A Clash of Kings: A Song of Ice and Fire #2

Let's put aside the beach reads and pick up some heftier fare. How about A Clash of Kings by George R.R. Martin, the second in A Song of Ice and Fire series?

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Why I Read This Book/How I Heard About It

Before I made the switch from Audible over to Libby, I had already read A Game of Thrones (Book #1 in A Song of Ice and Fire series). After two complete watch-throughs of HBO's Game of Thrones, Seasons 1-8 and a viewing of the first season of House of the Dragon, I finally decided to give in and actually read the books.

Basic Summary

I can't pretend to be able to write a better summary than George R.R. Martin himself. I mean, look at this summary. This tells you all you need to know about how artful this man is with words:

"A comet the color of blood and flame cuts across the sky. Two great leaders—Lord Eddard Stark and Robert Baratheon—who hold sway over an age of enforced peace are dead, victims of royal treachery. Now, from the ancient citadel of Dragonstone to the forbidding shores of Winterfell, chaos reigns. Six factions struggle for control of a divided land and the Iron Throne of the Seven Kingdoms, preparing to stake their claims through tempest, turmoil, and war.

It is a tale in which brother plots against brother and the dead rise to walk in the night. Here a princess masquerades as an orphan boy; a knight of the mind prepares a poison for a treacherous sorceress; and wild men descend from the Mountains of the Moon to ravage the countryside. Against a backdrop of incest and fratricide, alchemy and murder, victory may go to the men and women possessed of the coldest steel...and the coldest hearts. For when kings clash, the whole land trembles."

First Impressions

For some reason, I thought the books would be boring - probably just because of how incredibly long they all are. But, once I started the first book, I realized, "Dang, this guy is a a really really really good writer!" And then I understood all the hype and why he got a TV show in the first place.

Another observation: the show on HBO follows the books really closely, almost to the letter. It's helpful for me to have seen it already because I didn't have to do the actual work of "seeing" each character in my mind. I already had a picture of each of them in my head because of the actors who played them. I think if I picked up this book cold and didn't have the images from HBO in my head, it would have been a little more difficult for me to get into it and keep the characters straight.

I have heard that later books (the ones that veer from the show's plot) do get pretty thick with characters and it can be hard to keep them organized in your mind, but I guess we'll see. I'm really looking forward to when the books veer from the show, actually. I've heard book lovers talk about storylines from the book that they wish would have made it into the series.

Final Thoughts

I think in a series this character-heavy, it's helpful that Martin labels each chapter with a simple character name (Arya, Tyrion, Sansa, Cersei, Daenerys) so it's clear right away whose eyes we are looking through. I like how he cycles through the characters and takes us all over Westeros simply by changing to a different character. It's a brilliant way to navigate multiple complicated storylines and pull them all together into one larger epic tale. As chonky as these books are, the constant moving back and forth between plot lines keeps the pace of reading steady and manageable, which comes as a surprise to me. And the level of detail and description in each scene is masterful.

I don't think I can say enough good things about George R.R. Martin's writing. If you've been afraid to jump in because of the length of each book, just try it. I don't think it will be as terrifying as you think it will be. And the story is entertaining enough to pull you in and keep you interested.

Of all the plot points in this book, I was most delighted to see the interactions between Arya and Jaqen H'ghar from Braavos, who promises to repay Arya for saving his life by taking the lives of three others of her choosing. The way Jaqen talks is such a strong identifying factor and makes him seem so mysterious and somehow wise. He's definitely one of the most intriguing characters in the books that I've seen so far and I just love him and Arya.

This one was great. I can't wait to move on to the next. And the next. And the next...

Rating on Goodreads

I rated this book 4 out of 5 stars.

My rating method:

• I rarely rate books 5 stars. I save this for the absolute best books I've read. You know the ones...the ones that you can't get out of your head, even after you've finished them. The ones you think about for weeks afterwards.

• If a book is really, really good, I'll give it 4 stars. If you see a 4-star rating from me, I'd definitely recommend it to you to read.

• If it's just OK, it gets 3 stars. Basically, it means I could take it or leave it. I'd probably read it again because it wasn't terrible. But not like a favorite or anything.

• If I rate it 1 or 2 stars, I would not recommend anyone read it. It either didn't hold my interest or I couldn't relate to the characters/plot.