A Game of Thrones

A Song of Ice and Fire, Book 1

By: George R.R. Martin

Narrated by: Roy Dotrice

Length: 33 hrs and 46 mins

Publisher's summary

Now the acclaimed HBO series Game of Thrones - the masterpiece that became a cultural phenomenon

Winter is coming. Such is the stern motto of House Stark, the northernmost of the fiefdoms that owe allegiance to King Robert Baratheon in far-off King's Landing. There Eddard Stark of Winterfell rules in Robert's name. There his family dwells in peace and comfort: his proud wife, Catelyn; his sons Robb, Brandon, and Rickon; his daughters Sansa and Arya; and his bastard son, Jon Snow. Far to the north, behind the towering Wall, lie savage Wildings and worse - unnatural things relegated to myth during the centuries-long summer, but proving all too real and all too deadly in the turning of the season. Yet a more immediate threat lurks to the south, where Jon Arryn, the Hand of the King, has died under mysterious circumstances. Now Robert is riding north to Winterfell, bringing his queen, the lovely but cold Cersei, his son, the cruel, vainglorious Prince Joffrey, and the queen's brothers Jaime and Tyrion of the powerful and wealthy House Lannister - the first a swordsman without equal, the second a dwarf whose stunted stature belies a brilliant mind.

All are heading for Winterfell and a fateful encounter that will change the course of kingdoms. Meanwhile, across the Narrow Sea, Prince Viserys, heir of the fallen House Targaryen, which once ruled all of Westeros, schemes to reclaim the throne with an army of barbarian Dothraki - whose loyalty he will purchase in the only coin left to him: his beautiful yet innocent sister, Daenerys.

©1996 George R.R. Martin, (P)2003 Books On Tape, Inc., published in arrangement with Random House Audio Group,a division of Random House, Inc.

Critic reviews

• Locus Award, 1997

"Martin's trophy case is already stuffed with major prizes...He's probably going to have to add another shelf, at least." (Publishers Weekly)

"The first volume in Martin's first fantasy saga combines intrigue, action, romance, and mystery in a family saga." (Booklist)

"Grabs hold and won't let go. It's brilliant." (Robert Jordan)

"This novel is an absorbing combination of the mythic, the sweepingly historical, and the intensely personal." (Chicago Sun-Times)

Captivating, and I already knew the story

Fantastic, engaging, immersive. What more do you need from a story? Sword fight has it, witty banter;check, mature themes without a doubt, and no spoilers but Dragon's too

vivid writing

spectacular audio. the narrator brings the writings to life and takes it to another level compared to self read or GOT tv series.

The variety of the Orator

The man who reads this book is an artist, I was hooked from the first chapter.

My opinion

The story is good, some characters I definitely enjoy more and can’t wait to see how they grow or end. I like the narrator but he makes most of the men sound too similar for my ears and I can lose who is talking. His voice for Varys is really hard for me to listen to. Either way I will keep listening to the rest of the story.

Everything

amazing story of course and the narrator added a lot with his reading although every time I heard him say Jeffrey I couldn't help but laugh

Great story, frustrating narration

The characters, story, and world building keep me coming back to this book series. Each character is written with depth and nuance that makes each one unique and intriguing. The story gets me thinking about history, morality, cause and effect, folly, the surprising variety of strength, courage, folly, etc... I find something new with each read. The narrator brings color and emotion to sections that I did not pick up on when reading the books but that fit those scenes perfectly. Unfortunately the narrator drops the ball when voicing most of the characters - young characters are made to sound old, arrogant characters come across as stuffy rather than brash, bold characters voiced as weak/frail and/or developmentally disabled and at least half the characters are made to sound, for some strange reason, like pirates. But, if you can forgive/get past the more annoying character voices it's an epic worth listening to.

Starks

George RR Martin captured my imagination in this tale. First thing I realized when I first read this book was that the Author did not show favoritism to any of his characters. Felt so real. The book is more enjoyable for me than the HBO Series.

A gripping epic, and a must read!

It is true the first few chapters seem confusing, but I simply did not try to understand who was who, trusting the author to work his magic. It is an epic adventure, well told, with unique and remarkable characters. I loved it!

chill with the voices.

the dude reading is all over the place with the accents and voices. and most did not fit the characters. idk where the Irish accents come from. takes me out of it. then there's anybody who's older than fifty or comes from anywhere but the north they talk without the ability to feel their lips. just a stupid idea for an accent. bad. the show does the accents perfectly. but the material in the books is better.

Maybe I'm just spoiled by TV

Like many, I decided to finally read George R.R. Martin's epic novels after being drawn in by the HBO TV series based on the books. But perhaps the awesome visuals and great cast of actors spoiled me, because I couldn't get in to the audiobooks. I found the narrator's pace plodding and his accents irritating...again, this could just be because I already had voices for the characters in mind. In any case, I finally just bought the series for my Kindle and am reading them the old-fashioned way.