So, I’ve been sitting on this news for a while. And it’s been eating away at me, haha! Trying to contain the excitement has been difficult, and it’s time to finally make the announcement.
So jump to the end, if you don’t care about all the rambling I’m about to do, but I’m gonna stay on brand here. Don’t worry, it’ll be a bit sappy, but there’ll be a bit of poorly crafted, dry, self-deprecating humor as well.
A LITTLE BACKGROUND
A few years back I got into audiobooks. Yeah, maybe I’m going back a bit too far, but here we are. Finding the time to read between work and life being generally lifey in that hectic sort of way, was difficult enough. Then I started writing, probably back around 2014-2015. And as I got more involved in my writing, especially after releasing Stone & Shield in 2020, and started having way too many ideas for new books in my head… Well time grew even more sparse.
So there were audiobooks. Now I could read at work.
Let’s get back to 2021. I had been seeing so many amazing looking books from fellow indie authors. I was never a particularly prolific user of social media, so I was always kinda running adjacent to all these great communities going on in the Indie SFF world. But I still saw all these new books popping up and decided I wanted to focus more on those indie books.
A RITUAL OF BONE
A norse inspired, zombie infested, fantasy horror by Lee C Conley. The first book of his Dead Sagas. This was one of those first indie audiobooks I picked up. I believe i came across it on the Grimdark Facebook group. And I loved it.
WE MEN OF ASH AND SHADOW
Next was the first of H.L. Tinsley’s Vanguard Chronicles (and I believe the first book I attempted to leave a kinda vague review of and just how much I loved it). A dark, dismal gaslamp fantasy.
I then went on to listen to both of their sequels.
And each time, as I was listening to these novels that I absolutely loved! These books that will forever be among my favorite series of all time. There was something else that stood out.
RJ BAYLEY
That’s right. The fucking narrator! He was spot on. EVERY TIME. He brought this depth to the characters, he lended an added ambiance to the settings. He took these absolutely amazing stories, and added a new life to them. His performance was that final nail in the coffin to make these books a truly immersive experience.
I remember when I started listening to A Ritual of Bone, I just thought to myself, “Shit, this guy’s great.”
As I continued listening to these stories, that thought was only further cemented into my mind.
A LULL
There was a little while after that, that I wasn’t listening to audiobooks as much. Life had gotten more hectic, and with that work became more a place for blasting loud music. Hell, I wasn’t even reading or writing much either. I kinda hit this weird, all-encompassing rut of burn out.
It sucked.
Finally, there was a book that had been sitting on my shelf for a while, that I had been wanting to read (well, let’s be honest, there are A LOT of those, whether on the physical or digital bookshelf).
There were a few audiobooks that I picked up and listened to in the meantime. A few books I read. Many of which I loved. But nothing quite pulled me out of that slump. Then I saw this nifty anthology I had been wanting to read had an audiobook available. And I had a fucking credit.
THE ANATOMY OF FEAR
There’s a trend here. It may sound like I throw out the term “favorite” a bit too often. I don’t. It’s just that I like to talk about books that are among my favorites a lot. Why not? Wouldn’t most people rather talk about their favorite books more than their ‘book I thought was okay, but don’t remember all too well’ books?
And I stand by this being my favorite anthology. Every author provided such amazing stories to this book. Seriously, every author in this book that wasn’t already on my TBR landed there immediately.
And what do we have here? Yes, RJ Bayley doing the narration again.
At this point I’m no longer thinking, “Shit, this guy’s great.” Instead my thoughts have switched to, “Damn, I wish I could get this guy to narrate my books. That would be fucking amazing.”
You see that? Not only did my inner thoughts change, but so did my inner expletives.
But we’re not done yet! There is one more amazing book I need to mention *cough, cough* okay maybe two or three *cough, cough*
A ROLL OF THE DICE and HALL OF BONES
Tim Hardie’s Kickstarter launched for his audiobooks. Another immensely skilled and talented author that I’ve been wanting to read (so the whole immense talent and skill, to me, were only previously rumored, but are now known, haha).
After the project got backed, I got to listen to A Roll of the Dice while waiting for Hall of Bones to be released. And hot damn, it happened again. Absolutely stunning writing, an amazing setting and characters, intriguing stories… and to top it all off… there’s that fucking narrator again!
And as an aside, I just need to mention, the combination of The Anatomy of Fear, A Roll of the Dice, Hall of Bones, and a few other reads/listens at the end of 2024/beginning of 2025 are really to thank for pulling me out of a slump that felt would never end. Which is also to thank/blame (depending on your perspective) on me taking up reviewing on here.
Beginning to write reviews, and trying to be somewhat more active on social media, I posted my review of Hall of Bones in which I said:
“To top it all off, RJ Bayley narrates the audiobook. I don’t really know what else to say there. It’s perfect. Bayley is just one of the best narrators. That’s all there is to it”
*For the sake of consistency, I’ll include a snip of my 2021 review of We Men of Ash and Shadow in which I included: “RJ Bayley’s narration is amazing and, I think, a perfect match for the story.”*
*And my 2021 review of A Ritual of Flesh stating: “Needless to say, anyone that has listened to a narration from RJ Bayley should already be well aware, that aspect of this book is also top notch! You can’t go wrong with this combo.” I did not write reviews often, but had to point out how great they were. And I thought I had reviewed A Ritual of Bone and The Hand that Casts the Bones but apparently I either forgot, or swore too much for Audible to allow them up.*
Not much to it. No added flourish. Just to the point. Sometimes there’s no need/room for too many words. It’s just as simple as that.
Though you’d never believe it by reading this rant, I do understand the significance of brevity at times.
Anyway…
At this point, I’ve posted my review and get talking with RJ here and there. He’s a cool dude.
But eventually, after this has been kicking around my brain like a busted tin can (I don’t know why I chose this analogy), I began to instead think:
“Hot Dog*, I’m gonna get RJ Bayley to narrate my books.”
*And my expletives got worse than ever.
And then… well yeah. I kinda did all this build up, but I’m pretty sure y’all already figured it out… especially because the title is gonna probably be something like “The Scroungers audiobook narrated by the legend RJ Bayley” or something along those lines… Not to mention the featured image.
Or I could just title it: “Click Here for a Surprise”?
No, I don’t like that.
So, yeah.
THE SCROUNGERS
The first book in the series of standalone gritty fantasy novellas, Vermin of the Old Empire, will finally be getting an audiobook release. And not only that, but it’s going to be narrated by RJ BAYLEY! (Imagine if I said someone else there? That would be pretty fucking weird after this whole rambling backstory going on about how much I enjoy his work).
I’ve heard a sample, and I CAN NOT WAIT! I’m so excited to get this out there, but also, sometimes I need to go back and reread these books to check consistency and what not. And honestly, I’m looking forward to listening to this. Maybe that’s really nerdy of me, but seriously, I’m extremely excited about this.
So folks, stay tuned! We’re looking at a FALL of 2025 release!
In the meantime, you should go listen to EVERY SINGLE ONE of those other audiobooks I’ve mentioned. Like now.
Thanks y’all for reading this far if you did. I can’t wait to get this out into the world. I can’t wait to hear the rest of it. I’m just gonna say, to avoid spoilers or anything like that, hearing the Prologue… Listening to Bayley lend voice to Olaf’s moments after the Battle of Torglen… perfection!
And I’m just honored that a talentless hack like myself can have his work performed by such an amazing narrator and be put side by side with so many authors that I have nothing but the utmost respect for!
And just for the hell of it, THE IRON CROWN
by L.L. MacRae is another extraordinary book narrated by Bayley. I just posted my review of it (as of the time I’m typing this rant up). And technically it doesn’t play into this story of me working with RJ in any other way. It didn’t play into my life in the lead up to beginning this project, but it’s just too good, so I’m weaving it into this on the basis I posted the review a few hours ago. It’s a thin thread, but it’s still a thread. And it’s an amazing book.
Cheers folks
Thanks so much for entertaining my nonsense here. Thanks so much to the authors I mentioned here for their work, all the books I brought up truly are among my absolute favorites. And most of all thanks so much to RJ Bayley for taking on this project!
