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A Game of Thrones
- Book 1 of A Song of Ice and Fire
- Narrated by: Roy Dotrice
- Length: 33 hrs and 45 mins
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Editor reviews
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....
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)
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What listeners say about A Game of Thrones
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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Overall
- William
- 27-09-11
An unexpected surprise
I am new to audible books, and value peoples reviews. I was nearly put off A Game of Thrones, by some poor reviews. I actually like Roy Dotrice, and find his style suits me. It has probably helped that I have seen the first series of the HBO TV production and got to know the characters. I am enjoying the extra detail and background of the characters, which the TV series skated over. I will certainly be purchasing the next instalment of this book and hope to finish it before the next TV series.
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61 people found this helpful
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- A Baker
- 23-09-21
Immersive World, Narrated Poorly
I loved the story itself. The writing is masterful and the worldbuilding rivals (or honours) Tolkien. The characters are all compelling and how they fit within that world makes this an enjoyable read.
Sadly, the narration is poor. Not for the lack of effort. But his accents are atrocious. Especially Tyrion compared to his other siblings. Why is he Welsh?
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5 people found this helpful
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- Flynn
- 26-04-17
Great book, some distracting reading
Worth getting into if you liked the show. There are some distracting changes in the narrators pronunciation of names however. It catches your attention and in my case miss some detail when figuring out who he's talking about. Also some of the chants and sounds are a little jarring. But overall a good voice to listen to.
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4 people found this helpful
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Overall
- Amazon Customer
- 24-04-12
I'm hooked
I read the 1st of the Ice & Fire series last year at the beginning of August and finished the 5th book by the end of the same month. Given that each book approaches a 1000 pages that is some going. The brutal world of Westoros is absolutely convincing in detail and absorbing in its grand sweep. I will download every part of this series although it may take me years to listen to it all as I love the books so much.
However; the choice of Roy Dotrice as reader was in my opinion a poor one. He lacks range my dear. Tyrion is a dwarf not an ancient Leprechaun and Arya is a teenage girl not a wizzened old lady. For such an important series why not choose a proper voice artist?
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2 people found this helpful
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- Anonymous User
- 15-09-22
Wish there were more narrators to choose from
Setting aside that he's an old man making all the characters sound like old men (that I can see past), Roy Dotrice gives unfitting accents and voices to many of the characters and it's quite a distraction sometimes. Someone with a wider range and better judgment would've been preferred. His normal narrator voice is quite cozy and likeable (earning him all 3 of the stars), but the dialogue is just horrendous.
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2 people found this helpful
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- Aaron jurance
- 08-11-19
Noooo
The story is impressive and captivating. Different cultures and backgrounds between each character is great for immersion. I highly reccomend intaking this story whether it is through audible, reading for yourself or watching the tv show.
However,
I cannot give this audible a 5 star on the story because of the narration. I have listened for 12 hours alongside Roy Dotice, and I will continue to listen until the end. His narration is not bad by any means necassary. But some characters such as the big hulk of a barbarian man that leads his khalasar into villiages to raid, and pilliage and rape. A man already depicted as strong and large and scary... Is given a voice as if it were cut from an old decrepid witch from an old 80's anime.
"No" he said.
"Noooo" The old man said - on his deathbed, as he was squeezing out his constipation.
Alongside Drogo, Tyrion was given a tough voice to adapt to. Like rumplestiltskin from the shrek movie. And not even shrek 4 where he is an important character and seems characterized... shrek 2, where prince charming bumps into him in the pub and rumple looks like a 4 year old that is crying because his teddy is in the washing machine.
I do not wish to turn people away though. This is a great 33 hour expirience. The voices given to a certain few characters will not match desriptions given or the idea of that character in your head, but Roy Dotrice's style of reading this book is still very substantial.
**If you have watched the series before listening to this audible, try to reimagine the characters in a new light**
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1 person found this helpful
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- Loves Reading
- 10-04-15
Spoiled by Narration
My son has both read the book and listened to the audio book and he felt the narration did not do the story justice. Some of the character voices and accents chosen detracted from or even distorted the personality of the characters. His advice--read the book rather than listen to it.
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1 person found this helpful
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- Dan
- 11-11-18
Great book inconsistent narrator
Love the book. Superb. But such a shame that the narrator is so inconsistent with his accents and voices. and some point Tyrion becomes Welsh. And his pronunciation of names sometimes slips inexplicably.
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1 person found this helpful
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- Laura
- 07-05-20
The story is amazing
The story is amazing, a master piece ...but the narration...terrible I'm afraid. He makes everyone sound weird and old and spoils most characters
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1 person found this helpful
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- Chris
- 18-12-18
Dumb voices
Amazing book, deserves better than Roy Dotrice and his 3 silly voices. You got the ork voice, the skeletor voice and the country bumpkin shire folk voice.
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1 person found this helpful