Tilted Forum Project Discussion Community  

Go Back   Tilted Forum Project Discussion Community > Interests > Tilted Entertainment


 
 
LinkBack Thread Tools
Old 07-21-2010, 02:34 PM   #1 (permalink)
warrior bodhisattva
 
Baraka_Guru's Avatar
 
Super Moderator
Location: East-central Canada
Baraka's FFJ: A Clash of Kings, George R. R. Martin (SPOILERS)

**Spoiler alert**

This is a book discussion thread for my Fabulous Fantastical Journey through fantasy literature. Discussions here are open and free, as it is assumed that those participating in the thread have read the material already. The use of spoiler tags would be cumbersome, and so they will not be used.

For more information, visit: Baraka's Fabulous Fantastical Journey

A Clash of Kings, George R. R. Martin: Book Two of A Song of Ice and Fire

Right, let's just jump right into it:

Holy fuck! Clash of kings, indeed!

Okay, so the factions of clashing (would-be) monarchs are as follows:
  1. The King on the Iron Throne, Joffrey Baratheon (King's Landing)
  2. The King in the Narrow Sea, Stannis Baratheon (Dragonstone)
  3. The King in High Garden, Renly Baratheon (Storm's End)
  4. The King in the North, Robb Stark (Winterfell)
  5. The Queen Across the Water, Daenerys Targaryen (Overseas)
  6. The King of Salt and Rock, Balon Greyjoy (Iron Islands)
  7. The King Beyond the Wall, Mance Rayder (Um, beyond The Wall)

And it gets brutal, to varying degrees.

First, we don't see much of Robb in the book, as he's operating in the background. The action focuses mainly on Balon's move to take the North and the Neck and the Brothers Baratheon's brutal race to take on the inbred Joffrey's illegitimate seat on the Iron Throne.

On the side, you have Danys' quest for power to return to claim what's hers. All she needs is an army and some ships. She already has fucking dragons. By the end of the book, it seems she's getting what she wants. All I can say, is that it looks like she's going to bring a world of pain down on Westeros!

The main climax of the book centres on Stannis' assault on King's Landing. Having overtaken his brother with fell deeds under his new god, he seems to have the upper hand in the sacking of the city.

However, Tyrion's machinations as the King's Hand prove fruitful, and with the help of his lord father Tywin Lannister, he saves the city at the last minute...but at a cost....


Okay that's the major plot in a nutshell. There is obviously a lot to fill out. In addition, there have been some considerable character developments. I think the most interesting ones to look at are: Arya, Jon, and Theon.

Of course, there's Tyrion as probably the most important in terms of action, but his development as a character was somewhat overshadowed by his actions. It's there, though. I'm still parsing it all in hindsight. There is his making important decisions regarding who to trust and his dealings with and feelings about Shae. Considering what happens at the end of this book, I imagine he's quite in for a huge challenge. I think his development as a character will continue at a faster rate in the next book. I could be wrong.

Phew...okay.

Go.
__________________
Knowing that death is certain and that the time of death is uncertain, what's the most important thing?
—Bhikkhuni Pema Chödrön

Humankind cannot bear very much reality.
—From "Burnt Norton," Four Quartets (1936), T. S. Eliot

Last edited by Baraka_Guru; 07-21-2010 at 03:02 PM..
Baraka_Guru is offline  
Old 07-28-2010, 07:47 PM   #2 (permalink)
Mine is an evil laugh
 
spindles's Avatar
 
Location: Sydney, Australia
This one is going to take longer to read. I started yesterday and noticed that the first and second books are physically the same size, but the font inside is tiny.
__________________
who hid my keyboard's PANIC button?
spindles is offline  
Old 07-28-2010, 07:52 PM   #3 (permalink)
warrior bodhisattva
 
Baraka_Guru's Avatar
 
Super Moderator
Location: East-central Canada
Here are the word counts, ostensibly:

A Song of Ice And Fire - George R. R. Martin

A Game of Thrones: 284k
A Clash of Kings: 326k
A Storm of Swords: 404k
A Feast for Crows: 300k

Total: 1M 314k

Wordcount of popular (and hefty) epics | The Cesspit.
__________________
Knowing that death is certain and that the time of death is uncertain, what's the most important thing?
—Bhikkhuni Pema Chödrön

Humankind cannot bear very much reality.
—From "Burnt Norton," Four Quartets (1936), T. S. Eliot

Last edited by Baraka_Guru; 07-28-2010 at 07:54 PM..
Baraka_Guru is offline  
Old 08-09-2010, 04:51 PM   #4 (permalink)
Mine is an evil laugh
 
spindles's Avatar
 
Location: Sydney, Australia
I've really enjoyed re-reading this. The character I'm really starting to enjoy is the Hound (Sandor Clegane). This book really starts to show more of his true character - you see him as much more chivalrous than he wants to show the world at large. Particularly his protection of Sansa (both from Joffrey and the riot) shows that he is more deserving of being a knight than many of those around him. You wonder if he will overcome his absolute fear of fire or whether that will be his downfall.

This book also highlights the sacrifice of the members of the night's watch, especially Qhorin Halfhand, who gives his life so that Jon can join Mance Rayder army.

Mellisandre - what can I say - she is probably the most evil character in the book and the use of dark magic to kill Stannis' foes leaves a bad taste in the mouth. Ser Davos revulsion when he carries her under Storm's End is clear.
__________________
who hid my keyboard's PANIC button?
spindles is offline  
Old 08-10-2010, 01:47 PM   #5 (permalink)
Junkie
 
Sandor Clegane is probably one of the most interesting characters in the entire series. He is easily the most ruthless, most vicious, and most understandably pissed-off of the "bad guys," but as with most of Martin's heroes and villains he remains ambiguous. His martial skill and immense ferocity are legendary: but what we only see through Sansa's eyes is the fact that Sandor is (or was at one point) probably a much kinder, saner counterpoint to the monstrous Ser Gregor. He clearly has an emotive, empathetic side, and he's no dummy. However, thanks to his hideously scarred face and his family's equally hideous reputation, he finds himself forced into the role of the attack dog, no good for anything except kicking and killing: kicking when you're pissed, and killing your enemies when you've done with kicking him. He cannot take a wife: with no lands or Knighthood or Lordship, his prospects are dim at best and only worsened by his face and reputation. Worse yet, he cannot attract a woman on his merits: Sansa's fear and revulsion of him despite his protection of her must cut straight to the man's blasted, burned soul. His only companionship is whores and drink, and that gets -old- for a man of his age, with his accomplishments.

Consider; Sandor -should-, by all the rules of his society, be quite a catch. He's physically powerful, a renowned warrior and soldier, known as able and intelligent and even forebearant at times. But thanks to his injuries and his brother's standing and reputation, Sandor finds himself untouchable and essentially unpromotable. His only advancement in life comes as a backhanded compliment: Joffrey (whom Sandor despises) advancing him to a White Cloak which Sandor himself regards as a sign of political acumen and physical weakness, and unearned besides: this -especially- because said cloak was stolen from the shoulders of Barristan Selmy, of all people! Talk about being made a fool! A man who values honesty ("I like dogs better'n men. Dogs don't lie.") to such a degree that he refuses Knighthood simply on principle (because Knights, like his brother, are brutal liars without even a dog's honor) being subject to the whims of a shit like Joffrey or a sociopathic viper like Cersei must gall him terribly, and to be made fool of besides?

As I said, a very interesting character. There's more to Sandor that I won't go into here, but he's one I have my eye on.

Last edited by The_Dunedan; 08-10-2010 at 01:52 PM..
The_Dunedan is offline  
 

Tags
baraka, clash, ffj, george, kings, martin, spoilers

Thread Tools

Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

BB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is Off
Trackbacks are On
Pingbacks are On
Refbacks are On



All times are GMT -8. The time now is 06:56 AM.

Tilted Forum Project

Powered by vBulletin® Version 3.8.7
Copyright ©2000 - 2024, vBulletin Solutions, Inc.
Search Engine Optimization by vBSEO 3.6.0 PL2
© 2002-2012 Tilted Forum Project

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 51 52 53 54 55 56 57 58 59 60 61 62 63 64 65 66 67 68 69 70 71 72 73 74 75 76 77 78 79 80 81 82 83 84 85 86 87 88 89 90 91 92 93 94 95 96 97 98 99 100 101 102 103 104 105 106 107 108 109 110 111 112 113 114 115 116 117 118 119 120 121 122 123 124 125 126 127 128 129 130 131 132 133 134 135 136 137 138 139 140 141 142 143 144 145 146 147 148 149 150 151 152 153 154 155 156 157 158 159 160 161 162 163 164 165 166 167 168 169 170 171 172 173 174 175 176 177 178 179 180 181 182 183 184 185 186 187 188 189 190 191 192 193 194 195 196 197 198 199 200 201 202 203 204 205 206 207 208 209 210 211 212 213 214 215 216 217 218 219 220 221 222 223 224 225 226 227 228 229 230 231 232 233 234 235 236 237 238 239 240 241 242 243 244 245 246 247 248 249 250 251 252 253 254 255 256 257 258 259 260 261 262 263 264 265 266 267 268 269 270 271 272 273 274 275 276 277 278 279 280 281 282 283 284 285 286 287 288 289 290 291 292 293 294 295 296 297 298 299 300 301 302 303 304 305 306 307 308 309 310 311 312 313 314 315 316 317 318 319 320 321 322 323 324 325 326 327 328 329 330 331 332 333 334 335 336 337 338 339 340 341 342 343 344 345 346 347 348 349 350 351 352 353 354 355 356 357 358 359 360