Harry Potter - the full-cast Audible edition

Yes to Poppy being pointlessly male is v annoying, I’m loving Snape & knightly is incredible as umbridge.

And mine @TheNeighboursComplain it is just wonderful.

I thought I wouldn't enjoy Order of the Phoenix because I didn't enjoy Umbridge in the books, but Kiera Knightly is brilliant, probably my favourite so far.

I've also been completely won over by Snape, Alan Rickmans Snape was so cold but this one really gets his 'snivelling' side.

I'm relistening with insomnia.

'Poppy' pomfrey is annoying me more than I can say!
Madam Maxime is so screechy and loud.
Cush Jumbo remains wonderful.

I have a shiny new credit today and half blood prince is aaaagessss away

I like Hermione here-I admit she does often sound exasperated but think that is actually probably how Hermione felt.

To me she is very Head Girl-ish, super keen and enthusiastic.
Very, very full on, and yes, exasperated but I think it is true to book Hermione.

Hermione seemed to just have one mode in this one - exasperation, think it’s both the writing and the acting

Hermione is annoying me now too. She sounds constantly irritated and wound up. Ginny sounds so calm and reasonable in comparison. I am always so relieved when I hear her voice.

I don’t think Snape’s dislike of Harry is part of the cover up: it’s visceral.

Still on Goblet of Fire, at the bit where Cedric and Harry win and are transported im voldemort’s nasty plan, have paused it as am expecting a dark few scenes!

Enjoying the performance of the actor playing Sirius Black: paternal and gentle. I was shocked and cross when Sirius was killed in the next book and it’ll be way worse performed by actors!

Also enjoying Hugh Laurie’s Dumbledore becoming more serious.

In general the actors playing the children’s parts - all good - sound posh. Wonder whether it’s because they’re emulating the film casting or because a higher proportion of privately educated DC have acting lessons.

Hermione seemed to just have one mode in this one - exasperation, think it’s both the writing and the acting. To be fair hanging out with Ron and Harry would be frustrating!

Older Harry is driving me nuts. I find his Lord Fauntelroy plummy accent too much. He mispronounces so many words by putting in u sounds all over the place. Shouldn't he sound like his family.

I agree Dumbledore isn't much of a school principal on reread. Snapes treatment of Harry was unacceptable to our adult eyes, even to disguise his intentions. But the books were originally written for children, so I think jk took a bit of artistic license

Also absolutely loved it, but the heartbreaking tragedy of Sirius was almost too much. I’m not sure I could manage a relisten. Amazing how time changes you - I hadn’t reread it since it came out, and now as a parent I can’t bear the sadness of it.

I'm on my third listen to Order of the Phoenix - its my fave by far.

Looking forward to Half Blood Prince very much

I did not know this!! Thank you, this is going to save much drama at bedtime now when she tries to put Order of the Phoenix on 😁

I’ve really enjoyed the audio books so far. Love the sound effects etc. But I do love a radio drama etc, so that probably helps.
I like that the voices are all different and other than the twins I can tell them apart.

I get that a man doing a range of girls' and women's voice is going to have a tough job, but SF so often makes female characters sound so utterly witless that it's annoying. Hermione sounds like a complete idiot in his reading.

I agree. I have long thought that Dumbledore's behaviour, throughout all the books, seems very shady. The revelations in Deathly Hallows, including his adoption of the 'Greater Good' mantra make complete sense when you consider the calculated way he manipulates Harry, drip-feeding him information and leaving him to fend for himself in dangerous situations seemingly in an effort to turn him into the saviour of the wizarding world, with no consideration for his own happiness or safety.
I know that the decision to place Harry on the Dursleys' doorstep was said to be for Harry's own good, to anchor the protection of Lily's sacrifice and help ensure a more normal upbringing for him. However, I have always felt that Dumbledore believed that dooming Harry to what he knew would be a miserable and abusive childhood was a key part of the education he had in mind for Harry, which is quite chilling.
Even Snape who, as you say, is a terrible bully, is used as a puppet by Dumbledore, who knows what strings to pull to make Snape do what he wants, even if that means using his grief and guilt against him.
I still think Dumbledore is a brilliant character. These shades of grey add far more depth to his personality and make him much more interesting and complex than if he were a faultless shining hero.

I am looking forward to giving this a listen as I have never been entirely happy with the Stephen Fry recordings. Some of his choices for character voices really don't match how they sounded in my head, for example Tonks having a broad (and not entirely convincing!) Northern accent. I know this is just a personal issue. I have read all the books so many times, know them almost by heart and they are so very dear to me that I have probably given far too much thought to minor quibbles like this!
I have never watched the films because I am concerned that the casting and script-writing decisions might be at odds with the versions in my head. This is not a problem as I don't watch films but I do listen to audio books and I am still a bit concerned that I may have similar problems with these new cast recordings.

Don't know if you're aware but you can create a kids profile for DD to listen and then you can both listen to it without losing where you are up to. You just share it with the kids profile. This is what im doing with my DD, she's way ahead of me in listening hours.

do you think some of the voice actors might end up doing the same roles on the HBO show? Obviously the characters (mainly adults) who appear from season 2 onwards - Lockhart, Rita Skeeter, etc. as S1 has already been cast.

I know not all of them will work - KK is probably never going to be physically convincing as Umbridge, for example, but do wonder if perhaps the audiobooks were them dipping a toe in the water testing the potential controversy with their fans if they did take a role. I know it's probably quite well paid but it seems quite odd otherwise for so many well established stars to take a potential risk on their reputations for an audiobook, which is pretty lowkey compared to a lot of their other work.

Now they've seen there's just the usual bluesky outcry for a few days, then silence, rather than total industry cancellation, they might feel confident in committing further.

Had forgotten how much teen angst there was in book 5. The full cast really brings it out.
Half of this could have been sorted with Dumbledore just telling Harry why he couldn’t tell him anything tbf.

Thank you for that @MrsMitford3 . Bizarre choice!

Loving Ambika Mod as tonks. She sounds spot on.

Here is all of the cast info-looks like they are played by the same actor the whole way through-no change of cast

https://www.harrypotter.com/news/every-single-voice-you-hear-in-harry-potter-the-full-cast-audio-editions