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)

Wonderful addition to the TV series

Would you listen to A Game of Thrones (Part One) again? Why?

The narration alone is marvellous.

What did you like best about this story?

The characters and the sheer size of the story, epic.

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

His voices are wonderful.

brilliant!

What made the experience of listening to A Game of Thrones the most enjoyable?

it's a story that defies the imagination full of twists and turns and unexpected outcomes. it's also vicious and nasty but i suspect life in the middle ages was as well.

What about Roy Dotrice’s performance did you like?

he's so good. he makes all the characters come alive and drives the long narrative so the pace never slackens.

Enthralling

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

I think that the audio gives it more life - Roy Dotrice is a phenomenal narrator - his many voices brought the book to life for me. The only reason for buying the book as well, was to be able to read when I lay in bed. I started believing these were real people, because of Roy's narration.

What did you like best about this story?

The characters are complex and realistic - I wondered at times if this was fact or fiction. The descriptions of scene and character enables one to create strong visual images of the text.

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

Tyrion Lannister by far - he is the most charming character of all. Love his determination, courage and wicked sense of humour.

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

Most definitely - but of course we can't always have what we want.

Any additional comments?

This is a "read" you will never regret!

Great political fantasy story

This is a great book fir those of us who like politics and fantasy. As it usually happens, I recommend reading/listening to this book before watching the TV show.

Con: the narrator dies a good job, but uses thick accent that at first can be hard to follow for a non-Native English-speaker like myself. But understandable after a while. Some acting can be cringeworthy and unintentionally funny.

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

Compelling to read even after seeing the show

The way the reader performs the book along with the authors ingenious writing makes this novel an absolute delight to listen to.

Although I had already completed the television series before starting this book, it still was enormously entertaining.