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Dying of the Light cover art

Dying of the Light

By: George R.R. Martin
Narrated by: Iain Glen
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Summary

Before Westeros there was Worlorn....

When Dirk t'Larien is beckoned across space to the distant world of Worlorn by his lost love, Gwen Delvano, a wild hope flares inside him. However, the rogue planet and his long awaited reunion with Gwen are nothing like Dirk ever imagined. Gwen is radically changed from the girl Dirk first fell in love with, and appears to be irrevocably bound to a violent alien savage and his barbaric culture. Worlorn is a desolate ruin of a planet, steadily hurtling through space away from the star system it relies on to support life - each dawn its seven red suns shine a little dimmer.

Once a thriving "festival world", now Worlorn is rapidly falling into decline. Nothing remains but scavengers and their prey. With no laws to govern it, it is a place where the hunters and the hunted are often interchangeable. It is a dying world steadily speeding towards its own destruction. Can Dirk protect Gwen and save her from this decaying planet and its dangerous inhabitants? Does she even want him to try?

Discover George R. R. Martin's acclaimed debut novel Dying of the Light.

©1977 George R. R. Martin (P)2012 Random House Audio Inc

What listeners say about Dying of the Light

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars

Prepare to be drawn in

Anyone who was introduced to George R R Martin through Game of Thrones will find stylistic similarities and the same care taken to develop characters in the plot. Having said that, none of the characters in this book are entirely likeable which makes this writing all the more remarkable. Martin takes us into a decaying world steeped in old traditions and long abandoned heritage and asks the question: Can anything saved from it? Finding the answer to the question will keep you listening to the very end.

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8 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
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    3 out of 5 stars

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

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

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

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    3 out of 5 stars

Iain Glen should do more audiobooks

The story is interesting enough. The Narration is what makes it. Glen’s voice is like butter. Goodness gracious!

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2 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
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    3 out of 5 stars

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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2 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    1 out of 5 stars
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    3 out of 5 stars
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    1 out of 5 stars

Awful

Random words and ideas flung desperately at nothingness. Time and money I won't get back

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2 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
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    3 out of 5 stars

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

  • Overall
    1 out of 5 stars
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    3 out of 5 stars
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    1 out of 5 stars

Kept thinking it would improve

What disappointed you about Dying of the Light?

It was like a Mills and Boon romance

Would you ever listen to anything by George R. R. Martin again?

I have listened to other work by him but this has put me off

Did the narration match the pace of the story?

There was no pace in the story

You didn’t love this book--but did it have any redeeming qualities?

The original premis was good I kept on with it because I expected it to improve sadly it didn't.

Any additional comments?

Disappointing

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1 person found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

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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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Iain Glen really brings this to life

Read the ASOIAF series and loved it but never read any of GRRM's sci-fi work. Saw this and thought the authors first book would be a great choice and I wasn't disappointed. Iain Glens narration could have been a bit of a gimick that doesn't work but it is spot on, definitely worth a listen

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