Definitely give the ‘Children of…’ series another go.
I personally struggle with audiobooks. I’m not one of those who claim audiobooks aren’t ‘real’ books, it’s just that for me, when I read a book via print (e or standard) there’s just me and the author. When it’s an audiobook, no matter how good the narrator might be, there’s now this 3rd person in the process and they might have their own take on how a character speaks or inflects or put emphasis on things I don’t. I just find it really jarring.