Sunday, July 14, 2013

Kernel's Library: So The War of the Five Kings Begins

A Clash of Kings by George R. R. Martin Book 00093: A Clash of Kings by George R. R. Martin

Title:
- A Clash of Kings

First Publication:
- 16th November 1998 by Bantam Spectra


Trivia:
- A Clash of Kings is the second book in the acclaimed A Song of Ice and Fire series.
- The second season of Game of Thrones TV series, which was aired starting April 1, 2012, was based on this novel.
- A limited illustrated edition with illustrations by John Howe has been released in May 2005 by Meisha Merlin.
- Aside from the minor character's point of view in the prologue, the book has nine main characters' point of view.


Awards:
- Winner of 1999 Locus Award for Best Novel (Fantasy)
- Nominated in 1999 Nebula Award for Best Novel
- Winner of 2004 Ignotus Award for Best Novel (Foreign)




Here's the deal: I was already in love with George R. R. Martin's A Song of Ice and Fire series, all thanks to the badass first book of the series, A Game of Thrones. Unlike many trying hard series, the succeeding books almost always belong to the sophomore slump that only the best series came out from alive.

When I read this book a year or two ago, I really believed A Clash of Kings is one of those sequels that gets better and better, the likes of which are only rarely seen: The Two Towers by J.R.R Tolkien, The Great Hunt by Robert Jordan, Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets by J.K. Rowling, Shadowplay by Tad Williams, and The Da Vinci Code by Dan Brown are just some of them.

The sequel which shows no sign of slacking doubled the excitement, conflict and complexity that the first novel laid out for the readers. Don't expect to understand the novel if you've skip the first book, because it is really essential that you read the series in a ladderized way.

But of course, like almost every series, you don't get satisfied of the ending, not because it is really bad, but because you can't wait anymore for the next book in the series that you hope to maintain all these excitement, if not exceed it.

Plot Synopsis


In this eagerly awaited sequel to A Game of Thrones, George R. R. Martin has created a work of unsurpassed vision, power, and imagination. A Clash of Kings transports us to a world of revelry and revenge, wizardry and warfare unlike any you have ever experienced.

A Clash of Kings

A comet the color of blood and flame cuts across the sky. And from the ancient citadel of Dragonstone to the forbidding shores of Winterfell, chaos reigns. Six factions struggle for control of a divided land and the Iron Throne of the Seven Kingdoms, preparing to stake their claims through tempest, turmoil, and war. It is a tale in which 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. Against a backdrop of incest and fratricide, alchemy and murder, victory may go to the men and women possessed of the coldest steel...and the coldest hearts. For when kings clash, the whole land trembles.


Grade: A+

0 comments: