A Clash of Kings - Review
A Clash of Kings (Book 2) expands upon Book 1 (A Game of
Thrones) and kicks the plot into high gear since a bulk of the setup
and introductions have already been covered in the 1st book. We get a
couple of new POV characters, we visit new places and deal with
intriguing politics while concluding with an epic battle. I'm changing
up the review format a little bit from Book 1. I'm going to break down
this review into 4 brief sections instead of 6. I got rid of the prose
section because they're mostly helpful for Book 1's of a series and the
rest of a book series usually has the same prose so I don't have much to
say now for that section. I've also combined the setting &
world-building sections together. This review will be non-spoilers and
the 4 sections are Characters, Plot, Setting/World-Building, &
Pacing. On to the review.
The characters continue to be really compelling. They have new journeys which were enticing to me and I was pleasantly satisfied with their arcs by the end of this book. The 2 new POV characters are Davos (already one of my faves) and Theon. Davos introduces us to a lot of new characters and importantly, King Stannis Baratheon and Melisandre. Theon goes back home to the Iron Islands and introduces us to his family which is a colorful cast of characters such as his uncles Victarion Greyjoy & Aeron Greyjoy, his sister Asha Greyjoy, and his lovely (sarcasm) father King Balon Greyjoy. There were plenty more characters being introduced but they all felt like fresh additions to the current cast and none of them felt wasted or one-dimensional.
My favorite POV characters continue to be Jon, Tyrion, & Daenerys but after reading this book, I also have to add Arya and Davos to that list. The Sansa chapters are much more interesting in this book, which was a negative in Book 1 for me. Catelyn is so much better in this book. I sympathize much more for her in this book because instead of focusing on the mysteries of Book 1 and her hatred for Jon Snow, we get to see her love for her children and how broken she is after _____'s death. I did a complete 180 on her from Book 1 to Book 2. She's also much more smarter than I thought she was in Book 1 (where she made some really stupid decisions).
Where as the plot of Book 1 (A Game of Thrones) focused on the Starks and a bit on the Lannisters, 'A Clash of Kings' expands the scope of the plot and it's a bloody free-for-all. It's the "War of the 5 Kings" and it's really interesting to see all the military strategies and political machinations throughout this book. Whereas as Book 1 focused on Eddard Stark, this book really focused on Tyrion Lannister, who is now my absolute favorite character after reading this book. I loved getting inside his head to see his schemes to hide Shae and bringing in his own sell-swords while also trying to get rid of the amount knights and small council members that are loyal to his sister, Cersei. He is also damn smart. I loved his idea for the chain and the winch towers and him working with the pyromancer in secret to get the Wildfire ready for the battle. His conversations with Varys especially show how smart Tyrion really is. The "Battle of the Blackwater" at the end was amazing and I felt like I went through a war myself.
As for the other side plots, I loved Catelyn's storyline in this book because we get to see more of Robb Stark (now King) and she's mentoring him really well. We get to see some great battles from her POV and we also get to learn about King Renly Baratheon and his camp through her eyes. I continue to love Jon Snow's storyline as well. We get a look at the WIldlings (the free folk) beyond the Wall and learn a bit more about the looming threat from the Prologue of Book 1. We get to visit new territory beyond the Wall such as the Skirling Pass, the Fist of the First Men & Craster's Keep. But most importantly, we learn more about Jon as a person. We learn about his morals, how much he values honor, some of his flaws and we find out some special things about his connection with his direwolf. Daenerys's storyline is still great and now.....DRAGONS!!!!!! She essentially loses everything at the end of Book 1 except for her 3 dragons, 3 bloodriders, and Jorah but it was an intriguing journey to see her travel from place to place trying to make political alliances, grow her army, and look for ships to conquer Westeros. I loved the overall main & side plots in Book 1 but this book somehow just raised the bar even higher.
We get a more in-depth look at the settings from Book 1, such as a more detailed layout of King's Landing. We also get to see some places beyond the Wall and it's as creepy as I thought it would be. The world-building continues to be fantastic in this book and we get an introduction to places such as Dragonstone, the Iron Islands, Storm's End, and we visit several new places in the Riverlands such as Riverrun, Harrenhal & God's Eye. I was really interested by Dragonstone because we heard so much about it in book 1 as it was Stannis's hideout and I really wanted to know what he was up to there so I'm glad we got to visit it. The Iron Islands was also awesome with it's architecture and we heard about "The Siege of Pyke" in Book 1 so when we got the descriptions of how the Iron Islands have basically shrunk a little and became a remnant of what it once was because of their past battles, it really gave the sense of realism and a lived in world. George R.R. Martin continues to give us little nuggets of the backstory and lore and I continue to drool all over it. I want more please, thanks.
The pacing in this book was much better than Book 1 and all the different POV chapters moved along fine. Some of the Sansa's chapters were a bit boring (though not as boring as Book 1) and the first couple of Arya chapters (where she was marching back North with Yoren) were a bit slow as well but it really picks up once she gets to Harrenhal.
'A Clash of Kings' greatly expands upon the 1st book in this series while continuing to ramp up the plot with fascinating battles, political machinations and character development. It gives us a few answers from Book 1 but it also opens up a ton of new questions for Book 3, so I'm expecting Book 3 to have a lot of revelations. I'm really excited to continue this series to see where the story goes and to find out where all these characters end up.
[Characters]:
The characters continue to be really compelling. They have new journeys which were enticing to me and I was pleasantly satisfied with their arcs by the end of this book. The 2 new POV characters are Davos (already one of my faves) and Theon. Davos introduces us to a lot of new characters and importantly, King Stannis Baratheon and Melisandre. Theon goes back home to the Iron Islands and introduces us to his family which is a colorful cast of characters such as his uncles Victarion Greyjoy & Aeron Greyjoy, his sister Asha Greyjoy, and his lovely (sarcasm) father King Balon Greyjoy. There were plenty more characters being introduced but they all felt like fresh additions to the current cast and none of them felt wasted or one-dimensional.
My favorite POV characters continue to be Jon, Tyrion, & Daenerys but after reading this book, I also have to add Arya and Davos to that list. The Sansa chapters are much more interesting in this book, which was a negative in Book 1 for me. Catelyn is so much better in this book. I sympathize much more for her in this book because instead of focusing on the mysteries of Book 1 and her hatred for Jon Snow, we get to see her love for her children and how broken she is after _____'s death. I did a complete 180 on her from Book 1 to Book 2. She's also much more smarter than I thought she was in Book 1 (where she made some really stupid decisions).
Favorite POV Characters - Tyrion, Jon, Arya, & Daenerys.
Image: Tyrion Lannister.
[Plot]:
[Plot]:
Where as the plot of Book 1 (A Game of Thrones) focused on the Starks and a bit on the Lannisters, 'A Clash of Kings' expands the scope of the plot and it's a bloody free-for-all. It's the "War of the 5 Kings" and it's really interesting to see all the military strategies and political machinations throughout this book. Whereas as Book 1 focused on Eddard Stark, this book really focused on Tyrion Lannister, who is now my absolute favorite character after reading this book. I loved getting inside his head to see his schemes to hide Shae and bringing in his own sell-swords while also trying to get rid of the amount knights and small council members that are loyal to his sister, Cersei. He is also damn smart. I loved his idea for the chain and the winch towers and him working with the pyromancer in secret to get the Wildfire ready for the battle. His conversations with Varys especially show how smart Tyrion really is. The "Battle of the Blackwater" at the end was amazing and I felt like I went through a war myself.
As for the other side plots, I loved Catelyn's storyline in this book because we get to see more of Robb Stark (now King) and she's mentoring him really well. We get to see some great battles from her POV and we also get to learn about King Renly Baratheon and his camp through her eyes. I continue to love Jon Snow's storyline as well. We get a look at the WIldlings (the free folk) beyond the Wall and learn a bit more about the looming threat from the Prologue of Book 1. We get to visit new territory beyond the Wall such as the Skirling Pass, the Fist of the First Men & Craster's Keep. But most importantly, we learn more about Jon as a person. We learn about his morals, how much he values honor, some of his flaws and we find out some special things about his connection with his direwolf. Daenerys's storyline is still great and now.....DRAGONS!!!!!! She essentially loses everything at the end of Book 1 except for her 3 dragons, 3 bloodriders, and Jorah but it was an intriguing journey to see her travel from place to place trying to make political alliances, grow her army, and look for ships to conquer Westeros. I loved the overall main & side plots in Book 1 but this book somehow just raised the bar even higher.
Favorite Storylines - Tyrion, Jon, Catelyn, & Daenerys.
Image: The Wall.
[Setting/World-Building]:
[Setting/World-Building]:
We get a more in-depth look at the settings from Book 1, such as a more detailed layout of King's Landing. We also get to see some places beyond the Wall and it's as creepy as I thought it would be. The world-building continues to be fantastic in this book and we get an introduction to places such as Dragonstone, the Iron Islands, Storm's End, and we visit several new places in the Riverlands such as Riverrun, Harrenhal & God's Eye. I was really interested by Dragonstone because we heard so much about it in book 1 as it was Stannis's hideout and I really wanted to know what he was up to there so I'm glad we got to visit it. The Iron Islands was also awesome with it's architecture and we heard about "The Siege of Pyke" in Book 1 so when we got the descriptions of how the Iron Islands have basically shrunk a little and became a remnant of what it once was because of their past battles, it really gave the sense of realism and a lived in world. George R.R. Martin continues to give us little nuggets of the backstory and lore and I continue to drool all over it. I want more please, thanks.
[Pacing]:
The pacing in this book was much better than Book 1 and all the different POV chapters moved along fine. Some of the Sansa's chapters were a bit boring (though not as boring as Book 1) and the first couple of Arya chapters (where she was marching back North with Yoren) were a bit slow as well but it really picks up once she gets to Harrenhal.
Image: Harrenhal.
[Final Thoughts & Rating]:
[Final Thoughts & Rating]:
'A Clash of Kings' greatly expands upon the 1st book in this series while continuing to ramp up the plot with fascinating battles, political machinations and character development. It gives us a few answers from Book 1 but it also opens up a ton of new questions for Book 3, so I'm expecting Book 3 to have a lot of revelations. I'm really excited to continue this series to see where the story goes and to find out where all these characters end up.
Rating: 9.25/10
*My Rating System*
5 Stars (9-10): Amazing
4 Stars (7-9): Very Good
3 Stars (5-7): Average to Good
2 Stars (3-5): Bad to Mediocre
1 Star (1-3): Terrible
5 Stars (9-10): Amazing
4 Stars (7-9): Very Good
3 Stars (5-7): Average to Good
2 Stars (3-5): Bad to Mediocre
1 Star (1-3): Terrible
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