A Dance with Dragons

A Song of Ice and Fire, Book 5

By: George R.R. Martin

Narrated by: Roy Dotrice

Length: 48 hrs and 55 mins

Publisher's summary

Dubbed the American Tolkien by Time magazine, George R. R. Martin has earned international acclaim for his monumental cycle of epic fantasy. Now the number-one New York Times best-selling author delivers the fifth book in his spellbinding landmark series - as both familiar faces and surprising new forces vie for a foothold in a fragmented empire.

In the aftermath of a colossal battle, the future of the Seven Kingdoms hangs in the balance once again - beset by newly emerging threats from every direction. In the east, Daenerys Targaryen, the last scion of House Targaryen, rules with her three dragons as queen of a city built on dust and death. But Daenerys has three times 3,000 enemies, and many have set out to find her. Yet, as they gather, one young man embarks upon his own quest for the queen, with an entirely different goal in mind.

To the north lies the mammoth Wall of ice and stone - a structure only as strong as those guarding it. There, Jon Snow, 998th Lord Commander of the Nights Watch, will face his greatest challenge yet. For he has powerful foes not only within the Watch but also beyond, in the land of the creatures of ice.

And from all corners, bitter conflicts soon reignite, intimate betrayals are perpetrated, and a grand cast of outlaws and priests, soldiers and skinchangers, nobles and slaves, will face seemingly insurmountable obstacles. Some will fail, others will grow in the strength of darkness. But in a time of rising restlessness, the tides of destiny and politics will lead inevitably to the greatest dance of all.

Enchanted? Check out the rest of George R.R. Martin's A Song of Ice and Fire series.

©2011 George R.R. Martin (P)2011 Random House

Critic reviews

"Filled with vividly rendered set pieces, unexpected turnings, assorted cliffhangers and moments of appalling cruelty, A Dance with Dragons is epic fantasy as it should be written: passionate, compelling, convincingly detailed and thoroughly imagined." (The Washington Post)

"Long live George Martin...a literary dervish, enthralled by complicated characters and vivid language, and bursting with the wild vision of the very best tale tellers." (The New York Times)

"One of the best series in the history of fantasy." (Los Angeles Times)

great book good reader

very long but well worth it. reader is great. I can't wait for the next book!

Wonder Book, Terrible Narration

What happened to the voices. Daria sounds like a old hag. Book 4 was narrated by John Lee, who is much much better. Doltrice did a good job in the first 3 books, but this time he's voices almost ruined the book.

Repetition

I love the narrator. The story has a lot of repetition. The he focus on main characters seemed to be lost. Overall, it wasn't the best in the series.

Decent Book

It was refreshingly better than A Feast For Crows (which I personally did not enjoy), but it was still not quite as strong as A Storm Of Swords. I am really crossing my fingers that book 6 ahead gives me the same feels that A Storm Of Swords did!

stellar

This was really great. Excellent narration. I can't way for the next one to come out.

Narrator

The narrator was ill suited to the story. He tried but the voices were indistinguishable.

great story. Narrator Confuses character's voices

Narrator confuses the characters voices to no end. Story is great. Developes Esos in this one.

WHEN DOES THE NEXT ONE COME OUT???

Georgey boy what in tarnation are you doing?? Release the next book already for god’s sake!! I’ve been waiting 8 years! I’ve reread every one of the other books dozens of times and listened to the audio books 5 times each!! When will the waiting end????

So much still hanging!

I sure hope the next book come out quickly...I already miss the story & characters!
I love the narrator but wish early on that he had recorded a "master" of pronunciations and voices that went with characters...it is distracting trying to figure out who someone is when the reappear after a long absence when their voice & name have changed!

A Dance With Dragons

Wish their was a woman handling the women characters, other than that it was great !!!