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Dec 05, 2011

Melissa rated it:

It was right about at the beginning of George R. R. Martin’s A Clash of Kings, the second book in his A Song of Ice and Fire series, that I admitted to myself that I wanted to quit my job and everything else in my life so I could stay home and read all day. I resisted the urge. I’m still not quite sure if I made the right decision.

You think you know someone, and then you read the second book about her. (Or him. Though, for the most part, the changes of the hers were more exciting More...

5 comments like (62 people liked it)

Dec 05, 2011

Cassy rated it:

This isn’t going to be a cutesy review. I am well into the third book. I fear that if I don’t blurt out my thoughts about this one soon, then all the books in the series are going to meld together in my memory. Here are my three main impressions:

1. Bleak, dreary, and dismal

Don’t expect any happiness in this book. Martin is merciless with his characters. And if you do see a bright light, don’t trust it. One character learned she won’t have to marry an abusive, horrible guy More...

22 comments like (52 people liked it)

Dec 05, 2011

Ben rated it:

N.B.: When it comes to spoilers, I'm going to be talking rather liberally about the events of A Game of Thrones, so if you have not read the first book and want to remain spoiler free, stop reading now. I have avoided major spoilers for this book.

Suddenly everyone and his butler wants to be king!

In A Game of Thrones, we had the distinct pleasure of watching a kingdom fall apart as various individuals and their families jockeyed for positions of power. With A Clash of King More...

8 comments like (30 people liked it)

Jul 14, 2011

mark rated it:

Everyone seems to agree that George R.R. Martin and A Song of Ice and Fire are titans in the genre of Epic Fantasy. True, true.

Everyone also seems to agree that the best characters are Tyrion, Arya, and Jon Snow. They are indeed wondrous characters. They are heroes. They fail many times, but in a way they are infallible: they are so incredibly sympathetic, they are always trying to do the right thing, they have kindness & empathy & bravery & loyalty. In fact nearly every voice in th More...

15 comments like (65 people liked it)

Nov 21, 2011

Ryan rated it:

While reading A Clash of Kings for the second time, it struck me that George R.R. Martin makes writing fantasy seem insultingly effortless. At first glance, it seems like Martin hardly bothers to do more than sketch his characters, yet they become legends so quickly.

For example, Quorin Halfhand is a brother in the Night's Watch. He eats an egg and has perhaps five lines, but he is a character that readers will find difficult to forget. Why is he called "halfhand?" Well, he More...

13 comments like (17 people liked it)

Dec 05, 2011

Becky rated it:

I know what you're thinking... "Only 4 stars??!" Yeah. I shall tell you why.

First, because getting to the halfway mark of this book took me 11 days. In my edition, which was 807 pages of book, that's about 400 pages. I read more than half that just today, so 11 days is a LONG time for me to get into a story.

Secondly, because so much of this book felt like set up and maneuverings and I was ready for stuff to happen! A Game of Thrones had me on the edge of my s More...

3 comments like (17 people liked it)

Jun 21, 2011

Matt rated it:

It’s been a long time since I’ve read a series of books. When I was a kid, my dad read The Hardy Boys before my brother and I went to sleep. That was a nice bedtime ritual; so nice we never had the heart to tell him The Hardy Boys sucked. A little bit later on, I worked my way through The Berenstain Bears, which taught me not to watch too much T.V., get greedy, or talk to strangers. Oddly enough, it taught me to trust bears, which is probably not the best message to impart to an impressionable c More...

8 comments like (33 people liked it)

Dec 05, 2011

Rad Ryan rated it:

Color filled each hall. Rainbow owns each character. Mr. Martin's writing style is rich with hue. And yet some words are meant to kill, sharp as a Valyrian steel.

People's game of thrones is finish but it came with a price. Shit rained in Westeros. Sudden "KINGS" had risen and all they want is to sit in the uncomfortable Iron Throne. Which is lame, as King Robert I said so, "pretty boring".

Tyrion Lannister the Imp became one of my fave character(after s More...

11 comments like (6 people liked it)

Nov 19, 2007

Jennifer rated it:

Those of you who remember my review of A Game of Thrones will remember that I recommended it with misgivings, mostly having to due with some personal issues and especially because of the way women were portrayed in the book.

Many MANY people, not the least of which is the guy I'm married to, asked me to give the second book a shot, that Martin's portrayal of women has a purpose, and that I would understand *WHY* if I got through the second book.

Unfortunately, about 10 or so c More...

17 comments like (19 people liked it)

Dec 05, 2011

Lina rated it:

I.NEED.MORE.NOW.

Why is this series so good? I mean seriously, why? It started off kind of dry and a little dense at parts, but once I start reading it BAM. My mind is completely enthralled into this world. There is so much character growth and development for all these characters who we have gotten to know in the last book. Some have died, some have been tortured and those who are alive may not be there for very long. I think that's why I love about these books. Once I think I know whe More...

0 comments like (6 people liked it)

Jul 05, 2011

Sonya rated it:

The second installment in this series gets off to a slow start. There are 4 kings in the kingdom and it takes quite a while before the story gets to the eventual battles as they fight to be the last man standing. As with the previous book, we don’t really have a conclusion to the story – some die and others live to fight another day.

This is a great epic story, really it is, but some things about George Martin’s writing style really bothered me this time around. I don’t like how wo More...

8 comments like (6 people liked it)

Sep 22, 2011

Jessi rated it:

Yep, I'm loving this series I think I liked "A Clash of Kings" more then AGoT. It was so exciting and everyones got an agenda and everyone is fucking everyone else over, it is unreal! How have I never read these books? I read Twilight before these? How can this happen? What is this world?
Two quick points that have come to my attention,we need some Old God / Godswoods cause those sound awsome. Also it seems to me that there is an abundance of wine(this has Jessi written all over More...

15 comments like (8 people liked it)

Dec 05, 2011

AH rated it:

EPIC!

A Clash of Kings started off slowly for me. The prologue was extremely long and included more new characters (to add to the cast of hundreds). The events of the previous book have led Stannis Baratheon to plot his quest for the crown.

In the sky, a red comet heralds things to come. Each side uses the sighting of the comet to predict their ascent to the throne. You can be assured that there are way too many kings and that situation can’t last long. There will be blood More...

27 comments like (4 people liked it)

Aug 25, 2010

John rated it:

If long Fantasy stories have fundamental rules, they probably go like this: 1) create a rich world, 2) put interesting characters in it, and 3) mix up some sequence of interesting things happening around them, happening to them, and being done by them. Martin’s first novel in this series, A Game of Thrones, fulfilled all three swimmingly. He forged one of the deepest Fantasy realms since Tolkien, with a mythology, culture and history. He spun characters of a few key families and then scattering More...

11 comments like (34 people liked it)

Dec 13, 2011

Ben rated it:

"Those not typically into this genre may find something to like here." This is where those people get off.

A Clash of Kings is A Game of Thrones x2. More names, more political intrigue, more feasts, more descriptions of armor, more, more, more. Unfortunately the "more" is where this volume falls short. Everything, barring the political intrigue, from the first book is taken too far.

The superfluous naming goes from amusing (now we get to know the names More...

1 comment like (4 people liked it)

Dec 05, 2011

Lucky rated it:

This review is for the first four books in George R.R. Martin's "Song of Ice and Fire". It is written as a single review because the "Song of Ice and Fire" feels like a single story, rather then multiple books.

Pros:
1. The writing is excellent, Martin is able to make a person lose themselves in the story. His use of descriptions and phrases is great, coupled with his ability to describe both violence and sexual situations. Unlike many other authors, he doesn' More...

0 comments like (3 people liked it)

Jun 28, 2011

Alex rated it:

The world of Westeros is changing, but winter is still coming. The once proud king Robert Baratheon is no longer and what comes to be known as the War of the Five Kings is the new reality. In George R. R. Martin’s second installment of the Song of Ice and Fire series – giving a whole new meaning to the term “epic” – the stage becomes ever larger, as he seems to become somewhat lost in his characters and their depths and complexities. At times readers might be wondering why they are being serv More...

0 comments like (3 people liked it)

Dec 05, 2011

Vicky rated it:

Rating: 4.5
(Only because everything I dreaded happened.)

I don't even....

My relationship towards this book can only be describe as: love-hate. Mr. Martin is an evil man, even when horrible things were happening he made me enjoyed the book & keep on reading. His writing goes on so smoothly making you cherish each line. He is an evil mastermind.

I can honestly say he created a great sequel. There are the same characters with new revelations and new ones with More...

2 comments like (3 people liked it)

Dec 25, 2011

H. rated it:

The first 300 or so pages of this were SUCH a slog that I put it down and walked away a few times. I know I can't be the only one who will occasionally flip ahead to see whose chapters are coming (I want the Tyrion, Arya, Jon, and Daenerys chapters), and Theon chapters just about broke me, BUT: Right around page 380 something happens that is so sudden and unexpected, it lights the rest of the book ON FIRE. It's a rollicking read from that moment on, but you definitely have to get past those firs More...

1 comment like (3 people liked it)

Sep 09, 2011

Shovelmonkey1 rated it:

Isn’t it frequently the case that the sequel is never as good as the first? The first album is always followed by the prolonged wait for the “difficult second album”, a film sequel is often just a money-spinning lack lustre version of the first (don’t even get me started on the pitfalls of the cinematic trilogy) and frequently the second part of a promising story is just a lumpen, ill formed thing forever doomed to skulk in the shadow of its bigger, bolder and better formed older sibling.

More...

8 comments like (10 people liked it)

Dec 05, 2011

Heather rated it:

Last year, my boyfriend, Nick, and I read the first book in A Song of Ice & Fire series, A Game of Thrones, together over the course of several months. We started this second book back in early summer of 2010, but then with moving and everything I think it was November before we finished it. Plus it’s over 1,000 pages, so finding time to read that much together takes a little work. I thought it was only fitting that Nick have a little bit of say in this review as well, so there will be asides th More...

0 comments like (2 people liked it)

Dec 05, 2011

Victoria rated it:

Warning: Minor references to character plots, but no major plot-points discussed.

The first time I read "A Clash of Kings" was a rather hasty affair; at the end of "A Game of Thrones" I so desperately wanted to know what happened next that it would seem I raced through "Clash" to get to "A Storm of Swords." As such, for the longest time I only had the vaguest impressions of the second in George R.R. Martin's A Song of Ice and Fire Series: Good, More...

0 comments like (2 people liked it)

Dec 05, 2011

Jim rated it:

A Clash of Kings by author George R.R. Martin is the sequel of the fantasy epic A Game of Thrones and continues the story where its predecessor left off.

The Seven Kingdoms have erupted in anarchy with the death of their king, Robert Baratheon. The various lords of the kingdom have gone to war to each lay their claim on the throne, each one believing that his claim is better than the next. Robb Stark, son of Eddard, and self-proclaimed King of the North, wages war in the West agains More...

0 comments like (2 people liked it)

Dec 05, 2011

Noah rated it:

While it has a few issues that didn't affect the first book so much, A Clash of Kings is a mostly worthy follow up to A Game of Thrones. Perhaps it is the lack of fresh eyed wonderment felt when introduced to the world and characters in the first book, but this one had moments that were a bit trying. The biggest problem I would point to would be the early Bran chapters. There are far to many of these towards the first half of the book, and mainly consist of Bran whining about not being a knight. More...

0 comments like (3 people liked it)

Mar 03, 2008

Kim rated it:

Wow. This took me a month or so to read and that's actually quite a bit of time since this voracious reading funk has come upon me. Book 2 in the Song of Ice and Fire. Still don't know what the song is, after about 1500 pages they haven't gotten around to explaining that, but at least it was referred to in this one.
So, 1500 pages, huh? yep. And I'm still truckin'. As far as I know there are 2 more books with another one coming out soon. There is a whole GR group dedicated to this More...

2 comments like (3 people liked it)

Dec 17, 2009

Guy rated it:

Simply put, the entire Song of Ice and Fire series is my favorite (topping even my beloved Gaiman). I fell in love with the series and I obsess about it in the way that some people obsess about Tolkein or Harry Potter.

In my mind, it's the best epic fantasy since Tolkein. Like Tolkein, Martin creates a real world with an extensive history filled with its own languages and cultures and songs. Tolkein's world is high fantasy with elves and magic and even the main characters aren't huma More...

2 comments like (8 people liked it)

Dec 16, 2009

Duncan rated it:

(Review applicable to entire series.)

George R.R. Martin's "Song of Ice and Fire" series is still a work in progress after eleven years and four installments; I came to it late, so I read the first four back-to-back, and now I have to play the waiting game. Part of what's frustrating about reading them spread out over many years is that it's going to be virtually impossible to remember what's happened up to now when I finally get to the next one--there are so many damn subpl More...

0 comments like (7 people liked it)

Dec 05, 2011

Brittany rated it:

Clash of Kings continues and deepens the plots set up by A Game of Thrones. We lost Eddard Stark as a point-of-view character, but gained Ser Davos Seaworth (called "The Onion Knight," which I loved), a knight belonging to Stannis Baratheon, and Theon Greyjoy. Davos gives us fascinating insight to the developments on Stannis's end, and his change in religion, and Theon gives us a delightful scene, followed by a lot of being disappointed in Theon. Martin's good this way. Even when you d More...

0 comments like (2 people liked it)

Dec 05, 2011

Crystal rated it:

Look, if you like sci-fi/fantasy, if you've dabbled in the EPIC fantasy, you're going to like this series.

If you're interested in elevated prose, pseudo-Tolkien, and equal rights for women (I am, but I'm a pragmatist, since epic fantasies intentionally evoke the Middle Ages. Trust me, Martin has a MUCH more modern view while still paying homage to the period and its social structure), then don't bother reading it.

If you do, however, enjoy epic fantasy that creates CHARACTER, More...

1 comment like (3 people liked it)

Jan 30, 2012

Carly rated it:

This is the second book in the series and picks up straight after the other. A little slow paced at the start but really picks up pace. It took me quite a long time to read this book but it was well worth it. I am still trying to get to grips with all the names and places as there is alot going on. The characters are fantastic and have developed a great deal more in this book. I still think it's great that each chapter is from another characters POV, or it would probably become boring for such a More...

0 comments like (2 people liked it)

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