"Less talk, More Action" Audio Books

[nessin]

I like to listen to Audio Books in my car, although I usually keep them to educational or humor based. Recently I started trying out some of my Sci-Fi/Fantasy series I've got in Audio Book format that I usually reserve for my flights or just sitting at home.

Problem I ran into, is too many books I've got in audio form are too wordy, for lack of a better term. Essentially I get disgusted listening to the segments a lot of authors put in for character development and where I can read them fine when I listen to them they seem long and drawn out for no apparent reason.

My latest attempt to find something worthwhile was the Star Trek novellization by Foster. And this book rules in audio format! Its got plenty of inter-spaced action, the character development scenes aren't very long, Foster isn't overly descriptive of the world/environment, and its got a clear and straight-forward plot (I tried Song of Ice & Fire in audio format in my car and that was a disaster).

I'm hoping someone can offer up some other audio books that might fit the same kind of mold, or at least that you feel might be worth listening to in a kind of twice a day for 30 minutes at a time format.

[Seak]

Revenge of the Sith - Matthew Stover
Starship Troopers - Heinlein

Both are amazing. Lots of action and in Revenge of the Sith there's actually music and light saber sounds in the background. Loved both of these.

Can't recommend The Historian in audiobook. But, it's just a terrible book anyway.

[psikeyhackr]

http://librivox.org/badge-of-infamy-by-lester-del-rey/

psik

[Seak]

I tried Librivox with the Three Musketeers and it drove me crazy. I know it's free, but I would rather pay or borrow from the library.

[psikeyhackr]

I tried Librivox with the Three Musketeers and it drove me crazy. I know it's free, but I would rather pay or borrow from the library.

So why did it drive you crazy? I wouldn't be interested in The Three Musketeers.

The quality varies considerably with Librivox. One reader is annoying because of numerous mispronunciations. Another book had multiple readers. I can separate the story from the reading. Badge of Infamy was relatively decent in the reading and it is a good story. I am using text-to-speech software on stuff in Project Gutenberg now. It is not as good as a person reading but it is the story that matters to me not the reading. I am very plot oriented in terms of what I like about stories.

psik

[Seak]

So why did it drive you crazy? I wouldn't be interested in The Three Musketeers.

I'm sorry, I should have explained earlier. Laziness is a disease.

I think I'm just spoiled when it comes to audiobooks. I've been listening to a lot of them lately and I couldn't take the slow, monotone voice. I thought I could get over the fact that each character wouldn't have it's own accent or voice, but I couldn't, especially not with such a boring reader. Sorry, I know it's free and it's not like it's a professional, but I just won't be going back.

[psikeyhackr]

I couldn't take the slow, monotone voice. I thought I could get over the fact that each character wouldn't have it's own accent or voice, but I couldn't, especially not with such a boring reader.

With both the professional and the Librivox audiobooks I have begun using Audacity to increase the speed 33%. That changes the voices anyway but I get more stories in less time.

It is like people complaining about acting by Shattner or Brooks. Unless the acting is really bad I hardly notice it. I bet truly great acting would be wasted on me if I really like the story.

psik

[Smitty]

Sounds like you might be interested in something along the lines of:

www.graphicaudio.net

these are more like serials but they are dramatised and very action oriented.