By The Numbers
Why Audiobooks Change Narrator Mid-Series and How to Check First
Why audiobooks change narrator partway through a series, named examples with sources, and how to read the credit on the last book before you commit.
An audiobook series can change narrators because a narrator was unavailable, because a publisher chose a new voice for a new release, or because a publisher re-recorded the whole run. You can see it coming before you start, because every book in a series has its own listing with its own narrator credit. Open the listing for the last book you expect to reach, not just book one, and read the name there.
Why a narrator changes partway through a series
Most of the time the listing does not explain it. A few cases have a public reason, and those are worth knowing because they show the range. I will say only what the sources say, and for every other series I will say what changed and leave the reason alone.
Scheduling. According to Wikipedia's entry on James Marsters, Jim Butcher reported that Marsters could not record Ghost Story, book 13 of The Dresden Files, because of a scheduling conflict. John Glover recorded the first release of that book. Marsters re-recorded it later, and that version came out in 2015.
Illness. Per Wikipedia's article on The Dark Tower series), Frank Muller suffered a serious brain injury in a 2001 motorcycle accident, and George Guidall then narrated books 5 to 7. Stephen King's own site lists the recording for book 5 with its reader, publisher and format on the Wolves of the Calla page.
A publisher choosing a new voice. Penguin's own listing for The Bullet That Missed, book 3 of The Thursday Murder Club, says it is read by Fiona Shaw. Lesley Manville read books 1 and 2. The listing gives no reason for the switch, so I will not offer one.
Those three are the cases with something on the record. Rights moving between audio publishers, an author's preference or a deliberate recast are all things that can happen in the industry, but none of them should be pinned on a particular series unless the people involved have said so. If you are partway through a series and the voice changed, the cause is usually unknowable from your seat. The useful part is what you can check next time.
When a change fixes itself
Sometimes a new narrator is the repair, not the problem. A publisher records the whole run again so every book matches.
Penguin Random House commissioned new recordings of all 40 Discworld audiobooks. It did not give the whole run one voice. The new recordings use different narrators by sub-series, and the Discworld in Audio page lists every title with its reader. That means a Discworld listener can pick a sub-series and see who reads it before buying a single book.
The Dark Tower is another example of re-recording. Per Wikipedia's series article, the first three books were recorded again in 1997 with Frank Muller for continuity, and George Guidall later re-recorded The Gunslinger in 2003 after substantial changes to the text. Stephen King's site shows the Gunslinger recording with its reader and publisher.
The Expanse has a similar fix. The fan wiki's page on Jefferson Mays and Wikipedia's series article) both say Cibola Burn, book 4, was first narrated by Erik Davies and later reissued with Mays, who read books 1 to 3. Both of those are community-edited, so treat the detail as something to confirm on the listing for the edition you are buying.
The same thing means one title can exist in two recordings. When you search for a book, you may be looking at the original or the re-recording, and the credit tells you which.
A different narrator from book one is not a mid-series change
Some series never had one voice to lose. Harry Potter has Jim Dale in the North American line and Stephen Fry in the UK line, both from book one. Audible's own FAQ identifies those as different English-language versions. A separate full-cast production is also being released book by book, per the official Harry Potter announcement.
So, the same title can carry a different narrator in the UK store and the US store. Check the listing in the store you actually buy from, not a friend's screenshot from another country. The same applies to a dramatized edition that sits beside a single-voice one; I cover that split for another series in the Chronicles of Narnia audiobook order page.
A few more series with a named change
Here is a short, varied set, each with a source you can open. I am not ranking or rating any recording; these are credits that changed.
- A Court of Wings and Ruin, book 3 of the Court of Thorns and Roses series, is read by Amanda Leigh Cobb, per its Audible US listing. Check the earlier books' credits on their own pages to see how they compare.
- Woken Furies, book 3 of Altered Carbon, lists William Dufris on the Tantor catalogue sheet.
- The Thursday Murder Club has its books and credits on the Audible UK series page, so you can see where the reader changes.
- A Series of Unfortunate Events has a change that reverses. Tim Curry gives way to Daniel Handler for books 3 to 5 and then returns. My Tim Curry narrator spotlight covers where each voice sits.
How to check before you start book one
The habit is the same everywhere: go to the last book you plan to reach and read its credit. Where you look depends on the store.
- Audible. Open a title's details page and follow the series link. The series page lists the books in order, but the narrator credit is on each title's own page. Audible's advanced search also has a Narrator or Host field, which helps when you want one voice across several books.
- Apple Books. The series page groups the numbered audiobooks, as the Empire series page shows, and each title page shows the narrator. Apple's support page covers audiobook details.
- Libby. Open a title and choose View Title Details to see the narrator, per Libby's help page.
- Libro.fm. The narrator appears under the title information on each book's page, so open the last book rather than the first.
Then note three more things beside the narrator: the publisher, the region and the release year. A series page does not always show every regional edition or alternate recording, so the individual listing is the one to trust.
A change of publisher is also a good reason to open every credit in the series, not only the last one. I will not put a number on how often a publisher change and a narrator change arrive together, because no published rate exists. It is simply a prompt to look closer.
If the narrator changes on you mid-series
You have more choices than giving up on the series. Each store sets its own rules, so read the policy for the place you bought from.
- Audible. Audible Premium members can return a credit-purchased title on the Audible website within 365 days of purchase, not in the mobile app. The steps are on Audible's return-a-title page.
- Libro.fm. Support handles refund requests for purchases within the previous six months. Credit purchases get the credit back, and card purchases are refunded to the card, per the Libro.fm return policy.
- Apple Books. Refunds go through reportaproblem.apple.com, and eligibility varies by country or region, per Apple's refund page.
- Libby. Return the loan early if your library allows it, or ask the library to license the other recording. Early returns depend on the library's own lending rules, so check with them first.
Two other routes sit outside any refund. Search the exact title plus the narrator's name you want, then compare publisher, region and release year before you pick the second recording. Or read the one affected volume in print or as an ebook and go back to the audio for the next book. That keeps the story going without asking an unfamiliar voice to stand in for one you had grown used to.
Questions people ask
Why do audiobook series change narrators?
A narrator may be unavailable, a publisher may pick a new voice for a new release, or a whole run may be recorded again. Wikipedia reports a scheduling conflict for Ghost Story and an injury for the Dark Tower narrator, while Penguin's Thursday Murder Club listing shows a change with no reason given.
Can you change the narrator on an audiobook?
Not inside a single recording, because the narrator is part of that recording. What you can do is look for another recording of the same title by searching the exact title plus a narrator's name, then comparing publisher, region and release year. Some titles, such as Harry Potter in the UK and North America, have separate recordings by region, per Audible's FAQ.
Why did Lesley Manville stop narrating The Thursday Murder Club?
Penguin's listing for The Bullet That Missed shows Manville read books 1 and 2 and Fiona Shaw reads book 3 onward. The listing gives no reason for the switch. The Audible UK series page lists the books and credits if you want to see where the change falls.
Can a different publisher mean a different narrator?
It can, and it is worth checking each credit when the publisher changes between books. There is no published rate for how often the two happen together, so open each listing and read the name. Note the region and release year at the same time.
Where to go next
If you follow a particular narrator from series to series, the Julia Whelan narrator spotlight is a good place to start. Open the last book in the series you are about to start, read the credit, and you will know before you spend the hours.
By Cal Hewitt. Published .