Reviewed by Amber (The Literary Phoenix) on
A Clash of Kings saw the removal of Eddard Stark (obviously) from the character narratives, and much of the focus turns to the place of fighting. We see the addition of Theon Greyjoy, who I decidedly don't care about, and of another man in Stannis' care who obviously I also didn't like because I cannot be bothered to conjure his name. Here, Martin splits the reader to watch the real battle, instead of the individual characters. As a character writer, this is less to my taste. We see nearly nothing of Robb, Little of Arya and Bran, but a good taste of Tyrion (who strangely, I like) and Catelyn... and of Greyjoy. The characters remain consistent and well-written... the way a person views the chapters, I think, is based less on the writing of them and more to the fact or whether or not you like the character as a person.
You know Martin has big plans for Dany, because he isn't dropping her, but she still feels so far away from the action, I found that reading her chapters were frustrating because of the distance of the "important" plot.
I have a difficult time reviewing this book because all I want to do is compare it to the first one (which I LOVED). It's also difficult because there is so much to it. It's actually overwhelming at times trying to keep everything straight - sometimes you need to go back and flip to the last section narrated by that character to review. I liked it, but I didn't at the same time. That's why it gets three stars.
Martin undoubtedly succeeded in one thing, however. I want to know what happens next. So I will be reading the next book.
Reading updates
- Started reading
- 8 July, 2012: Finished reading
- 8 July, 2012: Reviewed