Most enjoyable audiook so far this year for me.

Iain Glenn (Jorah Mormont from Game of Thrones TV show) is fantastic. If you are curious about Martins work before GOT and enjoy sci-fi, this is the one to try. Possibly the Dreamsongs collection of short stories is a nice alternative by Martin, but this evolves into a fantastic experiance.

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Beware

This is a great story, but how can anybody seriously write a cliffhanger EPILOGUE?
Lose one star for unsatisfactory ending.

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Somewhat anticlimactic.

brilliant story telling brought to life by Iain Glenn. Deep, rich lore Albeit camp in a sense. Full of action although slightly Anticlimactic.

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1 person found this helpful

An Odd Ode

A wonderful use of words, almost nordic saga but a pathetic hero. too wordy though.

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A compelling story of old, brutal chivalry & code

An interesting & absolutely fascinating tale about a dying planet & the evolution of a cruel & viscious code of honour which - though outdated - struggles to survive as relevant & justified. It reminds me of the Samurai!

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Iain Glen really makes this book

I'm going to be honest and say that the only reason I listened to this book was for iain Glen's narration. However I stayed because although the story is a little morose, the narration really bought it to life.

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7 people found this helpful

Okay

The story is very well narrated and Iain Glen really makes this listen. The story however lacks any real plot. if you haven't already, listen/read George R R Martin's Tuf Voyaging, still his best book in my opinion

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Interesting cultures and premise

The author has written an interesting story about a dying world and a very interesting Kavalar society. A number of characters have similar or related names (often they have several names) and, without being able to easily flick back a few pages to check, it was sometimes hard to be immediately clear on who was talking/being talked about.

Also the motivation of one of the important secondary characters was hard to fathom even after the story tried to cover it. This might be related to the point above in forgetting who was who.

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Dying of the Light

George R.R. Martin clearly excels as a science-fiction author just as much as he does as a writer of fantasy; I hope he returns to this genre after the culmination of his asoiaf series.

This rich 1000 worlds universe he developed in the 1970s through short stories and novellas reaches its apex here, and this novel truly deserves a movie adaptation. To me the characters seem to derive a deal of inspiration from Aurthurian legend as well as Shakespearean tragedy (not to mention the sci-fi books the author himself had previously read) but are extremely original in and of themselves.

Worlorn is a rogue planet and Dirk t'Larien is a rogue protagonist; neither is truly part of the place they inhabit and both have changed into something else from what they once were. Even as the prologue progresses before the main body of the story the listener should get a sense of the vast amount of galactic background and the immensity of the fictional history that has gone into creating the setting of this singular work. As the story and plot progress so too do the characters develop, something new is uncovered in each chapter and by the end all have gone through even more change.

All that said and while I absolutely loved this novel it took me a while to get into it. I found that I had to get a copy out of the library to read along as I listened - while Iain Glen does a brilliant narration (he should do Winds of Winter if it ever comes out), it is difficult for a single voice speaking at pace to convey the vast visual landscapes and cities of this imagined world and the galaxy it inhabits; the prose is sometimes so well written that it demands to be read.

The physical copy I procured had a glossary of terms at the back of it which turned out to be very useful in conveying both the history and the aspects of the different planets which weren't elaborated upon in the text; i.e. ai (as in ai-Emerel) means After Interregnum, and the glossary elaborates both of the period called the Interregnum and the planet, people and culture of ai-Emerel, among other worlds. This audio recording could be improved with the inclusion of the glossary in PDF form.

Also the cover image of this audiobook does not do any favours to the imagination - Worlorn is not a yellow sanded desert world with a giant white moon, but a diverse planet which in the daytime has the big, red star called Fat Satan hanging in its sky.

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Must read for GRRM fans

Some pacong issues early. But fantastic story overall and truly marvellous narration by Iain Glenn

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3 people found this helpful