A Feast for Crows

A Song of Ice and Fire, Book 4

By: George R.R. Martin

Narrated by: Roy Dotrice

Length: 33 hrs and 51 mins

Publisher's summary

GAME OF THRONES: A NEW ORIGINAL SERIES, NOW ON HBO.

Few books have captivated the imagination and won the devotion and praise of readers and critics everywhere as has George R. R. Martin’s monumental epic cycle of high fantasy that began with A Game of Thrones. Now, in A Feast for Crows, Martin delivers the long-awaited fourth book of his landmark series, as a kingdom torn asunder finds itself at last on the brink of peace . . . only to be launched on an even more terrifying course of destruction.

A Feast for Crows

It seems too good to be true. After centuries of bitter strife and fatal treachery, the seven powers dividing the land have decimated one another into an uneasy truce. Or so it appears. . . . With the death of the monstrous King Joffrey, Cersei is ruling as regent in King’s Landing. Robb Stark’s demise has broken the back of the Northern rebels, and his siblings are scattered throughout the kingdom like seeds on barren soil. Few legitimate claims to the once desperately sought Iron Throne still exist—or they are held in hands too weak or too distant to wield them effectively. The war, which raged out of control for so long, has burned itself out.

But as in the aftermath of any climactic struggle, it is not long before the survivors, outlaws, renegades, and carrion eaters start to gather, picking over the bones of the dead and fighting for the spoils of the soon-to-be dead. Now in the Seven Kingdoms, as the human crows assemble over a banquet of ashes, daring new plots and dangerous new alliances are formed, while surprising faces—some familiar, others only just appearing—are seen emerging from an ominous twilight of past struggles and chaos to take up the challenges ahead.

©2007 George R.R. Martin (P)2011 Random House

Critic reviews

"Of those who work in the grand epic-fantasy tradition, Martin is by far the best.... [He] is a tense, surging, insomnia-inflicting plotter and a deft and inexhaustible sketcher of personalities.... This is as good a time as any to proclaim him the American Tolkien." ( Time)

"The only fantast series I'd put on a level with J.R.R. Tolkein's The Lord of the Rings…. It's a fantasy series for hip, smart people, even those who don't read fantasy…. If you're new to the series, you must begin with Book 1, A Game of Thrones. Once you're hooked…. you'll be like the rest of us fans, gnawing your knuckles until book 5” (Marta Salij, Detroit Free Press)

“THE MOST impressive modern fantasy, both in terms of conception and execution, is George R.R. Martin's A Song of Ice and Fire.… A masterpiece that will be mentioned with the great works of fantasy.” ( Contra Costa Times)

A lot to follow.

the reader is beyond excellent. I found myself getting lost every once in a while with all the characters. I sort of expected that based on the other books. I love the link!

roy Dotrice dropped the ball with character voices

roy Dotrice failed on the characters voices. totally inconsistent. disappointing. he did a great job the first 3 books but foolishly butchered this book. amazing story tho

ANNOYING

OMG I have listened to books 1-4 and by far this is the most annoying readingi have Ever listened to. I literally want to cut my ears off and I have 28 hours left of this book. The first 3 books were good not great but good but this is terrible. If you have the time then get the Kindle version and read it yourself. Otherwise I warn you now your ears may start bleeding. I already found blood in my ears

Awesome Narration if You Love Hobbits, Leprechauns

Look. I love these books. They are simply the best. This reading was terrible, however, and it was hard to enjoy the material with Mr. Dotrice throwing a set of voices out there that can hardly be imagined with the characters as constructed by GRR Martin.

I'll save you some trouble. Here are the only options you'll hear on this recording: narrator (pretty decent, actually...also close enough to the voices for Jaime and Sansa to make them tolerable), leprechaun and/or hobbit (Arya, Brienne aka "Brain", Tyrion, Victarion [of all people!], Prince Doran, some of the Kettleblacks but only some of the time, Tommen, Robert Arryn, Arys Oakheart, and a bunch of minor characters), seductress (Cersei and her Myrish friend, Arianne Martell...again, not bad); Scottish Highlander (virtually any of the small folk with words, even if they're not northerners), and blustery old man (literally, everyone else including Littlefinger, for god's sake).

That's it, and that's all, folks...an agonizingly limited range for such a rich set of characters. To add salt to the wound, Dotrice didn't even keep all the voices same throughout the book, and managed to pronounce Raff the Sweetling's name as, by turns, "Rayf", "Raff", and "Reef", perhaps depending on his mood that day. Please, please, please re-do this recording with more than one person at the wheel...we need a full set of voices to do these texts justice, and much, much more range from the people who do the work.

Poor quality

The audio quality is very poor compared to other audible titles. I have listened to the 1st 3 books of this series read by the same person, and the quality was much higher. Very disappointed in this novel.

Best narrator ever

This narrator makes this book alive, and the characters too. Best ever. Best story. Can wait to start the next one.

Wonderful Book - HORRID reading

Being relatively new to the series, no I wasn't living under a rock, I decided to start with the books before watching the series. I have loved the last two, and even mostly enjoyed Dotrices voices - but this book. I must echo the other reviews. There is no consistency in the names from section to section. And Aria sounds like a leprechaun. What on earth????? I had been counting the days to starting this book, and I have to tell you, I could NOT be more disappointed in this listen. I am stopping with 20 hours to go and switching to the printed book. I cannot take Dotrice's reading. I would have preferred to have the option to change to the original reader, then at least that person might be excused for not knowing, but Dotrice has no excuse. It's sloppy and if he was going to be sloppy, he should have passed on the offer to read. It's so disheartening.

Still going strong.

Excited to start book five. hope it's as exciting as the other for were for me

amazing book but...

this book is amazing and the series is amazing. my only complaint is with Roy Dotrice. He is a remarkably talented narrator but in this book he changes the voice of many characters that he used in the previous 3 and after spending almost 100 hours listening to a character sound a certain way it is jarring when they no longer do.

Love the Whole Series

This one is for the real fans of A Song of Ice and Fire. The plots are more complex and a lot of the fan favorites do not appear. But I absolutely love it. The Dornish and Iron Born stories are such rich cultures to add to the song and world of Westeros. Being in the heads of Cersei & Jaime is certainly a wild ride. Also some of Dotrice’s best voices. Dotrice is a God. Love the whole series!