Book Review: 2 Treasure Boxes
A Song of Ice and Fire, Book 2
Publisher: Bantam; REP edition (September 5, 2000), Mass Market Paperback: 1040 pages, Language: English , ISBN-10: 9780553579901, ISBN-13: 978-0553579901, ASIN: 0553579908

Imagine a world were there are Kings and dragons and the walking dead. The world is at war and there are 6 different family groups who want to rule and have proclaimed themselves Kings. Several of these families are evil. This story centers around these groups, and their activites in the fight for the rule of the Iron Throne.  Meanwhile in the far north evil is stirring.

A Clash of Kings is the second book in the series, there are currently four books in the series with three more supposedly coming in the future.  However, the fourth book was completed in 2005 and there is no information on when any of the other books will be released.  I am looking forward to the HBO series starting April 17, 2011 as it should be interesting. The series falls into the Fantasy genre. The story is told in a limited third person narrative from the numerous different characters point of view with each chapter bearing the name of the character it is focusing on.

This is an all-encompassing storyline that continues directly from A Game of Thrones. A few new characters have been added, Davos the Onion Knight to King Stannis and Theon, the Prince of the Iron Islands. I thought that Theon’s actions were rather appalling. The book ended with many more questions than it answered.  What is happening with Daenerys? Her adventure in the house of the undying was rather frightening. Jon is now totally enmeshed with the Others across the wall, but what are they up to? Aryas adventures are  interesting and I am  curious to see where she is going next and what she is going to get up to. I thought she was going to waste her three kills, but the creative way she utilized the last one showed me wrong.  The plot keeps pointing to something bad happening at some point but we do not know what. All we know is that something is stirring in the North, the dead are walking and there is war throughout land. We also learn more about the history of the land. Wiith 6 proclaimed kings in the seven kingdoms, civil war is ensuing. There were several shocking events that occurred in this book, including the death of some key players.  We get to know and understand our characters better.

I am anxious to start the next book in the series. This is not a stand-alone book, it ended in the middle of several story lines and I am very curious to see where it is all going.  I recommend this book, but it is not for the faint of heart.  It is a really complicated story that encompasses many characters going in many different directions. If you enjoy reading about the intrigues of court and high fantasy, with plenty of action, then you will enjoy this book, although you need to read A Game of Throne first.