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)

Great Story

It's a long, yet awesome take if you're interested. I'd definitely recommend pace when listening.

Change in pronunciations drive me crazy!

The sudden change in the way characters names are pronounced about drove me mad! Ughhhh- but other than that- I enjoyed it.

Fantastic narration!

Like listening to a play, loved both story AND of course the narrator. Perfect.

Narrator

Why does every character sound the same. This whole series needs recorded using an ensemble of narrators

Great Story / Performance Down

Book 4, a Feast for Crows, of the Song of Fire and Ice series is another artful work with a deep story by George R. R. Martin. This book offers fantastic call-backs to characters and events in the earlier books of this series. The wording is just as in the previous books, and the stakes for the characters are raised. Martin still makes mention of lesser characters such as the black cat at the Red Keep that many authors might have forgotten.

In this boom, it would seem Mr. Martin enjoys the word pinched over pug in this installation, or may be marking his shift from the former to the latter.

In this installation of the Song of Fire and Ice audiobook series, the audio quality is markedly down. Through the entire work, the sounds are muffled, and with a lower volume than other, higher quality works.

There are also many negative points to the performance quality. Please note that I tell you all this to prepare you for what you’ll experience in this book rather than as reasons to avoid the work. This audiobook was, to me, well worth my time, but perhaps not the same price.

In the first Arya section at 1:53, Mr. Dotrice used a character voice, and then slips back into his own voice to continue what should have been normal narration. Mr. Dotrice does this again at 5:17 in Cersei’s first chapter, and at other points throughout his performance.
As a personal note, I don’t like that Dotrice changed Arya’s voice for this installation, but that is my problem.

Concerning pronunciations, Dotrice is all over the place in this effort. Petyre (Peter) Baelish gets 2 pronunciations on this installation, Peeter rather than Putire, and then Lord Petreh, both which are different from the previous 3 books’ running with Pee-tire. Other instances are Sandor, and Sangor Clegane, and Bry-een/Brian of Tarth. Brian appears more than I had expected sir/my lady to.

Another strange inconsistency is how Mr. Dotrice changed his voicing of Petyre Baelish mid book from a smooth voiced character to one with a coarse/gruff tone, making it confusing to keep him apart from other characters.

A Feast for Crows is, in my opinion worth the listen for its entertainment value, even if you haven’t, but especially if you have read/listened to the previous books of the Song of Fire and Ice series.

Consistency is Key

Roy. My Man... I'm about halfway through the first Arya chapter and it's starting to drive me nuts.... listened to the first 3 books and they are all fantastic. The performance is great, so many voices, all unique to the point that they're recognizable.

Now book 4. Samwell sounded a bit off, but I could get through it. But Arya now sounds like some weird mix of Samwell and Ygritte and a little Lannister influence too. It's off-putting. Throws the entire from off because I've grown used to the voices and now I feel like someone else keeps talking.

Might seem like a strange complaint, but I'm well over 100+ hours of listening at this point, so it's kinda jarring.

A Difficult Book Made Easier

Reading this book was quite the daunting task. So daunting I failed to complete it. Thankfully Roy Dotrice makes the story of this leg of A Song of Ice and Fire much more palatable. Onto the last current book for me!

Slow start but gets better and better.

The performance isnt too great but serviceable. Meanders abit in the beginning but gets really good afterwards. Most of Brienne's chapters are some of the best and worst of this book.

Good ending

Overall gave it 4 stars because i dont care much for the narrator. I like half the voices he does and the other half i hate or cant understand. still the story was good.

Disappointed in Roy Dotrice

As others have said before me, Roy Dotrice switches up all the voices for the characters in this book. Unfortunately if you are listening to them in a row, this can throw you off and I often found myself asking "who is this again?"