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Clash of kings – George R R Martin

The second book from “A song of Ice and Fire” series is beautiful, mesmerizing and tragic. It brings out all kinds of emotions in the reader, even the ones we don’t quite enjoy. It is a culmination of all genres and types of writings, just like its predecessor in the series.

Told from multiple point of views of completely different characters we are given a diverse view of the war that had spilled over from the jar in Westeros, where the conflict in the story is concentrated. As the dragon magic resurfaces in the world so does all other forms of magic and all kinds of evil. The book is very detailed in its construction of the fictional world, like other fantasy books. The vivid colours and the lurking noirs are presented in equally beautiful and attractive words.

So diving into the world would take no problem at all. That is, if you are well versed in English. If you are not then you might find many words which are beyond your vocabulary. Most of them are actually simple words but a non-native English speaker would not have known them. Also at times the description of all the clothes and banners and artefacts around the character is described in so much detail that it would pass over your head just like that. For me it’s irritating some times, because I don’t really care much about the world building because I saw the series on HBO. So I have a picture of them already in my mind. So what I want to read is the actual plot not the unnecessary details about their clothes. Fans please forgive my insolence. I do agree that it is sometimes interesting.

Now the story itself is grandiose. It had same or even bigger impact on me. I got goose bumps, I was angry sometimes, sometimes I wanted to kill some people very brutally, sometimes I just wanted to give them a hug. All the symbolisms and foreshadowing in the book is very interesting to me. I can easily spot them now because I have already watched the series. And I enjoy it very much. Things like that give the reader a chance to predict the future. That makes reading more engaging. Martin does this very well.

The clash of kings does everything good the first book did, but in a more grandiose way. We were promised a war and we got the war. The Pandora’s box of conflict and tyranny is open now. What all things would come out of it we have to wait and watch!

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