Review: A Clash of Kings by George R.R. Martin
Title: A Clash of Kings
Author: George R. R. Martin
Series: A Song of Ice and Fire #2
Rating: 4 Stars
911 pages
Published July 2011 by Harper Voyager
Gifted
I read A Clash of Kings for about seven months. And this was not my usual one week of reading, leaving it for six months, then read the rest in three weeks. This was seven intense months of reading a few chapters a week, while I read other books in the mean time.
Where I was still rather confused in Game of Thrones what Martin was aiming for, I feel a lot more confident reading A Clash of Kings. The point of the A Song of Ice and Fire series is not some overarching plot that goes somewhere, but the journey itself. In the first book I was still looking for some kind of point. Some kind of direction. It’s almost impossible not to get bored with the story if you’re looking for some deeper plot, because so far there is none. Except maybe for the fact that winter’s coming. But I heard winter is still coming in book five, so there is that.
So instead of focussing on the plot, I got into A Clash of Kings with an open mind, ready to be entertained with the world Martin created. And entertained I was. All of the hidden agendas, the four kings all claiming their superiority, the cool battles, but also the smaller stories of Jon and Arya… Martin’s world is super intricate, and there is so much to do and to see. And all that is wrapped in simple, to the point prose. All of the points of view kind of sound the same, but I couldn’t make myself care about that.
The Song of Ice and Fire books are pure fantasy brain candy, and I can’t wait to slow-read my way through A Storm of Swords.
Throughout Westeros, the cold winds are rising. From the ancient citadel of Dragonstone to the forbidding lands of Winterfell, chaos reigns as pretenders to the Iron Throne of the Seven Kingdoms stake their claims through tempest, turmoil and war. As a prophecy of doom cuts across the sky – a comet the colour of blood and flame – five factions struggle for control of a divided land. Brother plots against brother and the dead rise to walk in the night. Against a backdrop of incest, fratricide, alchemy and murder, the price of glory is measured in blood.
- Review: A Game of Thrones by George R.R. Martin (4 Stars)
- Review: Thirteen by Kelley Armstrong (4 Stars)
- Review: Blood’s Pride by Evie Manieri (3.5 Stars)
- Review: Shadow’s Son by Jon Sprunk (4 Stars)
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