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)

Fantastic story (pun intended)!

A great story of a medieval like world where honor and blood meet mysticism. One of the greatest fantasy novels I have ever read.

I'm eating the Audio Book, not the Book

Overall the performance is pretty good. The rich bass voice is easy to listen to. Each character has a very consistent tone, which I find impressive since there is only the one reader. He is an animated reader, and you can tell her moves when he reads. If the character is out of breath, so is he, and so on. I find this a plus, but others may find it distracting. There are a few drawbacks that are slightly bothersome. The reader is somewhat inconsistent with the pronunciation of certain names, especially when they are used less than often, but are mentioned many times within a single paragraph, for instance. Geoffrey is one that sticks out, and Petyr as well. He pronounced them correctly only a handful of times, and I find that to be very irritating. But all is forgiven, since at the time of this publication, the HBO series, (and therefore widespread understanding of the odd pronunciations) was not yet in existence. It also seems, after about fifty or more characters, that the reader understandably runs out of voices. This is only annoying because of the severe lack of diversity between these voices. All of the women who aren't Sansa or Cersei have disgustingly thick Cockney accents that make them sound straight out of Sweeney Todd, with the exception of Daenerys who sounds straight up childish. Even Arya, who is younger than Daenerys sounds much older. My last quip, is not so much a complaint, but a curiosity. The reader's chosen tone for Tyrion is... Irish. I found this distractingly hilarious, the imp- sounds like a leprechaun! Overall, 3/5 for the inconsistencies and the voices leaving some to be desired. Good voice consistency, animated story telling, and pleasant reader overall.

great

a solid reader for a solid book. enjoying my re visit to this story in this different format

Great book

Way better than the show on HBO. The words bring more debt to the characters.

as good as you think it will be

the speaker is a little old for what you initially think should be some of the voices but quickly demonstrates that his range of accents more than makes up for this

if I had one complaint it would not be about the audiobook but that I will probably die before George Martin finishes the series

Love GRRM. Roy Dotrice does it justice

GRRM writes the best fantasy political drama around, and his characters are believable and you really start to care about them, which makes it all the worse when realistic consequences catch up to them to pay for their follies. Roy Dotrice does an excellent job narrating, though some of the pronunciation choices are a little strange. Either way, I definitely recommend this, especially if you liked the TV show. It has more drama and intrigue comparatively, and you get a much better idea of the characters thoughts and feelings.

Fantastic start to and epic series

Wow what a great story! I'm already looking forward to the rest of the books. Had no problem with audible. I listened whenever I wanted. while shopping, cleaning or waiting for an appt. The story is thrilling and suspenseful....

amazing

This was a wonderful reading of this book. Roy Dotrice does amazing voice work. Each character comes alive with a voice full of character and personality. you feel immersed into the story.

Awesome

Book was great, only problem with the voice acting was the eunuch I hated his voice for him.

Great narration

the narration was great! I didn't expect to finish it as quickly as I did.