the Girl with the Dragon Tattoo / Millennium trilogy blend.
I like Joe Barrett a lot. He did an excellent reading of The Hustler by Tevis.
Tom Stechschulte is also absolutely perfect for all of Cormac McCarthy's novels, but No Country for Old Men really stood out.
I hope Scott Brick retires. Some people feel this way about Peter Giles, though -- and I really like his voice. He was great for Heat 2
Wayne June, the voice actor of the narrator in the darkest dungeon video game has voiced a couple HP lovecraft audiobooks that you can find for free on youtube.
I would listen to literally anything Stephen Fry narrates. He did the Harry Potter audiobooks in England but he’s also written several books that he narrates himself and has done some classics like the entirety of Sherlock Holmes. He’s such a good voice actor, you really forget sometimes that you’re only listening to one person, and then his natural narration voice is so smooth and calming to listen to
Three come to mind in the fantasy genre specifically:
The Hobbit narrated by Andy Serkis
Skyward (Brandon Sanderson) and sequels, narrated by Sophie Aldred (UK edition, there's a different US narrator)
Gideon the Ninth (Tamsyn Muir) and sequels, narrated by Moira Quirk
All are really dynamic, have great and very distinctive voices and are just generally pleasant to listen to. Plus the books are all great too.
I've really been enjoying Steven Weber's "It". Great range, and nails the quirks of every character.
George Guidall is great in everything he reads. His rendition of Dune is spot on, though old so it has some pops and cracks in the audio. It does mean you don't need to listen to the weird Simon Vance/Scott Brick version though. He's also a perfect fit for the gunslinger (Dark Tower anthology).
The Dark Tower was also partially recorded by Frank Muller, who I felt had a better range for the characters, but had a less "Western" feeling than George. Both bring something unique to it.
I liked Jefferson Mays doing the Expanse novels, but that may just be because I enjoyed them so much. But he remained clear and consistent throughout, which is all I can ask of any narrator.
My favorite narrators are Michael Kramer and Kate Reading - either Kramer solo, or as the Kramer/Reading duo for multi-narrator books. They've become the primary narrators for Brandon Sanderson, with Kramer handling the Mistborn books and the pair of them doing Stormlight.
I had a couple I was going to recommend that I recently went through and liked (Project Hail Mary which was significantly elevated in audiobook form vs paper, and the Bobiverse books)... then I checked and saw they were Ray Porter >.>
Wil Wheaton has done quite a bit of audio book narration lately with an understandable focus on sci fi - he narrates a lot of John Scalzi's books.
The version of Dune that was read by a whole cast of people, with the main narrator being Simon Vance. It is the version that I had listened to, the performance that the cast had done was really good. It just brought the book to life, verses of it was just one narrator doing the reading.
Neil Gaiman narrates a lot of his own books, and he's got an exceptional voice. It's also nice knowing that the speaker is perfectly following the author's intentions, because they're the same person.
I love Travis Baldtree - he narrates the Cradle series by Will Wight!
The Witcher series by Andrsez Sapkowski, read by Peter Kenny, has been really excellent voice acting. I highly recommend it.
Steven Pacey, reading The First Law Trilogy by Joe Abercrombie was also memorable and wonderful.
Neal Stephenson's Snow Crash is one of the best narrated books I've listed to.
Heath Miller does an amazing job with the He Who Fights with Monsters LitRPG series by Shirtaloon. I don't yet have any other books that he's narrated yet, but I definitely look forward to any he does.
Born a Crime by Trevor Noah is an excellent book that is funny, sad and hopeful. Noah narrates his own book and does a great job.
I really enjoyed "Infinite Jest" as narrated by Sean Pratt. It is such a journey of a book, and I absolutely think he enhanced it for me. He made the funny parts more funny, and the tender parts more heartfelt.
The only tricky thing - I'm not sure if they have resolved this in another edition, but the endnotes were in a separate audiobook. So I was bouncing back and forth.
It made it rougher, but was worth it. One endnote in particular was probably one of my favorite narrated parts in the whole book.
(A second comment but the first was already being voted so I wanted to not ride its tails with these)
Say what you will about some of the flaws of the book itself, but the narration of Neil Stephenson's Seveneves was well done by Mary Robinette Kowal and Will Damron. Anathem and Diamond Age also have good audio books. I've just recently started listening to Baroque Cycle so no room to comment there yet (and I only read Snow Crash and Cryptonomicon in paper form).
World War Z's audio book is quite well done with a cast of people, it's just unfortunate that the audio book is heavily abridged and hence loses out significantly to the paper book. Still better than that abomination of a movie though...
Awakenings and Musicophilia by the author Oliver Sacks. The perfect balance between science and human emotions beautifully written and narrated.
If you can get ahold of the R.C. Bray version of the Martian, it is so good. My absolute favorite way of presenting that story.
I like John Lee in general but when he reads Alastair Reynolds books it's a very good match. He narrates mosy of Reynolds' books but not Revenger etc, which is good because I don't think he would have fit the tone.
Dungeon Crawler Carl - narrated by R.C. Bray
Expeditionary Force - narrated by Jeff Hays
Some of my favorites:
R.C. Bray and Will Wheaton do a lot of sci-fi. John Lee did Pillars of the Earth wonderfully (hard recommend) and Bill Bryson did all of his own books, and they’re all excellent.
Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit read by Phil Dragash. It is a fan recording. Dragash just made it himself and published it. It has since been DMCA'd off his website, but it is still available at the internet archive. https://archive.org/search?query=phil+dragash+lord+of+the+rings
I have tried both of the official LOTR recordings, and this one is by far the best. It is definitely amateur; there are some minor issues and sections that should have been re-recorded. But these are very few and do not distract from the work.
World War Z is one of my go-to audiobook recommendations for anything, period. it's structured as "an oral history of the zombie war", and the audiobook version has an incredible ensemble cast (the author is Mel Brooks' son so he has a ton of Hollywood connections).
Andy Weir's Artemis isn't as good as The Martian or Project Hail Mary (in particular, Weir is not good at writing female protagonists) but the audiobook version was narrated by Rosario Dawson who I thought did a wonderful job with it.
I've mentioned this before, but it deserves repeating - The Haunting of Hill House by Shirley Jackson read by the late David Warner. Here we have one of the cornerstone works of a quietly influential and brilliant author narrated by a classically trained stage and screen actor (who passed away days after I finished listening. It was eerie.). The setting descriptions have a resonance because of his performance. It was chilling, a real listening experience. Anyone who might be turned off because of the more recent adaptations (Current Netflix and c.2000 film adaptation) - listen to the OG. It's the kind of subtle scary that creeps up on you and disappears without a trace rather than the kind that jump-scares you into indifference.
I also really liked Hitchhikers Guide. Stephen Fry could narrate a phone book and find a way to make it interesting, I'm convinced.
Anthony Heald (Dr. Chilton from Silence of the Lambs) can narrate the absolute shit out of a Star Wars book. I think he only did a few, but I remember having those tapes on loop as a child.
Jefferson Mays. He narrated all of the audiobooks for the The Expanse series.
Such a phenomenal job, to this day my favourite narration performance. His performance is also a big part of the reason why I couldn't get into the TV adaptation. The vocal performances, accent choices etc. were just a huge downgrade after having listened to all of the books that had been released by the time the first episode of the TV series aired.
Suzy Jackson really nailed it in the Skyward series by Brandon Sanderson. All the cute little voices for doom slug and boom slug really brought depth to some arguably throw away characters. Managed to capture male voices very well too!
Stephen Pacey does an excellent job with all of Joe Abercrombies books. Really gets into his characters and feels like a cast instead of just one person. Really enjoy his voicing of Inquisitor Glokta
I’m genuinely shocked I haven’t seen Tim Gerard Reynolds recommended on here. He narrates the Red Rising trilogy. He is an amazing narrator. I’ve never felt so proud to be Irish than I did while listening to the beginning of Red Rising and I’m not even Irish.
Children of Blood and Bone has a wonderful narrator. I loved her so much I bought the second one as soon as I finished the first one.
Gathering Moss and Braiding Sweetgrass authored and red by Robin Wall Kimmerer. Some of the most beautifully layered tangently described areas of topics from bryology, ecology, new kinder economic models, life stories, indigenous history and more. The way she wrote and reads feels so gentle and woven together, it warms the soul while teaching you so much about her areas of expertise and broader life.
My favorite is Roy Dotrice narrating the A song of ice and fire books. He would consistently surprise me with a range of voices in a book with so many characters to keep track of. Not only that, but how recognizable all of the characters became by his portrayal of them, knowing who was talking with little context. I can still hear his interpretation of multiple characters in my heads years after I last heard them.