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)

Delivery

I love this narrator's different deliver for different characters. But it was jarring that his pronunciations of some of the characters' names changed from the previous book to this one.

Not as good production value as the others

It was a bit scratchy compared to the previous books. oddly enough the accents of the characters were different then in the other books and changed through out the performance. other than that, great book. worth the time to put in.

Just a little thing...

I love the Game of Thrones novels and Roy Dotrice read the first three books fantastically! But in this book, his voice is changed. The voices he uses for characters who have been throughout have changed and the pronunciation of some words (especially names) has changed. I felt like I could hear the pages turning as well. The 2 biggest name changes were Catelyn (previously pronounced Cat-lyn, now pronounced Kate-lyn), and Gilly (previously pronounced Gilly, now pronounced Jilly).

A truly disappointing vocal performance

Forget people's complaints of voice and pronunciation differences between this book and the previous ones, Roy couldn't even stay consistent within the same chapter. Prepare yourself for Brian the maid of Tarth.

A focus on unexpected characters.

This novel features characters who didn't have many point of view chapters in previous books and gives them their much due time in the spotlight. Jaime, Cerci, Sam and Brianne. It wasn't what I wanted to hear to push the story along. I wanted to hear about Dany, John and Tyrion... until I got into it. Then it was well worth it. Invest the time and you will enjoy it. it is George RR Martin after all.

Does it Really Matter!?

Does it really matter that Roy Dotrice changes the pronunciation of a few names? Does it really matter that his voice for one character isnt the same as it was in previous books? Maybe if this were a different series. But this is GAME OF THRONES people. I personally can overlook any minor changes in performance considering the vast scope of this story. This book alone is nearly 34 hours. Along with the mind boggling amount of characters, Dotrice deliver's and amazing performance. To anyone who has made it this far, you simply can't stop now because of a few minor inflections of voice and pronunciation. Download and enjoy. :)

Still Excellent

I know many people take issue with Mr. Dotrice's change in name pronunciation, but I found it relatively easily over looked. His performance is still excellent and he does such an amazing job at providing just the right voice for the characters. Even though there was little mention of my favorite characters, George R. R. Martin makes this entry in the series as interesting and gripping as the others.

i have enjoyed having the same narrator every book

i have enjoyed having the same narrator every book. he is very pleasant and easy to understand.

What happened?

Any additional comments?

After having followed this series from book one with Roy Dotrice as its reader, I was disappointed to find he suddenly changed the pronunciation of several characters' names (sometimes he uses different pronunciations in the same chapter). He has also been very good about giving the many characters distinctive voices and accents. In this book, however, some key characters sound very different (Jaime Lannister suddenly sounds just like Tyrion, and Aria Stark is completely changed). These are relatively small complaints, I suppose, but it's distracting.

Least favouite but still epic

My least favourite in the series so far in the series, this book felt more like it is setting up the next stage then being able to stand on it's own. George R.R. Martin uses our trust to break the 'show don't tell' rule. There is a lot of plotting, scheming and talking but not enough showing. I also found the plot to be the most predictable.

You should know by now if you like the writing style. Long detailed descriptions of what everyone is eating, wearing and doing. Introducing and providing family histories of more minor characters then you can keep track of and will never see again. This will either help suck you into the world or bore you.

In order to keep the characters more manageable only half the series POV characters are followed, so your favouite may not appear. We start to see glimpses of what some of these characters will become.

Having said all that, I still was sucked into this and despite being three times a normal book it took me just a few extra days to read. The plots are epic in scope, complex, elaborate, interwoven and clever. Many characters means we get to have the action of a fighter, the slow reveal of a planner and the decent of someone losing their mind.

If you read the previous books and enjoyed them, especially the politics and backstabbing then continue reading this. If not then it might be a good time to stop.

Been over a year since I listened to the previous book so I didn't notice the voices being different.