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)

A fantastic story with few audiobook shortcomings

This was a beautifully crafted book that was engaging from the first chapter and grew moreso throughout. As soon as I finish writing this review I will be purchasing the second book of the series.

I nearly gave this book a 5-star rating, even clicked to 5 stars several times before settling on four. The book was perfectly written for an adult audience, and very well told, both with George R. R. Martin's writing and the gruff, expressive voice of Roy Dotrice narrating. However, there were shortcomings in the audiobook that at times made me want to rush to a store and buy the paper book to re-read passages on my own. In the first few hours of listening there were many times when I became somewhat lost by the introduction of new characters, something which wouldn't have happened if I were reading the book on my own. Having such a large cast of characters makes it difficult to keep track of by ear alone.

However, Dotrice's reading gave the characters enough personality to their voices that after awhile I was able to sort them out easily enough, and over time I came to easily recognize the characters and learn new ones without a problem, even if I went a week or more without listening to any portion of the book.

As other reviews have noted, Dotrice's reading does lack in range, as his range does not cover youth well and characters in their teens and twenties are given voices and pacing that make them sound as if they're middle aged or older. This can make for a bumpy road at times as I found myself struggling to recall at times to recall the rough ages of each character. Dotrice's reading can also lead to inconsequential misunderstandings, such as my initial thought that he was saying "milk of the puppy" in reference to a medicinal painkiller rather than the actual words, "milk of the poppy."

These, combined with a few minor audio and editing issues in the last half of the book were what cost it that fifth star. All are very minor things that taken by themselves wouldn't have been any problem at all, but taken together, added up just enough to make me think that just a little more care should have been put into this production.

Despite the very minor flaws that kept this from being five stars across the board, I highly recommend this book. It has an engaging world that leaves you wanting to learn more, thrilling storlylines that answer enough questions to keep you interested while leaving enough mysteries to make your mind feast on the possibilities of how all the plots and subplots tie together. The characters make you want to smile and laugh along with them in their victories, to put your arm around them and cry with them at their defeats, and to at times you just want to smack them across the back of the head and make them see common sense.

I went into this audiobook figuring that I wanted to listen to a decent portion of it before I started viewing the HBO series. Now that I have finished the first book, I still haven't seen any of the TV series, and find myself just wanting to continue with the story by getting down to the next book, and if I happen to start watching the series as well, so be it. But if the books continue to be as engaging as this one was, I'll be perfectly satisfied to continue my journey in George R. R. Martin's world through the book series.

GOT

Roy Detrice is amazing narrator and perfect for GOT!! I listened three times already, he brings this incredible story to life.

Total ear crack, just like "everyone" says

Would you consider the audio edition of A Game of Thrones to be better than the print version?

It was just this past month that I finally popped my GoT cherry. I picked up the book to get me home on a six-hour drive. After that, every bit of spare time I can get I'm listening to this book! Commutes flew by while hearing the tales of the Starks, Lannisters, Targaryens, and all the rest. Roy Dotrice has the perfect voice for reading this book and really carried all the different chapters and characters well.

Quite Glorious

I thought it would be very dry, but interspersed with points of action. It turns out that it was VERY VERY good the whole way through. I'm glad I started this series.

Well read, easy to listed too.

Would you consider the audio edition of A Game of Thrones to be better than the print version?

NA

What other book might you compare A Game of Thrones to and why?

NA

What does Roy Dotrice bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?

I never would have finished the book. The reading is very well done, easy to identify the various characters, great speaking voice, very clear, great inflections.

If you were to make a film of this book, what would the tag line be?

Family affairs.

Enjoyed every line read!

The story, of course, was great. Watching the show prior and now reading the books, it was easier to imagine the characters faces and demeanour. On to the next book!

Loved every second

Great story. Great performance. Exceeded my expectations. I am ready to start the 2nd book. In my opinion, a must read.

I'm sucked in. amazing story!

amazing story. extremely well written with excellent pros and character development. long. very long. but, never boring. you really get to know the characters and become engrossed into the narrative. the narrator was great.

Wonderful!

This was a great book to listen to even after being caught up on season 7 of the show.

excellent preformance from narrator!!!!

excellent story, helped to get me caught up with HBO series. the narrator made the story espically interesting, with his excellent reading.