Steven Pacey reading First Law is nothing short of flawless. Especially when doing character voices and emotional/intense dialogue. Technically brilliant and emotionally true, 100% of the time.

I miss Stephen Fry on this list tho. He's so far one of the best I've heard.

Please do the favourite audiobooks video. Would absolutely love to see that one! :)

I have to recommend James Marsters reading Jim Butcher's The Dresden Files series and Steven Weber reading Stephen King's IT.

Best Audiobook narration I have ever heard is easily Steven Pacey's narration of the First Law world. That man is beyond phenomenal. Excellent unique voices for each character, with awesome portrayal of emotion... but also wonderful use of regional accents as well!

I really like the narrator January LaVoy. She did the Diviner’s series and she was amazing.

I’ve seen some others say it, but Steven Weber’s narration of IT is really incredible.

Love this list. I sometimes feel like Audiobook narrators don't get as much credit as they should.

Sooo, Scott Brick, yes, Peter Kenny, absolutely, Victor Bevine, Jenny Sterlin, Jefferson Mays, Simon Vance, all amazing.

You could add a clip for each person so we know how they sound

Neil Gaiman's narration is amazing. His voice is so soothing and pleasant, I could listen to him read me a dictionary and enjoy it. Michael Kramer is amazing as well. The first thing I ever heard him read was the Felix Castor series and I enjoyed it so much (despite his very forced British accent lol) that I looked up what else he had narrated and discovered Mistborn and Brandon Sanderson! Some others I enjoy are: Steven Pacey, James Marsters, Simon Vance, Simon Jones, Tim Gerald Reynolds. Oh and Peter S. Beagle is another author who does a lovely job narrating his own books (The Last Unicorn).

Micheal Kramer, Kate Reading doing Stormlight, Mistborn and Wheel of Time also Marc Thompson doing Heir to the Empire is pure gold.

Hands down, Jim Dale, the British reader of the American Harry Potter audiobooks. Obviously, the audiobooks are "originals" from the print books (and better than the movies, although they have their own charm). Listening to Jim Dale is like listening to a "spoken opera". His characters have so much life and individuality, it makes them real. In "Goblet of Fire", he gives over 120 different characters their own voices. Seriously. You can not only tell Dumbledore and Prof McGonagall and the other main characters from each other, but the students, the visitors for the triwizard cup, the 'creatures' all have their own unmistakable sound, pitch and speech pattern. I have listened to each audiobook a dozen times at least and will continue so.

Kate Redding tho! It feels wierd that one was mentioned without the other. 😂

Yes, please, I would love favorite audiobooks video! I just got Audible and to be honest I am overwhelmed with the choices and I would love to hear your list! 😊

My favorite is going to be Julia Whelan. She is just amazing, and I've enjoyed books a lot more just because of her talent

George Guidall for the dark tower series, Roy Dotrice for the song of ice and fire, those two have such great weight behind their readings, and of course Jim Dale for the harry potter books.

Some of my favorites are Luke Daniels, Ray Porter, R.C. Bray, and Tim Gerard Reynolds.

Kobna Holdbrook-Smith is the narrator of the rivers of London series and he's amazing. His work with the accents really helps the series.

I am so glad to hear your praise for Michael Page’s narration of Lies of Locke Lamora. I have this one on my audible but haven’t listen to it yet because I’m very picky of narrators. Will be starting this one soon. Also, agree so hard with Neil Gaiman! I loved listening to Ocean at the End of the Lane. I also adore Johanna Parker. She narrated the Southern Vampire/Sookie Stackhouse series and her character work is amazing! Her ability to change her voice to encompass each character is so satisfying.

Peter Kenny... He makes the Witcher come alive.. Seriously, I love his voice

Michael Kramer is the reason I got into audiobooks. So glad he made the list.

yes yes yes Neil Gaiman is incredible! I also loved Michael C. Hall's narration of Pet Sematary!

My favorite audiobook narrators are Stephen Fry, Frank Muller, Jessica Threet, and Kate Reading.

Honestly I enjoy watching your videos so much, even if the topics arent something I specifically relate to I just feel so comfortable watching your videos and hearing your opinions on things. Thanks man :)

Simon Prebble. He reads "Johnathan Strange and Mr. Norrell" by Susanna Clarke. You must read the novel first before listening to the audio book, but he makes the novel even better.

Frank muller is incredible, especially his reading of silence of the lambs. Just a chilling and captivating narration.

Kramer and Merphy are solely responsible for getting me back into reading. First with audio books and now physical reading and I am loving it. I owe this channel a great debt!

my favorite is hands down Julia Whelan! I prefer female narrators over male narrators and Americans over any other accent, which I know is an unpopular opinion.

My favorite audiobooks/readers are: Susan Ericksen for the In Death series, James Marsters for the Dresden Files, Christian Rummel for the Lost Fleet series, Marc Vietor for the Nightside series, Lorelei King for the Mercy Thompson series, and Renee Raudman for the Kate Daniels series.

Hey, Merphy! Great video! If you ever plan on reading more from Ruth Ware, i suggest Imogen Church, she narrates all of her books and she is fantastic! I also love January LaVoy and Stephen Fry.

Nigel Planner has to be up there for me, he narrates a lot of the discworld books and he’s incredibly funny and really helps bring this silly world to life.

I liked this list. Lori Prince, Angela Dawe, Teri Schnaunelt, Nicola Victoria Vincent and Jennifer Ikeda have narrated some of my favorite audiobooks.

I definitely loved Roy Dotrice’s performances of A Song of Ice and Fire. His voices (while not always consistent across books), really helped bring the characters to life. Also, Harry Lloyd’s reading of A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms was fabulous! Michael Kramer was new to me when I started Mistborn this year, and I actually had to take a break in the audiobooks between Mistborn and Stormlight Archive because I was hearing the same character voices in both at first. Once I could keep them straight, it was a blast listening to his reading of Way of Kings. I’m excited to get to Words of Radiance soon!

The whole time I was shouting "Michael Kramer" over and over again.

Steven Pacey really impressed in the 1st Law series.

Jonathan Keeble's narrations of the first 4 books in the Last Kingdom series is downright legendary.

Jim Dale, the narrator of the Harry Potter series was amazing. When we saw the movies and the actors were talking, I kept thinking, wait, that isn't how Hagrid sounds. Another narrator I love is Jay O. Sanders. I would listen to anything he read, even if it wasn't a genre I normally read, just because he was so good.

Okay, so I am actually so excited that you decided to do this video! I recently discovered another booktuber that created a video on her favorite audiobooks/narrators and I immediately thought of you! Do you think you could also do a video on your favorite audiobooks? I would love to see those videos as regularly updates videos on your channel! I have a really hard time finding audiobook narrators that I really like and I’m so excited to have a list of new titles to get started with! Thank you for doing this, Merphy!

George guidell reading Dostoyevsky’s crime and punishment was wat converted me to consuming books in audio format almost exclusively

John Lee. No one could do Dickens as well I think. And the Spellmonger is amazing.

I attended a Jason Isaacs panel at a SciFi convention last year and him talking about his work, the characters he portrayed and funny set stories is still one of my most cherished memories of all time. He's such a brilliant storyteller and he used many different voices and accents and imitated his colleagues and friends. I was really sad when the panel was over. I should listen to this audio book sometime. I can imagine he's doing a great job.

Something I was pleasantly surprised by this year was starting the Audiobook for The Whisper Man and hearing Christopher Eccleston’s voice. I thought he killed it!

Tim Gerard Reynolds delivers some really awesome performances. I absolutely love his narration for The Prince of Fools, The Red Rising Saga and the Riyria Revelations. Michael Page is my second favorite, simply because I just read 1 book narrated by him - The Republic of Thieves.

My faves are Peter Kenny, and Steven Pacey!! I’m excited to check some of these out. Great video!

Marc Thompson. Does most of the Star Wars books. Is excellent at character voices. His Palpentine is uncanny. Also Nigel Planer, he voiced a large chunk of the Discworld novels and is another who is great at character voices.

I recommend you checking out The Discworld (Terry Pratchett) audiobooks narreted by Stephen Brigss. The earlyer audiobooks in a desperet need for reproduction but all narreted by Briggs are amazing. I also belive you would love the series no romance and wonderful fantasy stories. I think you would especially love Going Postal it reminds me of The lies of Locke Lamora

The narrator for The Fifth Season is bloody fantastic, she managed to capture the character exactly the way N K Jemisin intended And the way she said that part in the first chapter when the world is broken, OH MY GOD!!!! "And then, he breaks it" is the line that made the Audiobook my absolute favourite EVER. Definitely much better than if I had read the physical book

Thank you so much for this! I started watching your videos because one popped up that sounded interesting to me and I subscribed to your channel because I love your energy and and your content. However, I am not a fantasy reader. This video, I think, would be a great stepping stone to get into it. So thank you for that!

the voice makes or breaks the audio book for me. Stephen Lang was one of the best ones i heard.! wish could remember the book series... Nigel Anthony (Nostromo) was another really liked. prefer to read the book itself, but but think of how fun it would be to --insert favorite audio narrator) to have them read it aloud!

HorrorBabble who does audio books for public domain horror on KZfaq is my favourite. His voice is perfect for Weird Tales!

Jim Dale doing the American audiobooks for Harry Potter is the pinnacle of narration.

I liked the audiobook for IT by Stephen King. Highly recommend.

Neil Gaiman's Neverwhere audiobook was on POINT! Loved that one!

"We are Legion (We are Bob)" -Narrator: Ray Porter (also, the Neumann TLM in the thumbnail was a nice touch :) )

My favourite narrators so far are Suzy Jackson and Kevin R. Free but I need to listen to more 😊

George Guidall- The Golem & the Djinni/ Dark Tower series. Tim Gerard Reynolds- Riyria & Red Rising series. Simon Jones- Bartimeaus trilogy. Emily Woo Zeller- The Poppy War. Lauren Fortgang- Grisha series.

My favourite narrator is Rebecca Soler who narrated the lunar chronicles. The way she voices cinder and our cast of characters is just phenomenal, she brought so much more to the story and without her I don’t think it’d be my favourite series ever.

Bahni turpin is the only narrator I get excited for. But I love neil gaiman and Jim dale

Nick Podehl is my absolute favorite audiobook narrator. He is absolutely amazing. His voices are all distinct and consistent, his accents are superb, and his performance is flawless. I adore him.

David Tennant has a great voice to listen to X

I love Bahni Turpin! If i see she’s reading a book, it’ll increase my likelihood of listening to it! I also love the author Joshilyn Jackson, who reads all her books really well.

Marc Thompson is probably my favorite narrator for audiobooks. He narrates many Star Wars audiobooks, many of them by Timothy Zahn. Neil Gaiman is also amazing.

David Suchet for Death on the Nile was incredible. Also, Stephen Fry.

Also, my favorites are Stephen Fry, Neil Gaiman, Flo Gibson (for Brontes and Austen), Cameron Bierle, and, hands down, Jonathan Cecil, who reads a lot of P. G. Wodehouse works. It’s brilliant. He captures the spirit of the characters so well and he’s hilarious. Also, shout out to Katherine Kellgren, the best children’s narrator I have EVER heard. Her reading of The Incorrigible Children of Ashton Place is absolutely stunning. Your son might enjoy them!

Karan Savage is really good! She narrated the Anne of Green Gables series for Librivox and did an amazing job at that! (You can listen it on youtube.)

George Guidall, Dick hill, simon vance, simon prebble

I think my faves are Nick Podehl, Tim Gerard Reynolds and Zara Ramm, Micheal Kramer and Joe Jamison are up there too

I've been going through all of Marissa Meyer's books with audio, and Rebecca Soler is so amazing! Her voices and accents are so distinct (and they're many in the Lunar Chronicles!), I like her a lot.

My top audiobook Narrators 1 James Marsters (spike from buffy) 2 Nick Podehl 3 Scott Brick 4 Michael Kramer and Kate Reading 5 Vikas Adam

You should check out Richard Armitage! Specifically, Hamlet, Prince of Denmark. It's a retelling of Hamlet and the performance that Richard gives is amazing!!!! Also his reading of Jekyll and Hyde is brilliant too!

I will say, Micheal Cramer hit one of those favorites of mine when he made a subtle decision to change a character's voice in between the 2nd and 3rd mistborn books that made the experience so much cooler. Elend's voice in Hero of Ages sounds so much like Straffs voice from Well of Ascension that his inner conflict with his own ruthlessness hit so much harder. I loved it and it is only experienced in audio.

Grover Gardner for the Bujold books (both Vorkosigan and Chalion) is one of the best, in my opinion.

The Farseer Trilogy audiobooks were simply fantastic! The narrator really made the story for me. I physically read some but i stopped just so i could hear him perform

*Jason Isaacs, not Jacob Isaacs.

I really like Jason reynolds voice when he's narrating his own books. Its so soothing

Kate Reading is one of my favorites. I agree on Neil Gaiman, I love listening to him narrate his work, you get such an authentic experience.

Recently listened to Lee Horsley reading Lonesome Dove by Larry McMurtry (best book I’ve read in years)and thought Mr. Horsley really captured each character’s voice and was able to walk through the story in such a steady and smooth way that me alone couldn’t have done half as good in my head.

1. Steven Pacey (The First Law Trilogy + World) 2. Kobna Holdbrook-Smith (Rivers of London/PC Peter Grant) 3. Neil Gaiman (The Graveyard Book, Neverwhere, Coraline) 4. Kate Mulgrew (NOS4A2, The Fireman) 5. Stephen Fry (Harry Potter, Sherlock Holmes) Others that have stood out to me are Tim Gerard Reynolds (Red Rising Trilogy) James Marsters (Dresden Files), Colin Mace (Raven's Mark Trilogy, The Demon Cycle), Amanda Leigh Cobb (The Carrow Haunt), Rosario Dawson (Artemis), and of course Michael Kramer/Kate Reading with their countless narrations. Also, I have to mention David Nathan. He is an icon among German audiobook narrators and reads, among others, the German versions of The First Law, Dresden Files, The Riyria Chronicles, several Stephen King books, several Joe Hill books, several HP Lovecraft books. In addition, he narrates books from several famous German authors. He has a very pleasant voice (think a slightly rougher/raspier Michael Kramer) with an impressive range and I would have to think hard about him replacing someone from my posted Top 5 but luckily I just had to give a Top 5 for English-speaking narrators ;)

Going into this I was hoping you'd say Michael Kramer and January Lavoy. I guess I got one of them but January Lavoy is my all time favorite she is incredible

George Guidall, Christopher Hurt, John Lee, etc. They elevate the great works to even greater works.

James Marsters IS Harry Dresden in the Dresden Files audiobooks.

Grace Grant, Erin Mallon, Maxine Mitchell, Elizabeth Louise, Andi Ardnt ( I'm spelling her last name wrong), Zachary Weber, Sebastian York, and om Jason Clarke

I'm not much of an audiobook listener but I can listen to Neil Gaiman and Ray Bradbury read or say anything. Ray Bradbury's voice was wonderful and reminds me of being a child and watching the animated version of his The Halloween Tree, narrated by him. Funny enough, Gaiman wrote a piece in honor of Bradbury called The Man Who Forgot Ray Bradbury that you can find Gaiman reading on youtube. It's not long (fourteen or fifteen minutes at most) and it's lovely. Well worth the listen, anyone who might read this. I should mention I'm not sure Bradbury recorded many audiobooks, but at least a couple, I think.

Aiden snow should also be in the list. His voice is to die for.

My top 3 (in no particular order): Rupert Degas (in the Kingkiller Chronicle - British narration) Michael Kramer (in the Wheel of Time series and practically everything by Brandon Sanderson) Kate Reading (who often co-narrates with her husband, Michael Kramer, and I think I might slightly prefer her narration to his) These three narrators, more than any others that I have heard, have the ability to immediately and completely immerse me in the story through their performances. Many narrators simply read a book out loud, and for some books that's okay, like something more biographical or academic, but I hate listening to a narrator do 5 characters in virtually the same voice - often their own normal speaking voice. These three, however, are so skilled at embodying each individual character and giving a proper Voice Acting Performance, that I frequently have to remind myself that there's a single person playing each of the characters, and not a full cast of voice actors. In fact, I think it's a testament that I think of their narration as them "playing characters" rather than reading a book. It's almost like the way you should never think of an actor as someone reading lines from a script, while you're watching their performance.

Michael Page I absolutely agree with, I would definaty recommend John Lee, who amongst other books narrated Pillars of the Earth. My favourite would be Alan Titchmarsh who writes and narrates all his own books, the performance is incredibly touching, he knows his own characters so well xxx

i looked up all your favourites and i most definitely want to listen to Skyward and the rithmatist on audio now instead of physical! Suzy and Michael's voices totally resonated with me. Thank you for the recommendations xx

Anna Kendrick narrating her own book was great! And Merphy Napier has a great voice for audio books too

Mine are Tom Stechschulte, Dick Hill, George Guidall, Barbara Rosenblatt, Holly Jackson and Joyce Bean.

Very late to this... Priya Guns reading her book "Your Driver is Waiting" brings more to the page than is there in writing. Listening to it, it made me wonder if, sometime in the future, there will be some books published where the audio version is what people normally get and they have to go far out of their way to find a print version.

Books ive started listening to who i feel have a good Narrator to: Rose Madder - Blair Brown Pet Semetery - Micheal C Hall Heros - Stephen Fry James Langton Night Angel Trilogy - Paul Boehmer But im sure theres plenty more for me to look forward to

Could u do a vid on who are the best author-narrators, such as they are (I take it that u feel that N Gaiman is #1 in this category for you)? I feel it adds authenticity when the author reads their own stuff & they do it well, kinda like when a composer-conductor conducts their own piece, & they're a big hit with listeners. Would u want J Isaacs to do a new audio-book version of HP for the 2020s? For myself, I haven't exactly warmed to the older S Frye or J Dale versions.... And after all, it'd be fun hearing Isaacs speaking/playing the part of Lucius Malfoy again. That notorious Death Eater. Mwu ha ha. :-)

I cant get enough of Nick Podehl's narration

Yes... Michael Kramer is the best. He and his wife, Kate Reading (who does the Wheel of Time along with him), set the bar for audiobook narration really high.

On of my favourites to listen to was Edward Herrmann (who was the Grandpa in Gilmore Girls). He did a lot of non-fiction audiobooks and brought a life to the books!

I think when actors do it it makes all the difference. Good actors understand that narration is just another form of acting. You're so right about when you find a good narrator you should look up their bio and try to find other books they've done. Good narration is even more important than plot in the case of audiobooks imo. Lol. I find myself listening to some narrators and correcting them; "It should be read....NOT how YOU said it!"

I like the guy that does the Dark Tower books because I find it funny that all of Eddie's extended dialogues sound like George Carlin rants

I haven't listened to that many audiobooks but I have listened to a couple narrated by Emily Woo Zeller and I like her narration. I think her voice is really pleasant to listen to. Also, I found Perdita Weeks to be the perfect narrator for Madeline Miller's Circe. I think her narration is what made me enjoy the book so much.

Haha I love Rok and his performance of his voice.