Who listens to the audio books?

[Moon-Pale Maiden]

I admit, I listen to the audiobook version of A Song of Ice and First *all the time*. An hour on the way to work, and hour home, and while I'm falling asleep.

I have playlists of the single character POVs for all five books and I'll pick a character and listen to all of it over the span of a week, or else I'll play all five books on random, or just pick a book and listen to it all the way through for a couple weeks.

I prefer the Roy Dotrice version (The also cast him to play the pyromancer in Season 1), though other versions exist.

So, its not perfect, some of the voices are a bit wonky, but I've come to love using the audio books. Its comforting to have it on in the background and it makes it easy to review certain parts without having to drag out the books.

I also have the three Dunk and Egg novellas, but "The Mystery Knight" by Patrick Lawlor is almost unlistenable.. firstly, he has a dreadful American accent, and secondly, he pronounces "Ser" like "Sair" the entire time...ugh

So, who else listens to the audio books? Who is your favorite narrator? I have versions by Roy Dotrice, Jim Lee, Roy Avers and Tim Stoddard, although only the Roy Dotrice version is the complete series (that I know of). Are there others that I've missed?

[Lord Martin]

I love the Dotrice version myself. I've listned to all five on loop in my car for over a year now.

How did you break it down by pov? Can I do that on iTunes?

[giant snake]

If it's not music, normally I listen to a podcast while I'm driving or whatever.

The reason I wouldn't listen to this series is because when I read the books, I imagine the characters speaking with an American accent. The words sound a lot stronger that way, and more familiar. British people, when they're loud, sound more shrill than anything to me. They sound better when they are understated - one of the traits I find respectable, but there aren't a whole lot of understated or dry characters in Ice and Fire.

[Blind Beth the Cat Lady]

I have books 3, 4, and 5 on audio, Roy Dotrice version. I've listed to them two or three times each, mostly while working out. They're great for running. My path goes past this bridge and I always pretend like it's The Wall. :-D

I haven't listened to any other narrator. I love RD, though he is kind of inconsistent with some of the voices between books. Val particularly is totally different from book three to five. But it's still awesome. I'm ruined for other narrators. :-)

[Moon-Pale Maiden]

I love the Dotrice version myself. I've listned to all five on loop in my car for over a year now.

How did you break it down by pov? Can I do that on iTunes?

Hmmm.. I'm not very familiar with iTunes as I don't use it; I created the character playlists first on the laptop using the search function, searching for "*bran*.*", sorted by book name, then saved them as playlists in Windows Media Player in the correct order. A friend of mine converted individual mp3s from the chapters on the CDs for me then I went through and renamed them all. I'm not sure if ppl can buy them already in mp3 form...

[PeterPaulGualtieri]

I love the Dotrice version myself. I've listned to all five on loop in my car for over a year now.

How did you break it down by pov? Can I do that on iTunes?

You just search your iTunes library for the characters you want, select them and create a playlist from the selection.

I'm a big fan of the Dotrice version, as well. I spend a lot of time commuting back and forth to school and there's nothing like ASOIAF to pass the time. I think his reading of Stannis from Books 2 & 3 is spot on--he captures all of Stannis' obdurateness & prickliness.

[Moon-Pale Maiden]

I think Dotrice does Tormund really well, and I agree with the previous poster on his Stannis.. his Janos Slynt is pretty funny, though his Messandei voice in Storm of Swords is ghastly. He does a sort of a British-with-an-Asian accent and to me, it sounds almost rude. He changes it for Dance, thank goodness. Dotrice's tyrion is Scottish, and I've gotten so used to it, it's how Tyrion sounds when I read now. His Aemon is great.. Roy Dotrice is talented with his acting, and Aemon's monologue to Sam before he dies is simply heartbreaking... "Egg, I dreamed I was old.." His Sam voice makes Sam seem a little simple-minded, but is appropriately whiny.

Once in a while, I've considered recording myself reading the sample chapters so I can add them in, but I can't stand the sound of my own awful New Jersey accent (no, ppl who were born and raised in NJ don't sound like those idiots on Jersey Shore, they are from Staten Island, NY). I like the British accent for this series.. it just somehow sounds wrong with the American accent.

[Manderlay]

I think Dotrice does Tormund really well, and I agree with the previous poster on his Stannis.. his Janos Slynt is pretty funny, though his Messandei voice in Storm of Swords is ghastly. He does a sort of a British-with-an-Asian accent and to me, it sounds almost rude. He changes it for Dance, thank goodness. Dotrice's tyrion is Scottish, and I've gotten so used to it, it's how Tyrion sounds when I read now. His Aemon is great.. Roy Dotrice is talented with his acting, and Aemon's monologue to Sam before he dies is simply heartbreaking... "Egg, I dreamed I was old.." His Sam voice makes Sam seem a little simple-minded, but is appropriately whiny.

I also liked Dotrice's Tywin Lannister voice and liked it when he sung last of the giants, i agree Tormund was the best i liked and i liked Stannis as well. Also his Jeor Mormont voice was good.

[PeterPaulGualtieri]

Starting with the 4th book--and continuing with the 5th--Jaime, Tyrion and Cersei all sound EXACTLY the same in Dotrice's version. Ser Kevan's voice from the 5th book is exactly like Lord Tywin's, too.

My favorite Dotrice-voiced character is the Damphair, I crack up everytime I listen to the chapter where he is trying to get the Kingsmoot together and keeps saying "The King is Dead!" in this really sonorous, clangy voice. It's almost like he's just making ghost sounds.

I really enjoy Frank Muller's reading of the Hedge Knight & Graham Malcolm's version of The Sworn Sword is pretty good, too, though I'd like to have a Roy Dotrice-read version of both.

[Dove]

...his Messandei voice in Storm of Swords is ghastly.

Agreed, it's absolutely painful. The goofy falsetto he uses for a lot of the young women like Sansa really throws me out of it too, but I do like his take on a few other characters.

Overall I just can't really get in to audiobooks, hearing the words narrated out loud just doesn't click with me in the same way as reading them myself at all.

[Michael Bolton]

Dotice is great, but there are just too many characters.

Great Voices for: Tywin, Old Bear, angry Randyll Tarly, Luwin, stuffy minor lords and knights, common men. Basically he does older men well. Woman and children are hit and miss.

I always felt the Dornish should have a different accent, maybe sort of Indigo Montoya, but he just gives the same English one.

Littlefinger in the early books had a perfect petulant highborn Tim Curry quality, but in the later books he is just a rough sounding commoner whose aged like 20 years. I suppose that could be reasoned that he puts on a falser accent when he was in Kings Landing.

The worst though was Davos as an ARRRGHH pirate.

Can someone tell me where to get the prequel audiobooks?

[Direwolfsigil]

I have these books on Kindle but ive never tried the audio book function, i bet is nothing like the ones you buy, i imagine it to just be one monotonous voice.

[KOM]

I too listen to the Roy Dotrice versoins (except for AFFC which is someone else).

I love it, and listen to them all the time.. especially as something to fall asleep to.

---- but audiobooks I really like their songs. Their interpretations of all the songs I enjoy, and that's almost always gonna be the case for me, classic English/early-American colonial verions, cadences (except for one about a bear I think).

[danm_999]

Dotrice's Tywin is boss. He's clearly doing a Winston Churchill.

[Mikkel]

Which one is it that does the "Petyrehhh" for Littlefinger? I started on that, but that pronunciation just destroyed it for me, heh!

[Rose-Papillon]

I do, but only when Roy Dotrice reads them.

[TalalOfDorne]

I really cant bring myself to use audio books. Dont know why though. Guess Ive always preferred reading.

[Cradyx]

I loved Roy Dotrice versions, but everytime there's a sex scene I felt a little awkward listening :blushing:

[jons nissa]

I really cant bring myself to use audio books. Dont know why though. Guess Ive always preferred reading.

i never considered them either. then i got a job that had a commune time of an hour using one of the most notoriously congested highways in my area. getting lost in an audiobook book helps keep my road rage in check and what better book(s) to get lost in than asoiaf. i've only heard versions from roy dotrice and one from jim lee but i really hated lee's version.

[-Ghost-]

I also have the three Dunk and Egg novellas, but "The Mystery Knight" by Patrick Lawlor is almost unlistenable.. firstly, he has a dreadful American accent, and secondly, he pronounces "Ser" like "Sair" the entire time...ugh

I cant stand the way he says that! I seriously hate him for that. Is there another version with someone else?

Ive been listening to Roy everyday at work for almost a year, lol. I just keep re listening after I finish the series. He has some voices that I dont care for but he is easily the best.