A Clash of Kings
Ratings1,460
Average rating4.3
Update: 09/04/2015
If you'd like to read this review on my blog.
Rating: 4.5/5 stars.
A Clash of Kings is the second novel of the A Song Of Ice and Fire series, that follows right where we left off in Game of Thrones. In this book, we finally see what those terrible Games that we so heard talking are about, and all of the characters are in a difficult situation, with terrible things happening around, but it all just starts...
Great book, really. So much things happened, so much went down, and so much is coming. This was just mind blowing.
I have to say, this book was so long. At first, when I read those first few chapters, I thought I was for sure never going to finish this in the near-almost-far future. There was just so much information dump in those first 200 pages, and not much things happening really. It took me a while to get used to it, and to actually start to fill the excitement.
But once I went through those, God did it get good. The book gave so much character development to every character. I'm finally redefining who is to trust, who is a btch, who is not as bad as one initially thinks. And yet he didn't give us as much as to know everything. I still doubt every single character. Because they change so easily. Everybody lies, everybody keeps secrets, everybody dies and everybody learns to survive by playing the Game of Thrones. It's so intense, but so good.One of the best improvements was my views of Tyrion Lannister. He is such a cute, smartsy pants, intelligent and kind motherfcker. Might have a tiny crush for a tiny man. I think that he's probably one of the smartest characters in this book (not the most clever, that could be discussed) and he's also really thinking like a real king. He should be king. But at the same time, he's not really apt to be king of such a violent and war ridden town. So the Hand's King fits him. And I swear, every single conversation he had with Cersei, was the best part of this book. I've wasted every single flicky tap (still don't know it's name) marking all of the whimsical and witty conversations they've had. I love their relationship (even thought it's the worst sister-brother relationship.) I will show you some of the quotes I've marked of them, and some of Tyrion talking around, but maybe they could be a little spoilery, so it'll be under a spoiler mark. View to your own danger.
In a conversation with Joffrey... The dwarf smiled crookedly. "All sorts of people are calling themselves kings these days."In a conversation with Cersei... "I'm sure I don't know. That fool Eddard Stark accused me of the same thing. He hinted that Lord Arryn suspected or...well believed...""That you were fucking our sweet Jaime?"She slapped him."Did you think I was as blind as father?" Tyrion rubbed his cheek. "Who you lie with is no matter to me...although it doesn't seem quite just that you should open your legs for one brother and not the other"She slapped him."Be gentle, Cersei, I'm only jesting with you. If truth be told, I'd sooner have a nice whore. I never understood what Jaime saw in you, apart from his own reflection."She slapped him.Another conversation with Cersei... "I will not suffer to be called a whore!"Why, sister, he never claims Jaime paid you.And another... "What a disgusting little worm you are. Myrcella is my only daughter. Did you truly imagine that I would allow you to sell her like a bag of oats?"Myrcella, he thought. Well, that egg has hatched. Let's see what color the chick is. "Hardly a bag of oats. Myrcella is a princess. Some would say this is what she was born for. Or did you plan to marry her to Tommen?"And adrenaline driven Tyrion... "You won't hear me shout out Joffrey's name," he told them. "You won't hear me yell for Casterly Rock either. This is your city Stannis means to sack, and that's your gate he's bringing down. So come with me and kill the son of a b*tch!"
Oh, Tyrion <3
Moving on, I thought that chapter PoVs like Arya's were very enjoyable. She's doing some really extreme moves, and her life's kind of miserable right now, but I love her.
Also, Sansa no longer annoys me as massively as she used to. I'm still kind of bitter of her, but it's slowly fading. And I feel kind of sorry for her, at times. She's a nice girl, and she's finally growing up.
But then there were chapters like Davos, and Theon, that honestly bored me to death. Davos more than Theon. Like, Davos is to much of a suck up for me, and he never says anything interesting. And Theon is too stupid and blind and egocentric for my taste. When is Joffrey and his head-cutting when you need it?
Then there were Bran and Caitlyn chapters. Those were the ones that could be boring at points, but then really interesting, and then back to boring, and then exciting. Those were ok, I guess.
And my love, my dear love, Daenerys. God she's so lost. I hate that. I want her to stop being so misguided, and for her to step up her game. And even thought that, I loved every single of her chapters. I always do. She's such a great character, and I root for her like crazy. And yes, I believe she's the real queen. Because Dragons. That by the way, DRAGONS. But the things that bothers me most, is that her chapters are so damn apart. #TheStruggle
John Snow chapters were a little bit annoying at times, because of all this wall walking and warnings that we've heard before. But for the rest, they were very interesting. But at the same time I think that a little bit more could have happened, excluding the ending, of course.
Another new character, Melisandre. I'm so fcking terrified of that btch. Like, no, no, NO.
As for what plot concerns, that was intense. In A Game of Thrones nothing had really happened,it was just starting. And in this book, things started happening. But the amazing thing is that I know it's only the beginning. I can feel so many things coming. I do have to say, all the misery and despair found in this book was hard. Man, I love this series.
And lastly, small spoiler section.
Man was I scared when Theon was lying about Brann and Rickon's death. And not because I thought it was true, but because I thought that my beliefs of it being fake weren't true. Like what happened when Eddard Stark died in the last book (In case you don't know, since the moment he was killed till the end of the book, a good 100+ pages, I thought he was still alive.) I knew it wasn't true, I mean, not enough proof for me. But there was this small tiny doubt.Funny moment. When Sansa finds out she got her first period. In that moment, I swear we were all Sansa Stark.John Snow and the wildlings. The f*cking f*ck.Melisandre and her dark magic stuff. The f*cking f*ck.And that whole strange connection with the wolfs and the Stark kids was amazing. But now it just made me feel worse that Lady is no longer alive. And for like the whole length of the book, I was expecting that somewhere along the way Arya was going to have her reunion with Nymeria. But no, never. ;-; And I'm so mad that Arya never killed Tywin. But yeah, I knew that wasn't happening. And her ending was just crazy. I really really want her and Caitlyn to get together.And also, the battle of Casterly Rock was bad ass. I loved it, so many things happened, and all those characters, and that ending. My dear Tyrion Lannister is not dying, he's going to stand up and rule up all of your asses.Lastly, that scene where Daenerys enters that weird ass palace. That was even better! All those prophecies they showed her, all the things to come. And how she destroyed those b*tches up with dragons. God I love Daenerys.
This book had such great endings for every character. A bunch of crazy stuff happened, and everything gave a complete 360 degrees turn. I have this saying that I love...
“If things aren't going great, then don't worry, it won't last. And if things are going great, be aware, it won't last.”
My only problem with this book was that there were too many names. But other than that, perfect as ever.
More details, more devils
I finally finished this book. It took me almost two months. It was a slog for me.
Gah! So long! Only complaints were Theon's character in general were so not a good plot twist. Other than that I'm glad all the Starks are still alive in this book and are relatively safe for the moment. Favorite character in this book was definitely Tyrion because of his conniving and cunning ways. Also got to like Sansa a little better than before but still think she's an idiot. Arya is freaking awesome and is still kicking ass but I hope she finds and reunites with Nymeria soon. Really liked this installment, it was very engrossing like the first and forces to see all the characters stories till the end.
I liked this to start with. It was greatly written as per Martin's style. BUT during the end it got a bit weary to read, but a good read nonetheless.
Another great instalment. Full of twists, turns, unexpected scenes and great storytelling!
Overall a great read and has a great balance of all the elements of a great book. I love this series. Enough said.
This book was amazing. I dont really know what else to say.. This series is quickly becoming my favorite of all times. I need to start book 3 now
Took me 2 months to read this beast. Well, it was a re-read technically but I didn't remember anything from the first read 10 years ago. I read it in preparation for watching season 2 of the show.
Engrossing from beginning to end, a reader can easily see themselves hanging out with these characters. Some characters are there to love, and some are there to hate, but most of them are in between. They are not all good and not all bad, making it hard sometimes to take sides.
I'm curious how the 2nd season of the show will compare to the book, looking forward to finally getting to watch it.
I spent a lot of time waiting for GRRM to hurry up and get back to the characters I actually was interested in, but of course by the time I got to the end I was ready to buy book 3 and keep going. It's not the best thing I've read but it doesn't entirely suck.
Some of the battles made for tedious reading. At the end, I'm still interested in the characters' fates, so on to the next one.
UHHH sorry GRRM I just do not give enough of a fuck about any of these characters to continue with this series. Hope everything works out OK in Thronesville or whatever.
(I know everyone else on the planet loves this series but it is not for meeee.)
Great read, continue in the same vein as the original, and if you didn't know by not this is something of an epic saga so settle in for the long hall with this series.
After completely failing with book one, I got hooked on the show and decided to give the second book a shot. Managed to finish the book and season finale in the same evening.
The book was terrific, but I just couldn't get in to everyone's backstory. I loathed Stannis (maybe that's the point?), got so bored with Catelyn Stark weeping over her totally unimportant father (glad they cut that out or the show). Arya's chapters were far and away my favorite, Tyrion as well. I need to read short books for a while after finishing the behemoth, but I'm definitely roped in for book 3.
At this point, I'm just happy I started reading this series after 5 books had already been published. Now that I've got a grip on the characters and have read beyond what's been put on HBO, I'm enjoying the story a lot more. That said, I still find Catelyn and Jon Snow to be rather dull points of view regardless of what action is going on around them. I'd like to read an entire book just from Tyrion or Arya's perspective though.
On to the next one!! A Storm of Swords... The narrative is fantastic although to descriptive at certain parts but it really keeps you reading and reading without wanting to drop the book...
Wish I could give this 3 1/2 stars. I like these books, but I hit a fatigue point at about 70% in this one where I just wanted to power through so I could read something else. I think these would be 4-5 star books for me if they were just a little bit more concise.
I actually liked this one a lot more than A Game of Thrones... probably at least in part because it never made me so angry that I had to stop reading for several weeks. For the record, what made me angry in A Game of Thrones was Sansa's stupidity, and although she was in way likable to me in this one, at least she didn't make me rage. This one also Arya being the awesomest character in the entire cast, and Tyrion also being pretty cool.
I will that I think the change in point of view hurts in the sense that not all characters' stories are as interesting. Bran's in particular, and although I think Jon Snow is a great character, I wasn't at all invested in his story until his last chapter.
An excellent sequel to “A Game of Thrones” that impresses me alone by its ability to spread out in ripples to new lands, people and relationships but still remains tied to those same elements we met in the first novel.
An excellent followup to A Game of Thrones, propelling the characters into a war for the throne that gives us insight into the ever widening world of Westeros and the individual characters motivations, while also dropping hints as to what is to come.
As always the first 200 pages can be the toughest part to get through, I find it a bit plodding at times, but once things get going it is hard to put down.