A Clash Of Kings

A Song of Ice & Fire: Book Two

Well, Belles & Beaus,

I finally finished the second book of the series that the show Game of Thrones is based off of and we’re going to dive on in for the book review and comparison to season two of the HBO hit show.

Warning: spoilers will follow the block quote so if you plan on reading and/or watching the show, please return once you have. And if you decide to continue on: Shame on you. You can’t blame me for you finding spoilers here when I’ve warned you.

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 class, the whole land trembles.

– The Synopsis of A Clash of Kings

Yeah, a mouthful for a synopsis right? And to be honest, this gives you nothing about how the book really comes off. If you read my review of the first book, then you’ll remember that the show left a lot of details out. This review will be the same as the first one so without any hesitation we shall jump right in.

Now the chapters still jump from character to character, but there are no Cersei chapters in this book. They mostly follow Sansa, Tyrion, Catelyn, Jon, Bran, and Arya. Davos makes an appearance during this book, but that is pretty much the area it circles in.

In A Clash of Kings, George opens us to Dragonstone, the Red Priestess, and Stannis Baratheon – who in the books is the younger brother to Robert Baratheon the dead king. In the show, you might recall that Stannis is actually Robert’s older brother. A small change in the information of the story, not that this is a major difference. Here is where we learn of the Red Priestess and the Lord of Light as well as Stannis becoming the Champion of the Lord of Light – for the night is dark and full of terrors.

Robb Stark is busily being King of the North and winning battles. We find that Catelyn Stark gets to visit with her father numerous times at Riverrun before he dies unlike in the show where he dies long before she can arrive with Robb. Meanwhile in King’s Landing, Joffery is causing Sansa all kinds of terrors as he has done in the show.

Unlike the show, Renly actually manages to survive much longer than he did in the show. I mean come on, showing up in episode three of season two and then dying in the same episode??? Really??? And so many small details that just couldn’t be fit into the show sadly because time crunch. Theon’s story line is much deeper in this book as well with his sister actually showing up at Winterfell after he has laid claim to it.

Literally, reading the book after having watched the show has ruined me. I mean, it’s nice to be able to use the actors/actresses to play it out in my head, but it’s a downside as well because things don’t parallel at the same pace as the show. But I still enjoy reading it.

We also discover that Reek – Theon’s name via Ramsey later on – isn’t who he seems to be. I haven’t gotten far enough in the series with just having finished this one to have any insights on this… Yet.

All in all, the novel was wonderful, but it makes me take a second look at the show.

XOXO,

Trula Marie