The second novel of Martin's titanic Song of Ice and Fire saga (A Game of Thrones, 1996) begins with Princess Arya Stark fleeing her dead father's capital of King's Landing, disguised as a boy. [...] In between [the beginning and the end], her actions map the further course of a truly epic fantasy set in a world bedecked with 8000 years of history, beset by an imminent winter that will last 10 years and bedazzled by swords and spells wielded to devastating effect by the scrupulous and unscrupulous alike. Standout characters besides Arya include Queen Cersei, so lacking in morals that she becomes almost pitiable; the queen's brother, the relentlessly ingenious dwarf Tyrion Lannister; and Arya's brother, Prince Brandon, crippled except when he runs with the wolves in his dreams. The novel is notable particularly for the lived-in quality of its world, created through abundant detail that dramatically increases narrative length even as it aids suspension of disbelief; for the comparatively modest role of magic (although with one ambitious young woman raising a trio of dragons, that may change in future volumes)... Martin may not rival Tolkien or Robert Jordan, but he ranks with such accomplished medievalists of fantasy as Poul Anderson and Gordon Dickson. Here, he provides a banquet for fantasy lovers with large appetites—and this is only the second course of a repast with no end in sight.
Author: George R. R. Martin
Series: A Song of Ice and Fire
Genre: Fantasy
Publisher: Bantam; First Edition edition (February 2, 1999)
Media type: Hardcover, Paperback, Kindle, Audio Book
Pages: 768 pages
ISBN-13: 978-0553108033
Followed by: A Storm of Swords
Preceded by: A Game of Thrones
Publication date: November 1998
Reviews
Hardcore Action, Hardcore Fantasy. No One Does it Better
During one of those endless nights when I just couldn't put Clash of Kings down, I wondered: "Why aren't there more books like this?" George Martin has created one of those most deeply involving and satisfying series out there. In only two books, he has crafted real characters involved in the horrors of war. Many of the reviews below accurately describe the way that Martin creates characters of grey, rather than comic book black and whites. Many of the scenes in the book fit well with dark and somber lighting. This is not your daddy's fantasy novel.
Martin's characters bring a more realistic spin on knighthood and war. Cersei describes it best to young Sansa when she destroys the young girl's romantic view of knights by remarking that knights are for killing, nothing more or less. And kill they do. The battle scenes are raw and unglamorous, like the opening scene from Saving Private Ryan. Its all very realistic and gritty and heck, it makes sense: what do you really think happens when a not-so-sharp sword is swung haphazardly at another person: I've never seen it firsthand, but I'm sure its not pretty. It may be an oxymoron to claim that a fantasy book can be realistic, but this series is: after seeing the battle scenes in Braveheart or Gladiator, I have a deeper understanding of the horrors of sword fighting in, say, the medieval times in English history. Martin's story is realistic in the sense that it doesn't gloss over the horror and pain and terror of battles and the rage of the people who fight them.
Martin's series is a hardcore fantasy adventure for adults. While other authors cater predominately to a younger fantasy audience, Martin seems to write for the "college and beyond" crowd (at 31, I'm well beyond). Sex scenes, like the battles, are not glamorous in the least. Whereas characters in Robert Jordan's Wheel of Time series constantly blush and stumble at the very thought of even kissing a girl, Martin's characters think lewd thoughts, perform graphic sex scenes, etc. Yes, its not for all ages, or for every taste, but for those of us who are tired of the same old antiseptic stuff, Martin is a mature breathe of fresh air.
Meanwhile, he continues to awe me with his story telling. The different kings are now in open conflict with each other. Whereas Game of Thrones focused on the Starks v. the Lannisters, in this installment, it seems as if the entire land is in termoil, with no less than six kings fighting each other and attacking each other. The battles are terrific, including the climactic battle. (no spoilers here)
One other note I feel compelled to make is that Martin has created strong and independant female characters in his series. People might assume, based on the reviews, that this is a male-dominated story. Nothing could be further from the truth. Martin spends as much time writing about the female characters (Sansa, Arya, Catelyn Stark) as the male characters, and the female characters rule (i.e. Cersei) and fight battles (I won't reveal any specifics on this point except to say that Martin introduces two female warriors.)
Martin has created a real world, with all the vices of our own, and given all his characters life. Here's hoping that other writers take note.
- by Andres R. Guevara
This is the second book of The Song of Ice and Fire, Martin's giant fantasy series. The books are not self-contained; they're parts of one giant story, carrying plots, characters, and setup between books. Not only do you not want to read this one before A Game of Thrones, you ideally want to have read A Game of Thrones fairly recently so that you remember all of the plot complexity. Martin avoids any extended recaps, which is quite nice when reading the series but might be confusing if you're coming back to it after a while.
My reaction after the first book is even stronger with this one. Martin's story is slow, complex, and sprawling. It's a treat for those who love detailed plotting, intrigue, and political manuevering. Martin gives the politics enough time to develop, shows many of the details, and treats the reader to many camera angles. The primary drawback, though, is that many of the viewpoint characters just aren't interesting.
Last time, Dany, Arya, and Tyrion were the best characters. A Clash of Kings doesn't change that, and if anything their separation from the rest of the pack becomes more noticable. Jon's story bogs down in an slog through the cold wild north of the Wall, and while I'm sure the people he meets and the things he discovers there are going to be important, they weren't exciting to read about. Catelyn, Sansa, and the newly introduced Davos exist mostly to show additional camera angles on the action and get little characterization of their own (although at least Sansa becomes merely pathetic instead of actively infuriating). Theon (another new viewpoint character) is an idiot. Bran's story develops in some mildly interesting ways, but he spends rather too much time feeling sorry for himself and not enough time exploring the implications of his abilities.
That leaves the three best characters, and they're still a lot of fun. Tyrion is probably the best of this volume, particularly when he starts standing up to and manipulating some of the eviler members of his family. Through the first part of the book, while Arya is on the run and acting more like a typical young girl and Dany is hardly seen at all, I was reading the book mostly for the next Tyrion chapter. His scarcasm was a breath of fresh air.
Arya goes through a rough spot for interest at the beginning of the book, but then eventually gets her feet under her again, meets a fascinating character with his own special powers, and becomes an active part of the plot (finally). When Arya is using her training and acting the most adult, she's my favorite character in the book. She spends a lot of time acting like a young girl, though, and those parts aren't as interesting.
Dany seems to be having the most dramatic effect on the structure of the world, but doesn't get that much screen time (and a lot of that time is rather boring). Her adventures are still in a far different part of the world than everyone else, but it's through her that more magic is coming back into the world. This is never stated outright, but it's becoming obvious as of this book: this series will be more of a fantasy and less of a faux-historical intrigue as the series goes on. Martin is taking the Tolkien approach to magic rather than the D&D approach to magic, keeping it wonderous, unexplained, and mostly found in the form of strange creatures and places of power. That's good to see. Despite the structural similarities (including the over-long novel installments), Martin is trying to keep away from the cliches of epic fantasy and keep matters on a more gritty, if not quite realistic, level.
That being said, I didn't enjoy this book as much as the last, and despite the intricate plotting, I was quite disappointed in the ending. It lacks the thrill and triumph as the end of A Game of Thrones; in fact, there is barely a climax. Much of the last quarter is a recounting of a confused battle and I don't find detailed accounts of faux-medieval combat interesting.
Martin is, admirably, avoiding the standard coming-of-age, growing-power plot structure normally found in fantasy. (There are both coming-of-age stories and growing power, to be sure, but both are just threads of plot, not the center of the tapestry.) Characters either don't gain new abilities or gain them only slowly, and the good guys often lose. This opens the door for a more complex and original work, but it also means that the emotional resonances and dramatic tension that stock fantasy taps into aren't available.
This puts the weight of the story on the details of political intrigue and the interactions between the characters. Martin keeps the story lucid and well-paced, but I often don't find his characters up to the task of carrying my interest. I want more to happen, or more accurately more of true significance rather than a slow building block to a payoff 500 pages later or in the next volume. I also want more to happen to the characters I care about and fewer characters who are little but camera viewpoints. The result is vaguely frustrating and, despite the good pacing, horribly long.
I'm still in this series for at least one more book, probably two. It's staying better than average. But it's not grabbing me and pulling me into the next book.
- by Eyrie
A Clash of Kings is the second installment in the epic fantasy series, A Song of Ice and Fire, which George R.R. Martin began with the excellent A Game of Thrones. Martin is deeply inspired by English history in the late medieval period, more specifically the Wars of the Roses where the dynasties of Lancaster and York fought a long-drawn civil war about the throne of England. His historical inspiration was particularly conspicuous in A Game of Thrones, which in many respects reminded me of The Sunne in Splendour, Sharon K. Penman’s excellent historical novel about the Yorkist monarchs Edward IV and Richard III.
In Game of Thrones several of the main characters exhibit marked similarities with the historical figures depicted by Penman. Robert Baratheon, king of Westeros, thus strongly resembles Edward IV as he went to seed late in life, while his closest friend Eddard Stark, Hand of the King, shares many traits with Penman’s sympathetic portrait of Richard III. Furthermore, Robert’s queen, Cersei Lannister seems an amalgam of the Lancaster queen Margaret of Anjou and the Yorkist queen Elizabeth Wydeville. She shares the former’s aggressive ruthlessness and the latter’s beauty and avarice. Despite historical similarities of this kind, Martin’s series contains far more than a political conflict lifted from medieval history and transposed into fantasy-land, something which becomes abundantly clear with A Clash of Kings, where Martin sheds his obvious reliance on English history and instead develops the conflicts and characters he so admirably set in place in A Game of Thrones.
Following the events of A Game of Thrones, Westeros tethers on the brink of chaos and the fate of House Stark looks grim indeed. With Robert I Baratheon dead, the Iron Throne has passed to his teenage son Joffrey with his mother, the depraved Cersei as Queen Regent – her influence only tempered by her brother Tyrion’s position as Hand of the King. Other people, however, lay claim to the Iron Throne, arguing Joffrey’s bastardy. Robert’s brothers each claim kingship, while Robb, Eddard Stark’s eldest son, has been acclaimed King in the North, the ancient title of his House. With the spectre of civil war looming on the horizon, additional players eye a chance for power and glory. Thus old ambitions are revived and friendships betrayed when Balon Greyjoy of the Iron Islands claims kingship of his domain and embarks upon a war of conquest in the North.
Lady Catelyn Stark does not have the luxury of mourning the death of her husband as her children need her. She counsels her son Robb in his war against the Iron Throne while she searches for a way to recover her daughters. Sansa Stark is still in the hands of the Lannisters. Betrothed to King Joffrey, Sansa is in reality a hostage who struggles to remain alive in the face of Joffrey’s increasingly unpredictable and cruel behaviour. Her sister Arya has escaped King’s Landing and together with a band of ragged children she attempts to reach her home at Winterfell, a journey that takes her through a countryside where many dangers lurk for the young and vulnerable. Yet while Westeros descend into civil war and treacherous intrigue, other threats against the kingdom lurk upon the horizon. In the far North, Jon Snow and the men of the Night’s Watch venture out beyond the Wall to assess the Wildling threat, and on the other side of the world Daenerys, the last of the Targaryens, nurtures her newly hatched dragons with vengeance in her heart. Other forces might have designs on Westeros as well since Stannis Baratheon, claimant to the Iron Throne, forsakes the gods of Westeros for R’hllor Lord of Light at the behest of Melisandre of Asshai, the god’s priestess and a woman of sorcerous powers.
A Clash of Kings is structured like its predecessor where each chapter is titled after the POV of its character – a move that ensures that the narrative, in itself very surprising and suspenseful, is firmly grounded in the characters and their development. Whereas A Game of Thrones set the scene and introduced the principal characters, Martin uses the second instalment of his series to develop his characters further, often by placing them in situations where they are forced to abandon ideas and sentiments that until now has served as the foundation of their respective identities. This strategy is employed most successfully in the cases of Sansa and Arya Stark. These girls have grown up sheltered by their noble ancestry as well as loved and indulged by those around them. They lost the security that their station provided when their father was executed as a traitor and each must now struggle to survive in a hostile world, and each must admit that their interpretation of their world and their identity has turned out to be illusory.
Arya Stark, who was a stubborn and wilful tom-boy in A Game of Thrones, is now forced to adopt a disguise as a low-born boy when she, in the care of a man of the Night’s Watch, sets out for Winterfell in the North. Yet when her protector dies, she is left to fend for herself with a group of ragged boys in a hostile territory. When she and the boys cross paths with a company of brutal mercenaries, Arya learns a bitter lesson. She is, despite her fencing-lessons, vulnerable and powerless, and her only safety lies in the false identity she has assumed. Throughout the story, circumstances forces her to exchange one false identity for another and one cannot help to wonder what these bitter lessons in survival will do to her sense of self. Each change of identity strips something away from Arya of House Stark and this novel leaves her with a rather bleak-looking future.
Arya’s older sister Sansa also learns some very bitter lessons about the world and her place in it. The first book, A Game of Thrones, portrayed Sansa Stark as a romantically inclined and somewhat silly young girl who looked at the world through the rose-tinted glasses of courtly romance. For her the world was an endless pageant peopled with beautiful queens, handsome princes, fair maidens and true knights – and her almost wilful blindness towards the harsher aspects of the world frequently put her at odds with both her sister and her father. I have to admit that I didn’t much care for Sansa when I read A Game of Thrones. I found her incredibly shallow and naïve, and, frankly, very annoying – so it is really a testament to Martin’s talent that he in this novel puts her through such a thorough process of disillusionment that her chapters quickly became some of my favourite parts of A Clash of Kings. If Sansa’s eyes were firmly shut against the world during the previous book, they are now wide open – and she doesn’t like what she sees one bit. She can no longer explain away the cruelty and injustice she witnesses at Joffrey’s court and that she herself suffers at the behest of the golden-haired boy-king, who grows ever more violent and cruel. Joffrey is, in many respects, a textbook example of a sociopath with a penchant for sadism. Yet his social position is such that almost no one dares to speak against him. Instead, people jump to carry out his bizarre orders – even if it entails sworn knights beating up a defenceless young girl.
Sansa is ultimately too powerless to be a really compelling character in her own right – at least not yet – but what is very interesting is the use Martin makes of her. He very effectively uses her experiences as a device for critically examining the medieval ideals of chivalry and courtly romance, a critique that is most tellingly revealed in her interactions with Sandor Clegane:Sandor Clegane, a minor but deeply intriguing character, serves as a counterpoint to Sansa’s wide-eyed innocence, to which he is oddly drawn. This angry, cynical and deeply wounded man continually dogs Sansa’s steps, forcing her to strip away the glamour of romance and fantasy, showing her instead the brutal reality of a feudal world where might more often than not equals right. This critique of the ideal of chivalry is a current theme throughout the entire novel as Martin juxtaposes pageantry and harsh reality. Westeros indeed is a rather bleak world where good intentions and lofty ideals seldom last, a notion that is perhaps most poignantly voiced by Catelyn Stark’s assessment of Renly Baratheon’s court of summer knights:Sansa hugged herself, suddenly cold. “Why are you always so hateful? I was thanking you…”“Just as if I was one of those true knights you love so well, yes. What do you think a knight is for, girl? You think it’s all taking favors from ladies and looking fine in gold plate? Knights are for killing.” He laid the edge of his longsword against her neck, just under her ear. Sansa could feel the sharpness of the steel. “I killed my first man at twelve. I’ve lost count of how many I’ve killed since then. High lords with old names, fat rich men dressed in velvet, knights puffed up like bladders with their honors, yes, and women and children too – they’re all meat, and I’m the butcher. Let them have their lands and their gods and their gold. Let them have their sers.” Sandor Clegane spat at her feet to show her what he thought of that. “So long as I have this,” he said, lifting the sword from her throat, “there’s no man on earth I need fear.”
They are still unblooded, Catelyn thought as she watched Lord Bryce goad Ser Robar into juggling a brace of daggers. It is all a game to them still, a tourney writ large, and all they see is the chance for glory and honor and spoils. They are boys drunk on song and story, and like all boys, they think themselves immortal.“War will make them old,” Catelyn said, “as it did us.” […] “I pity them.”“Why?” Lord Rowan asked her. “Look at them. They’re young and strong, full of life and laughter. […] Why pity?”“Because it will not last,” Catelyn answered, sadly. “Because they are the knights of summer, and winter is coming.”“Lady Catelyn, you are wrong.” Brienne regarded her with eyes as blue as her armour. “Winter will never come for the likes of us. Should we die in battle, they will surely sing of us, and it’s always summer in the songs. In the songs all knights are gallant, all maids are beautiful, and the sun is always shining.”Winter comes for all of us, Catelyn thought.In the end, however much they are cloaked in beautiful imagery and lofty ideals, knights serves their kings for the purpose of war, and the reality of war is neither gallant nor glorious.
Another prominent feature of Martin’s novel is the politicking and intrigues that flourishes at the court in King’s Landing, and one particular player in the game of thrones is a personal favourite of mine: the cunning dwarf Tyrion Lannister whose irreverent humour makes him hard not to dislike. Tyrion is an extremely well-written character and in this novel Martin adds some new facets to this already interesting and complex man. Tyrion not only displays a talent for politic intrigue, he also exhibits a certain sense of honour and justice that his sister, Queen Cersei, sorely lacks. He treats Sansa with kindness and he tries to restrain Joffrey in his increasingly insane behaviour. Though firmly committed to the Lannister cause, Tyrion isn’t completely self-serving when it comes to government, unlike his sister Cersei who can’t seem to grasp the bigger picture and see that there has be a certain amount of justice and security in order to keep the kingdom together in the long-term. However, Tyrion’s political visions are constantly foiled by either the state of war or the need to curb the excesses of Cersei’s regency – a thing that only exacerbates the already strained relationship between the two siblings.
Tyrion’s chapters are invariably very entertaining to read. Martin’s forte is most definitely characterization but even among his many fine portraits in the Westerosi gallery of characters, Tyrion takes the price as one of the most complex, contradictory and likeable figures. He is clever, ambitious and opportunistic, but it seems like he has a huge chip on his shoulder and feels that he has something to prove, both to himself and to his father, the coldly distant Lord Tywin who casts a long shadow on both Tyrion and Cersei (one can’t help to wonder what kind of man he is, when one of his children callously states that the only way to keep your people loyal is to make certain that they fear you more than they do the enemy, a little piece of “wisdom” that she passes on to her son, who misinterprets is as fear is better than love!). There’s a lot of bitterness to Tyrion’s character, which often manifests itself in a tendency towards a rather snarky sarcasm – especially towards his scheeming sister whom he seemingly enjoys to antagonize. Yet he also has a more tender side, which his siblings appear to lack. This is most clearly shown in his relationship with his young mistress Shae and in his kindness towards Sansa.
Martin’s novel is an epic mastodon in every sense of the word – he portrays a world that moves ever closer to the brink of complete chaos while at the same time juggling multiple storylines and a large gallery of characters. Apart from those already mentioned, Daenerys Targaryen was a character that really fascinated me in the previous book. Martin put this young exiled princess through an amazing character-development, where she was married into a nomadic tribe of warriors, was widowed and, in an intense narrative climax, had her hatch tree dragonets from her husband’s funeral pyre. However, she doesn’t have that many chapters in A Clash of Kings and though her storyline takes her further eastward – thus expanding Martin’s world with tantalizing glimpses of strange and exotic cultures – I felt that her character-development had stalled somewhat.
Martin also develops Bran Stark’s storyline in a very interesting manner as this young boy slowly begins to come to terms with his disability. Like his sisters, Bran is forced to re-evaluate not only his dreams and hopes, but also his very identity. Because of his disability he can no longer hope to become a knight. Bran’s story is, however, not wholly depressing as Martin introduces Jojen Green, a boy with prophetic dreams, into the storyline, which opens up some very interesting possibilities regarding Bran’s future development – something that is further supported by the unique manner in which Bran’s bond with his direwolf Summer develops.
Despite a character gallery that is already quite large, Martin adds two new POV in A Clash of Kings: Theon Greyjoy, son of Lord Balon Greyjoy of the Iron Isles and ward of Lord Eddard Stark, and Ser Davos Seaworth, a knight of Stannis Baratheon’s court at Dragonstone. Theon’s POV gives the reader a very interesting glimpse of the Viking-like culture of the Iron Isles and Davos’ POV not only gives a portrait of one of the major contenders for the Iron Throne (the harsh and stiff-necked Stannis), it adds a whole extra level of complexity to an already convoluted plot by introducing a new player in the game of thrones – the beautiful and sinister priestess Melisandra of Asshai, a woman whose motivations and powers remain cloaked in mystery throughout the novel.
Martin manages the multiple plotlines of A Clash of Kings quite expertly by carefully maintaining a continuing level of suspense throughout the different story-arcs. While intensely character-driven, the novel maintains a very high level of narrative tension that never falters – with some truly shocking plot twists along the way. I was completely hooked from the beginning and found it very difficult to put the book down, wreaking complete havoc with my sleeping patterns!
Martin is quite deservedly praised for his skills at characterization, but one of the most impressive aspects of A Song of Ice and Fire is, in my opinion, is his world-building. As stated in my introduction, Martin has created Westeros strongly inspired by the dynastic civil wars that plagued England during the late 15th century and he has drawn on a truly impressive knowledge of the late medieval period to impart his world with texture and depth. When reading A Song of Ice and Fire it quickly becomes clear that Martin know quite a lot about not only medieval warfare but also the details of daily life in a feudal society – both in terms of the aristocracy and of the peasant population. What is even more impressive is the fact that he has taken great pains to re-create a distinctly medieval mindset for his characters, something that is rarely seen in the type of fantasy fiction that often utilizes a pseudo-medieval setting. In many respects, A Clash of Kings, reads like a historical novel because the wealth of historical detail imparts the story with a high degree of verisimilitude, and it is really quite impressive how “real” the imagined world of Westeros feels. With Westeros Martin has created a believable medieval secondary-world fantasy that incorporates both the glamorous and romantic imagery of feudal ideology and the harsh and brutal aspects of a low-tech world based primarily on agriculture and warfare – a world were family allegiance often takes priority over other bonds of loyalty, where marriage is a matter of politics and strategic alliance and where girls as young as twelve are considered marriageable. It is very important to keep these things in mind when reading these books, because Martin’s characters cannot be evaluated according to modern standards, and it is truly very impressive that Martin successfully manages to create riveting and emotionally appealing characters with a mindset that often is quite alien to modern readers.
On all accounts, A Clash of Kings offers an intense, enjoyable and hugely satisfying reading experience. It offers a number of finely wrought characters and a fully formed medieval world, whose historical “feel” is perfectly off-set by some rare touches of magic, which imparts the story with a certain aura of “enchantment” that often is very hard to find – it is for me, at least. Last but not least, the novel offers a deeply captivating story that made this book very hard to put down and sent me directly to the book store to get the next instalment. A Song of Ice and Fire is some of the best fantasy that I’ve read in years and I can only concur with the widespread opinion that George R.R. Martin is a modern master of the epic fantasy.
- by BSC Review
