I finished up my first book of 2012 last night, "A Clash of Kings," by George R.R. Martin. It is the second book in the "A Song of Ice and Fire" series. I was introduced to this series through the HBO's adaptation of the first book, "Game of Thrones." That was an excellent book and a pretty faithful TV adaptation.
The book picks up where the first book, "Game of Thrones," left off. Civil war has come to Westeros. There are several would be kings vying for the throne. Those would be royals include: Robb Stark, Joffrey Barahteon, Rennly Baratheon, Stannis Baratheon, Daeneryis Targeryan and Balon Greyjoy (does spelling count?). Each are fighting for a different reason. At the surface it's a prototypical swords and castles story but the complexity and the characters make it something worth reading.
I don't want to give too much plot away as I know at least Kristen is planning on watching the next season (airs in April). It would also take a few dozen pages to summarize anyway (the book is nearly 800 pages long, over 1,000 in the paperback). I will say this, I was initially disappointed in the end of the book. I wanted some closure but it's a cliffhanger of sorts. I really want to take a break from this and read some other stuff but I think I'll be on to book 3 within the next couple reads.
Throughout the book there is great suspense as the myriad characters are captured, released, killed, spied upon, spying, politicking and procreating. The plot is intricate, there are dozens of characters. Each chapter follows a particular character's story line. There were a couple long breaks between characters chapters; it was occasionally difficult to remember what the heck they were doing the last time they had a chapter. It's well written, the cadence of the political scenes are gripping, the battles are vivid. The battles are extremely violent (they are, by nature, violent). There is also quite a bit of sex. It turns out whoring isn't such a big deal in Westeros.
I'm excited to read the next one. This series was originally written as a trilogy although it looks like the 7th book is being written now. I'm hoping for some closure in the next installment!
The book picks up where the first book, "Game of Thrones," left off. Civil war has come to Westeros. There are several would be kings vying for the throne. Those would be royals include: Robb Stark, Joffrey Barahteon, Rennly Baratheon, Stannis Baratheon, Daeneryis Targeryan and Balon Greyjoy (does spelling count?). Each are fighting for a different reason. At the surface it's a prototypical swords and castles story but the complexity and the characters make it something worth reading.
I don't want to give too much plot away as I know at least Kristen is planning on watching the next season (airs in April). It would also take a few dozen pages to summarize anyway (the book is nearly 800 pages long, over 1,000 in the paperback). I will say this, I was initially disappointed in the end of the book. I wanted some closure but it's a cliffhanger of sorts. I really want to take a break from this and read some other stuff but I think I'll be on to book 3 within the next couple reads.
Throughout the book there is great suspense as the myriad characters are captured, released, killed, spied upon, spying, politicking and procreating. The plot is intricate, there are dozens of characters. Each chapter follows a particular character's story line. There were a couple long breaks between characters chapters; it was occasionally difficult to remember what the heck they were doing the last time they had a chapter. It's well written, the cadence of the political scenes are gripping, the battles are vivid. The battles are extremely violent (they are, by nature, violent). There is also quite a bit of sex. It turns out whoring isn't such a big deal in Westeros.
I'm excited to read the next one. This series was originally written as a trilogy although it looks like the 7th book is being written now. I'm hoping for some closure in the next installment!
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