I own the A Song of Ice and Fire book boxset but rightly or wrongly my policy is to only read the book having watched the associated HBO Game of Thrones series. I had heard that elements of the second book A Clash of Kings were being split between the second and third season so having recently finished the third season it was time to return to George Martin's epics.
What's it all about?
Civil war begins in Westeros as Renly Baratheon and his brother Stannis both refuse to recognise their nephew Joffrey as King of the Seven Kingdoms. Meanwhile Robb Stark is crowned King of the North and Baron Greyjoy declares himself King of the Iron Islands. Split between Winterfell, King's Landing and everywhere between, the Stark family is caught between the warring factions. Elsewhere, Jon Snow ventures North of the Wall to hunt wildlings and Daenerys tries to recruit support for her cause in Qarth.
The Good:
- The depth of Martin's universe is staggering
- Chapters told from the point of view of nine characters breaks the story down and keeps the plot compartmentalised
- Theon's humbling return to the Iron Islands and foolish return to Winterfell
- Tyrion's appointment as the Hand of the King
- Picky, but the sheer length of the book. 915 pages is a very long read to commit to and the level of detail can be confusing if not read regularly.
- Daenerys' story often seems too detached from the majority of the book's events occurring simulatensously in Westeros
Favourite line:
'Only a fool humbles himself when the world is so full of men eager to do that job for him' - Theon
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