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A Game of Thrones

Book 1 of A Song of Ice and Fire

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About this listen

ONE OF THE TIMES’ 25 BEST AUDIOBOOKS

HBO’s hit series A GAME OF THRONES is based on George R. R. Martin’s internationally bestselling 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.

As Warden of the north, Lord Eddard Stark counts it a curse when King Robert bestows on him the office of the Hand. His honour weighs him down at court where a true man does what he will, not what he must … and a dead enemy is a thing of beauty.

The old gods have no power in the south, Stark’s family is split and there is treachery at court. Worse, the vengeance-mad heir of the deposed Dragon King has grown to maturity in exile in the Free Cities. He claims the Iron Throne.

 Action & Adventure Dark Fantasy Dragons & Mythical Creatures Epic Epic Fantasy Fantasy Fiction Historical Royalty Mythology Game Funny Feel-Good Scary

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

‘Such a splendid tale. I couldn’t stop till I’d finished and it was dawn.’
Anne McCaffrey
All stars
Most relevant
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.

A truly brilliant fantasy novel

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

Great Book, Not So Great Reader

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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.

Best fantasy around if you have the time

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Why has Roy Dotrice decided to voice Tyron (one of the most articulate, intelligent and interesting characters) as a cross between Alan Bennett / Compo from last of the summer wine and a Chuckle brother?

Jon Snow is not much better....it's such a shame as it is massively distracting.

A great review but.......

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It is a shame to condemn the poor man and as an overal narrator he is not bad... except for the dialogue. Is it possible to get past the fact everyone, especially the young people, sound like like they are in their 70s and that the various regional accents appear so randomly chosen , but it is unfathomable how significant characters suddenly change accents part way through... most notably turning Welsh?

perhaps it is time to re-record

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