change in narrators

I can see why you would be irritated, but narrating a book can be both difficult and frustrating. Unless you've done it you haven't a clue. When you add in the time pressure forced by scheduling it can be a very stressful process. I am a reader/narrator so I know whereof I speak. Wyman is A-list narrator and extremely professional. If I were to guess, he probably threw those four words in with every intention of removing them later. A gag reel is also a possibility. Nevertheless you have every right to be pissed. On the other hand, he has done an incredible job for you over the entire Safehold series bringing your words to life. That should earn him a little slack. He is one of the top ten in the business, in high demand, so he's not likely to be significantly impacted by your displeasure. Davis is good, but as has been mentioned elsewhere in this thread, his lack of familiarity with the voices, style and pronunciations is, to use an understatement, jarring to those of us who have spent some hundreds of hours listening to Wyman's oral interpretations. In the end though, it is your football so you set the rules. Here's hoping for better down the road.

profcough wrote:I can see why you would be irritated, but narrating a book can be both difficult and frustrating. Unless you've done it you haven't a clue. When you add in the time pressure forced by scheduling it can be a very stressful process. I am a reader/narrator so I know whereof I speak. Wyman is A-list narrator and extremely professional. If I were to guess, he probably threw those four words in with every intention of removing them later. A gag reel is also a possibility. Nevertheless you have every right to be pissed. On the other hand, he has done an incredible job for you over the entire Safehold series bringing your words to life. That should earn him a little slack. He is one of the top ten in the business, in high demand, so he's not likely to be significantly impacted by your displeasure. Davis is good, but as has been mentioned elsewhere in this thread, his lack of familiarity with the voices, style and pronunciations is, to use an understatement, jarring to those of us who have spent some hundreds of hours listening to Wyman's oral interpretations. In the end though, it is your football so you set the rules. Here's hoping for better down the road.

So far I am finding Jonathan Davis' narration to be tear-uh-bull. This might be the first book I've ever returned to Audible. Listening to Alexa read the Kindle version via Echo would be more pleasant.

Hello everyone,
This is Jonathan Davis, the narrator of Through Fiery Trials.
As in many industries, it is always difficult to replace someone, in this case an admired narrator of a very popular series. I have been on both ends of the spectrum before. Though this may be the final time I accept the offer, no matter how popular the series may be! Oliver Wyman is a friend of mine, and I am a big fan of his work; we started out in this medium around the same time and are both veterans of our industry. I hope I can clarify the process of recording an audiobook, and if any of you have any questions, I will do my best to answer them.

First, regarding the pronunciation of names and places in the Safehold universe, it is regrettable that there were mispronunciations. Before we began production, I inquired about being true to Mr Weber's work, and to Ollie's narration, and I was provided with an extensive vocabulary/pronunciation list.
Unfortunatedly, the compilation was incorrect, including the word Terran, which I questioned numerous times during the recording sessions. In the end, I followed my director's advice, and the word list provided. PIKA, Tellesburg, Nimue: I pronounced them as phonetically written on the word list. On my behalf, I apologize for the errors. It was not "arrogance" or "ignorance". If I am chosen to continue as narrator of this series, I am certain it will be corrected, hopefully with direct input from Mr. Weber.

As far as listening to previous audiobooks, I was provided with a few character samples of Ollie's renditions of major characters, and I was given leeway to proceed with my own choices,my own interpretations. No, forgive me, but I did not listen to a 34 hour audiobook to perfect every single character impression. My focus is always on the story first,and telling the story is paramount , not mimicry of a previous narrator.

I hope this is helpful, and as I stated before, I will answer questions, if anyone has any.

Best wishes,
Jonathan