A Clash of Kings
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 US Hardcover Edition |
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| Author | George R. R. Martin |
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| Cover artist | Steve Youll |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Series | A Song of Ice and Fire |
| Genre(s) | Fantasy |
| Publisher | Bantam Books (US) & Voyager (UK) |
| Released | November 1998 (UK) & March 1999 (US) |
| Media type | Print (Hardback & Paperback) |
| Pages | 708 (UK Hardback), 768 (US Hardback), 1009 (US Paperback) |
| ISBN | ISBN 0-00-224585-X (UK Hardback), ISBN 0-553-10803-4 (US Hardback), ISBN 0-553-57990-8 (US Paperback) |
| Preceded by | A Game of Thrones |
| Followed by | A Storm of Swords |
A Clash of Kings is the second of seven planned novels in A Song of Ice and Fire, an epic fantasy series by American author George R. R. Martin. It was first published on 16 November 1998 in the United Kingdom, although the first United States edition did not follow until March 1999. Like its predecessor, A Game of Thrones, it both won the 1999 Locus Award for Best Novel and was nominated for the 2000 Nebula Award for best novel.
In May 2005 Meisha Merlin released a much-delayed limited edition of the novel, fully illustrated by John Howe.
A Clash of Kings is also the name of the first expansion to the board game "A Game of Thrones".
Contents |
[edit] Plot introduction
A Clash of Kings is set in a fictitious world reminiscent of Medieval Europe (primarily on a continent called Westeros), except for the fact that in this world, the seasons last for years and, sometimes, decades.
[edit] Plot summary
A Clash of Kings picks up the story where A Game of Thrones ended. The Seven Kingdoms are plagued by civil war, while the Night's Watch mounts a reconnaissance force north of the Wall and, in the distant east, Daenerys Targaryen continues her quest to return to the Seven Kingdoms and become Queen.
The novel spans most of the year 299 After the Landing.
[edit] In the Seven Kingdoms
The war becomes more complex when the Greyjoys enter the fight. Robb Stark's attempts to secure an alliance with the Greyjoys are rebuffed and, instead, the Greyjoys launch a massive assault along the east coast of the North. Ironborn raiders seize control of Moat Cailin, Torrhen's Square and Deepwood Motte, whilst they heavily raid the Stoney Shore.
At Winterfell, Bran is left in charge of the castle, but finds two new friends when Jojen and Meera Reed arrive from Greywater Watch in the Neck. Son and daughter of Eddard Stark's closest friend, Lord Howland Reed, they take an interest in his strange dreams.
Meanwhile, Stannis Baratheon declares himself King of Westeros with the support of the lords of the Narrow Sea and Melisandre, a red priestess of the eastern god R'hllor, Lord of Light. Enraged with Renly claiming the throne, Stannis chooses to besiege his own home castle of Storm's End to force Renly to march east and treat with him. Catelyn Stark, who has journeyed south herself to discuss a possible Stark-Baratheon alliance against the Lannisters, also accompanies Renly. The parley ends in acrimony and Renly resolves to use his immeasurably vaster army to destroy Stannis. Without warning, Renly's own shadow comes to life and kills him. Shocked, Catelyn and the only other witness, the warrior-maid Brienne of Tarth, flee. The Storm Lords declare for Stannis, but Storm's End itself only falls when Melisandre, before a horrified Ser Davos Seaworth, 'gives birth' to another 'shadow' which kills the castellan.
In King's Landing Tyrion Lannister arrives to act as Hand in Lord Tywin's stead. Whilst intriguing against his sister Cersei, Tyrion also improves the defences of the city. Learning of Renly's death, Tyrion resolves on two courses of action. He knows that the Tyrells will not be happy following Stannis, and decides to make them a better offer. He also resolves to bring the Martells of Dorne into the war on the Lannister side. He sends Littlefinger to treat with the Tyrells and other messengers to Dorne. He wins Littlefinger's support by promising him the castle of Harrenhal, which will make Littlefinger a great lord. The negotiations are successful: Lord Mace Tyrell agrees to wed his daughter Margaery to King Joffrey, whilst Prince Doran Martell agrees to marry his son Trystane to Joffrey's sister Myrcella.
Theon Greyjoy leads a small force of ironmen and captures Winterfell, taking Bran and Rickon Stark captive. Theon's sister Asha suggests he raze the castle and flee before the other northmen reclaim it, but Theon petulantly tries to hold the castle indefinitely. Eventually a strong force of northmen besiege Winterfell. In a moment of rage Theon apparently kills Bran and Rickon. The northmen mount their assault, but suddenly the contingent of House Bolton, led by Lord Roose Bolton's bastard son Ramsey Snow, turn on their fellows and drive them off with heavy losses. Theon eagerly opens the gates to his 'allies', only to be beaten and taken captive. Winterfell is razed to the ground and the Boltons return to the Dreadfort. Shortly after this, Bran and Rickon emerge (Theon faked their deaths to bolster his image; killing two children of similar age, size and colouring that lived in a nearby windmill. The bodies were disfigured enough for no one to recognise them). A wildling woman who is serving in the castle, Osha, agrees to take Rickon to safety, whilst Bran, Meera and Jojen decide to travel north to the Wall.
Robb Stark leads his army into the Westerlands and wins several victories against the Lannister home territories, winning battles at Oxcross and Ashemark and storming the Golden Tooth and the Crag. Tywin reluctantly advances from Harrenhal, but his attempt to pass the fords near Riverrun is defeated by Edmure Tully, Catelyn's brother and the infirm Lord Hoster's heir. Whilst this prevents the Lannisters from falling on Robb's rear, it does allow them to rapidly march south to join their new allies, the Tyrells.
Arya, posing as a boy named Arry, is taken north by Yoren along with other new recruits for the Night's Watch. However, they are attacked by Lannister freeriders led by Ser Amory Lorch; Yoren is killed on the shores of Gods Eye. Lorch takes his captives to Harrenhal, at the moment under the rulership of Tywin Lannister. Arya survives her time at Harrenhal with the help of a man named Jaqen H'ghar, who is a Faceless Man, a member of an elite assassins' sect from the Free City of Braavos. For saving his life earlier, H'ghar repays her by killing three men of her choice. He also gives her a coin which can identify her as having connections with the assassins guild. H'ghar then adopts a new identity and leaves. Lord Tywin soon departs Harrenhal; with the aid of informants, Roose Bolton, under the banner of the King of the North, captures the castle. Bolton has Lorch thrown in the castle's bear pit (with a bear) and has Arya serve him as a page. Bolton orders the Stark foot army to advance on Duskendale to threaten King's Landing from the north, informing them that the orders come directly from Robb Stark. Arya herself kills a guard before escaping with some of the other Night's Watch recruits.
Stannis Baratheon's army reaches King's Landing and a combined assault is launched by both land and sea. Tyrion traps the Baratheon fleet in the mouth of the Blackwater Rush with a huge chain before detonating wildfire barrels on nearby ships and under the river. Most of Stannis' fleet is destroyed and many of his troops are killed, but not enough to deny him victory. Some of Stannis' men establish a foothold on the north shore, but a brave sally led by Tyrion dislodges them. Despite this, Tyrion is nearly killed by one of the Kingsguard, Ser Mandon Moore, but survives with heavy injuries after Moore is killed by Tyrion's own squire, Podrick Payne. Stannis' army is then attacked from the rear by the Tyrells and Lannisters and crushed against the river. Stannis barely manages to escape with only a few thousand soldiers and a few ships.
In Riverrun Catelyn's grief over the supposed death of her two sons, Rickon and Bran, grows. She questions the captive Jaime Lannister. After questioning him, an enraged Catelyn reaches for a sword...
[edit] On the Wall
The Night's Watch advances northwards from the Wall into the Haunted Forest. They stop at Craster's Keep, where a wildling man named Craster serves as an informant for the Watch. The Watch continues north to a strong defensive position known as the Fist of the First Men, which used to be a fortress many thousands of years ago. Concerned about the whereabouts and activities of the King-beyond-the-Wall Mance Rayder, Lord Commander Jeor Mormont sends Jon Snow with Qhorin Halfhand on an advanced reconnaissance of the Skirling Pass.
In the pass, Snow and Halfhand discover that there is much wildling activity in the mountains. When they are discovered, Snow is forced to kill Halfhand to win the wildlings' trust, which he does. A wildling girl named Ygritte, whom Jon spared previously, agrees to speak for him to Mance Rayder. Rayder is already advancing on the Wall with an army of many tens of thousands.
[edit] In the East
Although she now has her three infant dragons, Daenerys Targaryen's number of followers has been much reduced. The vast Dothraki army under Khal Drogo has broken apart into individual factions, and she is left with just a hundred or so retainers and Ser Jorah Mormont. Nevertheless, they proclaim her the 'Mother-of-Dragons' and 'the Unburnt' and swear to follow her.
Daenerys strikes east across the forbidding red waste, which kills many of her followers, but in the midst of the wasteland they find an ancient, abandoned city named Vaes Tolorro, the City of Bones. They find clean wells and fruit there and are able to recover somewhat. Daenerys' bloodriders scout the surrounding region and find a safe route to the great trading city of Qarth on the Jade Sea. In Qarth Daenerys is the wonder of the city for her dragons, but her attempts to secure help for claiming the throne of Westeros do not succeed. She goes to the House of the Undying to see if she can gain an alliance with the powerful warlocks of Qarth, but instead she is shown confusing images, including one of her brother Rhaegar doting on his baby son Aegon and proclaiming, "His is the Song of Ice and Fire." Rhaegar died at the Trident and baby Aegon was slaughtered during the Sack of King's Landing. She also sees an image of a man with the head of a wolf at a feast. Daenerys' dragon Drogon burns down the House of the Undying, sparking the enmity of the Qartheen and encouraging Daenerys to leave the city. An assassination attempt is carried out on Daenerys in the city's harbour, but it is thwarted by the arrival of two strangers, a fat warrior named Strong Belwas and his squire, an old but hale warrior named Arstan Whitebeard. They are agents of Ilyrio Mopatis, come to take Daenerys back to Pentos. Daenerys agrees to accompany them back to the Free Cities.
[edit] Characters
The tale is told through the eyes of 9 POV characters and a one-off prologue POV:
- Prologue: Maester Cressen, maester at Dragonstone.
- Lady Catelyn Stark, of House Tully, widow of Eddard Stark, Lord of Winterfell
- Sansa Stark, eldest daughter of Eddard Stark and Catelyn Stark, held captive by the King on the Iron Throne at King's Landing
- Arya Stark, youngest daughter of Eddard Stark and Catelyn Stark, missing and presumed dead
- Brandon Stark, second son of Eddard Stark and Catelyn Stark and heir to Winterfell and the Kingdom in the North
- Jon Snow, bastard son of Eddard Stark
- Tyrion Lannister, youngest son of Lord Tywin Lannister, a dwarf and Queen Cersei's brother
- Ser Davos Seaworth, a smuggler turned knight in the service of King Stannis Baratheon
- Theon Greyjoy, heir to the Seastone Chair and former ward of Lord Eddard Stark
- Queen Daenerys Targaryen, Stormborn, of the Targaryen Dynasty
[edit] Translations
- Bulgarian
- Catalan
- Chinese
- Croatian
- Czech
- Dutch: Luitingh-Sijthoff (1999): De strijd der koningen
- Finnish: Kuninkaiden Koitos
- French: Three volumes (Hardcover: Pygmalion (2000); paperback: J'ai Lu (2002)): La bataille des rois, L'ombre maléfique, L'invincible forteresse
- German: Single volume, Fantasy Productions (2004): Königsfehde. Two volumes, Blanvalet (2000): Der Thron der Sieben Königreiche, Die Saat des goldenen Löwen.
- Greek
- Hebrew
- Hungarian: Single volume, Alexandra: Királyok csatája
- Italian: Single volume, Mondadori (2001): Il regno dei lupi. Two volumes, Mondadori (2002): Il regno dei lupi, La regina dei draghi.
- Japanese
- Korean
- Polish
- Russian
- Serbian
- Spanish: Gigamesh (2003): Choque de reyes
- Swedish: Sagan om Eld och Is: Kungarnas Krig
[edit] Awards and nominations
- Locus Award – Best Novel (Fantasy) (Won) – (1999)
- Nebula Award – Best Novel (Nominated) – (2000)
- Ignotus Award – Best Novel (Foreign) (Won) – (2004)
[edit] External links
- chapter-by-chapter summary by Vincent Briscuso
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| Novels | A Game of Thrones (1996) · A Clash of Kings (1998) · A Storm of Swords (2000) · A Feast for Crows (2005) · A Dance with Dragons · The Winds of Winter · A Dream of Spring |
| Novellas | The Hedge Knight · The Sworn Sword |
| Major Houses | Arryn · Baratheon · Bolton · Frey · Greyjoy · Lannister · Martell · Stark · Targaryen · Tully · Tyrell |
| Other characters | Minor Houses · Independent characters · Complete character list · Daenerys Targaryen |
| Organizations | Night’s Watch · Kingsguard · Maesters · Brotherhood Without Banners · Other organizations |
| Places | Westeros · Cities · Strongholds · Across the narrow sea · Free Cities · Ghis |
| Wars and tourneys | Historic wars · War of the Usurper · War of the Five Kings · Tourneys |
| Games | A Game of Thrones: collectible card game · board game · role-playing game |
