# Recommend to me some audio books that utilize actors.
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-to-me-some-audio-books-that-utilize-actors/774608
**Category:** Cafe Society
**Created:** [December 13, 2016, 1:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-to-me-some-audio-books-that-utilize-actors/774608 "2016-12-13T13:48:50Z")
**Posts on this page:** 20
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@Mahaloth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mahaloth)
#### Post date: [December 13, 2016, 1:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-to-me-some-audio-books-that-utilize-actors/774608/1 "2016-12-13T13:48:50Z")
I’m not talking about audiobooks where a voice-actor reads the entire text.
I’m not sure how to explain what I’m talking about. If there is a proper name for this kind of thing, let me know.
[I am currently listening to Brandon Sanderson’s book Shadows of Self, the 5th book in his Mistborn series. However, I am listening to the Graphic Audio version of it, which is from this website.](http://www.graphicaudio.net/mistborn-5-shadows-of-self.html)
Wow, it is awesome. The voice actors for the characters are excellent, as is the narrator of the descriptive portion of the text.
Unlike a straight audio play, the entire book is read to you. They just add sound effects and each character is voiced by an appropriately sounding actor.
I do like fantasy and science fiction, but am open to most genres. Anyone have some recommendations for audio-books like this?
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### Author:  [@Sir\_T-Cups](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sir_T-Cups)
#### Post date: [December 13, 2016, 2:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-to-me-some-audio-books-that-utilize-actors/774608/2 "2016-12-13T14:13:54Z")
[Lord of the Rings BBC Audio Play](https://www.amazon.com/Lord-Rings-BBC-Dramatization/dp/0553456539/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1481638333&sr=8-1&keywords=lord+of+the+rings+bbc+radio+drama)
It’s about 12 hours and covers the entire 3 book series, but it has actual actors doing the parts (Ian Holm is Frodo for example).
I had a cross-country drive ahead of me and needed something that wasn’t the radio, so I checked this out at the library from my college. It was pretty neat.
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### Author:  [@Mahaloth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mahaloth)
#### Post date: [December 13, 2016, 3:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-to-me-some-audio-books-that-utilize-actors/774608/3 "2016-12-13T15:00:24Z")
> [@Sir\_T-Cups](#):
>
> [Lord of the Rings BBC Audio Play](https://www.amazon.com/Lord-Rings-BBC-Dramatization/dp/0553456539/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1481638333&sr=8-1&keywords=lord+of+the+rings+bbc+radio+drama)
>
> It’s about 12 hours and covers the entire 3 book series, but it has actual actors doing the parts (Ian Holm is Frodo for example).
>
> I had a cross-country drive ahead of me and needed something that wasn’t the radio, so I checked this out at the library from my college. It was pretty neat.
Interesting. I doubt they read the entire book aloud and managed to voice-act it in 12 hours. More of an audio play, then?
I may try some audio plays like that as well(Hitchhiker’s Guide, etc.), so please feel free to recommend them. I was mainly talking about fully book texts that utilize actors and sound effects.
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### Author:  [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)
#### Post date: [December 13, 2016, 3:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-to-me-some-audio-books-that-utilize-actors/774608/4 "2016-12-13T15:24:13Z")
[World War Z](https://www.amazon.com/World-War-Complete-History-Zombie/dp/0449807894)
The book was written as a series of interviews with survivors of the aftermath of a zombie apocalypse. In the audio book, various actors perform the roles of the interviewees.
Check which version you’re getting. When the book was first published, an audiobook was also released. But this first audiobook contained only an abridged version of the book. When the book became a bestseller, a second audiobook was released which contained the complete text.
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### Author:  [@Miss\_Mapp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miss_Mapp)
#### Post date: [December 13, 2016, 3:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-to-me-some-audio-books-that-utilize-actors/774608/5 "2016-12-13T15:32:00Z")
> [@Mahaloth](#):
>
> Interesting. I doubt they read the entire book aloud and managed to voice-act it in 12 hours. More of an audio play, then?
>
> I may try some audio plays like that as well(Hitchhiker’s Guide, etc.), so please feel free to recommend them. I was mainly talking about fully book texts that utilize actors and sound effects.
The BBC Lord of the Rings is indeed an audio drama, with dialog in some scenes not taken from the books. It is, however, just the thing for a very long drive.
---
### Author:  [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)
#### Post date: [December 13, 2016, 3:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-to-me-some-audio-books-that-utilize-actors/774608/6 "2016-12-13T15:33:53Z")
> [@Mahaloth](#):
>
> Unlike a straight audio play, the entire book is read to you. They just add sound effects and each character is voiced by an appropriately sounding actor.
You’re looking for “full cast” audiobooks (that are _not_ dramatizations or abridgments), right?
I haven’t listened to any of the following, but, judging by their descriptions, examples would include
[The Graveyard Book](http://www.audible.com/pd/Teens/The-Graveyard-Book-Full-Cast-Production-Audiobook/B00LXHQO22/ref=a_search_c4_1_3_srTtl?qid=1481642610&sr=1-3) by Neil Gaiman
[The Bad Beginning](http://www.audible.com/pd/Kids/The-Bad-Beginning-A-Multi-Voice-Recording-Audiobook/B002V1BPIM/ref=a_search_c4_2_19_srTtl?qid=1481642665&sr=2-19) by Lemony Snicket
[The Golden Compass](http://www.audible.com/pd/Teens/The-Golden-Compass-Audiobook/B002V1NG16/ref=a_search_c4_3_2_srTtl?qid=1481642688&sr=3-2) by Philip Pullman
The [Redwall](http://www.audible.com/series/ref=a_search_c4_4_5_1srSrs_sa?asin=B006K1R4B6) books by Brian Jacques
[This version of Dracula](http://www.audible.com/pd/Classics/Dracula-Audible-Edition-Audiobook/B0078PA1OA/ref=a_search_c4_1_1_srTtl?qid=1481643080&sr=1-1) (which I have listened to and can recommend) might also qualify, though there aren’t really sound effects; it’s just different narrators reading different sections of the book.
The kind of book where different chapters are read by different narrators sounds like not quite the kind of thing you’re looking for, but there are plenty of those out there as well.
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### Author:  [@epbrown01](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/epbrown01)
#### Post date: [December 13, 2016, 3:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-to-me-some-audio-books-that-utilize-actors/774608/7 "2016-12-13T15:53:39Z")
> [@Little\_Nemo](#):
>
> [World War Z](https://www.amazon.com/World-War-Complete-History-Zombie/dp/0449807894)
>
> The book was written as a series of interviews with survivors of the aftermath of a zombie apocalypse. In the audio book, various actors perform the roles of the interviewees.
That sounds quite nice.
It’s more a standard audiobook but Wil Wheaton’s read of **Ready Player One** is supposed to be quite good.
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### Author:  [@Sir\_T-Cups](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sir_T-Cups)
#### Post date: [December 13, 2016, 4:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-to-me-some-audio-books-that-utilize-actors/774608/8 "2016-12-13T16:11:46Z")
> [@Mahaloth](#):
>
> Interesting. I doubt they read the entire book aloud and managed to voice-act it in 12 hours. More of an audio play, then?
>
> I may try some audio plays like that as well(Hitchhiker’s Guide, etc.), so please feel free to recommend them. I was mainly talking about fully book texts that utilize actors and sound effects.
You are correct, it’s a radio drama in every sense of the word.
I didn’t really do a good job of sticking to your premise now did I :smack:
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### Author:  [@Mahaloth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mahaloth)
#### Post date: [December 13, 2016, 4:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-to-me-some-audio-books-that-utilize-actors/774608/9 "2016-12-13T16:29:45Z")
> [@Sir\_T-Cups](#):
>
> You are correct, it’s a radio drama in every sense of the word.
>
> I didn’t really do a good job of sticking to your premise now did I :smack:
It’s OK. I’m just fascinated and impressed with the job Graphic Audio has done on the book I’m listening to. It’s great.
Their slogan is “It’s like a movie in your mind.”
It’s true, it kind of is.
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### Author:  [@chrisk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chrisk)
#### Post date: [December 13, 2016, 4:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-to-me-some-audio-books-that-utilize-actors/774608/10 "2016-12-13T16:39:08Z")
I know that Audible has/had “Dune” and some of the Ursula Le Guin Earthsea books in full-cast format… both of them including Scott Brick in the cast.
I think that they’re not strict about always having the same actor read all a character’s dialog, maybe because that makes the recording/production more difficult to arrange. (IE either having the actors available to record at the same time or leaving gaps where the other actor can read in.) So often they go scene-by-scene instead, picking the major or POV character for a scene and having that actor read everything, including the dialog there. It’s still pretty cool to listen to that way.
ETA: Also, the Escape Artists (Escape Pod, Podcastle, and, I assume, Pseudopod) often release shorter stories with full-casts, for free.
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### Author:  [@Mahaloth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mahaloth)
#### Post date: [December 13, 2016, 6:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-to-me-some-audio-books-that-utilize-actors/774608/11 "2016-12-13T18:07:09Z")
I am curious about Earthsea, not having read it. I may have to check that out.
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### Author:  [@oft\_wears\_hats](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/oft_wears_hats)
#### Post date: [December 14, 2016, 3:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-to-me-some-audio-books-that-utilize-actors/774608/12 "2016-12-14T15:31:58Z")
The _Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy_ radio shows are excellent. At least, the Primary and Secondary Phases are. Phases three through five were made decades later, with much of the original cast, but they’re just not as good.
There’s a full cast version of Neil Gaiman’s _American Gods_. No sound effects, but it’s still quite good.
There’s also the Star Wars radio drama, which was excellent. Full cast, sound effects, it even has Mark Hamill as Luke for ANH and ESB. I think Billy Dee Williams also reprised his role as Lando.
If you can’t get enough Star Wars, there’s also the Dark Forces drama. It’s nowhere near as good, though, so I can’t recommend it unless you’re starving for more Star Wars after finishing the main radio program.
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### Author:  [@Loach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loach)
#### Post date: [December 14, 2016, 3:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-to-me-some-audio-books-that-utilize-actors/774608/13 "2016-12-14T15:44:19Z")
> [@Little\_Nemo](#):
>
> [World War Z](https://www.amazon.com/World-War-Complete-History-Zombie/dp/0449807894)
>
> The book was written as a series of interviews with survivors of the aftermath of a zombie apocalypse. In the audio book, various actors perform the roles of the interviewees.
>
> Check which version you’re getting. When the book was first published, an audiobook was also released. But this first audiobook contained only an abridged version of the book. When the book became a bestseller, a second audiobook was released which contained the complete text.
It has an amazing cast:
Max Brooks as The Interviewer
Nathan Fillion
Paul Sorvino
Carl Reiner
Jay O. Sanders
Martin Scorsese
Simon Pegg
Denise Crosby
Bruce Boxleitner
Jeri Ryan
Henry Rollins
Mark Hamill
Eamonn Walker
Jürgen Prochnow
David Ogden Stiers
Alan Alda
Rob Reiner
Dean Edwards
Frank Darabont
Parminder Nagra
Masi Oka
John Turturro
Alfred Molina
Common
F. Murray Abraham
Rene Auberjonois
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### Author:  [@Mahaloth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mahaloth)
#### Post date: [December 14, 2016, 8:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-to-me-some-audio-books-that-utilize-actors/774608/14 "2016-12-14T20:37:53Z")
I know this may be crazy, but does Malazan series have a full audioplay type thing like graphic audio offers?
I kind of want a fantasy series. Or a science fiction one. I don’t know. I’m just looking for something great.
I am considering some of your options. Please keep them coming!
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### Author:  [@Max\_Torque](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Max_Torque)
#### Post date: [December 14, 2016, 9:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-to-me-some-audio-books-that-utilize-actors/774608/15 "2016-12-14T21:34:56Z")
The audiobook for Emma Donoghue’s **Room** has, as I recall, four different actors playing all the roles. The voice of Jack is pretty annoying, and makes up about 70% of the audio, so let that factor into your decision. I got used to it pretty quickly.
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### Author:  [@Mahaloth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mahaloth)
#### Post date: [December 14, 2016, 10:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-to-me-some-audio-books-that-utilize-actors/774608/16 "2016-12-14T22:03:32Z")
I have already made plans to get World War Z, by the way. Sounds awesome. Mark Hamill is even in in it, I think.
I am considering some others as well. Please keep your recommendations coming! Love 'em!
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### Author:  [@Trancephalic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Trancephalic)
#### Post date: [December 14, 2016, 10:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-to-me-some-audio-books-that-utilize-actors/774608/17 "2016-12-14T22:18:58Z")
I just recently listened to Ian McKellen read Rime of the Ancient Mariner on youtube.
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### Author:  [@teela\_brown](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/teela_brown)
#### Post date: [December 14, 2016, 11:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-to-me-some-audio-books-that-utilize-actors/774608/18 "2016-12-14T23:03:50Z")
This thread reminds me that I’ve always meant to buy Patrick Stewart reading _A Christmas Carol_. I know he did a stage version of this, and to promote it, he guested on some talk shows and read a paragraph or two from the book. At that time, I heard him read the description of the pawn shop where Scrooge’s posthumous belongings were fenced. Very, very good stuff.
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### Author:  [@Mahaloth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mahaloth)
#### Post date: [December 15, 2016, 8:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-to-me-some-audio-books-that-utilize-actors/774608/19 "2016-12-15T20:42:44Z")
Are there any Discworld audio books that are good? Especially any with various actors performing the roles?
I read Small Gods and Guards! Guards! in the summer and would love audio books of Discworld if they are any good.
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### Author:  [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)
#### Post date: [December 15, 2016, 8:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-to-me-some-audio-books-that-utilize-actors/774608/20 "2016-12-15T20:50:19Z")
There are unabridged audio versions of the Discworld books. The earlier ones are read by Nigel Planer (familiar to some as Neil from “The Young Ones”) and the later ones by Stephen Briggs, both of whom do a good, satisfying job.
I believe that there have been BBC radio plays based on at least a few of the Discworld books, but I’m not sure where to get them or how good they are.
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