Reader Profile: Nathaniel Parker

Not that I’m abandoning my swooning adoration for the voice of Simon Jones, but Nathaniel Parker does offer some serious arguments for why he should be my true favourite reader. In truth, I have many favourite readers who would inspire me to choose books I'd never heard of merely because they were reading them. Simon Jones, Nathaniel Parker, Jayne Entwistle – all are pretty much perfect in my books.

Parker, however, is today's profile. Born in 1962, Nathaniel Parker grew up knowing he wanted to be an actor and pursued the craft at the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Arts (LAMDA). He has had a stellar career on both stage and screen, and in the TV world is probably known best as Inspector Lynley in the BBC series based on the books by Elizabeth George. He is probably best known in the audio world as the reader for the Artemis Fowl books by Eoin Colfer and more recently the Young James Bond series. Overall he has over 60 audiobooks to his credit.

Nathaniel Parker is a master at creating consistent and distinct voices that make his audiobooks a real treasure for the ear and the soul. What I love about Parker's voice is how skilled he is at rapidly changing between extremely different characters, seemlessly carrying on complex conversations. When I'm listening I completely forget that there really isn’t an entire cast of dwarves, elves, fairies, centaurs and humans standing around a microphone recording the Artemis Fowl books and going out for a beer and nachos together after. It jams my brain cells to imagine one person reading all of those voices so consistently and quickly!


Thinking about Parker recording all these voices made me take stock of the characteristics I most value in an audiobook reader. So far I've come up with the following:

• Must have a pleasing voice (duh!)
• Must be able to create a variety of character voices that are:

·         consistent (ie Mulch Diggums always sounds exactly like Mulch Diggums),

·         distinct (ie Mulch Diggums doesn't sound like Butler),

·         and true to their characters (ie Mulch Diggums sounds exactly like I picture he would sound).

• Must be able to create new voices for each new book / series. For example, when I listen to something read by Parker that isn't Artemis Fowl, it would be really distracting to have Mulch Diggums' voice show up as a completely different character.

In the Artemis Fowl books Nathanial Parker has met and exceeded all of my criteria. I am now on a quest to find other books he has recorded, starting with the Young James Bond series. I don't even like James Bond – see how much a reader can have an influence over the listener?

If the technology gods are smiling on me, here is a sample of Nathaniel Parker reading The Arctic Incident by Eoin Colfer.

Fowl is more than Fair!

 
Artemis Fowl, a brilliant series for kids (and adults) by Eoin Colfer, is another of my "go to" series that I keep around for when I need a guaranteed hit. I had to start the first book, Artemis Fowl, twice as the first time I didn't really like Artemis as a character so I stopped listening (too soon!). Then my brother, who has similar tastes in audiobooks, said, "You don't like Artemis Fowl? What's wrong with you?" I gave it another shot and LOVED IT! Occasionally my brother really is right.

Artemis is a boy genius / criminal mastermind, who figures out after extensive research that fairies really do exist. With his father missing after criminal dealings in Russia, and his mother delusional in her bedroom, young Artemis is left to manage the Fowl fortune on his own with his trusty bodyguard, Butler, at his side. Artemis decides to kidnap a fairy and ransom him to the fairy people for some of their gold, which he would use to fund a rescue effort for his father. He ends up kidnapping a girl, L.E.P.Recon (get it... Leprechaun?) officer Holly Short. The L.E.P. are the Lower Elements Police and Short, who takes her policing job very seriously, does not take her kidnapping lightly. I won't tell you what happens next but this series is a MUST LISTEN TO romp of good fun. I would like to meet the tunnel-digging dwarf, Mulch Diggums, in person. He is truly awesome and I am one of his biggest fans!

The series consists of seven books with an eighth and final book due out in 2012!

Eoin Colfer has created a truly unique set of characters in this series. I have tried listening to some of his other books, but they haven't grabbed me in the same way. I may try them again given that Artemis didn't grab me right away either.

Nathaniel Parker, the British actor famed for the Inspector Linley series (among other things) is the perfect narrator for this series. Even after listing to the entire series a few times, I still forget that there is one person standing in a recording studio masterfully voicing all of these characters. I honestly believe I'm listing to this group of characters speaking. Parker is right up there with Simon Jones on my list of top readers.

There are many parts to these books that have had me laughing outloud as I'm driving on the highway. The will not disappoint!

I downloaded six of the seven books for free through the BC Public Library's Library to Go site. They were very slow acquiring the Atlantis Complex so I ended up buying it from Audible because I couldn't wait. That right there should tell you how good the series is! Library to Go now has the seventh book. You can download excerpts from there, or from the Random House Audio / Listening Library links below.


Listen Up!

Artemis Fowl, (6 hrs, 6 min), Listening Library, (2001)
Artemis Fowl: The Arctic Incident, (6 hrs, 10 min), Listening Library, (2002)
Artemis Fowl: The Eternity Code, (6 hrs, 54 min), Listening Library, (2004)
Artemis Fowl: The Opal Deception, (7 hrs, 28 min), Listening Library, 2006
Artemis Fowl: The Lost Colony, (8 hrs, 24 min), Listening Library, (2008)
Artemis Fowl: The Time Paradox, (8 hrs, 52 min), Listening Library, (2009)
Artemis Fowl: The Atlantis Complex, (7 hrs, 38 min), Listening Library, (2010)
Artemis Fowl: The Last Guardian will be released summer 2012