A review by notwellread
A Clash of Kings by George R.R. Martin

5.0

Another brief assessment from me: probably not as enjoyable as the first book for the average person (though I give them the same rating as I still thought this five-star worthy, maybe bordering on a 4.5) but people say the third book is the best, so I expect parts of this will have served to get everything ‘in position’ for the events of the next book in the series.

The story is very bleak (even more so than the first) and all the POV characters have a great deal to struggle with (again, even more so than before). However, Martin once again proves his fearlessness in taking his plot into cutthroat territory, making decisions that may prove unpopular with some fans

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although, unlike the first book, none of the main characters ends up dead quite yet – unless you count Renly, who provides the most significant death of this installment

. The role of religion, as any historian will know, is an extremely important one in mediaeval contexts often brushed over in fantasy and even historical fiction, but is included here with relative prominence in the plot, and dealt with in a complex and significant way. We see a religion that has demonstrable power attached to it, but at the same time see that the deity’s power does not always seem benevolent and can be used for malicious means. It is difficult to say whether Melisandre’s schemes are born out of a genuine wish to see Stannis as king (and if so, why, since the messianic prophecy is not made to seem promising for him) or whether she has ulterior motives. Stannis also works very well as a character easily villainised by his enemies, but ultimately a sympathetically portrayed, troubled, and misunderstood man. Seeing it all through Davos’ point of view was a particularly great choice, as we are torn between his love and admiration for Stannis and his apprehensiveness towards Melisandre and her new religion – the show actually drew on this surprisingly well through Davos’ conversations with his believer son, which can prove quite moving.

I enjoyed reading from

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Theon’s

point of view

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even if he is a terrible person

, so I think for me it’s more a question of how entertaining I find a character than how likeable they are to me. I quite liked Sansa’s chapters in the first book even though she herself was quite annoying (though much more sympathetic in this one). Tyrion remains in a much greyer area morally than in the show, and I am quite glad that Martin makes us love him without making it too easy to do so – it seems a bit problematic to me that the audience loves him so much in the show though, whether because the morally dubious details of his actions are skimmed over (by the show itself or the fans) or whether people don’t care and favour him anyway. Although I find this somewhat troubling, the books continue to shed new light on the show and maintain the old adage that, although the show makes for good television, the book is, as usual, better.

Jon’s chapters were decently exciting, though Arya is considered one of the more interesting POVs in this book and I found hers somewhat repetitive as she focuses on the same tasks – I preferred Tyrion’s, though people have complained his antics are not as eventful as those in AGOT, since he is given the chance to prove himself and,

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as acting Hand

, to exercise agency in the wider scheme of things. Bran’s were a little dull, as people have said, and Dany spends some time hanging around Qarth and not doing much (I suppose the show added more in for the sake of her screen time and to spice things up there), but both characters are not heard from for significant parts of the novel, so they didn’t detract from the pace. One passage that stood out to me was

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the House of the Undying

, not covered faithfully in the show either, probably because it wouldn’t suit television, they didn’t have the budget, or they thought

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the prophecies

were too obvious – indeed, it’s not difficult to guess what some of them are hinting towards, though some remain unclear in meaning and too many and ambiguous to go over here. Regardless, I loved it, and the passage was especially intense and frightening, to the point that I had to put the book down after reading the chapter!

I loved taking time out to dip into this book when I had the chance (though, being busy, it took me longer to read than I would have liked), but I hold out hope, and raised expectations, that the third book will surpass it.