Author: George R. R. Martin
Published: 1998
Publisher: Spectra
Series: A Song of Ice and Fire #2
969 pages (mass market paperback)
I do believe this is officially the longest novel I’ve ever read. Almost a thousand pages! It’s a big reason why it took me so long to get through it (not to mention it’s all in like, size 10 font too). But it was worth every moment, and this second book solidifies my newfound obsession for this series. I think the first book is still the best I’ve read so far, and something about this second book just quite doesn’t live up to the first (to me, anyway), but A Clash of Kings is still a fantastic read, leaving me hungering for the rest of the series (seriously, I am itching to go to the bookstore to buy books 3 and 4 now and continue)!
A Game Of Thrones left us off with King Robert dead. The problem was that his heirs, Joffrey and his siblings, legally should not/cannot be his heirs because, as Lord Eddard Stark discovered, they are children born from an incestuous relationship Robert’s Queen, Cersei, had with her brother, Jaime. So they’re not even his. And Robert has no other children, so technically the throne goes to his brother, Stannis. Of course, Cersei is not admitting to incestuous relationships with her brother (even though it’s true) …
A Clash Of Kings throws us back into Westeros where six different Houses are fighting for the Iron Throne and the right to rule the Seven Kingdoms. We have Cersei who is lying about her son’s right to the Iron Throne as Robert’s child (Joffrey is unaware and truly thinks Robert was his father). In reality, Cersei is allowing for her family House Lannister to take over (since Joffrey is technically all Lannister-blood). Second faction vying for the throne is Stannis, Robert’s brother, who by rights, should be the heir. Third faction is Robert’s other brother, Renly. Even though he is younger than Stannis and therefore, is not Robert’s first heir, Renly thinks he’ll make a better king since people love him more. Fourth faction is House Greyjoy. Back when the Seven Kingdoms really were seven kingdoms, the Greyjoys ruled the Iron Isles as king. On that basis, they have royal blood and therefore, think they have rights to fight for the throne. Fifth is my beloved House Stark. Like the Greyjoys, they have royal blood because they used to be Kings in the North. Actually, the Starks don’t really care if they get the Iron Throne (though of course it would be nice) so long as they get to rule the regions their ancestors did in the past as King. Lastly, we have Daenarys of House Targaryn, who is across the sea. She is the last heir of King Aerys, the king that ruled before King Robert usurped him. In many ways, she is the true heir to the throne, and she knows it, which is why she is amassing an army and preparing to sail back to Westeros.
My favourite character is still Arya Stark. I’m a little sad that she’s still suffering after her escape from the castle (from Cersei’s grasp!) but at least she’s still alive. She’s one of the few physical “tough cookie” females in the story (there are many mentally “tough cookie” females!) so that’s why she stands out a bit, for me, anyway. I just love her and knowing that the author does not mind killing off major characters, I was so relieved she survived another book. I can’t wait for the moment she can stop disguising herself and proudly tell people she’s Arya of House Stark again.
There were tons of new characters introduced, tons! There is Ser Davos, a smuggler turned knight; Melisandre, a Red Priestess who aids Stannis in war with sorcery … and also old minor characters who come back as main characters, like Theon Greyjoy. The thing with novels of this kind of epicness is that sometimes it can be hard to keep track of who’s who. Just going through the “family trees” in the back of the book is dizzying, and then there is remembering how X is related to Y, and whose a servant of whom, and where so-and-so is current residing in the story or did they move … yeah, it’s a lot. Luckily I’ve never really had much of a problem with the major characters, though some of the knights I get mixed up time to time, and I still do in this second book.
I don’t really know what else to say about this book without making this chock full of spoilers. Like I mentioned already, I really did enjoy this book but there are some parts I’m nit-picky about. To be honest, I really found Davos’ parts incredibly boring. He’s one of the new characters and his chapters are really too political for me, and it was difficult for me to read them. Not that I couldn’t understand it, it was just kind of dull. Also, save for the last battle, the majority of the “great battles” in this book are scenes I never actually got to be there for. You’ll be reading along and they’d be building up to a battle that is happening soon, then next chapter, a character would mention, “Robb won the battle at that place!” It didn’t bother me too greatly, but it would have been nice, as the reader, to have been present at some more battles. Well, I was there for the last one at least, but it was narrated from Davos whose perspective I find boring, so … I didn’t get my way, hahaha.
Luckily, Davos has very few chapters. In sum, I really loved this book, almost as much as the first and I can’t wait to read on.
My Rating: 5/5
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