A Clash of Kings

Well; All I can say is that this is by far the worst book that I have ever had from audible!! It is verbose endless dribble. The frightening item is that I would listen to the end of this inane trash! I guess I am really compulsive and felt cheated by the charge of two credits. The narrator was no help either.

The Song of Ice and Fire had been sitting on my bookshelf for years, unread. I was warned by a friend that the series was not for the faint-hearted--that, while HIGHLY rewarding, the sheer number of characters could be at times overwhelming.Why I thought the audiobook version might simplify that, I'll never know. Mr. Dotrice's range of voices is nothing short of amazing, given that many of the characters are quite minor, popping in only once or twice in the 900+ pages, and yet he gives them all a unique sound.Oh, sure, there's a creak here and there, as Gruff Old Knight #5 sounds a bit like Gruff Old Knight #9.However, when my mp3 player was acting up, and I lost my place, I knew EXACTLY what character was speaking (and thus where it might be within the book) after only two or three seconds.The only way to top it would be to do a dramatization with a full cast.Anything less than that, and you do a disservice to the work, and the narrator.

Roy Dotrice's performance really brings to life this complex, gritty tale of adventure, political intrigue, and medieval warfare. I read this book years ago and enjoyed it immensely; now I'm captivated listening to it. Mr. Dotric creates individual voices for an immense cast of characters, and his narration is smooth and fast-paced. My only criticism lies in the editing of the audio files--there are frequent repetitions of lines, apparently where individual recording session files were joined together to make a master file, and not adequately proofed. It's not a grievous issue, but does jolt me out of the story when it happens.

If you are even remotely capable of being offended by anything, this book will offend you.Its language is as foul as you can get, and it takes the time to describe oral sex with plenty of detail on two separate occasions.To a fault this world seems to abound with every depravity imaginable.Even the magic is rooted with murky sexuality.Even after slogging through all the offensive material that a book can offer, I at least hoped that perhaps SOME of the characters that I cared about would end up in a better place than they were at the end of book one.However, all that occurs in this volume for any of the characters is for their situation to get from bad to worse - and despite the number of events that occurred it seems like nothing got accomplished in this book - the situation is almost identical to the situation at the end of book one.It was skillfully written, but I really regret the time wasted listening to this.

If you have just read the review by David from Oregon (see above), please be advised that this book is SECOND in "A Song of Ice and Fire" series (the first one is "A Game of Thrones"). I can see in the "Coming Soon" section that Audible will soon aquire "A Storm of Swords" which is the third book in the series. So, do not fear that "the book ends right in the middle of the story." Instead, look for the next installment. I can hardly wait!!!

This is a well written book with many, many well developed characters and locations.The story is well developed and is easy to follow through the many changing scenarios.However the main drawback to this book and of all the books of the "Stories of Fire and Ice" series are there complete predictability.In every instance whenever one of (or many of) the villains are just about to be killed, captured or thwarted, just at the last second they are saved.This happened in every instance even to some of the characters that were lesser villains, that I found myself rooting for.It became infuriating and ruined the this book and the entire series for me.

Roy Dotrice is simply the best narrator I've experienced on audiobooks, and he's perfect for these books. Clash of Kings is not quite as well-paced as the first book, but the second half of the book will carry you along like a tidal wave. This and the third book tie for second as the best books in the series (the first book is the best).

I try not to be a prude, but this series has been ridiculous in its detailed and gratuitous description of sexual acts. They come from no where and add almost nothing to the story. I finally got fed up in this story after a detailed narrative of a * giving oral sex to one of the lords. In these parts its like a bad romance novel without the creativity in naming the male sexual organ. If you're into this sort of thing or at least not sensitive to it, I recommend this book because the characters and story are very compelling (i probably would have given it 5 stars)... I just think it needs some sort of a warning. I would be horrified if I bought this for my children and as it is I'm debating whether to finish it.

What would have made A Clash of Kings better?Less senseless violence.Over and over again the story talks about death, rape, mutilation and disaster.What do you think your next listen will be?A comedy.I need to get my spirits back up for the holidays.I found this soooo depressing.Which scene was your favorite?I liked when the dragons hatched in the previous book.That's what made me decide to try to listen to the second book.I kept waiting for it to get better.I also wanted Ned's children to become hero's.Perhaps they do in the end... but I couldn't listen to any more violence (especially against women and children) to see how this ends.What reaction did this book spark in you? Anger, sadness, disappointment? Depression...sadness.I can't imagine a woman reading / listening to this series and feeling okay about it.Any additional comments?You can't unhear something... it's too bad.

Would you consider the audio edition of A Clash of Kings to be better than the print version?Print version is better.What three words best describe Roy Dotrice’s voice?Most people sound like old beggars. Any additional comments?The first book separated the chapters into discrete segments, but this audiobook has completely arbitrary divisions.As someone who reads the print version when he can, and then goes to that spot in the audiobook during chores/driving, I find it very difficult to navigate the audiobook.Huge disappointment and annoyance.If this wasn't the case, I'd be pleased as a pickle.