A Feast for Crows

Book 4 of A Song of Ice and Fire

By: George R.R. Martin

Narrated by: Roy Dotrice

Length: 33 hrs and 50 mins

Publisher's summary

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 FEAST FOR CROWS is the fourth volume in the series.

The Lannisters are in power on the Iron Throne.

The war in the Seven Kingdoms has burned itself out, but in its bitter aftermath new conflicts spark to life. The Martells of Dorne and the Starks of Winterfell seek vengeance for their dead. Euron Crow’s Eye, as black a pirate as ever raised a sail, returns from the smoking ruins of Valyria to claim the Iron Isles.

From the icy north, where Others threaten the Wall, apprentice Maester Samwell Tarly brings a mysterious babe in arms to the Citadel. As plots, intrigue and battle threaten to engulf Westeros, victory will go to the men and women possessed of the coldest steel and the coldest hearts.

©2005 George R.R. Martin (P)2011 HarperCollins

Critic reviews

"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)

"Truly epic...with its magnificent action-filled climax, it provides a banquet for fantasy lovers with large appetites." ( Publishers Weekly)

Pirates?

Would you recommend this audiobook to a friend? If so, why?

with reservations - the story is good, but you need to know the other books. If the only way to catch up is to listen on train or bus, then it's fine.

Who was your favorite character and why?

Jon Snow, Danaerys?

How could the performance have been better?

Why does everyone have to sound like pirates or Monty Python characters? Also, how many different ways can you pronounce Brienne? I appreciate the narration probably came before the TV series, but even so it seems ridiculous that everyone has these accents that make everyone sound like a rustic village idiot, no matter age or background. The women are even worse and all sound like crones or idiotic coquettes. If the dialogue was read in a less plodding way, that would make it so much better. The reader has a lovely voice but his interpretation is too ridiculous. Still, kudos for the hours he would have spent on this!

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

No.

Any additional comments?

Too many pirates & plodding rustics!

The story must move forward in the next book!

Would you try another book from George R. R. Martin and/or Roy Dotrice?

Yes. I'm addicted. I've got to get to the end of this series!

Did the narration match the pace of the story?

Roy is the best narrator. But he needs to listen to the voices he did in earlier books, because he has forgotten what some characters sound like, and has changed their voices. He has also got the pronunciation of some of the names wrong in this reading.

If this book were a movie would you go see it?

Too slow for a movie

Any additional comments?

This book has contracted down to a few characters. A lot of my favourite characters have died off. But I'm already listening to the next book, and it's worth continuing!!!

A gripping epic adventure

the characters are so real and fascinating . I always hate coming to the end.

great accent variation

I really enjoyed the range of accents and voices used and name pronunciation wasn't terrible

Roy what are you doing?

How could the performance have been better?

Roy Dotrice, is such an excellent narrator but why did you change the voices of the characters!

I know it was 5 years between books, but why???

4.5/5.

Everything is good; only 1 complaint. The story got kinda slow by the end. This book shows a lot of differences from the show. More characters.

Roy Dotrice has failed

I admit I wasn't a great fan of Roy Dotrice to start with - he has a limited range and really only ever did justice to three or four characters at the most, I think. But in this book, he has changed the voice of Arya into that of a gutter-rat and Cersei into a shrieking banshee. Actually, Cersei seems to take on Joff's vocal range.
The story line continues to add in irrelevant characters. I'd like to see an abridged version of the whole story line. If I were reading the physical book, I dare say I'd be cutting out chapters. As it is, I tune out of Roy Dotrice's narration every now and then.

Well narrated but not for me

Would you say that listening to this book was time well-spent? Why or why not?

No, regretfully not for me. The story is huge, and the world it creates an impressive one that I would marvel over if there was even the smallest chance I would engage emotionally with the any of the characters.

Each country, character and environment is created with great care and thoroughness, the descriptions vivid, I just cannot engage with the books where one by one every positive or hopeful character is removed, and those remaining leave me with no sympathy for their fate.

If this book were a movie would you go see it?

The HBO Series is impressive and well worth watching.

a shame about the voices

If you’ve listened to books by George R. R. Martin before, how does this one compare?

Ok but the different voices for some of the characters has spoilt it for me

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

Yes but he has tended to do the same girl accent for arya and Danny and given little finger a very coarse accent which is unlike his first accent and how I imagined him to speak

Not a great half-book

I loved 3 the first books, but this one is a real step backwards. I took hours to get to the "big name" characters and hardly a disembowelment in sight. There was nothing from Daenerys, Bran or Tyrion. Much of the action took place with the Dawnish characters, however 3 of the charcaters' names started with "Ari" which I think is a bad choice for audio books (perhaps easier to distinguish in print).
That said, I still have high expectstions for the second part as these books have a tendancy to build to a big climax.