A Dance with Dragons

A Song of Ice and Fire, Book 5

By: George R.R. Martin

Narrated by: Roy Dotrice

Dubbed the American Tolkien by Time magazine, George R. R. Martin has earned international acclaim for his monumental cycle of epic fantasy. Now the number-one New York Times best-selling author delivers the fifth book in his spellbinding landmark series - as both familiar faces and surprising new forces vie for a foothold in a fragmented empire.

In the aftermath of a colossal battle, the future of the Seven Kingdoms hangs in the balance once again - beset by newly emerging threats from every direction. In the east, Daenerys Targaryen, the last scion of House Targaryen, rules with her three dragons as queen of a city built on dust and death. But Daenerys has three times 3,000 enemies, and many have set out to find her. Yet, as they gather, one young man embarks upon his own quest for the queen, with an entirely different goal in mind.

To the north lies the mammoth Wall of ice and stone - a structure only as strong as those guarding it. There, Jon Snow, 998th Lord Commander of the Nights Watch, will face his greatest challenge yet. For he has powerful foes not only within the Watch but also beyond, in the land of the creatures of ice.

And from all corners, bitter conflicts soon reignite, intimate betrayals are perpetrated, and a grand cast of outlaws and priests, soldiers and skinchangers, nobles and slaves, will face seemingly insurmountable obstacles. Some will fail, others will grow in the strength of darkness. But in a time of rising restlessness, the tides of destiny and politics will lead inevitably to the greatest dance of all.

Enchanted? Check out the rest of George R.R. Martin's A Song of Ice and Fire series.©2011 George R.R. Martin (P)2011 Random House

Critic reviews

"Filled with vividly rendered set pieces, unexpected turnings, assorted cliffhangers and moments of appalling cruelty, A Dance with Dragons is epic fantasy as it should be written: passionate, compelling, convincingly detailed and thoroughly imagined." (The Washington Post)

"Long live George Martin...a literary dervish, enthralled by complicated characters and vivid language, and bursting with the wild vision of the very best tale tellers." (The New York Times)

"One of the best series in the history of fantasy." (Los Angeles Times)

Amazing

Absolutely worth the wait, and the best in the series so far; probably better than a Storm of Swords.

Great book! Weird Narration

From the beginning of the narration I was irritated. Roy mixed up his character voices from the first time around. He used voices form characters that were killed. He also pronounced character names differently. Ex. Instead of Brienne (Bry-een) Roy calls her (Brian).

When George R. R. Martin was writing this book he didn't remember every name, character description etc., so he went back, checked his work and wrote the book. So why is it that whenever a new narrator picks up another narrators work in the middle of a series they use different pronunciations? It is really disrespectful to the author and listener. Have some respect for the craft. And for Roy to come back after so many years and forgetting his voices and what he called Georges characters is extremely unprofessional. This is a great book but weird narration.

roy roy roy...

Why oh why did you change the voices for all the women, did you forget the basic story and make all the female characters 70 year old Scottish ladies. Other than the abysmal performance of the female voices Roy does a good job, but certain parts are nearly unbearable. The story is great but a little slow, t I eagerly await the next book, just perhaps with a better narrator, the books make enough money that it should not be hard to hire a competent narrator.

What happened to Daenerys voice?

Any additional comments?

I just started listening and am sure that Daenerys voice has changed. It sounds more like old Nan. It is distracting and wrong for the character.

No performance continuity

I love the series, I love the story, I love the twists.

If you listen to the books together, there's a HUGE lack of continuity with the performance. It drives me nuts!! Arya's voice changing makes sense, she recreates herself. Melesande's voice has gone from deep and sultry to bright and saucy. Danni's voice went from sounding high born and rich to low born and thin.

OMG, the ending is fabulous

Would you listen to A Dance with Dragons again? Why?

Absolutely, I've been a fan for the entire series and although the narration isn't as good as previously with Roy Dotrice, still the story is outstanding and doesn't disappoint.

If you were hooked and afraid of the negative reviews, let your passion guide you. OUTSTANDING.

Excellent Series and Good Performance, but...

What did you love best about A Dance with Dragons?

This book fills in some of the voids from book 4; some of the events occur before the ending of the 3rd book.

What was one of the most memorable moments of A Dance with Dragons?

I bear no spoilers in my review. :)

Did Roy Dotrice do a good job differentiating all the characters? How?

Good narration and good character voice- albeit I think he changed some of the voices between books 3 and 4 (to the point I thought it was a different reader).

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

at 49h, I would be very hard pressed to listen to in one sitting.

Any additional comments?

Why does audible sometimes split the 'chapters' of their audio books at random instead of following the book chapters? Book 3 of this series was split into even parts (about 35m each, no regard for chapters) and book 4 was split as per book chapters- but Book 5 now appears to have randomly chosen 'chapter' breaks?

Great book! Great narrator!

This is an amazing series and Roy Dotrice is an incredible narrator! I highly recommend this series!!

Well worth the wait!!!!!!

If you could sum up A Dance with Dragons in three words, what would they be?

Revenge served cold

What aspect of Roy Dotrice’s performance would you have changed?

I really enjoyed Roy performances from book 1 thur book 4. But it seem like either he or the producer of Dance with Dragons dropped the ball or forgot to pay the voice coach. Many of the reoccurring character voices thur out the first 4 books were spot on. But in book 5 in became a distraction when the Mother of Dragons sounded like an old man.

Any additional comments?

I really enjoy discussing the books with my friends. The only aspect of the series that is lost by listing to the series. Is when Martin tells you where something or someone is off to or has just returned from, an because there are no maps. I find myself completely in the dark as to what or where he is referning to many times.....

loved the 5th book in the series!

great narrator completing different voices for the characters, and compelling rich story. it is very long but if you've made it this far in the series you know that already!