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A Game of Thrones
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A Game of Thrones
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A Game of Thrones
Audiobook33 hours

A Game of Thrones

Written by George R.R. Martin

Narrated by Roy Dotrice

Rating: 4.5 out of 5 stars

4.5/5

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About this audiobook

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.

Editor's Note

Phenomenon…

You binged the mega-popular fantasy phenomenon on HBO, now read the original in all its (gory) glory. Revisit Westeros and the epic warring adventures of the Starks, Lannisters, and the Mother of Dragons while you wait for George R.R. Martin to finish the sixth book in the series, “The Winds of Winter,” and the upcoming GoT spinoff shows.

LanguageEnglish
PublisherHarperCollins
Release dateJul 12, 2011
ISBN9780007237500
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A Game of Thrones
Author

George R.R. Martin

George R.R. Martin is the author of fifteen novels and novellas, including five volumes of A Song of Ice and Fire, several collections of short stories, as well as screenplays for television and feature films. Dubbed ‘the American Tolkien’, George R.R. Martin has won numerous awards including the World Fantasy Lifetime Achievement Award. He is an Executive Producer on HBO’s Emmy Award-winning Game of Thrones, which is based on his A Song of Ice and Fire series. He lives in Santa Fe, New Mexico.

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Rating: 4.493264248704663 out of 5 stars
4.5/5

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  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    It's difficult to review the Song of Ice and Fire books without actually reviewing the series as a whole. With that in mind, I'll keep it short and general and say that George R.R. Martin does a phenomenal job of keeping multiple storylines flowing and making characters on every side sympathetic. However, it's a difficult series to set aside for a while and return to; remembering all the names and narratives within one book is one thing, and putting the series down and picking it back up later is another. It's probably best to read as many of them as have been published straight through without letting the breaks for other books get too long.

    1 person found this helpful

  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    I picked this up after watching the series and was lucky that I had seen the series since there's so many characters to keep straight. I enjoyed it very much and will probably read the entire series.

    1 person found this helpful

  • Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
    3/5
    With the hype of the TV show, I thought I'd give the book a try. Not that I've watched the TV show. I haven't. I enjoyed Martin's characters. I think he has created well-thought characters in this book. I thought that the story took a good long while to really get moving, though. In talking with other Martin fans, I now understand this is part of his writing style. In the end, while I thought book 1 was interesting, I'm not sure if I found it interesting enough to continue with the series.

    1 person found this helpful

  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    A Game of Thrones, the first book in the Song of Ice and Fire series, is incredible! I am not going to be too detailed because there are thousands of other reviews out there, but hopefully I will provide enough information for you to decide if you want to read this book.

    The book is written from multiple viewpoints, but it is easy to read because they are separated by chapters. Each chapter is a different person you are reading about. It is also written in a unique dialogue, but Martin still makes it understandable. I had no difficulty reading through the book. Also, this book flows very well because there are not many places in which you would actually want to stop reading (probably the only one in the series that has such little down-time)

    The story is original, multi-layered with lots of sub plots, and is non-formulaic (good beats bad against impossible odds). It is incredibly exciting, suspenseful, mysterious, and very unpredictable. There is almost no way for you to know what is going to happen.

    The story is also very violent. This may upset some people, so it will be good to know going in that there is a lot of battles, sex, incest, swearing, and just about everything else.

    The characters are well developed and enjoyable. Some are even clever and secretive. Unlike most fantasy books, Martin’s characters are not totally good or evil, they are definitely in between. His characters are also very personable. You can think of them as real people and you develop strong emotions towards them throughout the novel. I’m not going to say which characters, but many of his characters are killed off and new ones appear throughout the series. If that bothers you than this may not be the book for you.

    If you are tired of reading formulaic fantasy, having the heroes stay alive against impossible odds, and a lot of violence doesn’t bother you, than I would definitely give this series a try. However, this is the only book in the series that can stand alone (just barely since I know I wanted to read more) so be in for a huge time commitment if you read past this book. Also, be in for a disappointment if you love all of the books and then get left without closure on book 5, since the others haven’t been released yet.

    Note: If you want to watch the TV show I would definitely read the books first or you will get bored with the books because they become predictable.

    1 person found this helpful

  • Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
    3/5
    My wife has been reading A Song of Ice and Fire for years, including on our honeymoon, but I've always been intimidated by their length. Having binge-watched the television adaptation Game of Thrones, I figured it was time to give the books their due. The audiobook narration by Dotrice is a good way to enjoy the book because his gravely British accent makes me feel like I'm listening to an epic storyteller. The book does a great job of laying out the politics and intrigues among the seven kingdoms while simultaneously setting up for a graver confrontation with stories of the North beyond the wall, and the Targaryen's in the East. Amazingly the first season of tv show remained faithful, if condensed, to this book. Worth the read/listen and I'll be moving on to the second book.

    1 person found this helpful

  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    I'd say George R.R.Martin is one of the best writers I've ever read. You should only start reading if you have a lot of spare time :)

    1 person found this helpful

  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    This is a wonderfully crafted work. The world building is great, and the plot moves forward at a consistent pace. I really enjoyed it.

    1 person found this helpful

  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    I feel grossly inadequate reviewing this book, this wonderful book, that I just finished. I have the misfortune to report, also, that I was quite spoiled before reading. I knew many of the prominent points, most of which turned up in book one alone. The spoiler reveals were entirely my fault. I asked for it. Having read the first three chapters a few years ago, I abandoned the book. I was put off by the bleak violence, cruelty, sadness of it all. If the start of the book was like that, then what would happen later? My brother, who never reads, took up the five books and read them all in a month. Till this day he doesn't know why he did this. Anyway long story short, I told him that I'd never read these books ever. And he asked my permission to give spoilers. Like I said, all my fault. There is a lot of unhappiness here. There are two types of bad outcomes. There are happy events too, but these always precede wrongness, and are scarce. These two types of events are things that simply go bad, and secondly, things evil in nature happening thick and fast, with no respite. The deaths in this book are so manipulative that it's a delight for our emotions to be toyed with. When the major death takes place, all bets are off. Now, as readers who've been used to different strokes, now that we are captive in the hands of the author, we don't know what to expect. That's not half of it. As a major work of fantasy, I was very happy to find no overindulgence in detailed worldbuilding in the book. The tone and style agreed finely with me. I hope this is true for all these books. I can't fault the writer for anything. This book is not perfect and, armed with the spoilers, I couldn't put A Game of Thrones on the pedestal it deserves. But let me tell you one thing. I'm so bowled over that I expect the rest of the books to get 5 stars likewise. Completing this book has made me realize how much I've evolved in my tastes as a reader. What would the next book bring is as unknown as my own trajectory.

    1 person found this helpful

  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    This is one time I am glad I saw the TV series (1-3 anyway), before I started reading the books. The books are very complex and build on the stories portrayed in the TV series. So the scene was set, the characters cast (and very well, I think) and I just walked through the stores learning more and more about the people I love (and hate :) ).

    I can see why it is a book that you would love or hate.. seems to me that reviews are either five start or one star!! The fact that an end is still not in sight (for the book series) annoys the hell of some (a bit like the "Wheel of Time" and the "Outlander" series) but I think you just need some patience and a good imagination :)

    I have always loved a "BIG" book and a great series, to me, is just one HUGE ENORMOUS book :)

    1 person found this helpful

  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    Wow. What an imagination! Multiple characters, multiple settings, multiple adventures.

    1 person found this helpful

  • Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
    3/5
    Nice book, and interesting narrative style, in which every chapter is written from the point of view of one of the characters.
    I had already watched the HBO's series "Game of Thrones" first season when I started this book, and it being a quite big novel, I expected to find many more details in the book. I was surprised to find that this wasn't the case: the TV adaptation is very good, and there is very little in the book that is not on the show.

    1 person found this helpful

  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    Ich habe jetzt den kompletten ersten Teil als englisches Hörbuch gehört und fand es klasse.Unglaublich, wie vielschichtig der Autor seine Welt und ihre Bewohner anlegt. Selbst die Nebenfiguren sind noch ausgereift und interessant. Das Buch enthält einfach alles und ist eine tolle Fantasy-Geschichte.Zum Hörbuch: Ich kannte den ersten deutschen Teil schon (also die Hälfte von diesem), das machte das Einhören leichter. Zunächst konnte ich manches schwer verstehen. Das wurde aber immer besser und ich bin voller Bewunderung, was der Vortragende aus den einzelnen Charakteren und Stimmen macht.

    1 person found this helpful

  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    I generally do not read fantasy but I was drawn to the HBO series and watched it from start to finish. As Season 2 of the series approaches, I have a strong desire to read the second book prior to watching the season. I debated whether to read the first book, A Game of Thrones, before venturing into the second book. Being a purist at heart, I had to and I'm happy I did. My mind's eye, however, was forever set by the characters cast for the series and there was nothing I could do about it. The Cersei, Joffrey, Catelyn, Daenerys, Sansa, and Arya I imagined as I read the book where inexplicably linked to the series. I was also amazed at how well the series captured the entire story laid out in A Game of Thrones. If this is the Grey's Anatomy of fantasy series, as one other reviewer has referred to it, then please give me more McDreamy!

    1 person found this helpful

  • Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
    3/5
    This series has a lot of fans, and at the very least, I think in most all areas this novel do seem to be above average compared to most epic fantasies.The plot is...eventful, but not too difficult to follow (save for some problems I had remembering minor character's names that was probably at least partially due to multiple days or weeks I left between picking up the book), the prose generally flows well, though it does digress on certain details a little too long. Characters, while not always horrible original, are mostly likable (that, or intended not to be as likable).But the political intrigue/war seems to be the main foreground of the novel. The various characters seem sometimes to simply be vessels through which we may hear the story the author is telling us, the changes in POV there so we may easily jump to whoever has the most close-up and informative information on the latest plot development. Indeed, there are so many POVs that by the end of the novel, while a considerable amount has happened in the grand scheme of the war, very little seems to have happened to each character. I have almost the feeling of having read eight different books a third of the way through.The somewhat irritating thing was, a few of those POVs, if they had been their separate books, I may have been able to genuinely like. Arya is your good old rough-edged little lady who'd rather be out playing than inside learning embroidery. It's cliché as hell, but she's likable and the formula works. John is the bastard son, well loved enough by most of his family but still feeling as if he lacks a place to belong. Bran is rambunctious and happy, till he becomes paralyzed and has to deal with not just the huge changes that come with the sudden inability to walk, but with how to grow into a lord others will respect when he cannot even stand on his own two feet. While not the focus of this book, and while the older characters tended to have much less interesting personal conflicts, these internal struggles were decently well set up. These characters weren't terribly complex (I've seen this novel praised for lack of black and white good and evil characters, which I suppose it deserves, but recognizing people aren't dichotomously good and evil is hardly the whole battle when it comes to character complexity), but their stories still could have passed off as very decent YA novels. Instead, I suppose they are just a little splash to add color to their POVs, used like all others to give us the best seat for the plot developments. They still helped me enjoy the novel, but were not allowed to strengthen it as much as they could have.And overall, even concerning the plot, the entire novel has the feel of being very..inefficient. It was common after I read a scene to take note of the apparent 'purpose' of that scene (be it a particular tidbit of plot or certain characterization point) and wonder why I had to go through ALL THAT just to get there. Times when I wished the author had a bit more faith in me, enough to realize they didn't have to spell every bit of characterization out multiple times, or that they could skip the last five pages about the latest war developments and just drop a few hints in the dialogue of another scene and I'd figure things out just fine.In the end, I did enjoy reading this novel more than a lot of more shabbily done fantasies, and my lack of desire to continue might just be the difference between the kind of story the author wants to tell (one about a war, and trying to create somewhat interesting characters to tell it through) and the kind of novel I wanted to read (about characters, using a somewhat interesting plot to stir up their internal conflicts). Still, this novel isn't THAT much above average, and I still hold that the lack of really well done characters and effort to give even one of them a complete story arc within the book weakens the novel considerably.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    What is Game of Thrones? Think Dynasty but with added swords, extra double-crossing & a sprinkling of incest.

    The only downside of this novel/series is the sheer wealth of characters. Thank the old gods for Pinterest where I can keep track of them all.

    Despite the memory overload I can't wait to read the next installment. I think this may be one of the best fantasy series out there, 3rd place only to Harry Potter & the Lord of the Rings.

    I definitely recommend it!
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    Game of Thrones is a great book! I love all the political intrigue and the character development is awesome! Some of my favorite characters ever are in this series. This first book introduces a lot of the characters and sets things up for the rest of the series. It's a great read.
  • Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
    3/5
    Rating this book required a somewhat unscientific weighting of pros and cons. On the one hand, I devoured this book. Despite working long days in my summer program, I managed to finish it in less than a week (and admittedly, I did sneak in a few chapters when I was supposed to be researching). This story wrapped me up and I simply needed to know what happened as soon as possible. Thus, a very weighty pro for A Game of Thrones is its captivating narrative. The plotting and characters are complex and beg to be known and read.

    On the other hand, the writing can be awfully atrocious. I was shocked when I read several professional reviews praising Martin's writing because I found the prose to be clunky to the point of hilarity. I read the line "Character X broke his fast" seemingly countless times. My absolute favorite line, both in terms of cringy-ness and funniness, was "his manhood glistened wetly." I never thought of manhoods as glistening, but when they do, do they glisten in ways that aren't wetly? (Maybe they do if you're Edward Cullen). However funny these lines may have been, though, they detracted from the story. Martin overdescribes, so I was tempted to skim entire paragraphs. With a better editor, A Game of Thrones could have been a certain 4-star and a potential 5-star book. At the end of the day, a compelling story with interesting, realistic characters was enough to make this book an enjoyable read for me. I will read the second installment, A Clash of Kings with the hope that Martin learned to write better with each book.

    Also--on the patriarchal nature of the fantasy world. The misogyny disgusts me but I'm not sure how I should react to it. I cannot decide whether Martin is merely representing the misogyny that would be present in a medieval environment the book is set in or if he is writing a specifically misogynistic book. I was discussing this with a friend and I realized I was asking the wrong question. The question isn't whether the book is sexist even if it's simply describing the way of life in a sexist world, the question is why do so many fantasy authors choose to set their stories in medievalesque worlds where misogyny is the norm? It's likely subconscious, but what does that say about our male authors if they seemingly always choose to set their books in a sexist setting?
  • Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
    3/5
    Yeah, I live under a rock. I haven't yet watched the HBO show based on these books, though I intend to someday. I've been recommended this book series so many times by so many different people that I finally had to check it out. I'd been burned out on fantasy stories ever since giving up on Robert Jordan's Wheel of Time series in the middle of the 8th book (way too many goddamn meandering, going-nowhere story-lines. I hear the series finally wrapped up nicely, so maybe in my next life I'll give those 14 or so books another shot).

    So I read the first few chapters of Game of Thrones and wasn't too impressed, but I pushed on. The story got better and better as I went along and though there were a few times I put the book down and had to force myself to get back to it, I was always glad I did.

    Maybe someday I'll get around to picking up the 2nd book. Probably not anytime soon, though. I'm now immersed in Infinite Jest and that one should keep my busy for the next few months.

    And that concludes my weak-ass review.
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    I wasn't on the bandwagon of excitement that everyone seemed to be when Game of Thrones was dramatized by HBO; I hadn't yet read any of the books. Now, I can't believe I waited so long to read this epic high fantasy.Game of Thrones is the first in a set of (currently) five books that make up Martin's A Song of Ice and Fire. This fast paced story is about a battle between the lords and ladies of a broken and corrupt kingdom. It is told from the perspectives of several of the main characters (the most interesting, in my opinion being that of Daenerys, the exiled and rightful heir to the Iron Throne). By toss the plot back and forth between hero and villian, child and adult, parent and offspring, Martin keeps the reader on the edge of their seats and wanting the sequel right away.This is a must read for those who love fantasy, conflict between royalty, and really evil bad guys. Enjoy!
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    This is a great book, start of a great series. Martin creates a gritty, hard bitten world populated with complex interesting characters. If you like your fantasy to be good guy vs. bad guy; good guy wins, this book is not for you. If you perfer intelligent, adult fiction (and by that i mean "grown up" this isn't erotica) i definately recomend A Game of Thrones.The story covers the lives of numerous characters, but to summarize: the king is dead, the succession is in question. The kingdom breaks out in civil war. And there's probably some ancient evil brewing in the far north too.In AGoT Martin turns a lot of fantasy steryotypes and/or conventions on their heads. I don't want to be too spoiler heavy, but the guy who i had pegged as the Hero dies. About 2/3 of the way through. And the story goes on. And as we get farther into the series, we find out that even the villans aren't necessarily so villanous.My favorite's Tyrion.
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    This is not your mother's fantasy epic. This is not Eddings' Belgariad or Tolkein's Rings or even Jordan's Wheel. There is no honor - and where it's found it's stamped out. There is no kindness - and where there is, it's simply a veiled threat. This book truly is Desparate Housewives without qualms. The first time I got the idea that this book was different was when young Bran, 7 years old - as old as my son - was pushed out a window to die for seeing the Queen banging her brother. From there, the level of disturbance just went up and up and up. Martin introduces a lot of characters, which is good - considering how quickly he kills them off.I find it difficult to say whether or not I actually like the book. I can definitely say that I was drawn in and compelled to read. I get the distinct impression that it's not going to get any nicer - although if the author isn't a little more careful with his characters, pretty soon we'll have a fairly one-sided story going.
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    There's just something about fantasy on an epic scale and Martin definitely delivers. A Game of Thrones is just the beginning. The first book isn't packed full of action but it's an excellent introduction to the characters and the lands and cultures they inhabit.Excellently written, each chapter is narrated by a different character, giving the reader a thorough view of events. Some characters are lovable and others you just love to hate.Set in a world which resembles our own medieval Europe, Kings, knights and chivalry abound. The men and women of this story inhabit a world where summer lasts for years; but, the longer the summer, the harder and longer the winter. The Seven Kingdoms are on the brink of winter and with winter comes the hint of a return to days gone by. Days where the Children of the Forest could communicate with the old gods and giants walked in the North.At the close of the first novel, the King is dead, civil war is on the horizon as three lords contend for the Iron Throne and the last female child of the old line of dragon kings, exiled in a strange land, ushers in a new era with the birth of three dragons, long thought to be extinct.I can hardly spare time to eat. All I want to do is read. I can't wait to see how epic this epic will get!
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    Just as amazing the second time around.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    First book in the series. It wasn´t much fantacy but I loved it. And cant wait until I begin the next book. The characters were great and unexpecting. The good guys did not always win. Big story but it flowed beutifully.
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    Book itself is great but listening to its audiobook was even more fun.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    I've never read a lot of fantasy. Bradbury, Burroughs, and Lovecraft as a boy. Vowed never to read Tolkien after a a girl in college wrote me a letter in Elvish. But I was intrigued by the promos for HBO's 2011 miniseries, Game of Thrones, starring Sean Bean, one of my favorite actors. A link to an MTV site (remember when they were a music station), recommended reading A Game of Thrones before the series airs in April. This is an intricate, epic story of political and dynastic ambition, survival against primal elements, and individual honor and savagery. Quite frankly, I'm not sure how HBO will distill this long book (first of a series) into a miniseries - unless they go the I, Claudius route and have it air over about 10 episodes. The only downside is the many, many characters in each of the rival camps. Fortunately, the main characters - and many of the secondary, significant characters, are well drawn, with individual character traits and visual marks that set them apart from others. It's an involving novel, a page turner. It pulls the reader in immediately and keeps you wanting to read more. Looking forward to the second volume of the series.
  • Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
    3/5
    If I could have given this book 2.5 stars, I would have. I adored many of the characters, but Martin keeps getting in his own story's way with the drawn out descriptive passages and with too much exposition. I plan to read the next book, if only to see what happens with Arya and Tyrion. I'm also hoping that someone smacks Joffrey. I got the audiobook version of this, so was unable to skip ahead. I'm going to get the paper version of book 2 and I'm hoping that will help.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    Martin has been called the “American Tolkien”; I think this is perhaps what Tolkien would have written had his day job been staff writer at the National Enquirer. Martin's work, while comparable in mood, cannot compare to the depths of Tolkien.On the other hand, it's a ripping good yarn: it's been a long time since I tore through 700 pages in under a week. But I think, going forward, a switch to the HBO series might be in order, save some eyestrain.
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    I first read the Game of Thrones several years ago... it was a secret, guilty pleasure in college, read in snatches between the dry tomes necessary for my education. I enjoyed it, but I didn't have the time to devote to the series. Now, with all the talk surrounding the television series, I decided it was high time I find my way back to Westeros. I was happy this time 'round I had a Kindle... it is a long book! But as I was reading, I didn't notice the length so much, mostly because there are so many different stories within this one book.The majority of the story focuses on the Stark clan of the far north. They are stoic and stubborn, and have the moral high ground in a politically shaky world. When the patriarch, Ned, heads south at the behest of his friend, King Robert Baratheon, he finds himself deep in the sinister machinations of the Lannisters. The Lannisters aspire for control, and it rarely matters how they come by what they desire. Meanwhile, across the sea there is young Daenerys, last scion to the fallen Targaryen clan, once ruler of the kingdoms. All the story lines blend together, slowly revealing the overall picture. The characters are interesting, even the minor characters are fairly well-developed and easy to keep track of. The plot can only be described as immersive- the world is so completely created and vividly imagined. The intrigues, twists, and adventures all live up to expectations. Martin pulls no punches, nothing is safe, and nothing is what it seems.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    I am quickly losing track of the characters. I think I need a chart.