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)

Brilliant, with a catch.

I thoroughly enjoyed ever minute of this Audio book, the story is very engaging and hooks you in within the first 5 minutes. The narrator however has a very small revenue of voices he is able to lend the characters and it sometimes makes things a tad confusing. Also, and I put this as a caution. THIS IS ONLY ONE HALF OF THE FIRST BOOK. I understand some of you may think this point mute but with all the different versions of the one book on here I accidentally missed this rather obvious situation and proceeded to buy the Second half of the second book and listen to that after finishing this... However props must be given to the Author because despite this I managed to piece the important bits that I missed together, which is about a years worth of information.

Anyway I hope this helps in your decision to purchase this truly wonderful book.

Regards,
Jeremiah.

Great story and performance.

Any additional comments?

This would be a 5-star review, except that Audible has divided the book into 2 parts so that you have to use two tokens to finish the book. The US version of the book is sold in its entirety for a single token.

A feast of a tale faithfully narrated

I have read every volume of this saga published to date and watched the DVD - this audible edition is a marvellous rendition of a great tale and Roy Dotrice does an excellent job with the huge range of characters. He is especially good with the male characters and has a good range of voices for them. I respect the fact that he does not try to be the female characters, choosing instead to rely on the author's drawing of the character rendered in the narrator's voice. This is far more effective, for me, than trying to be what he is not. I am working my way through the audible editions of each volume and am sure I will revisit them more than once. George R R Martin's imagination is rich and powerful; he has provided a feast for his fans. Roy Dotrice has enhanced my enjoyment enormously.

Australians getting ripped off again?

No one needs me to tell them how good George R. R. Martin's series is. However I did find it disappointing that Australians are forced to buy this book in two parts. The full book is available to other regions so why not for us? It is for this reason I have given the overall rating 1 star. Also if you are coming to the books from the brilliant TV series as I did you may find Roy Dotrice's performance of some characters off-putting as they are so different.

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.

Almost Flawless

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

The novel is a favourite, but this talking book is really exceptional. The narrater is the master of voices and accents. Tyrion as a Welshman is masterful, and after listening enthralled through this I found one tiny flaw: Occasionally Roy forgets to step out of a characterisation when reading the narrative. Other than that I would call his performance flawless, and entirely in keeping with the quality of the storytelling.

What was one of the most memorable moments of A Game of Thrones (Part One)?

The most memorable moment was when Tyrion first spoke. I'd always pegged him as being frightfully plummy, like Roy's version of Littlefinger, but the accent and voice used were a delightful surprise, and now work for me. I'm rereading the text of another book in the series, and now am very happy to hear Tyrion as Welsh in my head.

What about Roy Dotrice’s performance did you like?

His eclectic and diverse range of both voice and accent stands out. He's got a vast array of distinct characters nailed down in a masterful way. He's very impressive.

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

Your move

Any additional comments?

Even if you haven't read the Ice & Fire series (shame on you) I recommend this audio book. It's like watching a movie, with a cast of hundreds, with your eyes closed.

A Feast for the Ears

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

One of the best thing about reading novels is the ability to create your interpretation of the world in question, to flavour the characters beyond the story itself, or the words on the page. When books get adapted to film, the characters are presented in a very stark way (so that people complain

What was one of the most memorable moments of A Game of Thrones (Part One)?

Not going to give away spoilers here, but the first few times Roy Dotrice went from regal narrator to guttermouth were pretty memorable to me! :P

What about Roy Dotrice’s performance did you like?

Dotrice has a talent of providing each character with their own unique voice - not a mean feat in a novel that has more antagonists than a YouTube comment section! It may be a slight lisp, or a throaty chuckle, but the variances in Dotrice's voice allow each character their own identity.

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.

Great story, not so great voice.

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

I loved the story and the way it is told by the author not the narrator. First person perspective, and there are a lot of persons.

What did you like best about this story?

The best thing is the set up of the story line.

Would you be willing to try another one of Roy Dotrice’s performances?

I will have to listen to more of his performances, he is the narrator of the other books in this series. So I am have no choice.
I read that a lot of people love his acting. I just find it really annoying. A lot of huffing and puffing for the distinguished people. He also uses a lto of spit. Women sound like hardend men. Some young boys/men sound like 50 year old barbarians. But the most annoying for me was the constant breathing in through the nose to sound distinguished. Together with the wetness/ spit talk of certain characters made it really irritating. It is not as bad as Daffy duck just enough to annoy me.

Also a lot of times you cannot distinguish the characters cause they all start to sound the same after a while.

But some people absolutely love his voice acting.

Did you have an extreme reaction to this book? Did it make you laugh or cry?

Yes the voice acting made me cringe from time to time.

Any additional comments?

The story is so good that even Roy Dotrice's voice acting can't stop me from buying the other parts.

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.

An enthralling story

There are several reviews here which express far more eloquently than I could just how good this story is so I'm not going to comment on that aspect, instead I'll comment on the listening experience provided by the audiobooks.

1. I do feel that it helps for a newcomer to the books to have seen the TV show, the story in non-linear at points, jumping forward and then backtracking, this can be a little disconcerting, you may wonder if you've accidentally skipped over a chapter somewhere. I certainly had to rewind on a number of occasions.

2. A few reviewers have suggested that Roy Dotrice doesn't do a good job with the narration. I disagree, I rather like his reading style but, whoever produced the recordings should be embarrassed by the fact that at certain points characters are renamed and worst of all one character's accent suddenly changes from Northern English to Welsh, I thought I was hearing things at first. Given the number of characters and the scope of the book I think on the whole he did a good job, but someone dropped the ball somewhere in the edit suite.

Great Story, Difficult Narration

I actually own the paperbacks to A Song of Ice and Fire. And I re-bought the entire series as eBooks for my Kindle. The I purchased the Season 1 DVDs for A Game of Thrones. And the Graphic Novel (Part I). So take it as read that I'm familiar with the books, the story, George R R Martin's writing style, and the cast of thousands that populate Westeros and the lands across the Narrow Sea.

As you might surmise, I love the story. Unfortunately, this audiobook was a struggle to listen to because I just couldn't get on with the narration. Leaving aside the characterisation, for a moment, Roy Dotrice has this bizarre habit of pausing... mid-sentence so you're not sure if the sentence is finished... or if there's another portion... to come. At some points, these pauses almost change the sense of what's being said, and you find yourself having to mentally re-wind to re-phrase the words in your head to get the proper meaning.

In a similar vein - just concerning the narration rather than the characterisation - at some points the narrator's choice of tone doesn't jibe with my own interpretation of the story's tone; the first time we hear the Stark's motto, '"Winter is Coming", we're given it in almost upbeat fashion, rather than the heavy, almost portentous phrase that I have in my head.

However, my biggest obstacle with the narration was the characters' voicings; to be fair, the book has a cast of thousands (probably literally, although I haven't counted), and it would be impossible to form a distinct voice for every single person. But characters frequently sound much older than written (Theon Greyjoy, for example), the cod-Irish accent deployed for some characters is almost unlistentable, and, most disappointingly, Tyrion's accent changes mid tale, from Lancastrian to something that oscillates between Welsh and Irish.

It's a hard job, and I wish Mr Dotrice no ill, but I would've liked to hear Steven Pacey's reading of this instead.

Brilliant, but...

A fantastic book and well worth it, however a bit of a con from Audible to split it into two parts, (needing to pay for each). It is only one book and should be sold as such. It is on iTunes and works out as cheaper there! Wish I'd noticed that earlier.

Frustrating Narrator

Loved the story, but got really frustrated with the narrator, which is very distracting in an audio book. Everyone sounded drunk and weak. Decided to read the rest myself and am enjoying them a whole load more.

A truly brilliant fantasy novel

A Game of Thrones is one of the most enjoyable books I've listened to in years so much so I completed it very quickly. Without giving any of the story away, it's worth pointing out that the plot can initially be a little confusing as it switches between different characters but as the book progresses you soon gain a greater understanding of the world that the author has created. Another point is that the storyline may seem slow at first but this is essential so as to establish the characters and set the scene, for not just the rest of the book but the rest of the series. And once it gets going, believe me, it really does get going.

Now for a word on the narrator. If you consider the number of different characters there are in this story, and how he has to make them all slightly different to distinguish them for the listener, I think he does an outstanding job. Of course it's natural you won't like all of his characterizations but his ability as a narrator really fits the the story and brings it to life.

This novel is well crafted full twists and intrigue. I cannot enthuse enough about how good this book is and encourage everyone to download it and enjoy this epic story.

great book could not get on with narrator

great book but the narrator is not what it needs. the accents switch out and I could not listen anymore. it has put me off buying the other books from auidble. it could do with being redone with a younger narrator

I was really enjoying it up to the point when

Tyrion Lannisters accent changes from Yorkshire to Welsh, I actually like Dotrices narration its like being told a story by an old man around a villages community fire, but a story teller needs to be more aware of his use of accents. What I think actually happened is Dotrice read the rest of the book and saw that Tyrion Lannister became a hero rather than a Rumpelstiltskin character, he couldn't become the hand of Gofrey and talk like a Clegg from last of the summer wine.

I'm sorry Mr Dotrice

I wish I had listened to a sample first, and then I would have avoided downloading this. I'm sorry Mr Dotrice, but your narration did nothing for me - except to convince me to buy the book and read it for myself. My fault, I will not make the same mistake in future. The story sounded wonderful, but after a couple of hours I became so distracted and frustrated with the narration, that I deleted it from my iPod. It may work for you, try the sample.

Great Book, Not So Great Reader

The readers bizarre portrayal of Drogo and Tirion makes for hard listening at times. Overall it is just about bareable!

Best fantasy around if you have the time

I started this series having watched the Game of Throne series on TV and it has not disappointed.  It does take time to get into the stories as there are so many characters, plot lines and background history.  What really helped me to follow what is happening was a website called Tower of the Hand, which has summaries of each chapter and links to biographies of all the characters. 

A great ranges of interesting characters with most showing shades of good and bad in their actions.    Tyrion the dwarf is a great literary creation.  The author is a natural  story teller,  packing the narrative with sparkling dialogue, inventive action, and most chapters end on cliffhangers.  Unusually for a fantasy series many of the early battles are only described to us in the third person, although later books start to describe the battles as first person encounters.