A Clash of Kings by George R.R. Martin · 26 June 2007
A Clash of Kings is Book 2 in the series A Song of Ice and Fire. This review assumes the reader is familiar with the plot of A Game of Thrones (A Song of Ice and Fire, Book 1). If not, fair warning, there may be some Book 1 spoilers contained in this review.
Martin continues the second book of the series where the first left off. The King is dead! Long live the Kings! As I feared it would, this book involved a lot of war strategy, but despite that Martin has not yet fallen into the trap of making the story revolve around war.
The beginning of the book brings in a clash of religions in addition to the clash of power that continued from A Game of Thrones. Since religious differences were a non-issue in the first book, careful work is required to make it seem feasible now. Martin is up to the challenge, creating a character ripe for conversion and a religious order that tolerates no competition.
The initial chapters also introduce the several men who would call themselves king. Even though I understand that Martin is setting up the motivations of several camps in the first few hundred pages, I thought the plot was too fragmented at the beginning of the book. The first segment of A Clash of Kings just didn’t have the seamless flow that the first chapters of A Game of Thrones did.
Even though the beginning of the book didn’t grab me, I was glad to note that the human backdrop on which the war is set continues to be a focus of the plot. Our understanding of many characters deepens in this book, as Martin takes pain to illustrate the impact of war through the eyes of mothers, children, servants, nobility, and soldiers. In Book 2, Martin continues to use the device of telling the story from multiple perspectives. The major narrators are joined by some new voices, names we heard in Book 1 but never heard from.
One thing I thought very interesting is that although the book’s title is A Clash of Kings, and kings are definitely clashing, we don’t hear the story from the perspective of any of the kings. The narration throughout the book is performed by those nearest and dearest to the kings, but never the kings themselves. There is one notable exception, and I can’t help but wonder if it’s a foreshadowing of plot to come.
This device also makes for some interesting plot choices. Robb Stark is quiet in this book, and not for lack of action surrounding him. Interestingly enough, I think that Martin choose to leave Robb out of the focus of the story because the people that would talk about him are not with him during this interlude.
It’s a long book, and there is a cast of thousands. I’ve been soured on long books with tons of characters that we rarely hear from or see again by Robert Jordon, so I’m not very forgiving of anything that smacks of “here’s a brief tidbit and you’ll see this guy again in 300 pages (if not later).”
There were two characters given short shrift in this book, Daenerys Targaryen and Theon Greyjoy. When jumping through the different perspectives, Daenerys is a strong enough character that a snippet of her story interspersed into the larger story is enough to make the reader still feel intimately involved with her life but the character of Theon suffered under the same treatment.
People who have read the first book will remember Theon as a supporting character, mostly referred in conjunction with one of the Stark children. Aside from saving Bran’s life, he did little to distinguish himself from the many other supporting characters. His character was hinted at through side-comments of the main characters, but Theon himself didn’t say much in Book 1.
When his character developed in this book, I felt it deviated from my impression of him so much that I needed a better explanation. His motivations were clear enough, but his actions at times were at odds with how I interpreted his character. While not a book killer, it was enough that the chapters from Theon’s perspective were ones I least looked forward to.
This is a middle book in the series and it feels like one. Martin planted the seeds for many stories, and only a few of them germinated by the end of the book. Unlike the first book, the resolution at the end of A Clash of Kings was obviously merely a pause in the larger story. Because so many stories were started, and not finished, and because so many characters were introduced in this book, I’m a little concerned that Book 3 (A Storm of Swords) at over 1100 pages is even longer than Book 2. I really hope the series doesn’t become ungainly.
I will continue to read A Song of Ice and Fire (especially since it has dragons!), but I didn’t enjoy Book 2 as much as I did Book 1. It’s my hope that A Storm of Swords (A Song of Ice and Fire, Book 3) will shift the focus back to what Martin has set up as the major conflict, the coming Winter and the hardships it will bring. This was one plotline relatively abandoned by the characters due to the political turmoil, and my feeling is that it needs to be addressed, even if the characters are unwilling to address it.
A Clash of Kings,
A Game of Thrones,
A Song of Ice and Fire,
George R.R. Martin,
Epic Fantasy,
High Fantasy,
Fantasy,
Political Intrigue,
Warfare,
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Chris · 26 June 2007, 06:24
Oh, I really hope this one picks up again! I’ve heard quite a bit of good stuff about this series and I’ve heard some similar thoughts to yours as well on this book. So maybe there’s hope for the rest of the series! I really hope that Daenerys’ story continues to pick up as hers was one of my favorites from the first book. What an amazing character! Great review Kim…thanks so much for this one :)
Kim · 26 June 2007, 16:55
I try not to “peek” too much before writing a review, but this morning I read a few reviews of Book 2, and its a pretty commonly held opinion that Book 3 is stronger. So, yay! I need a breather from so much fantasy, but Book 3 is on the shelf and ready to read by the end of summer.
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