Reviews

A Clash of Kings by George R.R. Martin

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bmccollum4's review against another edition

adventurous dark tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.25

I had to let this book sit for a couple weeks after I finished it. I won’t play the comparison game between it and the first book, but needless to say, this one kept me along for the ride. While one would expect the first book to be the true “set up” book, this one really felt like a lot more “setting up” to me. It felt more to me a book about

picking sides in the war before it started rather than the actual war. It was still a good book, I just feel like we haven’t moved forward much at all- only sideways. George R. R. Martin just keeps expanding on the scope of this series, and I am so excited for everything to finally click into place and cascade into an epic finale. I think I definitely favorited certain perspectives more than I did in the last book. I didn’t really enjoy Bran’s chapters much in book 1, but towards the end, his were probably my favorite. I have a similar sentiment for Jon. Inversely, I think I can say Daenerys had probably the worst piece of the pie this book. I’m ready for her to get across that damn sea already! I liked Tyrion in the first book, I really liked him in this book. I liked him so much, that if I could erase all of the disgusting war crimes they’ve committed/allowed to happen, I would honestly be rooting for the Lannister’s to sit the Iron Throne (not Joffrey though, kill him). I kinda liked Arya’s chapters. The Roose Bolton stuff really came out of nowhere and made me so mad. I’m just really hoping that one of these Stark kids can reunite with another. I was sorta confused with Arya didn’t just leave when she released the Winterfell men. I guess she thought she’d be safe, but ugh!I really enjoyed Theon’s chapters, and hope we see more of Asha. Davos as a character was boring to me, but his chapters were understandable to move the plot along. That ship battle is definitely a highlight of the book! I actually liked Sansa’s chapters in the first book, and I still think she provided some interesting perspective here. However, most of her chapters didn’t really go anywhere. Here’s to hoping for book 3. Catelyn’s chapters were fine. They felt kind of miscellaneous. She was a good one for giving us war updates. Big spoiler: Renly’s death definitely didn’t have as big of an effect on me as did Ned’s death. The whole magic thing was just kind of weird and confusing at that point- I was unsure if I had even read it right. Now Bran’s “death” was probably my favorite moment in the book. I figured he couldn’t have actually been dead, but I thought yk was very well done how he tricked us like that, even though it was kind of predictable. I don’t know. That’s my main thoughts. I’m just excited to get into this third book!

Content Warnings