Title: A Clash of Kings
Author: George R. R. Martin
Publishing Information: May 28th 2002 by Bantam
Genre: Adult, Epic Fantasy, Adventure
Series information: Book two in A Song of Ice and Fire
Format: Hardcover, 761 pages
Source: Purchased for my e-Reader
Recommended For: Fans of high fantasy novels and readers who don’t mind picking their jaw up off the floor.
Time is out of joint. The summer of peace and plenty, ten years long, is drawing to a close, and the harsh, chill winter approaches like an angry beast. Two great leaders—Lord Eddard Stark and Robert Baratheon—who held sway over and 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, as pretenders to the Iron Throne of the Seven Kingdoms prepare to stake their claims through tempest, turmoil, and war.
As a prophecy of doom cuts across the sky—a comet the color of blood and flame—six factions struggle for control of a divided land. Eddard’s son Robb has declared himself King in the North. In the south, Joffrey, the heir apparent, rules in name only, victim of the scheming courtiers who teem over King’s Landing. Robert’s two brothers each seek their own dominion, while a disfavored house turns once more to conquest. And a continent away, an exiled queen, the Mother of Dragons, risks everything to lead her precious brood across a hard hot desert to win back the crown that is rightfully hers.
Wow! We made it through two books of this epic series! For those of you who have stayed strong with me, give yourself a pat on the back, this is a serious accomplishment and I am proud that we have made it this far! Go #SOIFRA!!
As we all know, Game of Thrones just concluded it’s third season, which means that for the first three books I haven’t been as surprised as some of our other readers. I think this is a really fun thing because it gives me a different feeling while reading the books, that being said, I can’t wait to go into the rest of the series “blind,” to what is coming. With that in mind, I found that reading A Clash of Kings really provided some much needed detail on many of the characters and their motives. I was especially affected by the THINGS that came up that I knew to be foreshadowing events in future books, specifically book three. I was literally taking pictures of parts to send to Amy, who has already read the series with little notes like “This is interesting,” and “EEP!” because it is a totally new experience to know what is coming next (in detail) prior to reading!
In terms of characters, I still love Dany, and Tyrion is still totally awesome, though in all honesty, I wasn’t extremely blown away by anyone in this book. My love for Jon kind of wavered, he is brooding, for sure, but he is becoming a little too good for me. Sigh. I am LOVING the Bran storyline, and I can’t wait to see how he grows with THINGS, and admittedly, I still read through Catelyn’s chapters as fast as I can. I will say that I am glad to be reading about the “other” families living in this world. The Greyjoy Family has definitely become more prominent in my mind (grumblegrumble), and I am intrigued to see what is up with the Bolton Family (though I know some stuff from the show and OH EM GEE.)
When reading epic fantasy novels I tend to fall right into the world, to where I am thinking and dreaming of it more often than not. Westeros is no different for me, these are the books that I am reading while on my lunch, or in line at the post office. I can’t get enough of them, and if there is one thing that I am taking away from this series, it is:
Books Take You Places 
OMG cut it out with talking about the foreshadowing!!!! I’M ALL ANXIOUS. I GOTSTA KNOW.
I loved hearing more about Dany. I was all “whatevs” in the very beginning of book one, but she’s definitely one of my favorite characters. I still love Arya (even though I know you’re not crazy about her).
I’m really excited to get to book three with ALL THE THINGS. The suspense is killing me!
Okay, seriously, I am DYING to catch up on my reading for #SOIFRA. I’m currently about a third of the way into A Clash of Kings – and really liking it. I actually prefer it to A Game of Thrones, but probably because I feel like the story is continuing to unfold. It’s been really great to learn about these other characters and their motives and GAH, YOU HAVE ME SO EXCITED.
I am stumbling on your review from Brittany’s. I must admit that could not wait to be finished with Cat’s narratives. They were like speedbumps for me. Tyrion is so awesome indeed, and I cannot wait to see where is character goes. I stopped at Storm of Swords, because I cannot find the 4th one where I live. Hope you enjoy the rest of your readalong!
Seriously happy dancing over here. The Cat and Cersie chapters were always the ones I had a hard time with. And Bran tbqh–I always WANTED to be really into his story, but never have been. Though both Bran and Cat’s do get better. I love that there’s so many different characters for people to love though, I’m mostly a die hard Arya fan, but also enjoy Dany and Jamie and Tyrion and Jon…and yeah, the Bolton family is the most effed thing in these books. And that’s saying something. Hope you’re settling in and enjoying some good cuddle time with cats and boys and books!
I’ve yet to dip my toe in the waters of this series, in either format (which, on the TV end, drives me a little crazy, ’cause c’mon, Peter Dinklage is in it! As was Sean Bean, before he lived up to fan expectations and got killed.) Is there a lot of gore described in the books? Because I have a rough time with long passages of twisted torture. (Hence my falling of the “Sword of Truth” wagon, despite my fondness for Richard.)