A Game of Thrones

A Song of Ice and Fire, Book 1

By: George R.R. Martin

Narrated by: Roy Dotrice

Length: 33 hrs and 46 mins

Publisher's summary

Now the acclaimed HBO series Game of Thrones - the masterpiece that became a cultural phenomenon

Winter is coming. Such is the stern motto of House Stark, the northernmost of the fiefdoms that owe allegiance to King Robert Baratheon in far-off King's Landing. There Eddard Stark of Winterfell rules in Robert's name. There his family dwells in peace and comfort: his proud wife, Catelyn; his sons Robb, Brandon, and Rickon; his daughters Sansa and Arya; and his bastard son, Jon Snow. Far to the north, behind the towering Wall, lie savage Wildings and worse - unnatural things relegated to myth during the centuries-long summer, but proving all too real and all too deadly in the turning of the season. Yet a more immediate threat lurks to the south, where Jon Arryn, the Hand of the King, has died under mysterious circumstances. Now Robert is riding north to Winterfell, bringing his queen, the lovely but cold Cersei, his son, the cruel, vainglorious Prince Joffrey, and the queen's brothers Jaime and Tyrion of the powerful and wealthy House Lannister - the first a swordsman without equal, the second a dwarf whose stunted stature belies a brilliant mind.

All are heading for Winterfell and a fateful encounter that will change the course of kingdoms. Meanwhile, across the Narrow Sea, Prince Viserys, heir of the fallen House Targaryen, which once ruled all of Westeros, schemes to reclaim the throne with an army of barbarian Dothraki - whose loyalty he will purchase in the only coin left to him: his beautiful yet innocent sister, Daenerys.

©1996 George R.R. Martin, (P)2003 Books On Tape, Inc., published in arrangement with Random House Audio Group,a division of Random House, Inc.

Critic reviews

• Locus Award, 1997

"Martin's trophy case is already stuffed with major prizes...He's probably going to have to add another shelf, at least." (Publishers Weekly)

"The first volume in Martin's first fantasy saga combines intrigue, action, romance, and mystery in a family saga." (Booklist)

"Grabs hold and won't let go. It's brilliant." (Robert Jordan)

"This novel is an absorbing combination of the mythic, the sweepingly historical, and the intensely personal." (Chicago Sun-Times)

Great Story, can't wait for more!

Just wow. Yes, there are lots of characters and yes if you don't pay attention for even a minute you may get lost but what a great tail. It took me a few minutes to get used to the narration but I think that is true anytime you listen to a new story with an unfamilar narrator. The story is full of detail and the author has created a complex and vivid world to unfold his story in. It is certainly a fantasy story, there are undead warriors and dragons but don't expect it every other page. The main story revolves around several powerful families ultimately struggling for control of the throne. If you like character developement and deep complex plots that weave together then you definately want to give this one a try.

a fun read!

It is a fast going story, filled with vivid images. I am so glad there is another book to pick up right away to keep the story going. The reader is excellant.

Love being able to listen but oy...the narration.

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

I love the story, and it is fun to feel like I have gone back to childhood with adventure stories read to me at bedtime. But I can not STAND the narration on this. It is so affected. It's like having Charles Gray from Rocky Horror reading it.

narrator detracts from story

I listened to this in 2007, and never bought the other books in this series. Recently a friend of mine let me know that HBO was going to do a series based on these books, so I downloaded GoT again to get a refresher. I LOVE THIS STORY, but now I know why I never went any further. The English narrator does a fantastic job with older men, grizzled soldiers, and the like. But when it comes to portraying the women and youths in the story he fails miserably. They all end up sounding like some terrible version of my 90-yr-old grandmother, or they end up sounding whiney and petulant. Ugh. I'm going to finish the novel, but I'm sorely disappointed in the quality of the narrator.

a work of literary genious

Any additional comments?

This is quite simply the best fantasy series out there. This simple statement will probably get me yelled at or downvoted if anyone ever reads this review, but it is true. Some people would say that nothing is better than Tolkien's work, but I would tell them that they are wrong. Tolkien was the first, but he just Didn't create the masterpiece that Martin did. Lets start with Martin's language skills. his prose is absolutely perfect, it is complex enough to keep the story flowing, but not dry enough to make the book long winded. His words just seem to flow from his pen to create a beautiful work of modern literature. However, his language isn't what makes the story, those are his characters. Martin creates one of the biggest sprawl of Characters i have ever read about. Each character has a well developed personality and is very complex. The best part about his characters is their ambiguity. It is hard to tell whitch characters are good and whitch are bad for most of the stories. Sure there are characters that we all love and ones that we all hate, but for many of the characters we can't decide how we feel about them until very late in the book. Also, many of Martin's characters seem to evolve during the story and change feelings or outlooks on life. Even though Martin's cast of characters is absolutely enormous, it seems to dwindle very fast during the story. If there is one thing he loves to do , its kill off characters. Whether they be good or bad they may die, nobody is safe. Therefore, I give this warning, if you like to get attached to characters this book is probably not for you. Martin has an excellent skill at killing are hopes and dreams for the characters we love. Next on the agenda is Martin's plot development skills. he does a terrific job in creating several different plot lines and weaving them separately to start the story and slowly bringing them together as the series goes on. Also, you would think that the first book would be lacking in plot development because Martin is trying to construct his world for future novels, but this is not so. He does a fantastic job in both world building and plot development at the same time during the first book. Finally, i must talk about the narration. The narrator Roy Dotrice does a fairly good job of narrating the story. He is very good at keeping his characters separate with different voices that are easily recognizable, at least for the first book. This is no mean feat because he has several hundred characters to deal with. i also think he has a very good voice for telling this kind of story, rich and deep. However, it seems to me that he makes some word mistakes during the story, he mispronounces some words and seems to miss certain words altogether. This may be more of an editing issue than an issue coming from mr. Dotrice. I will give one other warning about this book, there is a fair amount of bad language, a good deal of explicit sex, and a lot of gory violence. Overall, this is probably my favorite book of all time. it has everything one would want in a good fantasy tale. One final reason why i love this book is its realisticity. I know the idea of realistic fantasy may seem like a bit of a paradox, but I think it is the most important part of a good fantasy novel. I have read too many books where the hero goes in and kills hundreds of men all by himself with no apparent special abilities at all, just threw his own pure will power. it simply isn't logical and it makes for an unintelligent, unrealistic story. The fact is that people die and in real life they are not capable of the insane things some authors make them do. martin makes his characters and their accomplishments relatable and understandable. Sometimes his characters fail at tasks or deeds and die because they simply aren't possible. I believe this is what sets Martin's books apart from others.

Gripping but...

Love the book more than the show. Surprised though how much the story lines followed the book. I do have to admit that I did not totally enjoy Mr. Dotrice as the narrator. For a story that involved so many young people, his voice was too old to truly capture the characters.

learn to love books again

Where does A Game of Thrones rank among all the audiobooks you’ve listened to so far?

near the top for performance and story.

Who was your favorite character and why?

I liked each character, they are well developed.

Any additional comments?

I loaned my husband my ipod so he could listen and he thanked me for reminding him that he loves books. Now if I could just get my ipod back.

Love the Story!

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

I haven't read the print version. As time allows, I may go back and read it. Not sure though. There are so many fantastic books available. Time may never be allowed.

What did you like best about this story?

The story and the characters evolve and develop. There's not always a happy ending. Main characters can die. The story pulls you in emotionally.

What three words best describe Roy Dotrice’s performance?

disappointing, distracting,

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

I may have liked to, but considering the length, that will never happen.

Any additional comments?

The performance of the reader is excellent at times. The different voices for the characters are sometimes spot-on, but often miss the mark and is a distraction to following the story.

Good Fantasy

It took awhile to get into this book but if you like the fantasy genre
once you have all the characters straight this will be hard to shut off. I found myself rooting for the heros and wanting to see the demise of the antagonist. I recommend this book and will be getting the next book series.

going nowhere

I have now listened to all the books that proceed this book George R R Martin only is interest in character development not the story being interesting