A Dance with Dragons

Book 5 of A Song of Ice and Fire

By: George R.R. Martin

Narrated by: Roy Dotrice

Length: 48 hrs and 53 mins

Publisher's summary

The complete, unabridged audiobook of A Dance with Dragons.

HBO’s hit series Game of Thrones is based on George R. R. Martin’s internationally best-selling series A Song of Ice and Fire, the greatest fantasy epic of the modern age. A Dance with Dragons is the fifth volume in the series.

The future of the Seven Kingdoms hangs in the balance.

In the east, Daenerys, last scion of House Targaryen, her dragons grown to terrifying maturity, rules as queen of a city built on dust and death, beset by enemies.

Now that her whereabouts are known many are seeking Daenerys and her dragons. Among them the dwarf Tyrion Lannister, who has escaped King’s Landing with a price on his head, wrongfully condemned to death for the murder of his nephew, King Joffrey. But not before killing his hated father, Lord Tywin.

To the north lies the great Wall of ice and stone - a structure only as strong as those guarding it. Eddard Stark's bastard son Jon Snow has been elected the 998th Lord Commander of the Night's Watch, but he has enemies both in the Watch and beyond the Wall, where the wildling armies are massing for an assault.

On all sides bitter conflicts are reigniting, played out by a grand cast of outlaws and priests, soldiers and skinchangers, nobles and slaves. The tides of destiny will inevitably lead to the greatest dance of all....

©2011 George R. R. Martin (P)2011 HarperCollins Publishers Limited

Critic reviews

"In the grand epic fantasy tradition, Martin is by far the best...tense, surging, insomnia-inflicting." (Time magazine)

"An absorbing, exciting read.... Martin's style is so vivid that you will be hooked within a few pages." (The Times)

"The sheer mind-boggling scope of this epic has sent other fantasy writers away shaking their heads.... Its ambition: to construct the Twelve Caesars of fantasy fiction, with characters so venomous they could eat the Borgias." (Guardian)

What happened to Book 4?

I have downloaded the series but there does not seem to be a Book 4 in the Audible version.

It is a great story - love it - very dark though it doesn't really raise much hope for mankind - but it is a great read.

I'm not sure Roy Dotrice's reading does justice to the characters in the book. His many voiced characters show he is a talented man but when Denarey's part is read I can't visualise a 15-16 year old girl. The characters all sound seedy - was that George Martin's intention?

What happened here?

After book 3, I was gutted to find out Roy Dotrice didn't do the narration for book 4. Instead, some talentless no-mark got the gig and, almost without exception, made an absolute dog's dinner of it.
So imagine my delight when Dotrice returned for book 5!
And then I started listening...
I've praised Dotrice's work previously because he gave a huge range of characters a unique and consistent voice. Why then does he suddenly elect to give a young girl the screwed up voice of a yokel crone when previously she'd been anything but? Why then does he take what was previously a rich, husky female voice and again turn it into something more suited to a wart-nosed witch? Yes, the majority of the characters are as they were, but these two aren't the only jarring changes but they are by far the worst.
And then there's the story. The previous books had intrigue, shocks, revelations and great characters and a wide but still cohesive narration that was occasionally interspersed with chunks of 'nothing much happens'. This book still has the intrigue etc, but it also has great swathes of text where characters just... really... don't... do... much. At all. I'm looking at you Daenerys, you wishy washy sack of absolute tedium. Other characters that have been dead since before book 1 suddenly take centre stage. Martin has never been shy of offing major characters but he seems to be developing a taste for occasionally resurrecting them without really seeming to have good reason. The cast just keeps getting bigger and more complex. The chronology of events from one place to the next gets tricky to follow.
Dragons feels more like a book from an author who's created too much 'stuff'' in his world trying to give it all time in the sun so he can get it straight. As a result, the tale sometimes seems a little forced and occasionally 'round peg, square hole' as pieces are forced into places and events that just lack.. something.
Still, if anyone can tie it all together in the end, it's GRRM.

I really hope book 6 comes out...

grrm is a magician , the books are the best books ive ever read! the only thing missing ... is for them to finish ...good luck everyone

its a shame that Roy passed away...

Roy seems to be tiring......

Would you listen to A Dance with Dragons (Part One) again? Why?

Yes I'd listen again because it's integral to the whole story BUT. THE NARRATORS LOSING HIS WAY WITH SOME OF THE VOICES HES ELECTED TO USE, and this inconsistency has made it harder to easily enjoy the story as concentration is required to ensure you understand who is speaking or thinking out loud.

What aspect of Roy Dotrice’s performance would you have changed?

Why has the pronunciation of 'little finger' name suddenly changed from PE-Tar to Peter?

Was there a moment in the book that particularly moved you?

Why did good hearted Bryin have to die? Hopefully that is resolved next book!

Any additional comments?

I am worrying that there is only one book left and too many subplots with loose ends- hopefully the next two instalments are written and published soon!

Solid storyline - enjoyable narration.

What three words best describe Roy Dotrice’s performance?

Good, but it is dissapointing that he can not use consistant character voices throughout the series.

Awesome

Another brick on the wall of ASOIAF. Well written and well narrated, but for such books with so many characters it is better to have more than one narrators.

Great Read

Would you recommend this audiobook to a friend? If so, why?

An easy read and very exciting

Who was your favorite character and why?

Lannister- the imp. exceedingly humorous. very dry wit

What does Roy Dotrice bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?

reads with great emotion leaving breaks when relevant for emphasis

Was there a moment in the book that particularly moved you?

when tyronne saved them all and joined the free swords.

Each a tale in its own right.

This work provides many detsails that a GoT fan will enjoy, nlbut do not expect the series and the books to have all the same characters and plots. each should be enjoyed for its own. I think it is good like that because it keeps you wondering what's next in both the books and the HBO series.

Almost Purrfect

Women's voice could have been played by a second actor. Chapters centring women could have been played by women too. That would have been brilliant.

Voices throughout the series.

I love Roy Dotrice's performances throughout this fantastic series. Roy Dotrice even has a record for doing the most distinct voices for an audiobook in Game of Thrones and I believe has done over a Thousand for all the books so far.
That in itself is totally amazing, and he can be forgiven for using certain voices for certain archetypes of people.
The biggest problem most people have is that in earlier books, certain characters sound one way, and in following books, the voices are changed. So listening to the books back to back (even though they were recorded YEARS apart) can be quite jarring once you have gotten used to how a character sounds. This is a testiment to just how brilliant Dotrice is at becoming that character and so brilliantly portraying them exactly how you think they should sound. Which is why there are just so many terrific sounding characters throughout the series.

George R R Martin is hands down one of the greatest literary geniuses of all time. Each time you read the books you are uncovering more and more things George has hidden away that start emanating once you have a firmer understanding of his world as a whole.
He has created one of the richest fantasy (or any other genre for that matter) worlds ever put to paper and filled that world with complex, funny, intriguing, loved and hated characters.
His POV (point of view) writing style puts you in the hearts and minds of the Planetos inhabitants in such a way that you will love and loath them as much as you can real people in any form of pop culture or your own life. Plus, you can not always rely on those peoples point of view because they can be quite the unreliable narrator. Often giving you !misleading, and conflicting information as you progress through the story and hear events unfold from how different characters perceive, remember or hear about "facts" they experience or recall.
I am always listening one of the ASOIAF novels while driving or doing other tasks which let me escape into a wonderful world that has fans all over the world putting their own ideas about out into the worlds trying to unravel the many mysteries hidden throughout these novels.
We are all eagerly waiting The Winds of Winter to find out the next. part of this magnificent series.
If you have watched the shows and not read the books. You only have about 10% of the overall substance and story.
So do yourself a favor and start reading (or listening)
It will become a fully fledged hobby that millions of people around the globe get sucked into.

Time for me to go back again and reread an earlier book, and see what else I have missed the first dozen times I rear it.

Have fun...