A Game of Thrones by George R.R. Martin: audiobook vs book, which should you choose?
The book has eight rotating points of view and nine noble houses, and it comes with maps and a guide to who is who. The audiobook is a record-breaking reading by one narrator.
Short answer: for the A Game of Thrones audiobook vs book choice, we say read it on Kindle (55% confidence, close call). The audiobook is read by Roy Dotrice and runs 33 hrs 45 mins, unabridged. His solo performance of a long book has been formally recognised. Against that, the book rotates between eight viewpoints, and the printed book has maps and an appendix of houses, which the audiobook is not stated to include.
Read it on Kindle
A record-setting solo performance of a long book points to audio, but eight viewpoints read by one narrator and the maps and appendix in print point to reading.
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Confidence 55%, which puts it in the close call band. Bands run from close call at 50 to 64, through leaning at 65 to 79 and clear at 80 to 94, up to clear cut at 95 and above.
The audiobook at a glance
| Recording | UK edition, our verdict (HarperCollins) | US edition (Random House Audio) |
|---|---|---|
| Narrator | Roy Dotrice | Roy Dotrice |
| Length | 33 hours 45 minutes (33h 45m) | 33 hours 46 minutes (33h 46m) |
| At 1.5x | 22h 30m | about 22h 31m |
| At 2x | about 16h 53m | 16h 53m |
| Abridged or unabridged | Unabridged | Unabridged |
| Audio publisher and year | HarperCollins, 3 November 2015 | Random House Audio, 2003 |
| Print length | 801 pages (Harper Voyager paperback) | 720 pages (Random House Worlds paperback) |
The Random House Audio edition is also sold on Audible UK (33h 46m); whether it and the HarperCollins edition are one recording is not confirmed. “Unabridged” comes from Audible’s search listings.
Lengths checked 15 October 2026. Speed times are calculated from the listed length.
A Game of Thrones
George R.R. Martin
- Genre
- Epic fantasy
- Series
- Book 1 of A Song of Ice and Fire
- Published
- 1996
- Length
- 801 pages (Harper Voyager paperback)
- On audio
- 33 hrs 45 mins
- Narrated by
- Roy Dotrice
- Awards
- Locus Award 1997
- On screen
- Season 1 of HBO’s Game of Thrones (2011)
On this page
Why we reached this verdict
Every book on this site is checked against the same thirteen questions. They are based on research into what most people find easier to follow in each format, not on whether the book is any good.
Listening: award-winning or praised narration (6), long book (3), 9 points. Reading: three or more points of view, one narrator (8), maps, family trees or footnotes (3), 11 points. 55% of the confirmed points favour reading, so the verdict is read it on Kindle at 55% confidence (close call).
The recording in detail
- Narrated by
- Roy Dotrice, solo, unabridged
- Record
- Guinness World Records recognition for 224 distinct character voices in one audiobook (announced 2011)
- Listener ratings
- 4.7 from 23,096 ratings on Audible UK and 4.8 from 149,100 on Audible US, as of October 2026
- What audio adds
- A separate voice for each of 224 characters, from the narrator the author chose
- What you miss
- The maps, the nine-house appendix, the written spelling of every name and possibly the chapter headings
What this book actually is
A Game of Thrones is the first novel in George R.R. Martin’s A Song of Ice and Fire, first published in 1996 by Voyager in the UK and Bantam in the US. The current UK Harper Voyager paperback runs to 801 pages.
It has 73 chapters, each told from the viewpoint of one of eight recurring characters, plus a one-off prologue. Three storylines run side by side, and the noble houses at their centre are listed in an appendix at the back.
It won the Locus Award in 1997 and became the first season of HBO’s Game of Thrones in April 2011.
The case for reading it
This is a book that comes with reference material, and it is there for a reason. Maps sit before the prologue, and an appendix at the back lists nine houses with their families, households and bannermen. Each chapter is headed with the name of its point-of-view character, so in print you always know whose story you are in.
The names are the other reason. The book has eight viewpoints, three storylines and so many characters that Roy Dotrice voiced 224 of them. That is a lot to keep track of. Seeing Catelyn or Petyr written down also settles names that, according to The Ringer, the audiobook pronounces more than one way.
The case for listening to it
Roy Dotrice is as well placed as any narrator to read a book this complex. Guinness World Records recognised him in 2011 for voicing 224 distinct characters in this single audiobook, and Martin called him “my first and only choice”. He read all five published books in the series.
The case for audio is strongest if you already know the story, from the television series or an earlier read, and want the world told to you by one voice. Some listeners note accents that wander, such as Tyrion moving from Yorkshire to Welsh, but the reading is rated 4.8 from 149,100 ratings on Audible US, as of October 2026.
The audiobook in detail
HarperCollins’s UK edition came out on 3 November 2015 and runs 33 hours 45 minutes, unabridged: 22 hours 30 minutes at 1.5x and about 16 hours 53 minutes at 2x. The Random House Audio edition, from 2003, is also sold on Audible UK at 33 hours 46 minutes; whether the two are one recording is not confirmed.
When John Lee recorded A Feast for Crows in 2005, fans complained, and Dotrice re-recorded it (released 2011), so one voice runs through all five books. Whether the audio reads out each chapter’s point-of-view heading is not confirmed. A Spanish edition, Juego de tronos, is read by Victor Manuel Espinoza.
Who should ignore this verdict
Anyone who has watched the television series and already knows who is who: the names will be familiar, and Dotrice’s performance becomes the main event. Listeners who have finished long, many-voiced fantasy on audio before and enjoyed it. And anyone who would only get through 801 pages as an audiobook: 33 hours of Dotrice is better than a paperback left unread.
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Start hereHow we decide
The thirteen questions behind every verdict on this site.
Questions people ask
Who narrates the A Game of Thrones audiobook?
Roy Dotrice reads it on his own in both the UK and US editions.
How long is the A Game of Thrones audiobook?
The A Game of Thrones audiobook is 33 hours 45 minutes (33h 45m) in the UK HarperCollins edition, which is 22h 30m at 1.5x and about 16h 53m at 2x (calculated).
Is the A Game of Thrones audiobook abridged?
No. Audible lists it as unabridged.
Should I read or listen to A Game of Thrones?
Read it on our checks (55% confidence, close call). Eight rotating viewpoints read by one narrator, and the maps and appendix of houses in print, narrowly outweigh Roy Dotrice’s record-setting solo performance.
Did Roy Dotrice set a world record for A Game of Thrones?
Yes. Guinness World Records recognised him for voicing 224 distinct characters in one audiobook, announced in March 2011.
Was Roy Dotrice in Game of Thrones?
Yes, as Wisdom Hallyne the Pyromancer in two season 2 episodes in 2012. He had been cast as Pycelle but withdrew for medical reasons.
Do you agree with this verdict?
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How this verdict was reached
Every book on this site is checked against the same thirteen questions, set in advance and applied identically to every title. They are based on research into what readers and listeners generally find easier to follow in each format, not on personal preference, and they are published in full so you can check the reasoning yourself. Verdicts are never paid for, sponsored or influenced by affiliate partners.
- The criteria: read the thirteen questions in full.
- What we checked for this book: the HarperCollins and Random House Audio listings on Audible UK and Audible US, Harper Voyager and Random House Worlds edition details, the UK ebook contents for the chapter headings and appendix, Guinness World Records coverage on Westeros.org and Martin’s blog, The Ringer on the narration, and Kirkus’s review.
- Verdict last reviewed: 23 October 2026. Editions and narrators change, so verdicts are rechecked annually.
- Prefer different criteria? The app, coming soon, will let you change which of the thirteen questions matter to you.
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