A Clash of Kings (A Song of Ice and Fire, Book 2)

First off, I'm a heavy duty fan of GRRM. I've read over a 100 different fantasy authors in my time (started at 12; I'm now 32). Took about 5 years off from the genre b/c I felt it was all getting too formulaic and cliched. Typical archetype character who turns out to be the missing heir or boy wonder who saves the world against the Dark Lord.
So, when I came back to fantasy at the end of 1999, I read the usual: Goodkind, Jordan, etc. and then someone told me about GRRM and man, that was the kicker!
Here are the reasons to choose GRRM. I've also listed the reasons not to choose him to make it fair b/c I know their are certain personalities who won't like this series:
WHY TO READ GRRM
(1) YOU ARE TIRED OF FORMULAIC FANTASY: good lad beats the dark lord against impossible odds; boy is the epitome of good; he and all his friends never die even though they go through great dangers . . . the good and noble king; the beautiful princess who falls in love with the commoner boy even though their stations are drastically different . . . the dark lord is very evil and almost one sided at times . . . you get the idea. After reading this over and over, it gets old.
(2) YOU ARE TIRED OF ALL THE HEROES STAYING ALIVE EVEN THOUGH THEY ARE UNDER CONSTANT DANGER: this gets even worse where the author kills a main hero off but that person comes back later in the story. Or, a hero does die but magic brings him back.
This sometimes carries to minor characters where even they may not die, but most fantasy authors like to kill them off to show that some risked the adventure and perished.
(3) YOU ARE A MEDIEVAL HISTORY BUFF: this story was influenced by the WARS OF THE ROSES and THE HUNDRED YEARS WAR.
(4) YOU LOVE SERIOUS INTRIGUE WITHOUT STUPID OPPONENTS: lots of layering; lots of intrigue; lots of clever players in the game of thrones. Unlike other fantasy novels, one side, usually the villain, is stupid or not too bright.
(5) YOU ARE INTERESTED IN BIASED OPINIONS AND DIFFERENT TRUTHS: GRRM has set this up where each chapter has the title of one character and the whole chapter is through their viewpoint. Interesting tidbit is that you get their perception of events or truths. But, if you pay attention, someone else will mention a different angle of truth in the story that we rarely see in other novels. Lastly and most importantly, GRRM doesn't try to tell us which person is right in their perception. He purposelly leaves it vague so that we are kept guessing.
(6) LEGENDS: some of the most interesting characters are those who are long gone or dead. We never get the entire story but only bits and pieces; something that other fantasy authors could learn from to heighten suspense. Additionally, b/c the points of views are not congruent, we sometimes get different opinions.
(7) WORDPLAY: if you're big on metaphors and description, GRRM is your guy. Almost flawless flow.
(8) LOTS OF CONFLICT: all types, too; not just fighting but between characters through threats and intrigue.
(9) MULTILAYERED PLOTTING; SUB PLOTS GALORE: each character has their own separate storyline; especially as the story continues and everyone gets scattered. This is one of the reasons why each novel is between 700-900 pages.
(10) SUPERLATIVE VARIED CHARACTERS: not the typical archetypes that we are used to in most fantasy; some are gritty; few are totally evil or good; GRRM does a great job of changing our opinions of characters as the series progress. This is especially true of Jaime in book three.
(11) REALISTIC MEDIEVAL DIALOGUE: not to the point that we can't understand it but well done.
(12) HEAPS OF SYMOBLISM AND PROPHECY: if you're big on that.
(13) EXCELLENT MYSTERIES: very hard to figure out the culprits; GRRM must have read a lot of mystery novels.
(14) RICHLY TEXTURED FEMALE CHARACTERS: best male author on female characters I have read; realistic on how women think, too.
(15) LOW MAGIC WORLD: magic is low key; not over the top so heroes can't get out of jams with it.
REASON TO NOT READ GRRM
(1) YOU LIKE YOUR MAIN CHARACTERS: GRRM does a good job of creating more likeable characters after a few die. But, if that isn't your style, you shouldn't be reading it. He kills off several, not just one, so be warned.
(2) DO NOT CARE FOR GRITTY GRAY CHARACTERS: if you like more white and gray characters, this may unsettle you. I suggest Feist or Goodkind or Dragonlance if you want a more straight forward story with strong archetypes.
(3) MULTIPLE POINTS OF VIEWS TURN YOU OFF: if you prefer that the POVS only go to a few characters, this might be confusing for you.
(4) SWEARING, SEX: there's a lot of it in this book just as there is in real life. If you have delicate ears, this book may upset you.
(5) YOU DEMAND CLOSURE AT THE END OF EVERY BOOK: this isn't the case for all stories in the series. Some are still going on; some have been resolved; others have been created and are moving on.
(6) IF YOU WANT A TARGET OR SOMEONE TO BLAME: this can be done to some extent but not as much. This is b/c he doesn't try to make anyone necessarily good or evil.
(7) ARCHETYPES: some readers like archetypal characters because it's comfortable; we like the good young hero (sort of like Pug in Feist's THE RIFTWAR SAGA); it's familiar and we sometimes like to pretend we're this upcoming, great hero. You wont' get much of this in GRRM with the exception of one or two characters. There really aren't any super heroes compared to all the other characters as it's more grittier and no one is shooting fireballs every milisecond or carrying around some super powerful sword.
(8) LENGTH: you don't want to get into a long fantasy epic series. In that case, look for shorters works as this is biiig.
(9) PATRIARCHY: men are most of the main characters with lots of power (one female exception). While this is realistic of the medieval era, some readers may not prefer this if they want more girl power, so to speak.
By the way, if you don't want to commit to a big book until you know the author better, check out his short story, THE HEDGE KNIGHT, in LEGENDS. Overall, this is a great series and I happily purchase the hard cover when it comes out...

I don't know how someone read this and thought it would make a good series. I'm glad they did, but don't expect the series to be like the books. I read a lot, all types of genres, but I had to force myself to get through as much as I did. The books and the series are so different I could not watch and read at the same time. Just as a book, without comparing it to the series, it is filled with way too much unnecessary information. There were far too many characters that didn't matter to warrant mentioning there name. If I had to read what someone was wearing one more time, I was going to throw the book. It needs to be cut by 70% to remove the waste.

This is book two in the Game of Thrones series. At this point, King Joffrey is the ruler of the Seven Kingdoms. Because he is still a boy, his mother remains Queen Regent. Joffrey remains cruel and is holding Sansa hostage at King's Landing. Now that Sansa's traitor father is dead, Joffrey and his mother refuse to let her go home. Sansa's sister, Arya is posing as an orphan boy and trying to get back to Winterfell. Sansa's brother, Robb - King of the North - is battling to rein the seven kingdoms. Danerys is trying to get to Kings Landing so she can become the rightful Queen of the seven kingdoms.

This book was as good as the first. RR. Martin is a very talented writer. There are 1000 characters, and you sometimes get a little lost on who belongs to you, but it doesn't distract from the story. Even though he writes about a fictional world, he doesn't make up words just to make them up. He makes those 1000 pages fly by.

I enjoyed this book and look forward to reading the next. If you haven't tried this series yet, I highly recommend it.

For the most part, George RR Martin's Clash of Kings continues what he started in A Game of Thrones. The key phrase being, "for the most part." While the book is good - I never found myself avoiding it - it isn't written at the same level as the first. The solid qualities we witness in the first book are manifest in this, but not as prominently. All in all, a good sequel to book 1, but it doesn't live up to the standard he sets there.

My single complaint from the first book - going out of his way to keep Tyrion alive no matter what the circumstances - is again present in the sequel, but in triplicate. In the final battle scene, Tyrion is a dead man - the narrative dictates as much. Through 2 books, we see no shortage of evidence suggesting the dwarf is not the most athletically graceful person in the story. Yet, during one battle, he manages to slice an attacker's spear 3 times before then landing a fatal blow. All of this while his horse trots around his opponent. Are we expected to believe this about face in skill is reasonable within the limits of the story? For me, it's not.

In addition, there are too many instances where rarely spoken of (or unheard of) entities come crashing in at the last second to cause an unexpected outcome. This is generally allowable in any book (especially fantasy), if used sparingly. But Martin goes down this avenue too often, and because of this, the last 200 pages are difficult to get through. At the end, I wanted the book to be over; not because I was eager to see what happened, but because I was getting annoyed at the absurd turns in the narrative.

All of this would be a brief complaint, if it hadn't spanned nearly 200 pages of the story. As it stands, the abrupt turns take too much of the story's focus, which is a detriment to the narrative. I don't think this opinion is unreasonable. The series is, after all, fantasy. But it needs to exist within the realm of "Acceptable Believability" that the author establishes, and these instances do not fit, for me. Some may disagree. YMMV.

In the end, I did question whether or not I would bother with book 3. Now that I've had some time to digest it, I will likely pick it up. But only after some time to detox from much of what was lacking in the story. George RR Martin can put together words, and has a good imagination while managing to keep it mostly in the realm of plausibility. For that, it's surely worth picking up book 3 and seeing where he takes it from there. Granted, it's not perfect. But there's plenty here to carry your interest into a 3rd book.

A step back from book 1, but still worth the read.

A Clash of Kings contains many of the elements that made A Game of Thrones so enjoyable to read; most notably the quality of its writing, the depth of its characters, and the plausibility of its dialogue. However, while A Clash of Kings amplifies the epic quality of the series, so too does it amplify many of the more minor faults from A Game of Thrones.
Martin's mechanic of focusing on a different character in each chapter continues to entertain, but several of the plot threads remain as extraneous and dull as ever. In a series that, so far, has concentrated on the battle between Lannisters, Baratheons, and Starks for the right to rule the Seven Kingdoms, the characters of Jon Snow, Dany, and Theon Greyjoy are of dubious value, particularly when more pertinent and engrossing characters such as Brienne, Varys, and Ser Rodrick remain underdeveloped. True, A Clash of Kings is only the second book of a six-part series, but it is unreasonable to include so little plot convergence within over 1500 pages of material. Dany's subplot, in particular, remains not only irrelevant, but also exasparatingly devoid of new developments, and her most intriguing chapter (a meeting with the warlocks' guild) is uncharacteristically muddled at best.
Some segments of A Clash of Kings display the same brilliance of A Game of Thrones. The chapters involving Arya and Ser Davos Seaworth, in particular, are a joy to read. However, Martin jettisons the methodical and logical plot progression found
in most of the book in favor of bizarre and indulgent sequences at times. This is particularly infuriating as regards Stannis' red priestess and Tyrion's late heroics. As a result, A Clash of Kings consists of long intervals with no plot development interspersed with small segments in which the entire story is changed instantaneously.
Perhaps the book's greatest flaw is the ever-increasing despair attendant to the surviving characters of House Stark, who might be considered the story's protagonists. I am not naive enough to expect comedy in the midst of warfare, but by the end of A Clash of Kings an overwhelming amount of tragedy has engulfed the Starks, often abruptly and without sufficient explanation. Such prolonged hopelessness was certainly also utilized by Tolkien, but whereas the three books of the Lord of the Rings were released simultaneously and totalled approximately 1500 pages, The Song of Ice and Fire Series seems destined to exceed 4500 pages and a decade of production time.
A more minor problem with A Clash of Kings is the more frequent inclusion of explicit sexual situations. Adult material is not necessarily inappropriate in many books, but Martin's use of such situations is both sporadic enough and graphical enough to appear gratuitous, while still causing me to be seriously reticent to recommend the series to an adolescent or even to my parents (doubtless they would be equally uncomfortable recommending it to me).
Therefore, while Martin's writing remains as technically flawless as ever, and while A Clash of Kings merits reading simply because the rest of the series is predicated upon it, the wonderfully engaging quality of A Game of Thrones is much rarer in a Clash of Kings. The series must improve to warrant continued interest.

Wonderful second installment to llnent to the Song of Ice and Fire series. I enjoyed this book as much as the first, despite having watched the entire HBO series prior to reading any of the books. I'll repeat my comment in my review of the first book: JK Rowling got me hooked on reading as a child, and George R R Martin got me hooked back on reading as an adult.

My problem with CofKings is the same with the other books(I'm on Storm of Swords at the moment);I find the authors copied (or perhaps influenced) technique of changing the character at the end of every chapter prevents me from really getting into the characters or the book.Some of these characters are quite boring and it's frustrating when you've read 5 or 6 pages of a character like Jon Snow,are just getting into it and suddenly the chapter ends with sometimes a quite contrived formulaic hook.Then you turn the page and the next chapter is entitled 'Catlyne' and you groan inwardly.All of these books are written like this and I will persevere and finish them but,my god,they're hard work.No depth to the characters or storyline.The names of the chief characters are different but we still have the trekking from one place to the other-prisoners escaping and trekking,children escaping and trekking,trekking,trekking! Heroes being outnumbered two to one but winning etc.I've recently read a novel (Birdsong) about WW1 and the depth of characters and reality of the battlescenes puts Mr Martin to shame.Perhaps I've just read too many fantasy books and I should switch genres-I will complete his serier first though but I won't recommend them to you!

So many characters - so little action - find a better way to spend your book dollars. This trilogy uses many pages to say nothing and what is said is so confusing that it is more a puzzle than a novel.

I gave "A Game of Thrones" a try because of it's good reviews and the fact that I had an opportunity to buy it for a great price. I liked the plot, and it had it's strong points and likeable characters, and the careful use of mystery and the unnatural was done in good taste. However, I most certainly disliked the use of bad language and the pointless, excessive sexual content. Still, I decided to read the sequal, hoping those irritating brushes of bad taste won't get in the way of the plot too much.

I was wrong.

As for the plot, in the first half of the book, there is hardly any plot. So much of it is wasted on sexual content. Any story progress is slow and the... "stuff" in between is terrible. The seconed half of it is far more rapid, and yet, it's not much, and the book's climax, the battle over King's Landing, is silly in the way it's resolved. There are some good points in this one, but the bad outweights the good.

Reading it, you get the feeling that Martin got some good feedback about the use of bad language (from readers with terrible taste, if I may add), and as a result, the language here is nothing short of VILE- much, much more than the first book. In my mind, it's simply shows that George Martin is a jerk.If you would censore those parts, this 800 pages book will be rendered to a mere BOOKLET, and still not more than "ok". I believe that bad language and excessive sexual content has no place in fantasy novels. I adore J.R.R Tolkien for making the perfect example.

Some argued that those themes are there because it's "just like real life". Please. It's not real life. It's fantasy- fantasy needs real logic, but the best thing about it is the ability to do without some of the negatives in our daily lives. If you include magic and dragons, you can write a book not filled with swears and disturbing content. Song of Ice and Fire is filled with prostitution, rape and debauchery, all are thick and often. I simply find it repulsive.

While the evil characters are smart, I truely think the good ones are simply unwise, making foolish decisions and ignore dangers. For those who are yet to read this one, think of the way Edard disregarded Arya's warning, when she tells him what she overheard in "a Game of Thrones". Martin likes his bad guys too much, granting them easy victories in what should be tough battles. Their enemies are always caught off-guard, which is guarannteed victory at minimal losses, in Martin's eyes.

Tyrion is the most frequently-used character in this one. This is bad news. Everything around him is swears and sex. A number of his chapters include him visiting his prostitute in her safehouse, arguably the most disgusting feature of this novel. And as for his character himself- it's nice that he has a sense of justice other Lannisters lack, but his main charactaristic is being smart. Well, not true. Tyrion has a number of brilliant ideas- in fields he should know NOTHING about, such as economics, battlefield strategies, leadership, fortifications(that part is story changing, and should not have been there), diplomacy (for a character which presents itself as undiplomatic)... you name it.

The most rdiculous part in when tyrion becomes a warrior- a fierce, frightening, inspiring fighter, and lives to tell the tale. That's not realistic at all, and makes no sense even in a fantasy novel. And that's Much, much stronger blow to the immerviveness than, say, not including the vile language and all that sexual content.

Other evidence of poor writing is how he suddenly picks on a character named Lulis (in a cruel way) after she was never heard from, and how foolish it is that everything about house Florent is ugly\stuiped\ disgraceful.

The Night's Watch parts are better than the other ones, and contains less of this book's bads. Bran has some good part of interaction with two young members of a house loyal to Stark. His mother also is a good character with some good dialogs. Arya has a few good parts, but she is mostly with bad company that makes her chapters disturbing to read. Truely, I liked the childish point of view in the first one, as it was very well done and felt right. In "A Clash of Kings", half of what they are viewing is the debauchery around them, but when they are not, the young Starks are all likeable.Daenerys? in the first book all her chaptershave been disgusting. In this one it's not as bad, but it's not good, either. Greyjoy is a lousy edition, with all his chapters being extremly repulsive and soaked with swears.

To sum it up, I will say that "Song of Ice and Fire" is a (widely) missed opportunity at creating a classic. The plot is disturbed by Martin's terrible taste in including (extremly) excessive sexual content and a language nothing short of vile. The story itself isn't nearly as good as the first one, and the climax is foolish. There is epic potential, but not an epic novel, and you just can't create a masterpiece with all this trashy parts. Some thing are better left out of the fantasy genre. (The shining example of classic, epic, wonderful litrature triumph is Tolkien's Lord of the Rings- as fantasy should be- beautiful, immersive and clean).

If you consider yourself readers with a good taste, stay away, especialy if you found his style even somewhat disturbing in the first book. It's repulsive and disturbing, the bad easily outweights the good. There are good books out there without all that vile content.

I gave up on "A Song of Ice and Fire" after this one.

After I finished "Game of Thrones," I immediately downloaded "Clash of Kings" and began reading, eager to continue the story that so fully captured my attention. This series is highly addicting, and I'm incredibly late reviewing this because it's impossible to stop reading after finishing a book to compose a review. Also, the second and third book sort of run together, which makes it difficult to review them separately. This is the perfect follow up to the first book - carries the momentum from the events introduced there and sets up its own story. It somehow manages to be darker and grittier than the first installment without stepping into the realm of being gratuitous . In fact, it's probably one of the best second novels I've read. Spoilers follow.

I usually give a brief summary of the novel's story in my review, but with "Clash of Kings," a brief summary simply isn't possible since there's so much going on in the book and a lot of it ties deeply to the events from the first novel. Instead, I'll supply a very brief overview. With Robert Baratheon dead and the legitimacy of his children brought into question, the Iron Throne is up for grabs and Westeros is plunged into civil war as (at least) four different people claim the Throne as theirs. Meanwhile, the Night's Watch in the North begins to investigate the people beyond the Wall, the Wildlings. In the East, Daenerys Targaryen moves forward with her plan to conquer the Seven Kingdoms for herself. Her following has dwindled after the death of her husband, but her three newborn dragons make her notorious. Though she refuses to give them away to secure aid, Daenerys hopes she can use her dragons to her advantage to reclaim what, in her mind, rightfully belongs to her family.

Martin sure knows how to tell a riveting story. I've read a fair bit of fantasy over the years and eventually had to take a break from the genre due to becoming bored with seeing the same clichés and tropes used over and over again. As I read "Clash of Kings," I found myself waiting to see the book fall into the same pattern of predictability that I've seen elsewhere. The first book was great in being unique and unpredictable, but could Martin really maintain that high standard throughout a second book? The joke's on me because he definitely can...and I've learned better than to doubt his originality. There isn't much in the way of resolution in this book, but that's ok since there are several more books that follow it. Instead, "Clash of Kings" serves to propel the ideas established in the first book. We see how events from "Game of Thrones" have unfolded and developed into something bigger and more widespread, and what we see is fascinating. It's also worth mentioning that there are a lot of big players in this war, but Martin manages to make all of them distinct. None are just thrown in to be there and all of them are fleshed out. This isn't a generic world filled with the normal trappings of the genre - Martin's Westeros is unique and fully realized. Reading about the different factions alone would be compelling...combine it with an intriguing plot and you've got one Hell of a good read!

It should also be noted that Martin pulls no punches when describing his dark, gritty world. If you're squeamish and prefer to read about characters that blush when thinking about kissing or battles that are over and done with relatively quickly and cleanly, this probably isn't your book. The big theme in "Clash of Kings" is the huge, ongoing civil war that has erupted across the entirety of Westeros, and no detail is spared. The full horrors of the battlefield - bones being crushed, flesh split, the gruesome results of someone being turned into a bloody pulp via being bludgeoned by a blunt object, soldiers being trampled by their own horses, pretty much any awful battle-related thing you can come up with - are portrayed in graphic detail. These fights aren't glorious; they're long, agonizing, and brutal, and Martin writes them so well that you'll find yourself on the battlefield alongside the characters (for better or worse, in some cases). He's done his research on the tools and tactics of the medieval period, and it definitely shows. He also doesn't hesitate to show us the other not-so-pleasant aspects of humanity. Sex (whether consensual or the spoils of war) is a common occurrence and it isn't portrayed in a nice, chaste manner. Like many other things in the books, it's blunt, realistic, and often uncomfortable...both for the characters and the reader. The people who populate Martin's world drink, curse, and entertain lewd, violent, or otherwise nasty thoughts. Sanitation is what you'd expect it to be in a war torn, medieval country. These things often aren't fun to read about, but they add a level of authenticity to the novel, and I personally find it refreshing to read an author who doesn't sugarcoat the realities of armed conflict. The details characterize the world and the people in it - if you read "Clash of Kings" and think "Wow, this person/event/place is awful!" then you're probably thinking what Martin intended with this characterization. Westeros is not a fun place to be, and Martin's attention to the dark, gritty, unpleasant details bring that into sharp focus.

Much like with "Game of Thrones," this book has several main characters with the point of view changing in each chapter. This continues to work well by providing different viewpoints of big events without becoming repetitive and tiresome. More importantly, it showcases Martin's talent for creating dynamic, three-dimensional, complex, fully realized characters. I've read a lot of novels lately that have been in first person point of view, but have ultimately failed to capture the essence of the character or put the reader in the protagonist's head. "Clash of Kings," though written in third person, doesn't have this problem. Each character's viewpoint is distinctly different with the characters' biases and backgrounds moving prominently to the forefront. Even better, with the figures' biases colouring events, you'll often wonder whose version of events is the correct version or if any of them are truly accurate. It makes of an interesting, unique reading experience, especially with the big events that unfold in this book.

It's also worth mentioning that although there are certain characters who are clearly protagonists and antagonists, whether or not you like them will be largely dependent on how you react to their characterization, not what their role in the story is. Since starting "A Song of Ice and Fire," I've noticed that everyone seems to like and dislike different characters - and what one person may like about a certain character may cause another person to dislike them. I think this demonstrates how realistic Martin has made his characterization. It's a lot like reading about an actual person: very few people are simply classified as good or bad - instead, they have numerous aspects to their personalities that resonate well with some people and act as turn-offs to others. The characters in this book are much the same...and with many of them doing or being witness to darker, nastier things in the second novel, there are plenty of opportunities for your opinions on certain characters to change.

On a random, character-related note, I'm pleased to see that Martin actually has a wide array of female characters. I'll be honest and say that the stereotypical female tropes that pop up in the fantasy genre bug the Hell out of me: women tend to be either delicate damsels or kickass warriors, neither of which has ever struck me as particularly interesting or realistic. In "Clash of Kings," we're treated both to some of our favourite women from the first book as well as new heroines. There are no stereotypes here and each character embodies her own strengths and flaws. Sure, there are women who fall in line with the traditional gender roles of a medieval wife and those who prefer a more warrior-esque life (as well as many who lie somewhere in between), but they're so wonderfully characterized that they never become predictably stereotypical, nor are they overlooked in favour of the male characters. A lot of authors could learn something from Martin: it's possible to write a varied female cast without them becoming stereotypes. Furthermore, it never feels like a character is included to provide "another female perspective" (or another male perspective, for that matter) - they all matter and they all provide valuable insight into Westeros, the war, and their unique situations.

While there isn't a "main character" per se, if I had to pick a point of view character that features most prominently, it would definitely be Tyrion. This is his book: how he rises to the lofty position of the King's Hand and how he uses his intellect and cunning to overcome his lack of physical prowess in a book that's largely about battles, knights, and their consequences. While Tyrion isn't my favourite character, his perspective is always interesting since he has to go about things in a vastly different way than the book's other figures. If you're a fan of Tyrion, this is your book!

"Clash of Kings" is a solid follow up to "Game of Thrones." It manages to be darker and grittier than its predecessor without coming off as gratuitous and continues the story without seeming like it's being unnecessarily dragged out. Martin's writing and characters are just as satisfying as they were in the first book, and I finished the novel feeling like I needed to start the next one immediately (and I did - thank goodness I didn't have to wait!). "A Song of Ice and Fire" is a truly unique and refreshing entry in the fantasy genre...and it's impossible to stop reading after one (or even two) books.