ashmason's Full Review: George R.R. Martin - A Clash of Kings: Book Two of...
Intro
Wow I am soooo glad I found this series, I was looking for some new fantasy stuff and saw this as a recommendation on Amazon.com. There are three books in the series, A Game of Thrones, A Clash of Kings and A Storm of Swords.
I bought the first book with trepidation; I always worry about starting a new author. If it¡¦s good I know I will want all the books, but if I buy them all at the same time, I may not like it. So this time I picked up the first book only to begin with. I got totally lost in it and on finishing, went out immediately to buy the second installment, review here.
For the record, Mr kurt_h, top reviewer in Books. YOU ARE SO WRONG to give this only one star, but then what can one expect from a guy who works for the government! (Just teasing, everyone is entitled to there own e-pinion after all)
The Plot
That's a good question, how to fill you in. I know go read A Game Of Thrones first. :)
Ok, finished the first book? For those lazy bums that did not, pay attention. Before the Game Of Thrones book, The Dragon (a man), united the 7 Kingdoms together under one banner & one king. The kingdom flourished under the rule for generations, to keep the blood pure the Dragons married within the family, leading to madness. The final dragon king was so far off his rocker, that Lord Robert Baratheon got support from a bunch of folks and overthrew the Dragon. With me so far?
The First book starts several years afterwards when Robert is older, fat, a drunk and a womanizer. Seems war suited him better than politics. Thrown into the mix is the great lord of the North, of the line of the kings of the North who watch the wild borders beyond against The Others, who is also Roberts best friend. This is the magic type supernatural spin. Centuries ago The Wall was built, a vast construction of ice to keep out the wildings and others, it¡¦s all a bit vague and full of hinted threat as it should be (think the great wall of China, or Adrians wall in Britain). There is a small core of Nightwatch, now made up of mostly beggars, thieves and other misfits who man the wall. Once you take the black, you swear never to have a family, love a woman or align with any lords of the realm. Nope, you have to freeze your butt off guarding against bogy men and grumkins that nobody has seen for hundreds of years. No wonder nobody likes to volunteer, the only perks being a local village, mostly underground with a certain Brothel when the men like to say they have gone digging for gold. Right¡K totally against oath of course. Hmm, this may be a good point to let you know that this book has very adult themes and is not afraid to say cock and Pushy (say it with a Sean Connery Accent and you should get the gist!), and we ain't talking about animals here either. There are also stronger references that I won't put here.
Where was I, oh right, the king had an arranged marriage to the Lanisters. Queen Cersei hates Robert to the point of keeping her legs closed as much as possible and getting rid of the only baby they made together before he even knew. Nope, she's busy going the way of the Dragon and doing her Brother, to the tune of three kids.
To cut a long story short, the Hand of the King finds out Robert has no real heir, so good old Queenie arranges him to be topped. Robert brings in Ned Stark, the great lord of the north to fill in. He also finds out the truth. Robert gets killed hunting boar, mainly because he was blind drunk on extra strong wine the Queen had seen fit to have his squire pump him full of. Ned Stark is elected regent, and attempts to expose Roberts son Joffray for the abomination he is and pass the kingship to Roberts brother Stannis, only to get himself captured and himself and finally killed. The young fake king now holds one of Ned¡¦s daughters captive, Ned's other daughter escapes and Robb, now lord of the north at 15yrs old calls his fathers banner men to him and begins to wage war. The Northmen proclaim Robb, King of the North. Stannis proclaims himself Rightful king, Stannis's younger brother proclaims himself king, then we have Joffrey, who thinks he¡¦s king, finally there is The King of the Wild rumored beyond the wall, and the Dragons daughter who escaped across the sea years ago, plotting a return. Clear? See, that's why it's called the game of thrones, and leads nicely up into A Clash of Kings!
Whew!
Now for the real review. I don't really want give too much away because there are plots and intrigues galore. Basically the story picks up right where the first book left off with Six factions struggling to take the iron throne of the Seven Kingdoms. The book is written from the perspective of each character, each chapter is simply titled ARYA, or TYRION and advances the story from that characters perspective.
I find this highly effective and enjoyable because you really get some character development and get to know what each one is seeing and thinking. Arya, Ned Stark¡¦s youngest daughter is a real tom boy and learned to wield a sword, but where the rest of the realm hack away with broadswords and bastard swords, she is shown the way of fencing from across the sea. We follow her escape to the north and I found myself rooting for her and impatient when her chapter finished and I had to wait and read about other characters before getting back to her. She¡¦s around 10yrs old and disguised as an orphan boy. Then you have Tyrion Lannister, not sure about him, he¡¦s the bad guy, but was born a dwarf (a human dwarf that is) his family tolerate him only, but you have to like him, he has a sly wit and a cunning mind. On the surface he seems to be for the Lanisters, but at the end of the day he¡¦s really out for himself, yet seems to have a kind hearted streak. A likable character and a bit of a rogue. Robb, the boy king of the north is struggling with his sudden responsibility, Sansa Ned's oldest Daughter is finally waking up to the fact that life is not as the stories sing and Joffrey, the spoiled brat who has his men strike Sansa when he is displeased is thoroughly despicable, and I think a little mad.
Aside from all this we have Jon Snow, Ned Starks bastard who joined the Night¡¦s Watch is off on a mission to find his uncle, lost beyond the wall.
Looming over the whole affair... Winter is Coming. Seems Summer lasted for several years, and now there is going to be a nasty long winter, or cold snap. This is when the Others are likely to appear. Dead men with blue eye¡¦s, and with the warring in the south for the throne, there is only a handful of the Nights watch between them and disaster.
Oh and I almost forgot, the Dire Wolves of the Starks, Bran the cripple (after breaking his back in the first book) who dreams wolf dreams! Just another aspect that drew me in.
Details, Details
One thing I should make clear, George R. R. Martin the author, loves detail! This is one thick book with small writing. But I never got bored of it, the pace is good, the text not ponderous, in fact there is just enough detail to get lost in this world. I would compare it to Robert Jordan's Wheel of Time books, only better as I found myself skimming his work at times, not so with Martin. I find myself putting the book down only when I have to and thinking it most be finished soon as so much as happened, only to note there are pages and pages left! Awesome! I usually go through books I really like in days. This one took me a couple of weeks, just because I wanted to read every word and nuance.
Conclusion
If you are looking for a new read, this is a must (after reading the first of course) It sucks you in and you find yourself wishing you were there, yet is doesn't glamorize the place either, girls are bedded young, life is tough for the serfs and even the Lords have it a little rough. The one inconsistency is age, there are some characters that appear to be close to 100 yrs old, yet the tone of the book suggests you are seen as old and wise in your 30's. Bit odd, there are also a few other area's that jar, but only if you really stop and think about it. In fact I am sure one could tear it to pieces with some of these quirks, but remember folks, it's a story, go with the spirit of it, immerse yourself in the world of revelry, incest, revenge and warfare, it's a blast.
Final Note
As already mentioned, the series has very adult themes so not a series to buy as a gift for an advanced early teen reader.
Write Off
Entered into Doc Deviences Medieval W/O!
Here is the second volume in GEORGE R. R. MARTIN'S magnificent cycle of novels that includes A Game of Thrones and A Storm of Swords . As a whole, thi...More at HotBookSale
This second novel of Martin s New York Times bestselling fantasy series, the sequel to A Game of Thrones , transports readers to a world of revelry an...More at Buy.com Marketplaces
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