A Clash of Kings

Another hit from Martin! This book answered my desire for more magic in the series, though it was a bit more dark than I had anticipated. Nevertheless, the author succeeded in further developing his world without falling into the traps of becoming redundant or contradictory. The addition of new characters made the text a bit more complex than the first installment, but the continuation of plot development involving familiar characters helped to minimize confusion. Again, another book that was almost impossible to walk away from!