A Clash of Kings

A Clash of Kings is the sequel to A Game of Thrones (seeMadProfessah's review) in George R. R. Martin's A Song of Ice and Fire award-winning fantasy series. The first book has been adapted to the source material for HBO's first season of its televised adaptation called Game of Thrones (which debuted Sunday April 17th.)

A Clash of Kings is an astonishing achievement. It is a gigantic book, chock full of battles, betrayals and brutalities. The main plot of the story is "The War of the Five Kings." With King Robert Barratheon dead, there are five men claiming the Iron Throne: Joffrey Baratheon, the teenaged son of his Queen, the evil Cersei Lannister; Renly Baratheon, Robert's handsome younger brother; Stannis Baratheon, Robert's sternolder brother; Robb Stark, son of Lord Eddard Stark of Winterfell and self-proclaimed King of the North; and Balon Greyjoy, who has declared himself King of the Iron Islands.

The story in A Clash of Kings follows immediately the events at the end of A Game of Thrones. Events are told from the perspectives of each of several characters, both familiar and new. Many of our favorites from the first book, such as Tyrion Lannister, Jon Snow, Arya Stark, Daenerys Targaryen and Catelyn Stark return with chapters of their own. Of course, there are also chapters told from the perspective of new characters such as Davos Seaworth (who is in the employ of Stannis Baratheon) and Theon Greyjoy (son of Balon Greyjoy who grew up with the Stark children at Winterfell). Additionally, Arya's sister Sansa Stark has some chapters devoted to her perspective as well which make her a far less annoying character than she appeared to be in the first book.

Martin is pretty ruthless with the fates of his characters. One never knows who will survive, even if they are a character who has a chapter named after them. This feature of the book greatly increases the level of suspense for the reader and the emotional impact of the story on the reader.

Martin's A Song of Ice and Fire is truly one of the great masterpieces of speculative fiction, a sprawling, messy, detailed work of art which will delight and despair readers for decades.

Title: A Clash of Kings
Author: George R. R. Martin
Length: 784 pages.
Publisher: Bantam
Date: May 28, 2002.

OVERALL GRADE: A (4.0/4.0)

PLOT: A+
IMAGERY: A
IMPACT: A
WRITING: A-