A Dance with Dragons

A Song of Ice and Fire, Book 5

By: George R.R. Martin

Narrated by: Roy Dotrice

Length: 48 hrs and 55 mins

Publisher's summary

Dubbed the American Tolkien by Time magazine, George R. R. Martin has earned international acclaim for his monumental cycle of epic fantasy. Now the number-one New York Times best-selling author delivers the fifth book in his spellbinding landmark series - as both familiar faces and surprising new forces vie for a foothold in a fragmented empire.

In the aftermath of a colossal battle, the future of the Seven Kingdoms hangs in the balance once again - beset by newly emerging threats from every direction. In the east, Daenerys Targaryen, the last scion of House Targaryen, rules with her three dragons as queen of a city built on dust and death. But Daenerys has three times 3,000 enemies, and many have set out to find her. Yet, as they gather, one young man embarks upon his own quest for the queen, with an entirely different goal in mind.

To the north lies the mammoth Wall of ice and stone - a structure only as strong as those guarding it. There, Jon Snow, 998th Lord Commander of the Nights Watch, will face his greatest challenge yet. For he has powerful foes not only within the Watch but also beyond, in the land of the creatures of ice.

And from all corners, bitter conflicts soon reignite, intimate betrayals are perpetrated, and a grand cast of outlaws and priests, soldiers and skinchangers, nobles and slaves, will face seemingly insurmountable obstacles. Some will fail, others will grow in the strength of darkness. But in a time of rising restlessness, the tides of destiny and politics will lead inevitably to the greatest dance of all.

Enchanted? Check out the rest of George R.R. Martin's A Song of Ice and Fire series.

©2011 George R.R. Martin (P)2011 Random House

Critic reviews

"Filled with vividly rendered set pieces, unexpected turnings, assorted cliffhangers and moments of appalling cruelty, A Dance with Dragons is epic fantasy as it should be written: passionate, compelling, convincingly detailed and thoroughly imagined." (The Washington Post)

"Long live George Martin...a literary dervish, enthralled by complicated characters and vivid language, and bursting with the wild vision of the very best tale tellers." (The New York Times)

"One of the best series in the history of fantasy." (Los Angeles Times)

Fantastical masterpiece of lore and storytelling

Believable caracters and stories with immersive cultures and histories that seem to have organically evolved into a realistic, yet fantastical, universe.

The end scene took my breath away

No spoilers;

However you have heard of Game of Thrones I implore you to listen to the Audiobooks. After finishing the fifth book I’m sad to know that the one who took me through the first five book journey is no longer with us.

*moment of silence*

Still, I’m eagerly awaiting the sixth book. What a masterpiece this series is. Hope to listen to the Winds of Winter soon.

Thank you George R R Martin for a wonderful experience.

The voices were weird

Great book. much better than a storm of swords, but I don't like that certain characters were given different names to what I'm guessing was to play into their different circumstances. I also didn't like that more points of view were added. I skipped a lot of people simply because their pov weren't necessary and I didn't miss much as far as the important parts of the plot. Overall not a bad story

Love the books but...

Like other reviewers I'm not sure what the deal is with the womens voices. Daenerys does not sound like a tavern wench from the countryside. Its almost made me want to just buy the book and read it its so bad.

Was it worth the wait?

I understand what he’s doing; beginning to tie all the characters from the past four books together, but it’s frustrating to dedicate over 30 hours to be ticked off that yet another main character is ‘killed.’ Though it was yet another fantastic chapter in this epic, I cannot help but feel financially and emotionally cheated in not getting significantly closer to some closure. My opinion for those who have not read it yet, wait until the last two books come out (with luck in 5 years), then read them all together (for a lot less money than I paid). I’m convinced that if the next book were available today, I would have loved this one. Maybe I’ll go back to Pern for awhile, where every book in the series at least has an ending.

Excellent Series But Relieved That I Am Done

I began this epic journey in the Spring. I had never heard of this series before I had read about the HBO production. Once I got into the series, I promised myself that I would take a break and listen to something else. I couldn't do it. This is a fascinating journey into a strange, medieval-like world. George R. R. Martin often gets lost in his description of food preparation. I am sure that he enjoys a good meal. Great characters. It is as if the character, Tyrion Lannister, was written for Peter Dinklage.

I agree with several of the earlier reviewers about the voices used by Roy Dotrice. Why does a teenage queen, Daneris Targaryen sound like an old crone. For that matter, why do most of the women sound the same? The men have different voices but the women all sound like Cockney fish mongers. I have one question about the story. Why is it that this culture has been around for thousands of years and they have not invented anything since the cross bow? You would think that somebody could have invented something in all that time. All that aside, this is a great listen. Now I can listen to some other books and wait for the next one in the series. As much as I enjoyed these books, I really can use a change of pace.

Character studies fun, however no good battles!

Riy Dotrice is a fantastic narrator, in fact he won a Guinees Book of World records for voicing over 500 chartacters in Thrones, If you enjoyed Georges' series thus far you should be aware that there are many plot twists and unexpected events. This book is no different. I made a silly assumption that I would be hearing Dany's Dragons going north to the wall to fight the White Walkers, an epic battle of sorts but there was no real battles at all. Tyrion pov's made the book the worthwhile with hilarious jests and jokes with his biting wit, The flow of the series seems to have had its head chopped off but still fantastic imagery and insight into the human condition visualizes in our minds. Regardless of endpoint

Good to have Roy Dotrice

I was so happy to hear Roy Dotrice was back for this book. John Lee made book 4 a bit boring. Book 5 is much better and we get to hear about the storylines I am most intrested in anyways.

still good not great

The biggest problem with Dance with Dragons is just that its not as good as those first three novels. I happened to listen to the first five novels all in a row the past few months, so this was especially obvious.

The second biggest problem is that not terribly much happens. Tyrion in particular bounces from detour after detour after detour. I certainly found myself thinking can he just get there already???

Otherwise its well written and if you're a fan of the series, its just fun being immersed in this world again.

I'm glad I'm not alone though in wondering what Dotrice was thinking changing up the voice of Daenerys. She suddenly sounds like an old Irish lady and it makes her chapters extremely painful to listen to. It actually seems like he enjoyed the voice of YGritte so much that he just decided to start using it for Daenerys. Its made even worse by the fact that the Game of Thrones tv show has been on recently.

ROY DOTRICE IS AMAZING!!

I love the narrator. He makes it so real and exciting - I hope he does the next installment of GOT once Martin completes it!