A Game of Thrones

Book 1 of A Song of Ice and Fire

By: George R.R. Martin

Narrated by: Roy Dotrice

Length: 33 hrs and 45 mins

Publisher's summary

One of The Times’ 25 Best Audiobooks.

HBO’s hit series A Game of Thrones is based on George R. R. Martin’s internationally best-selling series A Song of Ice and Fire, the greatest fantasy epic of the modern age. A Game of Thrones is the first volume in the series.

Summers span decades. Winter can last a lifetime. And the struggle for the Iron Throne has begun.

It will stretch from the south, where heat breeds plot, lusts and intrigues, to the vast and savage eastern lands, all the way to the frozen north, where an 800-foot wall of ice protects the kingdom from the dark forces that lie beyond. Kings and queens, knights and renegades, liars, lords and honest men...all will play the Game of Thrones.

Winter is coming....

©2011 George R. R. Martin (P)2011 HarperCollins Publishers Limited

Critic reviews

" A Game of Thrones grabs hold and won’t let go. It’s brilliant." (Robert Jordan)

"Colossal, staggering... Martin captures all the intoxicating complexity of the Wars of the Roses or Imperial Rome in his imaginary world...one of the greats of fantasy literature." ( SFX)

"Fantasy literature has never shied away from grandeur, but the sheer-mind-boggling scope of this epic has sent other fantasy writers away shaking their heads… Its ambition: to construct the Twelve Caesars of fantasy fiction, with characters so venomous they could eat the Borgias." ( Guardian)

More More More Please Love it!!

Great story line. Will be reading more of this wonderful series. Keep them coming. Totally keeps me wanting more :)

I didn't want it to end

If you could sum up A Game of Thrones (Part One) in three words, what would they be?

Long, involved, riveting

What did you like best about this story?

Everything. The story has a cast of THOUSANDS but everybody is well crafted.

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

Honestly? I would never be able to sit and read a book this long - I would cheat and read only the chapters about my favourite characters. Roy's voice is calming and a pleasure to listen to and you barely notice the passage of time.

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

Yes. I listen in the car on my way to and from work. I have to FORCE myself to bookmark and go to the office. I nearly missed a meeting once as I wanted to listen to the next bit.

Any additional comments?

I know the book is long and the audio needs to be split for ease of download. HOWEVER, it would be SO NICE if the splits took place at the end of chapters. It is REALLY ANNOYING when the audio stops half way through a conversation.

Amazing book... annoying voice

If you could sum up A Game of Thrones (Part One) in three words, what would they be?

Epic, enveloping, exciting

Who was your favorite character and why?

Bran. Because he's one of the few characters who is not a jerk, and has great potential as an underdog.

Would you listen to another book narrated by Roy Dotrice?

No. Many of the voices he puts on for the lesser characters are ridiculous and distract from the story. It sounds like his tongue has swollen to the size of a grapefruit and as such, I look forward to those characters leaving the scene.

I really enjoyed the performance

I have watched the series and now listened to the book. I feel the book is even more appealing, it explains the story better than the series in some cases. Roy Dotrice kept the book alive, I am amazed by his accents and portrail of the characters, remaining constant throughout the entire reading. Now for the next book ...

Great book, unpleasant narration

It's obviously a fantastic book but I could not listen to this audiobook and ending up returning it. There are definitely mixed opinions on Roy Dotrice's narration with some people loving it, but I found his character voices very difficult to understand at times and the gurgling spitty noises he makes sound really unpleasant and ruined my enjoyment of the book. Roy also has a tendency to mispronounce character names and will frequently even change the way he pronounces them (even within the same paragraph).
Overall I would strongly recommend instead listening to David's narration.

Many late nights because I just couldn't stop...

Any additional comments?

A Game Of Thrones absolutely lived up to expectations and after HBO picking it up to do their most expensive series yet why wouldn't it. However, it was Roy Dotrice who really brought this book to life for me. His narration is smooth and lively, painting the world of Westeros in vivid colour and depth. Having an individual voice for each character was unexpected but welcomed giving another layer to each personality. I think my boyfriend is glad I've finished the series (for now) because he can have his girlfriend back. I can't wait for the next book in the series but more so I can't wait to here more from Roy Dotrice.

Stories epic in scale and detail

What did you love best about A Game of Thrones (Part One)?

There are so many great characters. It is too difficult to choose just one. One of the most amazing things about this author is that he treats the characters realistically. As a result, it is very difficult to predict what will happen to them

What did you like best about this story?

See above

Which character – as performed by Roy Dotrice – was your favorite?

They were all done well.

Was there a moment in the book that particularly moved you?

When Lord Eddard died. From that point I knew that realism took priority over sentimentality. It makes reading the series so much more interesting.

intense, multi-layered and vivid

I started reading this series years ago when only books 1 and 2 had been released. i was riveted but got frustrated waiting for each installment and gave them away. I'm really enjoying listening to them now. the narrator is fantastic - so many different voices and characters. Some of them are, for me, not quite right, but the major characters are brilliant.
If you haven't been introduced to the series before, I can strongly recommend the audio version - with one reservation: the maps and genealogies the are available in book form really help to anchor the story. With so many characters and so much sweeping action, it can be a little confusing without these resources. Especially because audio doesn't really allow you to go back and pick up a detail you might have missed.

Cultural phenomenon that lives up to the hype

Book is great, I started reading after the show ended, it still kept my interest and is different enough to be engaging.

Only criticism is I didn't buy the accents of some characters, it's read wonderfully outside of that.

Wonderful

Even better the second time around, and still good, even after watching the show as well