A Game of Thrones (A Song of Ice and Fire, #1) by George R.R. Martin Series: A Song of Ice and Fire #1
Published by Penguin Random House Audio, Bantam Books on August 6th 1996
Genres: Fantasy
Pages: 694
Format: Audiobook
ISBN: 0553103547
Goodreads
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.
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#GameofThrones #SongofIceandFire #TyrionLannister #JonSnow #MotherofDragons @GRRMspeaking @RoyDotrice @PRHAudio
Since winter is coming, I decided to review the audio version of George R.R. Martin’s epic series A Song of Ice and Fire for my post this week. A Game of Thrones is the first book and it is by that name the series is commonly known. Whether you have read all the books or watched every minute of this wildly popular tale on TV, you would do well to listen to the audio version. It will be a good thing to do while you are in GoT withdrawal between seasons! Beware, it is no small undertaking since listening to the entire series requires a commitment of over 200 hours unless you choose the faster playback option! Because I didn’t start the series until the latest book was written, it was a seamless adventure to move on to A Clash of Kings, A Storm of Swords, A Feast for Crows, and, finally, A Dance with Dragons. Needless to say, I was totally immersed in Mr. Martin’s intriguing world of fantasy for quite some time and now I confess to being a GoT junkie! I’ve enjoyed the TV version which I didn’t watch before finishing the books, and as long as I suspend any expectations I might have based on the books, it’s all good. Of course, now the actors who play the roles have become the faces of the characters for me rather than the ones I had in my head while listening!
The real hero of the audio series is the incredible narrator Roy Dotrice who plays each of the author’s host of characters. Mr. Dotrice is the best reason not to choose the faster playback mode. He is brilliant at performing the men, women, children and supernatural beings who populate the story with skill and emotion and speeding up the playback would just be wrong. Click on this link to read about Mr. Dotrice and how he came to be the narrator as well as playing a part in the TV version! For a look at his other work, here is an informative read.
So what does the future hold for this series? We have Jon Snow back from the dead and advertising cars . . . on TV. We have the Mother of Dragons flying around and still searching for a kingdom . . . on TV. And we have our beloved Tyrion Lannister still drinking and knowing things . . . on TV. Only George R.R. Martin knows whether or not there will be another book or if A Song of Ice and Fire will play out its story . . . on TV.?
About George R.R. Martin
George R.R. Martin sold his first story in 1971 and has been writing professionally since then. He spent ten years in Hollywood as a writer-producer, working on The Twilight Zone, Beauty and the Beast, and various feature films and television pilots that were never made. In the mid ‘90s he returned to prose, his first love, and began work on his epic fantasy series, A Song of Ice and Fire. He has been in the Seven Kingdoms ever since. Whenever he’s allowed to leave, he returns to Santa Fe, New Mexico, where he lives with the lovely Parris, and two cats named Augustus and Caligula, who think they run the place.
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