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A Clash Of Kings by George RR Martin

9-stars

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Summary More of the same from George R. R. Martin, perhaps overlong though.

A Clash of Kings, book two of the A Song of Ice and Fire series, is the follow-up to George R. R. Martin’s A Game of Thrones.

Robert Baratheon and Eddard Stark are dead; the crown rests with King Joffrey but Robb Stark, Stannis Baratheon and Renly Baratheon all lay claim. The comet in the sky is seen as a sign of war and incest, fratricide and murder discolour the landscape.

Winter is coming and the undead and Others are beginning to stir. Into this, from across the sea, comes the daughter of the Dragon King to add her name to the list of pretenders to the throne.

Review by Joshua S Hill

Second in what is believed to be a planned seven book series, ‘A Clash of Kings’ continues George R. R. Martin’s epic ‘A Song of Ice and Fire.’ With the disastrous and literally heart breaking conclusion to its predecessor, this book only continues the strife raging across Westeros, providing a total lack of end in sight.

The Seven Kingdoms have been plunged heavily into civil war. Five are vying for contention and naming themselves king, with none abiding the others. Stories and alliances are fracturing alike, and the reader is helpless before the onslaught of new characters, new plot lines, and revelations and cliff-hangers that leave the mind reeling.

It is hard to fully explain the brilliance of a sequel like this in a review, without giving away its content. There is far too much going on that to even hint at some of it is to take away surprises that are part of the thrill of reading Martin’s work.

The characters allotted chapters is upped to nine, promoting one supporting character from book one to fully fledged lead, and introducing an entirely new character to introduce us to the inner workings of an entirely new plot thread.

Tyrion Lannister is once again one of the highlights of the book, providing a much needed breath of humour as well as an intelligence that is not hindered by personal greed, ambition or idiocy. This in no way means that any of the other characters are a chore to read, but rather act in ways that leave the reader entirely certain they deserve to be smacked upside the head with a shovel.

The sheer bastardry of some of the characters both introduced and returning is horrific at points. The loss encountered by some of the characters rends the heart, and the entire lack of instant communication between characters – so evident in other fantasy books, allowing for absolutely no miscommunications and misunderstandings – leaves you wishing just once that the author would provide a backdoor for you to whisper “it’s ok, she’s alive” to mum, sister or brother.

One of the story’s most tragic plot threads belongs to young Arya Stark. Nothing seems to go her way, almost to the point of absurdity. You are left at the end of each chapter pining for something good to happen to her. And even when a ray of light comes through, it is a dirty ray of light, tainted with worse news to come.

Arya, along with several other characters, provide the only hindrance to reading these books. I believe that it requires an understanding of human culture in medieval times, but it seems that the responsibilities of children aged between eight and eighteen are immense indeed. Marriage is commonplace in the early teens (soon after their first period), boys are kings before they’re allowed to drink (... you know what I mean) and young girls come to taking lives far too easily.

That is not to say it is unrealistic. More, it is a hard pill to swallow, with the knowledge that all of this was commonplace a thousand years ago and less. So once again, the only hindrance to the book is only in our inability as 21st Century humans to see beyond our own lives and into the lives of others less fortunate than us.

Martin is a genius, there seems to be no doubt about that. His gift with words and storytelling combine to craft a tale that will one day rival Tolkien’s as a fantasy tale for England. Make sure you are reading ‘A Song of Ice and Fire’ today.

Review by Lee

I knew before I read this book that it was very highly rated by a lot of people and it was with real anticipation that I read the first pages. However, I did not enjoy it as much as I'd hoped. The characters are good and storyline itself cannot be faulted but I felt that it was overly long and more than a bit confusing in places. There are a lot of characters to deal with and at times it was overwhelming, difficult in places to keep track with who is who and what their role in the story was.

His sister’s arms dug painfully into his arms. For a moment she stared incredulous, as if he had begun to gibber in an unknown tongue. “Stannis and Renly are fighting each other?” When he nodded, Cersei began to chuckle. “Gods be good,” she gasped, “I’m starting to believe that Robert was the clever one.”
Tyrion: A Clash of Kings

After reading authors of the calibre of Robin Hobb and Steven Erikson I would have to say that George R. R. Martin is not quite in the same league as a storyteller and that the characters are not as well formed or as deserving of the readers emotions.

He turned over the glass, and he did not know whether to laugh or cry. The gash was long and crooked, starting a hair under his left eye and ending on the right side of his jaw. Three quarters of his nose was gone, and a chunk of his lip. Someone had sown the torn flesh together with catgut, and their clumsy stitches were still in place across the seam of raw, red, half healed flesh. “Pretty,” he croaked, flinging the glass aside.
Tyrion: A Clash of Kings

The character driven chapter structure is a positive and it keeps the book well structured and at times fast paced. The book starts rather slowly but gains momentum towards the end, which always seemed rather too distant. This is a very good book but there are finer examples of the genre available. If you are looking for a tale that features more sword than sorcery and enjoy the nuances of epic battles then this will be just your cup of tea. If you have read Game of Thrones and want more of the same then this will not disappoint but unfortunately I was rather looking forward to finishing the book and not for all the right reasons. A good book but too long.

A Clash of Kings: Book 2 of a Song of Ice and Fire (Amazon.co.uk)

Author: George R.R. Martin
Binding: Paperback
Number of pages: 752
Publication date: 1999-10-04
Publisher: Voyager

RRP: ~~£8.99~~
Lowest new price: £2.64
Lowest used price: £1.92

George R.R. Martin writes sword-and-sorcery which concentrates on the swords. A Clash of Kings is the second volume of A Song of Ice and Fire, the sequence which began with A Game of Thrones and will take another four volumes to complete. The Seven Kingdoms are divided by revolt and blood feud; beyond their Northern borders, the men of the Night Watch fight the coming of a great cold and the walking corpses that travel with it; on the other side of the ocean, the last of the Kingdom's deposed ruling house mourns her horseclan husband and rears the dragonlets she hatched from his funeral pyre. This is character-driven fantasy--we see most events through the eyes of the sons and daughters of the Stark family, the once and future Kings of the North, whose father's judicial murder started the war. Martin avoids the cosy Californian cheeriness of many epic fantasies in favour of a sense of the squalor and grandeur of high medieval life; there is passion here, and misery and charm--and a profound sense of moral ambiguity as we learn to like the Richard III figure in this epic as much as the more virtuous Starks. --Roz Kaveney
Amazon.co.uk Review

A Clash of Kings: Book 2 of a Song of Ice and Fire (Amazon.com)

Author: George R.R. Martin
Binding: Paperback
Number of pages: 752
Publication date: 1999-10-04
Publisher: Voyager

RRP: ~~$16.50~~
Lowest new price: $3.99
Lowest used price: $3.99

George R. R. Martin's superb fantasy epic continues in consummate style as bloodshed and alchemy lay waste the Seven Kingdoms in the second volume of A Song of Ice and Fire. The Iron Throne once united the Sunset Lands, but King Robert is dead, his widow is a traitor to his memory, and his surviving brothers are set on a path of war amongst themselves. At King's Landing, the head of Lord Eddard Stark rots on a spike for all to see. His daughter Sansa is betrothed still to his killer's son Joffrey -- Queen Cersei's son, though not the son of her late husband Robert. Even so, Joffrey is now a boy-king, Cersei is his regent, and war is inevitable. In Dragonstone, Robert's brother Stannis has declared himself king, while his other brother Renly proclaims himself king at Storm's End -- and Eddard Stark's fifteen year old son Robb wears the crown of the north at Winterfell. A comet in the night sky, red and malevolent, the colour of blood and flame, can only be an omen of murder and war. Stannis's child Princess Shireen dreams of dragons waking from stone. And a white raven has brought word from the Citadel itself, foretelling summer's end. It has been the longest summer in living memory, lasting ten years, and the smallfolk say it means an even longer winter to come...The first rule of war is never give the enemy his wish. But winter will be the biggest enemy. From beyond the Wall the undead and Others clamour for freedom, and from beyond the sea the long-dead Dragon King's daughter hatches her revenge. Robb Stark will be exceedingly lucky to reach adulthood.
Product Description

Russell from Cardiff
"Sorry, I have to disagree with this review. The book is as long as it needs to be and features just as many characters as it needs. I suggest you re-read it again, straight after Game of Thrones and you'll want to change your review. This is the best fantasy series around, even better than Erikson."

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