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 of filler

this book had a lot of filler, but was good overall. on to the next

Great continuation.

I enjoyed this one more than the others for the show departed from this one more than the others. I get why they did, but as per usual, the book is better.

Awesome book

Roy unfortunately dropped the ball with some of the voices and names. mostly it's not too big of a deal but Arya sounds like an old lady leprechaun. though there are a few mistakes Roy is still far better than any others.

He changed how he pronounced Catlyn

Great reading I know asking for consistency across books is dumb but I'm picky, gread performance.

Inconsistent performance

The story is great, the performance however is not. The reader has changed the pronunciation of several names from the first 3 books and actually changes a couple of them from sentence to sentence. Also not sure if this is the same reader from the first 3 but the voices for several characters also changed drastically.

for some reason the reader changed all the accents

optional but you must have at least fifteen words? blah blah blah blah blah blah

Very good but not as good as the previous book

This was a very good book and Roy Dotrice was fantastic. I found the story a bit slower than the previous books however

Great story - the change in voices killed me

If you could sum up A Feast for Crows in three words, what would they be?

Why change great?
The writing style takes a change in this book, it could be due to the 5 years between when a Storm of Swords (2000) came out to when this was published but the flow of the story just feels unnatural.
Still a great series with amazing characters and story line, but you can tell that GRR Martin has evolved as a writer.

What did you like best about this story?

Martin gives great power to his characters and sucks you in to where you are rooting for some and despising others. I even care about the swords!

What do you think the narrator could have done better?

Listened to his recordings of books 1-3. Pronunciations and character voices changes and it is like getting kicked in the stomach every time you hear them speak.

Roy Dotrice is awesome

Great story, even better narrator. I have a better feel for the characters by the performance of Mr. Dotrice than I do watching the TV show.

Pretty much the same thoughts as first 3...

Any additional comments?

Roy Dotrice's variety of voices can be off putting at first in relation to the character, but once you get past that and accept the voices for what they are it becomes quite an entertaining audio.