Best Audio Book Reader?

[The rat]

It is a tough choice for me.

I love Nigel, he has the best Colon (Tee Hee) and Nobby. His Nanny is spot on and has that hint of randy ole lady. Nigel's Vimes has grown from the drunk in the gutter to the rough ole copper who takes nutin' from no one and can work reluctantly with the upper crust and still knows his routes.

Nigels trolls and dwarfs are good, and Detritus is good as well.

But Stephen's range is fantastic. Sometime I forget that it is just one person reading the same book. The drawfs and trolls are great and his vampires blow me away. When the Igors come on I feel like I need to empty clean out my ears since it's like the spit is draining right out of my headphones.

I like Brigg's Vimes, but it he sounds a little too refined, but has the right gruffness and backbone. His Colon (tee hee) is just too comical to take serious. I think Brigg's Death is just a tad bit better than Nigel's but just by that much.

Brigg's female voices are much better than the slow witted sounding ladies of Nigel's.

Funny that Nobby for both of them are just about the same. I like both of their Gaspodes as well.

Brigg's Dibbler (teehee) is better than Nigel's (teehee) it has more of the snake oil salesman to him.

If I had to name one for all the money I think it would be.... Damn! I don't think I can really do it! It's such a Sophie's choice!

Nigel has a great part of the cannon under his belt, but Brigg's has a greater range between the races.

I just can't do it, they are both equal in their own right!

Sorry.

 

[Cheery]

My favourites are Tony Robinson and Stephen Briggs (well, they're the only ones I've ever heard). But I like Briggs better. I love it how he does Vimes, Willikins and Fred!

 

[raisindot]

Stephen Briggs, all the way.

Disclaimer: I've only heard Briggs and Planer.

Briggs just has a much better range of accents and a deeper reading of the characters, whereas Planer seems to aiming for humor, rather than personality.

Examples:

Planer's Colon sounds younger than Nobby (in Jingo). Brigg's Colon sounds older, more experienced, and appropriately, stupidly pompous.

Planer's Carrot sounds like an innocent kid. Brigg's Carrot sounds not only like the king Carrot is, but of a dwarfish king.

Planer's Death sounds like a befuffled aristocrat from a P.G. Wodehouse novel. Briggs's sounds like--well, if I had to be visited by Death, I'd hope he sounded like Briggs.

Planer's Lady Sybil sounds a very large woman. Briggs adds gravitas to her gravity.

Planer's Vetinari sounds like a country squire. Briggs's sounds like a mildly benevolent yet always menacing tyrant.

Jeff in Boston

 

[N1v3n]

I've only got/heard Briggs and Robinson, but much prefer Briggs.

His '...Maurice...' is a masterpiece 8)

 

[raisindot]

I'm now listening to my first Celia Imrie reading--borrowed the unabridged "Wyrd Sisters" from the library.

Trying not to be sexist here, but I find her the least talented of the three readers (Briggs, Planer, Imrie) I've listened to so far. Her voice has this strange mix of uppercrust schoolmarm and coquette that works okay when she's reading exposition and description, but really falls short on dialogue.

Her Granny Weatherwax lacks the bite and imperiousness of Planer's rendition. Her Magrat doesn't at all capture her spacey, nature girl quality. And her Nanny Ogg is abysmal--her wavery delivery makes this strong-willed, fun-loving matriach sound like a debilitated old crone. I would have at least thought that a female reader would have done a better job on the women's voices, but Planer captures the personalities of the witches far more effectively.

J-I-B

 

[Perestroika]

I listened to books read by Nigel Planer and Stephen Briggs first, and read the ones that Celia recorded well after I started reading discworld, hense I never liked her reading them.

In my mind discworld is meant to be read by Nigel and Stephen only.