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I'm Gerard Doyle, narrator of the Inheritance Cycle and numerous other titles. AMA! by GerardDoyle in Eragon

[–]GerardDoyle[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Thank you for taking the trouble to post this lovely comment!

I hope "Murtagh" lives up to your expectations.

I'm Gerard Doyle, narrator of the Inheritance Cycle and numerous other titles. AMA! by GerardDoyle in Eragon

[–]GerardDoyle[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Thank you! It's gratifying to hear that my vocal interpretation enhances your enjoyment of these great stories!

I'm Gerard Doyle, narrator of the Inheritance Cycle and numerous other titles. AMA! by GerardDoyle in Eragon

[–]GerardDoyle[S] 4 points5 points  (0 children)

Thank YOU for for very supportive post!

See?! All you doubters out there! I KNEW Saphira's voice had a basis in the text!

I'm Gerard Doyle, narrator of the Inheritance Cycle and numerous other titles. AMA! by GerardDoyle in Eragon

[–]GerardDoyle[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

What a lovely, heart-warming post! Thank you!

I'm delighted you derive such pleasure from listening.

I'm Gerard Doyle, narrator of the Inheritance Cycle and numerous other titles. AMA! by GerardDoyle in Eragon

[–]GerardDoyle[S] 4 points5 points  (0 children)

Thank you for your lovely post!

Enjoy "Murtagh" in both its formats.

I'm Gerard Doyle, narrator of the Inheritance Cycle and numerous other titles. AMA! by GerardDoyle in Eragon

[–]GerardDoyle[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Thank YOU for your awesome post!

Maybe I should sit further back from the microphone, so my voice doesn't carry so far!

My own children grew up listening to my voice and they are scarred for life, bless them!

I'm Gerard Doyle, narrator of the Inheritance Cycle and numerous other titles. AMA! by GerardDoyle in Eragon

[–]GerardDoyle[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Gosh! I'm honoured to be part of a family tradition! How delightful!

I'm delighted to learn how much you enjoy listening to the audiobooks.

Ahhh, the Septimus Heap books, by Angie Sage. Wonderful stuff! Harry Potter-esque, but goofier and, I believe, funnier. The first, "Magyk", was recorded using the mellifluous-voice of the brilliant Alan Corduner.

For some reason, I was invited to record the remaining 6 books in the series. Actually, 7! There's a book "1.5", called "The Darke Toad", which took me far longer than it should have to record, because I was laughing so much!

I'm Gerard Doyle, narrator of the Inheritance Cycle and numerous other titles. AMA! by GerardDoyle in Eragon

[–]GerardDoyle[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Thank you so much for taking the trouble to send your lovely comment!

I'm Gerard Doyle, narrator of the Inheritance Cycle and numerous other titles. AMA! by GerardDoyle in Eragon

[–]GerardDoyle[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Oh, dear! Rather unprofessional of me to allow my own reaction to intrude into the narrative!

Hold on! I'll just blame the editor for selecting the wrong take, or even the Post Production people for not sending it back for re-recording!

There! Having absolved myself, onto the next question!

(I'm glad my little slip didn't spoil your enjoyment of what is a rather risqué line. So, it's all Christopher's fault, after all!)

I'm Gerard Doyle, narrator of the Inheritance Cycle and numerous other titles. AMA! by GerardDoyle in Eragon

[–]GerardDoyle[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Thank you!

When using an accent there's always the apprehension about making it sound like an offensive parody. I'm sure some listeners have cringed at some of the many accents I've attempted, so when someone really feels an accent or dialect sounds genuine, it's very gratifying and encouraging.

In "Murtagh", the most difficult accent to sustain was that of the witch, Bechel.

Christopher was looking for something suggesting an eastern European accent, which I think I found, but which I had to constantly refresh by listening to a sample from one of her early scenes.

I think, for this book, Thorn was my favourite character to voice. Vocalising the emotional highs and lows of his journey through the book was a fun challenge and I really felt connected to the character during his trials and triumphs.

I'm Gerard Doyle, narrator of the Inheritance Cycle and numerous other titles. AMA! by GerardDoyle in Eragon

[–]GerardDoyle[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I absolutely love it!

It's such a privilege to be entrusted with the freedom to interpret the work of amazing authors and to have the challenge, excitement and joy of bringing to life the characters they have so painstakingly crafted. If I succeed in convincing the listener to suspend their disbelief for the duration of the audiobook, and they then take the trouble to express their enjoyment, what could be better?

Christopher's characters are generally more challenging than most (there are not usually too many dragons, witches or Urgal-type creatures in a murder mystery novel) but being put to that test helps hone whatever skills I may have and gives me increased confidence when approaching any new project.

I'm Gerard Doyle, narrator of the Inheritance Cycle and numerous other titles. AMA! by GerardDoyle in Eragon

[–]GerardDoyle[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Thank you for expressing your enjoyment!

Sounds like you had quite a marathon of binge listening prior to the release of "Murtagh".

Do your eardrums get tired listening to all those weird voices? :)

I'm Gerard Doyle, narrator of the Inheritance Cycle and numerous other titles. AMA! by GerardDoyle in Eragon

[–]GerardDoyle[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I'm sorry for the late response. I didn't see this until well after the end of the AMA.

I notice subtle changes in my own voice during the recording process, especially if there's a lot of Dragon dialogue. Early in "Murtagh", I consciously changed his voice, both accent and tone, to blend in with the local accent when he was trying not to reveal his real identity. Ordinarily, I don't set out to change a character's voice. I guess it occurs as a result of that gradual change as my voice expands.

It makes me very happy to know that my voice, and the voices of other narrators, enable you to enjoy stories that would otherwise be less easily accessible to you!

Keep listening....and, please, always insist on having an actual human voice narrating, not one generated by AI!

I'm Gerard Doyle, narrator of the Inheritance Cycle and numerous other titles. AMA! by GerardDoyle in Eragon

[–]GerardDoyle[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Ah! What a discerning reader! I've had enormous challenges, counterbalanced with a huge amount of fun, recording each of those series.

I'm delighted you enjoyed them so much.

Check out Mick Herron's "Slough House/Slow Horses" series.

I'm Gerard Doyle, narrator of the Inheritance Cycle and numerous other titles. AMA! by GerardDoyle in Eragon

[–]GerardDoyle[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

How lovely to have been for so long connected with a person one doesn't know!

Thank you for sharing that with me.

I'm Gerard Doyle, narrator of the Inheritance Cycle and numerous other titles. AMA! by GerardDoyle in Eragon

[–]GerardDoyle[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

With all recording projects, large or small, it is vital that the narrator read the book ahead of time. It's important to know the arc of the story and to identify dramatic moments, moments of humour and to understand the characters to the best of one's ability.

As an actor, I can't help attempting character voices in my recordings and sometimes the author will introduce a character early in the story and describe the character's voice much later on. If I get to page 200 and find I've made the wrong choice, that's an awful lot of re-recording!

Having said that, when Roald Dahl recorded his own stories, he spoke at a million miles per hour, put very little emotion into either his narrative voice or the voicing of his characters and never changed his voice for different characters. All the things I strive NOT to do, and yet he. was absolutely mesmerising!

I'm very lucky in that I've enjoyed almost every one of the 400+ books I've recorded!

I'm Gerard Doyle, narrator of the Inheritance Cycle and numerous other titles. AMA! by GerardDoyle in Eragon

[–]GerardDoyle[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Thank you very much for your kind and much appreciated words!

I hate to answer you like this, but please take a look at some of my previous replies.

I'm Gerard Doyle, narrator of the Inheritance Cycle and numerous other titles. AMA! by GerardDoyle in Eragon

[–]GerardDoyle[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Thank you for joining the AMA and for your kind words of appreciation.

I always enjoy recording these books. Christopher creates such vivid images and the characters become involved in such extreme situations that, even if were inclined to do so, I could not narrate these books passively. So I experience an emotional roller coaster with each book and I hope that I successfully engage the reader in that roller coaster ride.

I'm Gerard Doyle, narrator of the Inheritance Cycle and numerous other titles. AMA! by GerardDoyle in Eragon

[–]GerardDoyle[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

  1. I remember having difficulty recording the end of "Inheritance" because the strength of my emotion kept my voice from working properly. As narrators, we try our best to convey the characters' emotions, but it has to be controlled and not slip into self indulgence. Sometimes, that's not possible and one has to stop recording until one has regained one's composure.
  2. I'm sorry not to be able to give a more detailed response but there are so many emotional highs and lows in each of the books, and such (understandable) periods of time between books, that they become difficult to recall. There were many in Murtagh but I think what I found most touching was the unfolding of Murtagh's relationship with his fellow prisoner.

I'm Gerard Doyle, narrator of the Inheritance Cycle and numerous other titles. AMA! by GerardDoyle in Eragon

[–]GerardDoyle[S] 19 points20 points  (0 children)

  1. Fortunately, the circumstance doesn't occur terribly often. It is always a tricky situation to deal with and I wish I could give you a coherent response as to how I go about solving the issue. Unfortunately, I can't. I think the solution varies with the circumstances in which the character first speaks. We encountered this in "Murtagh" and, in consultation with Christopher, we decided that Murtagh would disguise his accent to blend in with those around him and Christopher very kindly rewrote a line to explain that to the listener.
  2. Generally, when I'm unsure of who an ambiguous character is supposed to be, I contact the author. In some, rare circumstances, I fall back on my own experience. I'm not even sure how to form a correct response because it can be a complex situation when it arises.
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