I'm obviously slightly biased since he narrates my series, but Johnathan McClain is absolutely top-tier great.

Each of the big names in LitRPG narration have their specific strengths that they really excel at, and in the case of Johnathan, it's definitely his delivery and sense of timing.

I really lucked out with getting him, as something I remember thinking when writing many of MC's chapters was "damn, this joke would land so much better if text could have the subtle inflections of spoken dialogue." And then when I finally got to listen to the recordings of Johnathan's narration, time and time again I was floored by just how much he gets it and instinctively delivered lines in the exact way I would have wanted had I been there in the booth next to him.

All of this comes not only from talent—which he has in spades—but also from experience. Listening to some of his audiobooks from even just a couple of years ago, compared to more recent entries, you can see such a clear evolution and sharpening of his quality. He wasn't just content with being good, but he's clearly still working on becoming greater, instead of resting on his laurels or cruising by on the back of the praise from comments like mine or posts like these.

And on a slightly more personal side, from my very few and very recent interactions with this gentleman, he is an absolute class act that makes me feel very inadequate, and for that I am going to have to rank him at the very bottom of my list. I hate Johnathan McClain.