A Clash of Kings (A Song of Ice and Fire #2) -- K.D. and Lynai, Start Date: June 13 (Wednesday) to June 30

[Lynai]

Start: June 13 (Wednesday)
End: June 30 (God help us. This is a chunkster of a book, haha)

Reading pace: at least 53 pages/day

Anybody is welcome to join us. :)

[K.D.]

Yay! I now have no choice but to buy this book today. Timely, since we will be going to The Block this afternoon. I still have time to cover the book! :) Good luck to us.

[Lynai]

Yes, K.D., good luck indeed! I'm already in page 272 (after like a month haha) so in the meantime I'll watch the Season 1 HBO series to wait up for you. :)

If you get to read the average 53 oages/day, (that is, if you buy the mass market paperback) you will catch up with me after days. But knowing you for a speed reader, you might be able to reach page 272 for less than 5 days. ;)

[K.D.]

Hahaha. Kaso yesterday, I was not able to pass by FB nor NBS! Lumabas kami, tapos doon lang ako sa side ng BS napunta because the car park was full to the brim! Then dinner. No time to go to the other side of SM City North to buy kasi may telecon pa ako ng 9-10 p.m.

Mamaya, I'll go out to buy. I'll make this my "before-bedtime" read while having the 4 last parts of "The Executioner's Song" as my "upon-waking-up" read. Starting Monday, "Monte-Cristo" ang papalit sa "Executioner's."

Reason why I want to read this?

I'd like to see how close it is to LOTR. I liked Book 1 but not really something that made me jump up and down. It was not great; only good. :)

[Maria]

gosh, pass muna ako!!! gigantic din ung copy ko, ung trade paperback. :(

[K.D.]

Maria, that's okay :)

[Maria]

sayang lang, KD :( kaso may Deadline at Pathfinder pa ko na kailangang tapusin this June.

[K.D.]

Sige, tapusin mo na muna sila. Baka sila magalit sa yo hak hak.

[Maria]

baka magalit c Rollie (Pathfinder owner) at JL (next in line borrower) sa akin, 2 months na kasi na akin to. wahaha!

but if i can't help myself, i will read 1 chapter a day pagtapos ko ng LOTR reread. LOL

[Lynai]

MARIA: Cge unahin mo na muna yung scheduled buddies mo. But it would've been more fun if you get to join us.

K.D. I like Book 1 in a way that I want to jump up and down. Nagalingan (tama ba Tagalog ko?) ako kay Mr. Martin for being able to pull a story through with so many characters. I'm watching the HBO series. Episode 3 na ako and so far I like it that it is a very close adaptation of the book. Uncomfortable lang talaga ako sa mga nudities and sex scenes. O sya, ako na ang prude. Haha!

Let me know when you've already started Book 2 ha. I want to ask some questions eh. Hehe. :)

[K.D.]

Lynai: Di pa rin ako nakabili kahapon. My daughter had an accident so I had to rush to the university and pick her up. We all stayed in the hospital up to 11:30pm (grabe). I texted Ranee na para tulungang mapadali ang process sa hospital.

Baka mamaya, I'll drop by sa NBS kung may time. :) Just hold on. I will make habol.

[K.D.]

Yes, I bought this last night. Nag-effort pa ako to drop by sa NBS E. Rod.


Day 1 - Prologue p. 18

I started reading past 9pm and it bored me. I think the problem was that I could not recall the names. I still remember some like Joffrey Baratheon (who was this cruel young man who ordered the killing of the good man who has a daughter that Joffrey loves), Queen Cersei (the one who had sex on top of the tower, the boy saw it and he fell down), Tyrion Lannister (this is the midget), Robb Stark (this is the anak-sa-labas son who volunteered to watch the wall where there are ghosts or something).

I also remember the Stark family.

But... I cannot remember Cressen, Pylos, Ser Davos, Renly Baratheon (is this the gay guy?), and Lord Stannis Baratheon (was the the king who was the friend of the father of the Stark children?). Who are these people? There is also an ugly girl here that is described to have a dead face (?) but I forgot her name. Who is she? There seems to be a talking bird here with a name but it also escaped me right away while reading. I cannot recall their names now because they characters seem not to be important at all. Nag-noise barrage lang ang ibon.

I am also having a hard time understanding Martin's writing. I don't know. I thought the opening of A Game of Thrones (AGOT) is easier to understand. I remember reading about the puppies and I thought it was very cute for a beginning chapter. But this one? Nah. There is the old Cressen being helped by the 23-y/o Pylos to go to Stannis place in the tower or palace. There, di ko ma-follow ang scene kasi it is difficult to understand. Martin has this style that he does not take time telling his reader the setting. He banks more on the dialogues and the physical description of the characters like the arthritis, broken hip and everything. Sana he allots space to describe where the characters are standing, the weather and the scene outside. Most importantly, sana there is an intro. This is Prologue but I cannot remember reading about most of these characters. Whaddahekk!
:(

So, after an hour, I finished only up to page 18. Then I shifted to


by Frances Hogdson Burnett

Mabuti pa ito. Mabilis intindihin. Grrr. TFG 100 pa. Whoever voted for this have very good taste on books.

Itutuloy ko pa ba? Ewan. Parang waste of money at time ang A Clash of Kings (ACOK).

[Lynai]

Haha! Have you checked the Appendix at the end of the book? Maybe it would help you recall some of the names. And oh, Robb Stark is the eldest son of Ned Stark who was the Hand of the King and ordered killed by Prince Joffrey. Jon Snow is the name of Stark's bastard who went to the Wall.

I also have difficulties recalling the new characters introduced in this book but somehow I just kept trudging on (parang Jellicoe Road lang, na hindi ko matapos-tapos haha). I find ACOK a little slow-paced compared to GOT the reason why I made a call for buddy reads. But you know what, K.D., I am still determined to finish this. I still believe there will be an amazing conclusion to this somewhat uninteresting premise. :D

[K.D.]

Ah, well. I'll give it another try. Sayang naman ang pera ko hak hak. I'll let you know how I progress. :) Maybe some Googling will do for me to recall the names of the characters in AGOT. I want to see the dragon lady! I was expecting last night na yong last scene ng AGOT with that awesome sexy lady will be the opening of ACOK. Where is she?

[Lynai]

Daenerys is on her way to the Seven Kingdoms, K.D.! And I am rooting for her!

Yes, do please give it another try. I have this gut feeling that the pace will pick up halfway through and that the "boring" and uninteresting characters and scenes will have their own bearings at the end. ;)

[K.D.]

I tried again to read last night and I got sleepy after 2 pages.

Day 2 - Prologue p. 20

Okay I just saw the names of Robb and some other familiar characters but I just dozed off. zzzz

Too tired on a Friday night. Maybe tonight.

[Lynai]

Haha. Keep going, K.D. Maybe you will be perked up again when you reach the part of Daenerys. ;)

[K.D.]

Ay oo. I love her! :)

[Lynai]

Hey K.D. are you still up to reading this? Because if not, I am okay with proceeding all alone, albeit a little lonely and sad. Haha! :))

[K.D.]

Proceed alone na. I will catch up. Promise :)

[Lynai]

K.D. wrote: "Proceed alone na. I will catch up. Promise :)"

Haha! Okay then. I'm already dying of curiosity about the rest of the book. I'm still on episode 5 of Season 1 of the series. :D

[Lynai]

I've decided to go on alone since KD has lost interest in it, haha. I'm already on the Chapter on Catelyn. Yes, you are welcome to drop by anytime. Maybe we can influence KD to resume reading. ;)

[K.D.]

I am reading this now and I am progressing well but I am not sure there is anything to discuss. It seems like a straightforward story.

[Lynai]

K.D. wrote: "I am reading this now and I am progressing well but I am not sure there is anything to discuss. It seems like a straightforward story."

I think so too. Hinihintay ko na lang na all out war na talaga. (view spoiler)[But I sense a love story angle between Arya and King Robert's bastard, Gendry (hide spoiler)].

[Lynai]

LS: I am more cautious with my attachments to the characters now. I have learned my lesson in the first book. I took a peek at the last chapters (hihi), and (view spoiler)[parang may sad na mangyayari kay Tyrion. (hide spoiler)]

[K.D.]

Dami lang characters kasi LS. Hirap tandaan. Tapos the book is character-driven. Pansinin mo, wala ka halos makuhang maganda-gandang quote.

Maganda naman yong concept ng iba't ibang kingdoms tapos nagpapatayan ang mga kings. Pero di na bago yong concept. Kahit noong bata pa ako, ganyan na yong mga drama sa radyo na pinapakinggan ko. Ganyan din noong WWII. Germany, Japan, Italy at iba pang European countries na sumakop ng mga colonies nila sa Asia at Africa. So, parang walang bago. I'd rather read more about history. Totoo pa.

Then I think Martin wrote this for TV series. Sobrang jampacked ng action at yon nga, sabi mo, huwag maging attached sa character kasi di mo alam, biglang pupugutan ng ulo o matatamaan ng pana or matataga hak hak. Eh fictional characters naman lahat at wala akong makitang pagbibigyan ng emotional investment (except the Stark children esp Arya, Bran and Sansa) so keri na rin hak hak.