Book Review: A Clash of Kings

A Clash of Kings by George R.R. Martin

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


This is the second book in the A Song of Fire and Ice cycle. Therefore, this review will contain some spoilers if you haven't read the first book, A Game of Thrones or watched the finale of the season. You have been warned.



Martin delivers another epic masterpiece, advancing the saga by leaps and bounds. The characters are deep and invoking, particularly the ones we never got to know very well the first time through. Martin's style has improved as well: there are far more battles in this one that are described in action, not merely in passing. Still, there are places where Martin's attention to detail is curious. For example, there is a harrowing escape plot by the Kingslayer that we don't get to see: only hear about after it has been foiled. I think most readers would have preferred to read that, rather than be subjected to an entire chapter of Theon Greyjoy unknowingly trying to nail his sister. In the first book, I began to suspect that Martin was obsessed with food: meals are described in lavish (often unnecessary) detail, fights and love scenes are usually told in passing dialog. This suspicion was confirmed during my reading of A Clash of Kings: every meal gets a the royal treatment. I realize that Martin is doing what he does best here: world building, and the "flavor" of a culture is often expressed best by it's food. But, still...I would have loved to have read more fights. I like fights. I like food, too, but I can eat anytime. I can't always put on armor and get into a fight.



As for the world-building, Martin is a master. He hints at a rich, ancient world that compels the reader, often just mentioning a people or nation with a simple line or two; it's enough. Daenerys and Jorah are off exploring another continent, one where magic is a little less dead than on Westeros, and we get to see a lot of exoticness. And food...Martin describes the food. A lot. He likes food. But he also likes creating entire cultures that we barely get a taste of, just enough to make us keep reading to see if there is more.



There are good battles, though. More than in the first book. We get a melee between knights competing for the honor of being a king's guard. We also get Tyrion, one of my favorite characters, leading a charge against a sortie of Stannis Baratheon's men. He also gets one of the best lines in the book: "What brave men...let's go kill them."



I will say this: something will happen near the end of the book that will probably piss you off so much you might stop reading. I almost did. DON'T. It isn't what you're thinking, I promise. Just keep going. Martin established in the first book that he'll kill pretty much anyone, no matter how invested the reader has become. He killed Ned and Drogo in the first one, before either of those characters got to live out what you were sure was going to be a spectacular destiny. This unpredictability ads to the excitement of the book: anyone could die at any point and in any way, but this also inserts an element of capriciousness, and makes it feel authentic when the unthinkable seems to occur near the end of the book. I assure you: keep reading. I did and I wasn't sorry.



This epic requires a commitment from the reader. This is no casual read, and it would be impossible to pick up this book without having read the first. You might even want to take notes. And once you've read the first two, you'll need to get the rest to see what it's going. Some characters are so complex that you have no idea what their ultimate goal might be. One example of this is Littlefinger, who has been scheming since the beginning for...who the hell knows? He winds up achieving something notable by the end, but it's an odd victory and it's difficult to see where it ultimately ends (note, you get a hint of his great scheme not far into the third book). And then there is Tyrion: the only Lannister over the age of 12 that you don't want to brain with a mace. Tyrion continues to be my favorite, and this book does him as much justice as the first.



One minor complaint: names. Martin is generally uncreative with naming characters, and it creates a some problems. He has a lot of characters with very similar names, most notably in the D range of the alphabet: Ser Davos, Devas, Daenerys, Devan...it's difficult to get straight sometimes, especially for such a long book where minor characters may have five or more chapters between them. For a fast reader like me, this isn't such a big deal. If you only have time to read once or twice a week, this could get exhausting. Fortunately, most of the important characters have nicknames to help identify them, like The Onion Knight or the Knight of Roses.



And there were some characters that I desperately wanted to see in the first book and hoped to see in this one...like the Red Priest with the flaming sword. He gets mentioned, and his flaming sword explained (he doesn't just light it on fire, it's way cooler than that) but we don't ever get to see him. Martin makes up for this by introducing even more intruiging characters, like the two Crannogmen and the wildlings north of the wall...most notably Craster of Crasterly Keep.



So, keep it up, George. I'm into this one until this series till the end! I have my theories and dreams about where it's going, but you never cease to surprise me...even when I'm right. Four stars, easily. Four and a half, if Goodreads only let me give ratings in half-stars.



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Book Review: A Game of Thrones

I know I'm a little behind on this: Thrones came out in 1996. And I'll admit it: I grabbed the book after watching the premier of the HBO show. Nonetheless, I finished the book and enjoyed it enough to post a review on Goodreads. For those of you who don't have a Goodreads account, here is my review as originally posted there earlier this week.

 A Game of Thrones by George R.R. Martin

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This was pretty good. Martin has an amazing gift for creating deeply realistic historical fantasy. The writing is good, though most of the action is described in passing or exposition in dialog, which some might fight a little dull. It more than makes up for this with strongly woven characters with complex personalities and relationships. Even the worst of them are identifiable, and the best of them have flaws and shortcoming that make them intimately human. It's easy to get lost in the words and imagine yourself a participant in the story, either as a bookish maester studying chronicles of a bygone era, the young son of a minor lord being told stories by a septon, or a freerider or mercenary collecting tales in a smoky tavern from old knights and veterans.

If I hadn't known this was the first in a series, I may have been disappointed with the end. The conflict introduced early in the book is not quite resolved by the end...in fact, the events of this book appear to complicate it dramatically. It isn't until well into the book, quite a bit past the middle, and the conflict that is ultimately resolved in this volume of the series is resolved, and even then it leaves the reader hanging. This is good if you've decided to invest yourself in the whole series (as I have) but not if you're just looking for a single-shot read. The complications that arise to promise to keep the story moving into the rest of the series.

Some of the character resolutions are a bit disappointing. I don't want to give anything away, but one of the most interesting characters in the book has a most unsatisfying resolution--though Martin kind of makes up for it in the end. Also, there is a relatively glaring plot-hangup that requires the reader to believe that a certain character in the book is too stupid to notice something DIRECTLY IN FRONT OF HIM in the years before (and the months including) this book. Martin manages to justify this by having the character in question be a womanizing, hedonistic drunkard...but at times it strains credulity that he wouldn't at some point look up and go, "Hey, waitaminute!"

Nonetheless, this is a highly enjoyable read. My favorite character is the imp, Tyrion Lannister. He's really the only Lannister in the book that I didn't want to beat with a Dothraki whip. There are plenty of characters to love, and more than a few to love to hate. And the characters actions are believable and consistent without being predictable--usually. Plenty of betrayals, twisted oaths and backroom dealing to keep you guessing.

All of this happens to the backdrop of some greater, more powerful danger lurking just outside the gate--or, the Wall as it were, as the noble houses and armies of the world play their "game of thrones," oblivious to nightmare on the way. This is reminiscent of the squabbles of real-world powers while global problems like climate change and overpopulation threaten everyone with equal fervor.

Overall, Martin has written a great book. The moment I finish writing this review, I intend to begin reading the second in the series. I'll let you know what I think when I'm done with it.


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