Product Description

George R. R. Martin's superb fantasy epic continues in consummate style as bloodshed and alchemy lay waste the Seven Kingdoms in the second volume of A Song of Ice and Fire. The Iron Throne once united the Sunset Lands, but King Robert is dead, his widow is a traitor to his memory, and his surviving brothers are set on a path of war amongst themselves. At King's Landing, the head of Lord Eddard Stark rots on a spike for all to see. His daughter Sansa is betrothed still to his killer's son Joffrey -- Queen Cersei's son, though not the son of her late husband Robert. Even so, Joffrey is now a boy-king, Cersei is his regent, and war is inevitable. In Dragonstone, Robert's brother Stannis has declared himself king, while his other brother Renly proclaims himself king at Storm's End -- and Eddard Stark's fifteen year old son Robb wears the crown of the north at Winterfell. A comet in the night sky, red and malevolent, the colour of blood and flame, can only be an omen of murder and war. Stannis's child Princess Shireen dreams of dragons waking from stone. And a white raven has brought word from the Citadel itself, foretelling summer's end. It has been the longest summer in living memory, lasting ten years, and the smallfolk say it means an even longer winter to come...The first rule of war is never give the enemy his wish. But winter will be the biggest enemy. From beyond the Wall the undead and Others clamour for freedom, and from beyond the sea the long-dead Dragon King's daughter hatches her revenge. Robb Stark will be exceedingly lucky to reach adulthood.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #1290 in Books
• Published on: 1999-10-04
• Original language: English
• Binding: Paperback
• 752 pages

Customer Reviews

Quality
If you've read A Game of Thrones (book 1 in the series), you'll know what to expect. Hard and uncomprimising prose like the world in which it's set. This is grown up fantasy for grown ups. There's no mincing elves or improbable wizards in these books. Just scheming lords, battle hardened knights, pampered aristocracy, etc. - all with realistic strengths and weaknesses. This second books ups the ante of the first. There's over 700 pages of dense text to keep you going and it's quite simply the best fantasy book I've read.

Rotten to the core...
If you want clean cut heroes, buy another book. Every character is more venomous than the last. You find yourself unwillingly fascinated by the depths of brutality and depravity that even the most amiable can reach. And for all that, I couldn't put the evil thing down. For every horror you suffer you're rewarded with a stroke of humanity that seems all the more poignant against the dark backdrop.

A Clash of Kings
This is the second book in the Song of Ice and Fire series, and it continues on almost directly from where A Game of Thrones left off. The character-specific chapter format continues in 'Kings, as it does in all the books so far, and the writing is immediately powerful, despite this second book beginning more slowly than 'Thrones.

Plot-wise, things become more involved and more active here, as we meet (through the eyes of others) important characters only referred to by name in the first book. The early chapters are rather slow, with the really powerful writing typically reserved for the last few pages of a character's chapter, but it is only really slow in comparison to the closing chapters of A Game of Thrones; thankfully, 'Kings has the same intoxicating, addictive page-turning quality of the first book, and past the initial chapters it once again becomes nigh impossible to put this book down.

A slower start gives way to increasingly exciting chapters as world-changing events continue to unfold, all set against the red comet that trails across the skies in Martin's world, with many a character claiming the comet as their own sign to encourage their ambitions... of course, readers will have their own ideas of whose comet it is. This theme is subtle (just as the fantasy's magical elements continue to be), but really gives a sense of continuation to the different characters' chapters, many of which are otherwise not directly related. As with the first book, this way of splitting up the book flows wonderfully and absolutely draws the reader in.

The writing is no less powerful than in the first book of the series, once past the slower beginning, and events really pick up pace and intensity here, as does Martin's writing. Some of the book's most powerful and imagination-capturing scenes are only equalled in any fantasy anywhere by later books in the Ice and Fire series. A Clash of Kings also gives the reader a better sense of the scope of the fantasy world (which is colossal), yet succeeds in maintaining the incredible characterisation and merciless plotting of the first book. It combines all of this with a few of the more fantastical elements of the world (those eagerly hoping for more monsters and magic will particularly savour John's chapters), and the writing itself never lapses into being merely good; it is always excellent.