Dying of the Light

De: George R. R. Martin

Narrado por: Iain Glen

In this unforgettable space opera, number-one New York Times best-selling author George R. R. Martin presents a chilling vision of eternal night - a volatile world where cultures clash, codes of honor do not exist, and the hunter and the hunted are often interchangeable.

A whisperjewel has summoned Dirk t’Larien to Worlorn, and a love he thinks he lost. But Worlorn isn’t the world Dirk imagined, and Gwen Delvano is no longer the woman he once knew. She is bound to another man, and to a dying planet that is trapped in twilight. Gwen needs Dirk’s protection, and he will do anything to keep her safe, even if it means challenging the barbaric man who has claimed her. But an impenetrable veil of secrecy surrounds them all, and it’s becoming impossible for Dirk to distinguish between his allies and his enemies. In this dangerous triangle, one is hurtling toward escape, another toward revenge, and the last toward a brutal, untimely demise.

PLEASE NOTE: When you purchase this title, the accompanying PDF will be available in your Audible Library along with the audio.

©2004 George R. R. Martin (P)2012 Random House Audio

Reseñas de la Crítica

"Dying of the Light blew the doors off of my idea of what fiction could be and could do, what a work of unbridled imagination could make a reader feel and believe." (Michael Chabon)

"Slick science fiction...the Wild West in outer space." (Los Angeles Times)

"The galactic background is excellent.... Martin knows how to hold the reader." (Asimov’s)

I did like this story.

All of the story points to Faith and commitment. Keeping promises is also a strong part of this story. And it’s really heartbreaking how it unfolded. But GRR Martin has a tendency of leaving you with a sour ending, more of a true ending but it’s still sour.

Glimpses of Martin’s genius

Overall the book is ok. Story doesn’t really grab you and drags at times but you do see glimpses of Martin’s talent as he gets ready for GOT.

GRRM's impressive debut

Originally posted at FanLit.

In the outer fringe of the inhabited universe, the rogue planet Worlorn falls darkly through space. But years ago it circled the Wheel of Fire, the brilliant wheel-shaped star system that is worshipped by many in the outworlds. Worlorn, the Wheel of Fire’s only planet, was lit for fifty years before it wandered off again. During that half-century, the outworlds held a cultural diversity festival on Worlorn, with each world trying to outdo the others when building their extravagant temporary cities on a planet they knew they’d only inhabit for a few decades.

Now that Worlorn is fading into darkness again, the cities are almost completely abandoned, but there are a few people left on the planet. When Dirk t’Larien is summoned there by Gwen, the ex-girlfriend he still loves, he discovers that Worlorn is no longer a festival planet. Now it’s dark and dangerous. Worse, though, is that Gwen is now mated to Jaantony Riv Wolf high-Ironjade Vikary, a leader of the Kavalar race which, in order to protect its few women and children, has developed some barbaric customs and codes. Most notably, men form high-bonds with a male partner and may have a wife as a shared piece of property. Jaantony, both a warrior and an academic, is eager for his peoples’ culture to become more liberal towards women, but his is a minority opinion. The man he is bonded to, Garse Janacek, does not agree. And the larger faction of the Kavalar race, including some who are hunting non-Kavalar humans on Worlorn, is happy to find any reason to pick a fight with Jaantony Ironjade. When Dirk gets to Worlorn, he unwittingly walks right into the middle of a tense situation and only makes it worse.

Dying of the Light, first published in 1977, is George R.R. Martin’s debut novel and it’s impressive. The setting is wonderful: a dying planet getting farther and farther away from its sun; abandoned cities; jungles with strange and deadly life forms; fascinating cultures. My favorite feature was the city of Challenge which is a 500-story building housing thousands of apartments and lots of cool amenities. Because it’s run by machines, much of Challenge is still operative though only a handful of people still live there. The most exciting action in Dying of the Light occurs in Challenge — I loved this part of the story.

The clashing cultures that Martin creates are also imaginative and fascinating and he hints at plenty of history and backstory that he never gives us but that make this world feel real. I wish he’d write more about it. I’d love to read about the fifty sunny years on Worlorn, for example.

Unfortunately, none of George R.R. Martin’s characters are likable. Dirk is passive and Gwen is flighty and indecisive. It was hard to root for them as a couple, especially when Jaantony Ironjade was more interesting than Dirk. I’d classify Dying of the Light as a science fiction romantic tragedy (in fact, Dirk, who calls Gwen “Jenny,” likens their situation to the disastrous love triangle in the Arthurian legend) but the romance and the tragedy would have been more effective if Dirk and Gwen had been admirable characters. As it was, I didn’t really care what happened to them in the end.

Overall, Dying of the Light is impressive and surprisingly sophisticated for the first novel of a young author. If you’re a fan of GRRM, it’s a must-read. Dying of the Light was initially serialized in Analog Science Fact/Science Fiction with the name After the Festival in 1977. The novel was nominated for the Hugo and the British Fantasy Award. I read Subterranean Press’s recent publication which has wonderful artwork by Tom Kidd (both glossy color sheets and black and white drawings). I also tried Dying of the Light in audio (recently produced by Random House Audio) and was pleased with Iain Glen’s narration.

Excellent Worldbuilding, Plodding Story.

Would you recommend this audiobook to a friend? If so, why?

Depends on the friend. This book is character-heavy, melancholic, and somewhat philosophical. It's very slowly paced in the beginning, and the main character can be frustrating, but both pick up as the story progresses. Dying Of The Light is a soft sci-fi character piece, and I would recommend it only to the patient.

What did you like best about this story?

As with A Song Of Ice And Fire, I like how Martin fleshes out both the main and secondary characters. I like the ambiguity, the prose, the shifting alliances, and, although there may have been too much of it, I liked the universe-building. I also like the plot, once it picks up two-thirds of the way in, and I liked the thoughtful anti-climax.

Which character – as performed by Iain Glen – was your favorite?

My favorite character is probably Jaantony Riv Wolf high-Ironjade Vikary. I found most of the Kavalaar characters to be more interesting than Dirk or Gwen.

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

The climax/ending, for one. There was a certain character death outside Kryne Lamiya that I found affecting.

Any additional comments?

I thought the reading was excellent. Jorah Mormont should narrate more books.

Iain Glen's narration is incredible

Enjoyable story, immersive world. Would have been a slow read, but the audio version had me entranced. Death and themes of fading out are what it is all about, so it's not a happy book. It creates a thoughtful mood.

Epic!!

This book is a timeless classic. Reading for the first time years ago it swept me right off my feet. And now that it exist in audio format I've probably listened to it 10 times. Blows the doors off conventional science fiction and has unprecedented world building. A wonderful story that is sure not to disappoint, with colorful characters to match. Iain Glen was born to read us this story. I'd highly recommend this book if you a fan of GRRMARTIN. You should know my recommendation is essentially guaranteed.

Super good

I’ve read all the ASOIAF stuff and figured I’d try some of his other works. It’s not the same, but it’s almost as good. You can see him developing themes and stuff that continue.

A beautiful world; a nihilistic telling

George R. R. Martin pretty much always t's me off because he is so good at drawing characters and worlds you care about and then he discards them. I ended up caring about the rogue planet and about the diversely tuned people. Martin has great skill at putting you inside the view of wildly different characters. He should take better care of how they end up.

Hard to get into

Would you recommend this book to a friend? Why or why not?

No, not unless they were die hard sci-fi fans. The book seems to be very slow starting, the setting is hard to get into.

Would you ever listen to anything by George R. R. Martin again?

Yes, I would, and have listend to many of his books.

Have you listened to any of Iain Glen’s other performances before? How does this one compare?

No, this was my first experience with his narration.

If this book were a movie would you go see it?

Probably not.

Any additional comments?

The story seems very slow, and is actually very basic.

Medieval Space Opera

This book was George RR Martin’s first published book. It is a prototype story of his masterpiece A Game of Thrones. It’s not a perfect story and it’s plot isn’t perfect and the characters aren’t perfect. That being said, it’s still better than 100% of all the light novels and current half-baked sci fi and fantasy books being written today. The fact that it’s narrated by Iain Glen is reason enough to listen to it. He’s arguably the best narrator’s in the voice acting craft…