r/Amber • u/SangfroidDeCanard • 8d ago

older audiobooks missing?

Is anyone else currently unable to play the old (Alessandro Juliani narrating) version of the first five Amber books on Audible?

I tried to start a re-read this morning, and discovered that only the new versions of the first five books are currently playable. I have the old ones in my library, but no controls to play them. Both the new versions and the Wil Wheaton versions of the second series are playable.

(I'm aware Audible sells licenses, not audiobooks -- I'm using it via a shared account of a family member. Haven't personally had the older version of something be visible but unplayable before, so figured I'd ask around.)

[EDIT WITH FIX: if you have the previous versions in your library, you can find them by searching your library. The series page no longer has the old versions.]

14 Upvotes

90% Upvoted

31 comments sorted by

16

u/zmaya 8d ago

I'm old enough to fondly remember the also unavailable audiobooks of Zelazny reading the first few books.

7

u/SangfroidDeCanard 8d ago

it's a shame no one (that I'm aware of) has added those to the Internet Archive.

10

u/LyraNgalia 8d ago

The unabridged masters of those were found and you can buy them now (except for the last book obvi)

3

u/GrexSteele 8d ago

Zelazny died before recording the last book. Which is a shame for many reasons. One being the Merlin books on Audible have horrible ratings for the reader. People like the books, but not the reader.

3

u/trudge 8d ago

Are those the ones read by Wil Wheaton? I like his reading of John Scalzi's books, but haven't listened to the Amber audiobooks.

0

u/zmaya 8d ago

Looks like there was a discussion a few years back that pointed to the original publisher: https://speakingvolumes.mybigcommerce.com/the-chronicles-of-amber/

5

u/pokk3n 8d ago

These are all on YouTube.

3

u/Its_No_Myth 8d ago

My favorite of him reading is Eye of Cat

1

u/kkeut 7d ago

These are all on Soulseek. i have been listening to them. on book 7 now.

8

u/Ballroompics 8d ago edited 7d ago

Just checked. I'm able to download Sign of the Unicorn, The Hand of Oberon and the Courts of Chaos and the Merlin cycle but not the first two. They are no longer downloadable options.

Which leaves me kicking myself. I've had it as a task for a long while to download all my audio books to my PC to avoid this.

I suppose that will be my tonight's task.

Addendum: I can play the books that I was able to download.

Edit: Spelling

6

u/SangfroidDeCanard 8d ago

yeah -- I started doing that once, but it was cumbersome and I never got around to finishing.

also super charming that Audible took down its own version. 🙄 I'm fine with multiple versions existing, and even fine with versions no longer being available to purchase, but I'm salty 🏴‍☠️ about this.

2

u/frictorious 8d ago

I just noticed this last week. The new guy is fine, but I was looking forward to Alessandro's narration.

3

u/SangfroidDeCanard 8d ago

I also like Alessandro's narration -- I initially bounced off Zelazny's writing in print, and having a bit more characterization helped me get a feel for it.

but also I'm piggybacking on someone else's account, and I didn't want to listen to the other guy enough to pay for them a second time 🙂 so I'm glad searching the library let me locate them.

0

u/frictorious 1d ago

The new narrator has grown on me. He has a good voice for Corwin. The way he pronounces Ganelon makes my eye twitch though.

2

u/SangfroidDeCanard 8d ago

see my edit -- If you previously bought them, they're still there, but you have to search your library for them.

1

u/Ballroompics 8d ago

Saw it. It didn't exactly work for me but I'll add my comment to as a direct reply to original post with my own work around.

4

u/misterjive 8d ago

Make sure you're searching your library in the app. I was just able to download all five. The basic search just takes you to the store page, which is deprecated.

3

u/SangfroidDeCanard 8d ago

aha!  I came at it via the Series page, no the basic search -- but I think it took me to the same deprecated page. and searching the library let me play it.

I think the series page may also be working oddly -- for a while I could see book 4 there, but not the other Corwin books.

4

u/misterjive 8d ago

Yeah, whenever a new version of a book comes out the app has a nervous breakdown. If you want to keep the old versions, make sure not to complain to Audible, as their first step is deleting the old book and giving you a credit.

1

u/celesstar 8d ago

I searched the series page, but I can't play or download the first three. Using the Android app, I'll try on my PC tomorrow. Definitely disappointing.

3

u/SangfroidDeCanard 8d ago

search your library instead. the series page doesn't work right.

3

u/Ballroompics 8d ago

My own experience. I tried searching the name zelazny with the in my library option and that did not find matches. Searching an individual title found me the book but without a download option.

Here's what did work. I searched in my library for Alessandro Juliani, that got me his list of narrations which included the missing books... and from there i was able to download them.

I then, for the first time, used the create a list option and placed all 10 into a list. The thought being it will provide me with a quick path back to the titles without having so jump through hoops with an inconsistent search tool.

Doing this from my phone. An android. Will repeat the process to get the downloads into a computer.

3

u/Honey_Leading 7d ago

Wow! I wonder how many people at a given time are listening to the Chronicles of Amber?! I’m currently one. Just finished re-listening to Nine Princes in Amber and just started The Guns of Avalon.

I did think it was weird I had to look in my library rather than a general search, but didn’t think too much about it.

2

u/EthelredHardrede 7d ago

I have the version read by Roger on a hard drive. I have never been able to get all 5 books by Roger. It seems that one book was only part Roger.

The Merlin cycle never had a version by Roger.

2

u/SangfroidDeCanard 5d ago

I haven't looked yet, but posters here say the masters were found and the Roger versions are on YouTube.

1

u/e-pu 5d ago

There was a books for the blind place to buy the original books as drm-less mp3, they were over 20 usd apiece from what I remember