A Clash of Kings

[monkeydude]

*Spoilers for AGOT and ACOK*


There is no topics on A Clash of Kings. In the book club thread, there is a good one on AGOT. There is also a Storm of Swords one, which I haven't read yet since I haven't finished that one yet. So I decided to start a thead for A clash of Kings one.

Oh, and i'm new. George R.R. Martin is my favorite author in fantasy right now but I'm always lookign for someone else to take that place if they want too.

Anyways, here are some questions to get the discussion going:

What we're your favorite parts? What we're the worse parts?

What is your overall feeling on the book?

Do you like how some peoples storylines seem to be moving very slowly? Does it annoy you?


I just have to say, I loved Renly's death. Not that he died, but the way he did it. One paragraph he is alive and well and suddenly he just got stabbed. Very random, but loved it.

 

[Tsujigiri]

Hiya Monkeydude, why don't you pop onto the Introductions area, say 'Hi' and tell us a bit about yourself

 

[Brian G Turner]

I wrote up some initial impressions here:
http://www.chronicles-network.net/forum/showthread.php?t=3445

which may come across as somewhat contentious.

Overall though, I was personally pretty disappointed with A Clash of Kings - a lot of the events seemed pretty irrelevant, and even major plot events seemed badly rushed.

Definitely my least favourite of the trilogy.

 

[snow forever]

Hi therw monkeydude, what's up? .
Also new here as you can see and quite the GRRM fan (like any other reasonable person )

as for your qeestions:
Really enjoyed the arya chapters, that little girl kicks a** .
she bumps into all sorts of sickos (the tickler,rorge and roose bolton to name a few) and manages to survive and even make a little soup .
she is of the more interesting characters in the series, and i really would like to see what GRRM got in store for her (probably kill her in some horrible way )

In my first read i didn't really like the theon chapters and theon i thought was a #$^%$#^%$&&^%$ but in the rereads i did feel sorry for him and his plan to take winterfell was pretty bold, besides he's now either dead or in the dreadfort enjoying ramsay's hospitality .
the dany chapters are also little slow, but there's many prophecies in the house of the dead chapter. almost every one of which deserves a thread of its own.

In the overall ACOK is definatly slow and lacks a little action (except arya and some tyrion chapters ), but it does set the ground for ASOS and in hindsight many important events in ASOS were predicted in ACOK.

BTW not a native speaker so sorry for my grammar/spelling

BTW2 Great board, guys

 

[AryaUnderfoot]

Really enjoyed the arya chapters, that little girl kicks a** .
she bumps into all sorts of sickos (the tickler,rorge and roose bolton to name a few) and manages to survive and even make a little soup .
she is of the more interesting characters in the series, and i really would like to see what GRRM got in store for her (probably kill her in some horrible way )

In my first read i didn't really like the theon chapters and theon i thought was a #$^%$#^%$&&^%$ but in the rereads i did feel sorry for him and his plan to take winterfell was pretty bold, besides he's now either dead or in the dreadfort enjoying ramsay's hospitality .

Hey Snow Forever, glad to see another Arya fan! I love the way she deals with the less ummm... savory types she comes across. She's so brave, especially for someone her age. I don't think that GRRM will kill her off- at least he'd better not, unless he wants to incur my wrath.

I personally enjoyed the Theon chapters every time I read CoK but I've never enjoyed Theon. He's so arrogant and pretentious that I'm always tickled pink when I see him taken down a peg- even before he betrayed the Starks. And while I've never really warmed up to any of the Greyjoys, at least some of his family members are concerned about their people and not just themselves, like Theon.

 

[AryaUnderfoot]

*Spoilers for AGOT and ACOK*I just have to say, I loved Renly's death. Not that he died, but the way he did it. One paragraph he is alive and well and suddenly he just got stabbed. Very random, but loved it.

Monkeydude, I agree with you- Renly's death was great- completely caught me off guard.

 

[snow forever]

Hi Aryaunderfoot,
About Theon- he's a pompous ass i know, but he was taken from his home
in the age of 10 (?) by a man who was responsible to the death of his two older brothers to a strange cold place.
ned was probably never warm to him, nor did catelyn so he groomed all those feelings about how the ironborn were better the everybody else.
He probably had a whole fantasy about how everybody will love and respect him when he will retun home.
of course his fantasy didn't come true, he was pretty much dead for the ironborn, and i suppose it made him snap.

he's still a scum, no argue there, but that's what i love about ASOIAF
no goody to shoes (that's how you write it, right?? ) here.

 

[AryaUnderfoot]

He probably had a whole fantasy about how everybody will love and respect him when he will retun home.
of course his fantasy didn't come true, he was pretty much dead for the ironborn, and i suppose it made him snap.

he's still a scum, no argue there, but that's what i love about ASOIAF
no goody to shoes (that's how you write it, right?? ) here.

Hmm, I never really considered it from that angle. I guess I just figured that Ned would have instilled better morals into Theon, even though he was a bit distant.

And yes, that is one thing that's so great about ASOIAF- none of the characters are completely black and white- one can sympathize with most of them to some extent, except of course the ones like Rorge and Ser Gregor. (Cold shivers right there).

"No goody two shoes," as you said- even Sansa, Miss Perfect, is lacking in some respects.

 

[jnr_turtle]

No, I never found the book too slow but I just loved the characters so much that I was kept interested the whole way. Although when I do think about it, it was probably the weakest of the three, especially Dany's plotline.

Favourite bits: Loved the prologue and the introduction to Mellisandre. That sent shivers up my spine as much as the prologue in aGoT.

 

[Garnet]

I agree that Dany's story seemed to be the most boring, except in the house of the undying ones when there were all the prophecies, which were very confusing for me at the time

My favourite part was when Lord Tywins horse dropped a heap of dung in the throne room, and Joffrey had to step around it

 

[snow forever]

Hi Garnet

yeah i agree those little bits of realism are quite refreshing,
i mean, one would never suspect (reading other fantasy) that horses actually s**t .

Arya i can't really think of anything bad to say about Sansa.
Her one real sin (going to tell Cesei about her father) is really ned's sin-
he should have told her something about Jeoffry and his mother, i find it hard to beleive that Sansa would do what she did if she knew a little about the
Lannisters.

just my opinion, though.

 

[AryaUnderfoot]

Arya i can't really think of anything bad to say about Sansa. Her one real sin (going to tell Cesei about her father) is really ned's sin-
he should have told her something about Jeoffry and his mother, i find it hard to beleive that Sansa would do what she did if she knew a little about the
Lannisters.

I'm not sure if telling Sansa about the true nature of the queen and Joffrey would have helped. Sansa was definitely in denial about Joffrey and Cersei from the start, and she never thought about the consequences of her own actions. Perhaps Ned and Catelyn should have taught her better, but I'd like to think that they did what they could. Thankfully, she's learned a lot since her father's death, but a little common sense would have gone a long way in her case.

BTW, I pity Sansa as much as any other character in the book. She's been victimized so many times, and her resilience has redeemed her in my eyes. I just hope that she will get her revenge.

 

[jnr_turtle]

I'm not sure if telling Sansa about the true nature of the queen and Joffrey would have helped. Sansa was definitely in denial about Joffrey and Cersei from the start, and she never thought about the consequences of her own actions.

Haha spot on. Kids are like that

 

[Darken Rahl]

I'm currently re-reading this one, and I hit a scene last night that physically was painful. Tyrion is talking to Littlefinger and Jeofrey attempting to shoot hares outside with a crossbow. When Littlefinger tells Tyrion's page to "Invest in pots.." I started laughing so hard I actually was choking at first.I had completely forgotten that line, but I doubt I ever will again.

 

[Summer]

Sansa is my favorite character. I like her innocence and gentleness.
I think she deserve more than she has.

 

[nixie]

Can't warm to Sansa,hard to believe she is a Stark.I know she is only a little girl but so is Arya.If the situations were reserved Arya would more than likely been executed,but she would have found a way to kill Joffrey and Cersei befoe hand.

 

[AryaUnderfoot]

If the situations were reserved Arya would more than likely been executed,but she would have found a way to kill Joffrey and Cersei befoe hand.

I think it's obvious how I feel about Arya, but I think you're giving her a little more credit than she deserves here. She's a feisty little girl, not a criminal mastermind. I don't think she'd have either the mental training nor the physical prowess to get past all of the men protecting the royal family so that she could plunge needle into their black hearts. We can dream, but it's not too realistic.

 

[Boaz]

Ah, but if Arya had been in King's Landing, who's to say that Jaqen H'ghar would not have been there also. And if that had been the case, I doubt very much that she'd have sicced him on Weese, she'd have sent him straight to Joffrey.