The Stormlight Archive is an ongoing series of books written by Brandon Sanderson. For those that haven’t heard of Sanderson, he is the brilliant author that finished the Wheel of Time series and created the epic Mistborn novels. As is quite clear, I’m a bit of a fan of his work. The Stormlight Archive is his current project and has already won a number of prestigious awards, including best novel of the year in 2010. Hordes of fans wait for the release of the next volume in the series, and I’m one of them.
In my honest and amateur opinion, the best way to enjoy these novels is through the audiobooks. I first started listening to audiobooks as a way to drop off to sleep, often falling asleep and missing most of whatever story was being narrated. With the Stormlight Archive, I get the feeling of reading under the covers late at night rather than relaxing and dozing off. I tell myself that fifteen more minutes won’t hurt, and then two hours later I tell myself the same thing and continue listening. I have sat in the bath with this series for so long that I may always look slightly pruned, and have had its company to watch the sunrise more times than I can count.
So what is it about this audiobook series that speaks to me? The characters? The plot? The humour that leaves me chuckling to myself in the pitch dark like a lunatic? Yes to all of that, but the one thing that ties it all together is the thing that speaks to me the most. Rather, the two people that speak to me are the key for this books success in my mind, because these two narrators are perfection.
Narrated by Michael Kramer and Kate Reading, the story and characters are given so much personality and so much life. These two narrators are at the top of their game, very easily being my narrators of choice for any audiobook I search for. While it took some time for me to appreciate Michael Kramer’s low, slightly droning voice, I cannot imagine any voice being more suited to delivering the epic high fantasy stories as well as he does.
The thing I find most incredible about these two is how well they work together. Their voices could not be more opposite, with one soft and high and the other low and strong, but through some magic of their own they compliment each other beautifully. Throughout the books, the perspective will swap between characters with Kramer narrating the male’s perspectives and Reading narrating the females. The magic happens when the separate perspectives begin to cross over. Somehow, a side character that has been introduced by Kramer talking in a convoluted accent has its personality and mannerisms replicated perfectly by Reading and vice versa. It does not matter who is reading which section, as they both work together to make sure each and every character is a unique and interesting voice of their own regardless of who is reading their lines.
I cannot recommend this series of audiobooks enough. I’m currently on my second listen through the series, and enjoying it just as much as the first time. They can be found on Audible, and considering each book can take around fifty hours to narrate I’m sure they’ll give you plenty of entertainment for your money.
