The Kings Revisited

After finishing my re-read of A Game of Thrones last month, I plowed right into the follow-up, A Clash of Kings. As with book one, it's been some 13 or 14 years since I last read it, and my memories of it were fuzzy in places. One thing I did remember was not liking the book quite as much... but I always thought that judgment might be suspect, as this volume was nestled between the exceptional first book and the superlative third.

Sure enough, after reading A Clash of Kings, I found it to be just as good overall as its predecessor -- though in different ways. The pace of the plot in book two, for example, feels decidedly slower. Whereas book one feels like a steady flow of important events (until perhaps you reach the final third of the book, when the Really Important Events begin to happen and make what came before look small by comparison), book two does feel a bit like a gradual build. Tyrion's plotting in King's Landing feels like a slow march toward the epic battle of Blackwater Bay. Jon's ranging beyond the Wall feels a bit meandering in places until the climax finally places him with the Wildlings. Theon's trip home feels like a questionable diversion, until you come to realize how it has positioned him to set his sights on Winterfell. Other characters like Arya and Sansa feel almost aimless, as their fates are largely out of their own hands.

But what the book may lack in an exhilarating narrative (and only "may" -- there's still plenty that happens), it makes up for with even sharper writing than A Game of Thrones. I noted of that first book that George R.R. Martin really did a great job placing you in the heads of each character as he passes the story around to their different perspectives. A Clash of Kings accomplishes even more on that front. Each character has its own history, desires, thoughts, and beliefs. You may not like them all, but the world as seen through their eyes makes total sense. Arya doesn't make the best objective use of her three "wishes," but she acts as a young girl in her position probably would. Theon piles mistake on top of mistake, being a reprehensible snake every step of the way, but it's the logical result of his particular blend of entitlement and eagerness-to-please. Catelyn makes a massive tactical blunder near the end of the book, but it's the only choice someone who has lost two children (and who is about to lose a parent) could really make. And so on, true behavior, through all the characters.

A Clash of Kings is also where a re-reader like myself will find the chapter of the series most rewarding in a revisit -- the chapter in which Daenerys visits the House of the Undying. Her parade of visions and prophecies are full of references to things we now know came to pass in books three through five, and they offer still more tantalizing morsels one can use to speculate about the books yet to come. It's yet more proof that Martin really did have a master plan with this saga; it's just one he hasn't yet been able to fully realize.

In appreciation of the writing skill involved in this book -- the focused characters, the clever turns-of-phrase, the vivid descriptions -- I find upon re-reading it that it too deserves an A grade. But of course, my favorite book of the series is up next.