A Clash of Kings

Written by George R.R. Martin

Narrated by Roy Dotrice

THE BOOK BEHIND THE SECOND SEASON OF GAME OF THRONES, AN ORIGINAL SERIES NOW ON HBO.

In this sequel to A Game of Thrones, George Martin pursues the embattled Seven Kingdoms through a bitter 10-year winter in which good and evil contend for power.

Time is out of joint. The summer of peace and plenty, ten years long, is drawing to a close, and the harsh, chill winter approaches like an angry beast. Two great leaders—Lord Eddard Stark and Robert Baratheon—who held sway over an age of enforced peace are dead … victims of royal treachery. Now, from the ancient citadel of Dragonstone to the forbidding shores of Winterfell, chaos reigns, as pretenders to the Iron Throne of the Seven Kingdoms prepare to stake their claims through tempest, turmoil, and war.

As a prophecy of doom cuts across the sky—a comet the color of blood and flame—six factions struggle for control of a divided land. Eddard's son Robb has declared himself King in the North. In the south, Joffrey, the heir apparent, rules in name only, victim of the scheming courtiers who teem over King's Landing. Robert's two brothers each seek their own dominion, while a disfavored house turns once more to conquest. And a continent away, an exiled queen, the Mother of Dragons, risks everything to lead her precious brood across a hard hot desert to win back the crown that is rightfully hers.

A Clash of Kings transports us into a magnificent, forgotten land of revelry and revenge, wizardry and wartime. It is a tale in which maidens cavort with madmen, brother plots against brother, and the dead rise to walk in the night. Here a princess masquerades as an orphan boy; a knight of the mind prepares a poison for a treacherous sorceress; and wild men descend from the Mountains of the Moon to ravage the countryside.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Random House Audio
• Release date: Oct 15, 2003
• ISBN: 9781415902004

George R.R. Martin

George R.R. Martin is the author of fifteen novels and novellas, including five volumes of A Song of Ice and Fire, several collections of short stories, as well as screenplays for television and feature films. Dubbed ‘the American Tolkien’, George R.R. Martin has won numerous awards including the World Fantasy Lifetime Achievement Award. He is an Executive Producer on HBO’s Emmy Award-winning Game of Thrones, which is based on his A Song of Ice and Fire series. He lives in Santa Fe, New Mexico.

Reviews for A Clash of Kings

[antao-3 · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

It shows how far fantasy has fallen as a genre if people think GOT is the high water mark, but in truth, the "rot" started with Tolkien and his world building, now everybody thinks that a few maps, a few dragons, and providing the nominal GDP of every region in your world, is enough to constitute a 'fantasy' book. I blame Tolkien for making it sound so easy...In its defence, “A Clash of Kings” is one redeeming mark is that it's not Robert Jordan's God awful “Wheel of Time” series, but that's not much of an endorsement, is it? As for “A Clash of Kings”, what do we have? A Medieval soap opera with some fantasy elements tacked on, war of the roses with dragons thrown in for good measure... There is little of metaphor, landscape, or humor. Nihilism is the keyword here, nasty brutish and short, to say nothing of the rampant misogyny that pervades this book at every turn...The irony is that Martin is a good writer, and before somebody says here we go, here's the hipster with the obscure book, “Fevre Dream” is a good fantasy novel, with all the key elements of what makes a good fantasy novel, worthy of its place in the fantasy masterworks series...”A Clash of Kings” is fantasy for people who wouldn't know the genre if it whacked them with Conan's jockstrap...If you consider Gene Wolfe, Fritz Leiber, Joe Abercrombie, Roger Zelazny and even, God forbid, Piers Anthony then George R. R. Martin shrinks. A lot...(Bought in 2000)On occasion he rises to "adequate". Sure, he's no Dan Brown and certainly no Jeffrey Archer, but he's a David Weber rather than an Iain M. Banks...He seems to have one good 'idea' per book - the battle of black water, the red wedding - but then fills the other 800 pages of each book with filler. It's quite clear he has no idea how to end it, and also clearly gets very bored of some of the characters he creates, which he solves by writing them out of the series and then introducing a load of new ones.Whether he finishes it or not is kinda moot at this point I feel. The TV series (which I've reached as far as series 6 I admit, but I could only watch the first episode) feels so much better than the books is because it cuts out so much of the fluff and just gets on with the story (I've said this before elsewhere so I won't carry on) - something you feel George R. R. Martin could have learned a lot from a long time ago. If he, or his publisher demanded he got a decent editor, he'd probably be finished by now with a series held in much higher regard than he's currently managing.NB: “Tuf Voyaging” was a nice surprise. I didn’t know Martin had it in him to write like that.

[askelmore · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

From my Cannonball Read V review ...

I didn’t consume this book in the same manner as the first one in the series. It was on an e-reader instead of paperback, so that possibly had something to do with it; it wasn’t staring up at me from my nightstand, begging to be finished so it could take its rightful place on the bookshelf.

[Spoilers ahead]

As the title suggests, this book in the series focuses on the fights between Stannis Baratheon, Renly Baratheon, Robb Stark and Joffrey Baratheon (Lannister). Joffrey continues to be a little shit, Renly makes a brief appearance before taking his leave thanks to a creepy death fog baby, Stannis gets all eaten up by some wildfire (well, his troops at least), and Robb wins some battles and loses some he isn’t even fighting (sorry Winterfell). Theon is also a shit, although one can sort of understand how he came to be shit. I have little sympathy for him, but I can imagine a world where he wouldn’t make such piss-poor decisions. Tyrion, as Hand of the King, makes some great decisions, plays and nearly beats Cersei at her own game, and is rewarded with a missing nose.

The women continue to be complex but also frustratingly bound by duties. Cersei is a fascinating character, and one whose perspective is not readily shared, so she’s also a bit of a mystery. When she loses it, it’s interesting. Sansa and Arya are going about their own adventures, both devastating in their own ways. And Daenerys remains in search of ships, braving some pretty rough going to find people who may help (or may not). Jon is also still beyond the wall, Bran and Rickon are doing … things, and Catelyn believes they are dead.

Much like last time, I found myself speed-reading the chapters focused on Arya and Tyrion. I was less interested in most of the rest, although the chapters providing the perspectives on the Blackwater Battle were difficult to put down. The chapters from Bran and Jon’s perspectives were especially boring to me (I just don’t find the beyond the wall stuff that interesting right now; silly political infighting is so much more my speed) and even Martin’s great writing couldn’t keep me interested if anything remotely shiny or pretty were nearby to distract me.

One thing that was sort of fun was seeing things that didn’t show up until the third season of the TV show. Because I’m still catching up to that, my images are colored by what I’ve seen on HBO; I’m looking forward to book three because I know there are things in there that have not yet made it on screen. As for a recommendation – yes. Of course. Read it if you like the TV show. Read it if you don’t like the TV show. Just read it.

[justagirlwithabook · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

This second book of the Game of Thrones novels didn't disappoint, although it did take forever to read (and I had a hard time remembering all the characters and very small plot points, per usual). After reading this one, I decided I would take a break before picking up the third so I don't get burned out - these books being as hefty as they are can do that to a reader.

[oscarwilde87_1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

The second instalment in the A Song of Ice and Fire series, A Clash of Kings starts out where the prequel has left the readers. The battle for the seven kingdoms of Westeros is underway and there are currently four men proclaiming themselves king. First there is Joffrey, officially the son of the former king Robert Baratheon but actually the son of Queen Cersei and her brother Jaime Lannister. Then there are Renly Baratheon and Stannis Baratheon, both brothers of Robert. Finally there is Robb Stark, heir to Lord Eddard Stark who was killed at Joffrey's command, who proclaims himself king of the north. The novel is largely about how all those people plot and fight their battles for the throne. One should however not forget Daenerys Targaryen, who actually has a rightful claim to the throne that was stolen from her family when her father was murdered by Jaime Lannister before Robert Baratheon became king. In another strand of the plot Jon Snow, bastard son of Lord Eddard Stark, and the men of the Night's Watch, try to protect the whole realm from seemingly undead creatures that live north of the wall, the only protection between them and the realm of the seven kingdoms. As one can see there is a tangled web of characters which makes for a multi-faceted story.As with the first instalment in the series I like the structure of the novel, that is that each chapter is told from the perspective of one of the characters. As a reader you get a more or less omniscient view on the story and this makes the otherwise probably slightly complicated plot more easy to follow. The character (and hence the chapters) I like most is Tyrion Lannister, the dwarf brother of Queen Cersei and Jaime the Kingslayer. Although he is part of a family that is highly unlikeable I find him easy to identify and sympathize with. Shunned by most members of his family, Tyrion slowly and cleverly makes his way to the top and is quite successful in making the best out of his life.I would recommend reading the novel only if you have read and liked the first one in the series. Otherwise it would probably be too many pages of incomprehensible relationships and a story that is simply unfollowable.

[bruce_mcnair_2 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

This book continues the saga of the Seven Kingdoms of Westeros that began with A Game of Thrones. This time the realm has splintered into competing claims, and inevitably it leads to war, treachery, and bloodbaths. The book swings between a few of the main characters in a way that allows us to see all sides of the various factions. Again the characters and scenery are described richly, so we feel we are living the story. The smell of smoke, rotting flesh, and fear combine with the sea of blood that accompanies each battle and the desolation that follows. There are no real winners here, only those more fortunate than others. I gave this book 4.5 stars out of 5, compared to 5 for the previous book, because of the grimness of the tale.

[pamkaye · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Book 2 is as great as the first.After the death of King Robert, the realm falls apart. There are now 5 people calling themselves king (or queen in the case of Daenarys). You have everything in this series. War, love magic, dragons, walking dead, religion, you name it and it's part of this story.The females are as strong as the males.I recommend these books to everyone. You can't help but to find something to like.

[egrant5329 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

I have been busy and not reading as much, but finally finished this one. Unlike the 1st book, the second book was quite a bit different from the series. I think I left off on the series fairly close to where this book ends, so I am looking forward to the next one.

[bekkil1977 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

The story continues in this book with Dany and her newly born dragons traveling to find a way to cross the sea so she can retake the Iron Throne. Jon Snow and the rest of the Night's Watch on the Wall are dealing with all kinds of ugliness, in the form of giants, wildlings, and free people who are out to take down the Wall. Tyrion is busy in his new role as the King's Hand hatching schemes and plots to save King's Landing for when Stannis Baratheon comes to claim the throne. Robb Stark is still unbeaten on the field, heading south for King's Landing when terrible news from north in Winterfell makes him pause to consider his options.

[aagbay-1 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

A Clash of Kings is a wonderful book that surpasses its predecessor. It continues the legacy of the wonderful characters, the wonderful settings, and the corrupted story line that made A Game of Thrones so good. You will not want to put it down until the very end. The story starts picks up where it left off in A Game of Thrones. The Seven Kingdoms are at war, and their are more kings in the land than there have ever been. The stories of Arya, Catelyn, Tyrion and Bran continue unabated and become even more twisted. The different threads and plots from the first book make reappear in this book and are brought to full fruition. But even still, George R.R. Martin creates more questions and secrets than he does answers. The characters are put into increasingly tense situations and I learned a whole lot more about them. Every character has a bit of good in them and a bit of evilness in them. This really makes the characters more realistic than others in different books who are either completely good or completely evil. Different settings and regions make their first appearance in A Clash of Kings. These new places are all unique and are really well explained. I loved how much detail he put into developing the areas as he went on through the story. Martin also added much larger battle scenes to the book. These scenes are some of the most tense and wonderfully described parts of the book. This truly made A Clash of Kings stand out from the first book, A Game of Thrones. If he continues to add some of these larger battles throughout any future books, the books will continue to grow and be much more interesting to read. A Clash of Kings surpassed its predecessor in many ways. It adds larger battles, more characters, more plots, and more regions to explore. The book answered many questions from the first book, but added just as many and left me wanting to read whatever happens next. The added depth to the plot allows many more stories to be told throughout future books. A Clash of Kings is a hallmark book of the fantasy genre and will please any type of reader.

[membrillu-1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Mantiene e incluso supera el nivel de la entrega anterior.

[virago77 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Kept me on the edge of my seat even more than the first book. The Starks are more scattered than ever. I truly hope they all find their way back to each other. And I really hope Sansa kills Joff!

[erinster-1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

RENLY. Tragic.

[vivian5bullion · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Fantastic!!

[ryanecandyce · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Another good book.

[atoponce-1 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

This is a better read than the first book in the series. It seems like Martin is able to control the momentum better, and keep a more stable pace throughout the book. With that said, he's not a good author. There are several problems with this story:

* It's not clean, morally or ethically. There is a lot of rape, child sex, and incest. I don't care if "that is what it was like back then". I don't want to read about it.
* Martin throws around characters like they're going out of style. Every chapter, it seems, some character or family name is mentioned. It's hard to stay on top of.
* The momentum is amazingly slow for very long stretches of time, to the point of boredom. Then, jarringly enough, it picks up quickly, only to slow down fantastically slowly again.
* It's very stereotypical fantasy. There really isn't anything unique magic-wise.
* Characters can go several chapters before being discussed again, while other characters are discussed frequently.
* The prologue is never flushed out in the story, which is just strange to me.

Even though those are my negative reviews of the book, there are some saving graces:

* Imagery is fantastic. There is no doubt in my mind as to what people or things look like.
* It's a political story firstly, magic second. However, the magic isn't neglected, and it's slowly introduced through the story, enough to keep you reading.
* There really isn't any "good vs evil" story. Everyone has their own agenda, good or ill. So in that case, it's very much NOT a stereotypical fantasy.

The only reason I'm reading the series, is because the HBO series seems to be doing so well. Even though I haven't seen any of the episodes, I'm interested in what HBO sees in the story. After reading the series in full, I'll checkout HBO's interpretation.

[longhorndaniel · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

excellent 2nd book; very well written; grabs ya and keeps ya; falling in love and hating characters over and over; makes ya ready for the next!!!

[banoczi_henrietta · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

i wanted more of dany's chapters there were only like 4 of them
I HATE JOFFREY SO MUCH HE IS SO EVIL
i have started to like sansa
TYRION IS THE BEST I LOVE HIM SO MUCH
this series has taken over my life and i can do nothing about it

[kamikaze2011-1 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

I had to read this one twice. I got to Ygritte and stopped the first time, but the second time I pushed through. It was a little slack during some of Theon's chapters, and I find him to be quite the character. One should always choose family over honor/pride/arrogance. I think my favorite aspect of the world so far is the maesters. They always seem to surprise me with their chain, their wisdom, and their intricate pasts/involvement in the world. I still don't like Sansa very much. If she would just do as she was told, she would have hundreds of less problems. I also don't like the meddling Catelyn. It has been about a year from Robert's journey to Winterfell to ask Ned to be the Hand, and it's interesting how news spreads so quickly. I almost couldn't believe how quickly some of the information spread to Catelyn at Riverrun, but then again ravens are interesting birds. Overall, very good, would recommend.

[robinamelia · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

More fun escape!

[ellelainey · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Book 2 was just as good as Book 1. Possibly even better because the characters were already established and there was no having to get used to people or their ways. Book 2 took what was new and exciting about Book 1 and made it commonplace and acceptable. Which allowed Book 2 to go even further into what was new and shocking.

This series is, to me, about the shocks, excitement, adventure, WOW, OMG and WTF moments. Anything caught in between those moments are probably page numbers. Or full stops. In this story, they get int he way. You want to go from one word to the next with no stopping until the entire story is over. George RR Martin makes you wait...and wait...and wait for what is to come next. But it is good and it's worth it!

[dbhart42 · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

I know that it is blasphemy to say, but I didn't actually like the Game of Thrones books. I have no problem with books and authors that kill off main characters, but this whole series there is no hope for the good guys, ever.

[jayesh.bhoot · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

I can't shed the feeling that GRR Martin has some ill will towards the Starks. He surely hates somebody bearing Stark as their last name, and wants to see them burn.
The novel itself, however, is ace! Shock, anger, smile, stupidity, scowl, grin, numbness - these are some of the emotions that you would experience, and not necessarily in the same order.

[aquaorbis-1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

I'M FINALLY DONE! IT TOOK OVER A MONTH, BUT I DID IT!

So I thought Game of Thrones had a lot of characters. Well, A Clash of Kings has all those characters plus about 2.5 BILLION MORE. Remarkably, though, I hardly ever lost track of who was who. I think it's because they are all fleshed out so well.

Just like in the first book, Clash of Kings is not without its tragedy. The author did a great job of setting up tension whenever a character is in trouble, as we know from the last book that anyone can die.

I will read A Feast for Crows, but not right now. I need a break.

[kakadoo202 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

the story first moves on in a fast pace but then slows down and it is almost like a chess game. Leafing over the fight scenes. lots of cliffhangers at the end.

[algybama · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

More action and Tyrion than Book 1, and yet A Clash of Kings is still worse.Sloppy characterization brings it down. Theon's bland dreams of guilt ruined what could have been a lively storyline; Catelyn's repetitive and unrealistic grief cheapened the gravity of the whole drama; and Davos is just a horribly dull and unimaginative character. For a smuggler turned knight you'd expect him to have a little flavor, but he talks and thinks like a stone. I understand he's trying to hide what he thinks and feels from those around him, but his personal monologues are horrifically flat. I hope George rescues him somehow, or else kills him off.We see George getting a little more experimental with his style, and not always to good effect. His dream sequences lack the mysterious and profound quality that they had in A Game of Thrones, and his descriptions of dancing fire actually made me cringe.Still good, but I hope it tightens up.

[pizzakarin · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

I am interested to see where this goes though I think I will wait to read the third book until after the 2nd season of Game of Thrones.

[boppisces · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

This is the second book in George Martin's 'A Song of Fire and Ice' series and follows 'A Game of Thrones'. The King, Robert Baratheon, is dead, and his hand Eddard Stark beheaded. The new king is the cruel boy Joffrey, but other claimants include Robb Stark, Stannis Baratheon and Renly Baratheon. A blazing red comet in the sky is seen as a sign, but is it an omen for good or bad? Winter is also coming with Others and the undead rising along with increasing civil war. Across the sea the daughter of the Dragon King, and the mother of three baby dragons, makes her plans to regain the throne. There are a lot of characters to deal with in this series and, at times, it can become slightly overwhelming. These are, however, well developed and wonderfully interesting characters that the reader becomes very involved with. A list of characters is provided at the end, but it would be useful to have this list of characters in alphabetical order as well. An awesome series. My one wish is that the text was larger as my eyes find it very hard going sometimes!

[thyhoopyfrood · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

After the harrowing conclusion of "A Game of Thrones" I honestly did not believe I would be as invested George R.R. Martin's "A Clash of Kings" nearly as much. In between the first and this book I had to read another book because I honestly could not pick this one up right away knowing what happen in the first, I needed time to mourn as funny as that sounds. Once I did though characters like Tyrion Lannister, Davos Seaworth, Arya Stark, Jon Snow, Stannis Baratheon, Qhorin Halfhand, and of course, Daenerys Targaryen kept me coming back as the War of Kings continue to struggle and turmoil to Westeros.

[estellechauvelin · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

It's difficult to review the Song of Ice and Fire books without actually reviewing the series as a whole. With that in mind, I'll keep it short and general and say that George R.R. Martin does a phenomenal job of keeping multiple storylines flowing and making characters on every side sympathetic. However, it's a difficult series to set aside for a while and return to; remembering all the names and narratives within one book is one thing, and putting the series down and picking it back up later is another. It's probably best to read as many of them as have been published straight through without letting the breaks for other books get too long.

[swbesecker · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

I can not get enough of this series.