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)

amazing!

I love this book and the story is so in depth. It's a real life situation that some times the good guy doesn't win.

Review

Great story. Good narration despite the reviews. Wasn't the best audio book ive ever purchased but far from being as bad as people say. I think some people don't realize that this was recorded long before the show, so a lot of the voices and pronunciations might feel off. I think maybe people were expecting something like the LOTR audio books that came out after the movie. But its from 2003, and I doubt the narrator got to consult with George like the show writers did. Absolutely worth it in my opinion.

Brilliant!

I, like many others, became enamored with the world created by George R R Martin by watching the show. With the last season underway I wanted to start reading the books to see how closely it matched up with the show. The brilliant writing makes the stories come to life, can't wait to read the next book!

*the narrator does pronounce the same names several different ways throughout the book.

Using different voices for characters

I think using a different tone when switching between characters is enough trying to give each one it’s own individual voice doesn’t work well for me. Overall I was very pleased with it and will go on to book two.

Worth a listen, and maybe a second one too!

Anyone who enjoys the HBO production should read and/or listen to the books! There is so much more detail and greater character depth in Martin's written work than in the film production. The story and characters are so expansive that it is fun to go back through and try to catch all of the foreshadowing and is more enjoyable once you have a better grasp on who is who. I watched the series first, jumped in 2016 to binge through to current, then read the books, and now I am enjoying them on Audible, waiting for the final HBO production of the series, trying to catch all the hints.

My only complaint is regarding the performance, which is in part due to watching the HBO series first. The narrator tries to give each character a unique voice, but I think he gives some characters weaker voices than they deserve, and uses a different inflection in many cases than I would if reading aloud. There are also a number of times where he mispronounced words as well, which I disliked.

Distracting narration

I love this book. It’s a fantastic story and well written. However, while the narrator has a clean, clear and pleasant voice, his attempts at varying his voice, tone or speech to represent different characters are poorly done. I find myself distracted by his ridiculous “voices” and very often having to go back and replay lengthy dialogue of certain characters.
These books are quite long already, but having to frequently replay large sections makes them drag on and on.

It’s no lord of the rings.

Sounds like I didn’t like it, wrong, I loved it. It was just not the quality of lord of the rings.

So good

Quite the time investment but worth it. I am so impressed by the narrator being able to keep all those different voices straight

Great listening

Enthralling from begining to end. Couldn't stop listening to it and look forward to hearing the rest of the books in this series.

THE GREATEST

This has to be one of the greatest books ever written! Hands down! George R. R. Martin has simply created a masterpiece.