I’m ecstatic to be able to announce that the audiobook edition of TARASHANA just went live. !!!
This was a long, long project, with many pauses along the way, for reasons which are massively too complicated to go into here. I will just say that this is, let me see, just about two years and two months from the time I put the project up at ACX. I know some of you have wanted an audio edition and I regret that it took so long, but here it is!
I love, love, love this audiobook. This is the same narrator as for the audio version of TUYO, which by the way if you haven’t listened to it, you REALLY SHOULD. I have listened to both TUYO and TARASHANA in audio multiple times, partly because I listen to chapters while the audiobook is in production and then listen to each book all the way through before hitting “approve” at ACX, but also because I love them and listen to them once they’re officially out as well.
It turns out I really prefer audiobooks when I’m already familiar with the story; the audiobooks I’ve listened to the most are not just these, but also the Touchstone trilogy and The Goblin Emperor. This is a personal quirk (I guess? Do any of you also prefer audiobooks of books you already know and enjoy in print?). But if you like audio versions at all when you already have ebook or print editions, then seriously, try TUYO and TARASHANA. I’m not kidding.
Did you know that if you get these books as your first books from Audible, you can get them both free and I get a bonus? Just saying.
Whether or not you are already a member of Audible, you ought to be able to get all sorts of audiobooks at a reduced price if you already have the kindle version. You know how you can easily find out? You can use the handy Audible Matchmaker service, here, which will show you audio version of those books and their prices. Let me see, looks like I could pick up Catfishing on Catnet for $10 less than the regular audio price, Six Ways to Write a Love Letter for a massive $29 dollars off the ordinary audio price, Emily Wild’s Encyclopedia of Faeries for $22 off, lots here. This is all presuming I’m not a member of Audible, which I’m not. This is a way to get audiobooks for reduced prices without joining Audible. I don’t generally listen to enough different audiobooks to make joining worthwhile, especially as I really do prefer listening to books I’ve already read. I’m very likely to pick some of these up in audio form now that I’ve been reminded to check Matchmaker.
But back to the audio editions of TUYO and TARASHANA. These are now the voices I hear in my head for Ryo and Aras. More than that, these are VERY MUCH the voices I hear in my head for Geras and Esau. I’m not sure why these particular voices appeal to me so much, but I think Esau sounds exactly right, on top of things and a little bored, and Geras sounds completely perfect. I don’t know what my favorite voiced scene in TARASHANA is, but it may be the part in chapter 35 when Geras steps up to fight that duel. I just love that scene. Can I say that without sounding conceited? Let me rephrase that: I LOVE that scene as Patrick voices it, as I particularly love every scene with Geras.
I’m happy to add that Patrick has agreed to narrate TASMAKAT as well. I would have been seriously unhappy to have to switch narrators for the main trilogy, so I’m delighted about that. It’s such a long book. Definitely a big project for a narrator. I hope it won’t take quite as long as TARASHANA, but if it does, it’ll be worth waiting for.
MEANWHILE. Now that TARASHANA is out there, I’m moving ahead with audio versions for SUELEN and TANO. I’ve made an offer for the former, which has been accepted by the narrator, so that is in production now. I am listening to auditions for the latter this week. This is going to be a demanding project, with those four young men, all of whom have to sound distinct, plus speaking parts from Ryo, Aras, Sinowa, and Marag, plus a few bit players here and there. The four young men are the most important. So far I think three of the auditions sound like the narrator can probably handle all these different male voices, but I will say, no one (so far) is spontaneously giving Raga the kind of cheerful, insouciant tone that I think would be right for him. Raga is not quite so carefree as some readers may think, but he certainly sounds carefree. It’s particularly important to get a good narrator for TANO, I think, because if he’s good, I will probably be asking him to do other books from Tano’s point of view. I asked two of the narrators who submitted auditions for SUELEN to audition for TANO because I definitely think that is the more difficult and demanding project from the narrator’s point of view.
After this, I will consider moving forward with audio version for the Death’s Lady series. You know what would make taking on the necessary expenses to do that significantly more inviting? Halfway decent sales of the audiobooks for TUYO and TARASHANA. I’m just saying.
Audio of Tuyo
Audio of Nikoles
Audio of Tarashana
Audio of Keraunani
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I also prefer to already know the story before I listen to it as an audiobook.
If I haven’t read the story before, I find it’s much too easy to lose the thread if I’m momentarily distracted and miss a few words, and I also have more trouble figuring out the names, or invented words I’m not familiar with. Then I’ll be half distracted by thinking about what I missed, or what that name/word was, making it harder to keep track of the ongoing story.
If I already know the story, missing half a sentence won’t break the thread of the narrative for me.
I was saving up a few Audible credits in case writing to the audio-publisher of Dick Francis read by Tony Britton would make those books available in my area, but I think I’ll go pick up your audiobooks first.
YES, Hanneke, I think that’s part of the problem with audiobooks for me. If I’m driving and something exciting happens, or if I’m just looking for my exit, or if I’m distracted for any reason, then I can lose track of an audiobook. I really dislike that.
I also am just a re-reader in general. I just like to go back to books I love and read them again. I like appreciating familiar sentences and scenes. It turns out that this is something I really like about audio. At first, for quite a while, I avoided getting the same book in different formats because why waste money? If you have it in print, you have it, so you don’t need the audio version. But then I gradually realized that this isn’t true for me at all. I feel reluctant to try new-to-me books in audio. I just prefer, pretty strongly, to listen to books I have already read, maybe already read more than once.