Review of 'A Clash of Kings (Martin, George R. R. Song of Ice and Fire, Bk. 2.)' on 'Goodreads'
4 stars
More of the solid world-building and character development that we saw in its predecessor, Game of Thrones, but with a darker, bleaker setting. Where GoT had many innocent or naive characters that eventually got their hands dirty (or bloody), A Clash of Kings starts out with wary, harried, broken characters trudging through a broken world with only the faintest hopes of ending up somewhere better someday... and it works really well as a book that pulls you in and keeps you invested.
There are touches of deus ex machina via weak supernatural events, but I'm not yet sure of how important Martin may allow them to be. If they continue to simply be small devices that occasionally move the plot along, I won't mind too much. But if they become crucial to any major plot line, I'm skeptical that Martin will do so without losing some of my respect for …
More of the solid world-building and character development that we saw in its predecessor, Game of Thrones, but with a darker, bleaker setting. Where GoT had many innocent or naive characters that eventually got their hands dirty (or bloody), A Clash of Kings starts out with wary, harried, broken characters trudging through a broken world with only the faintest hopes of ending up somewhere better someday... and it works really well as a book that pulls you in and keeps you invested.
There are touches of deus ex machina via weak supernatural events, but I'm not yet sure of how important Martin may allow them to be. If they continue to simply be small devices that occasionally move the plot along, I won't mind too much. But if they become crucial to any major plot line, I'm skeptical that Martin will do so without losing some of my respect for the story.
On to the next book!