Audio books

Audio books

Date: 2009.12.10 | Category: News | Tags: audio books farseer

Tantor Media!

I’m so excited about this. Finally, finally, finally! I can’t tell you how often people have written to me asking if Farseer and Liveship are available in audio format. Here in the US, truck drivers and families are often in the car for long hours every day. So audio books are really popular.

And now my books are available in audio format!

Go hear http://www.tantor.com/BookList.asp?Genre=SciFi-Fant to see the listing for Assassin’s Apprentice, which will come out in February 2010. I think the prices are fairly reasonable, about the equivalent of a hardback. You can get them in mp3 format or an CD.

So very pleased about this!

Robin

19 Responses to “Audio books”

teriegarrison 09/12/10 18:32

Oh, hurray! Hurray Hurray HURRAY!!!
naamah_darling 09/12/10 18:58

A friend of mine listens to audiobooks while she works janitorial duty. I will be able to get her to read your books!
ironekilz 09/12/10 19:03

Excellent! My brother in law almost exclusively listens to audiobooks while he’s commuting to and from work, so now I can introduce him to one of my favorite authors.
jewelz_star 09/12/10 19:05

Your work on audio book would be a dream come true!!
teriegarrison 09/12/10 19:58

Robin’s Soldier Son trilogy is already available on Audible.com.
booksforfood 09/12/10 20:14

Wow, I can’t believe these haven’t been made into audio format yet! About time.

I’ll have to get them to listen while I’m in my Horrible Job of Doom where I file/photocopy for 8 hours a day. Without audiobooks, I think I would have snapped and killed the entire office just to give myself something more interesting to do.
tantoraudio 09/12/10 20:25

Hello and thanks!

Hi Robin!

Thanks so much for your great post about our joint project. This link might be more helpful to your fans:
http://www.tantor.com/AuthorDetail.asp?Author=Hobb_R

All of your books are listed here.

Once we have audio clips up, feel free to share them.

All best,
Jennifer Sullivan
Marketing Coordinator
Tantor Audio
jennifer (at) tantor (dot) com
markbuster 09/12/10 22:43

That’s a great step forward. Congrats.
Now if the text-to-speech were not being squashed by your publisher….
defenestrat0r 09/12/11 01:53

Nice, that’s exciting!

I’ve always been curious about how much input an author puts into audio books–do you run over how various names/places are pronounced?
blakecharlton 09/12/11 02:43

yessssssssssssss! at last! i know how i’m going to spending my audible credits in the new year
suzanne_taylor 09/12/11 10:40

Oh this is great news – thanks for letting us know!
anolee 09/12/11 15:09

New friend

Hello Robin,
I am an aspiring novelist and you are my favorite writer of all time (no exaggeration). I am so happy for the opportunity to friend you on Livejournal, and please friend me back if you feel so inclined.
robin_hobb 09/12/11 17:49

Re: Hello and thanks!

Thanks so much for that link!

But there are also a lot of great audio books on the Tantor front page, so readers should check those out, too!

As my life has become more and more busy (I thought things were supposed to slow down as I aged!) audio books have been my way to keep abreast of my favorite writers. They are also my ‘bait’ to make myself get on the horrid, foul and obnoxious exercise machine.

And they are a great way for a couple or family to share a book on a long drive.

And one of the best uses for me was for my parents as they aged. Focusing on print, or even holding a heavy hardback can become a burden. The audio books let them enjoy a lot of their old favorite authors again.

Audio books have been a great resource for me for a long time, so I’m thrilled to finally have my own books in that format.

Robin
robin_hobb 09/12/11 18:21

Actually, I had a wonderful conversation with Anne, who will be the narrator for Ship of Magic about pronunciations and accents.

I told her that I am happy for readers to pronounce the names as they wish to, as I think we all put our own template onto fantasy words. Also, I think it create a more natural reading and listening experience. Her insights on accents and how they might make people see a world were very thought provoking.

She had a wonderful telephone voice, so I’m looking forward to hearing her narrate the Liveship adventures.

The question about pronunciation reminded me of a long ago conversation with Terry Brooks. And Shannara. He said that he initially pronounced in SHAN-na-rah with the accent on the first syllable. Of course, we all KNOW it is Sha- NAR-a now.

So, perhaps, the writer’s pronunciation is not always the most natural one for readers!

I was unfamilar with the name Hermione and happily mispronounced it all the way through reading the first couple of Potter books aloud to kids. It didn’t seem to affect their enjoyment of the story at all!

Robin
sini74 09/12/11 21:45

Re: Hello and thanks!

Hi, do you ship abroad? I’m in Finland and would like to have Farseer books in audio, too. Couldn’t find this info from your pages. Thank you!
defenestrat0r 09/12/12 03:52

Thanks for such a extensive answer! It’s always a bit weird to discuss a fantasy book with someone else who’s read it and both be pronouncing everything differently. Usually when that happens we’ll each keep saying it our way, but sometimes there’s a, “oh, I like your way of saying it better!”

It’ll be interesting to see how those Liveship names end up sounding! I was thinking about how there’s a bit more room for interpretation with their names than those of the Six Duchies. I’m curious how Khuprus will sound.

Every now and then I’m a bit baffled by an audio book pronunciation, though–I listened to part of one of George R.R. Martin’s books after having read them the old-fashioned way, and still wonder about Brienne, which I had always read as bree-ENN, but is read as brah-EEN. Which made me wonder if it’s something about the origin of the name or just the way the reader sees it, or what.

I read Hermione’s name as HER-me-own for the first couple books, until someone started talking about how they’d just found out how it’s actually pronounced. Perception shift!
wonderva 09/12/14 00:02

audio books

Did you hear Neil Gaimen’s great piece about audio books on NPR? If not here’s the link http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=120769925

Glad to hear about your books going oral. The question in the NPR piece: Is an audio book still a book?
tantoraudio 09/12/15 16:30

Anne Flosnik, narrator

Hi Robin–

I’m glad you were able to chat with Anne about her narration of your book. Most of our narrators DO reach out to the author to ensure that the narration is solid, with correct pronunciations.

Anne is lovely to work with, and I hope you’ll enjoy her performances. I’ve listened a few of her books that she’s done for us and she really gives it her all.

Best,
Jennifer Sullivan
tantoraudio 09/12/15 16:32

Re: Hello and thanks!

Hi there, thanks for your inquiry. We do not have the rights to sell in Finland, so we cannot ship an order to you. My apologies!

Best regards,
Jennifer Sullivan

19 Responses to “Audio books”

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