Two months after I first picked it up, I finally finished the last chapter of A Clash of Kings, book 2 of George R.R. Martin's A Song of Ice and Fire, basis for the hit TV series Game of Thrones.
I was both happy and sad that the TV producers and writers made some departures from the book. Making Arya Lord Tywin's cupbearer in Harrenhal was more interesting, on the other hand, it didn't allow us a closer look at Roose Bolton's character like it did in the book (okay it wasn't much of a look but at least there was a glimpse). I guess what I'm saying is that the changes that the TV writers did made the series sell better than it would have had they strictly followed the original.
Looking back, I feel that I should have finished reading book 2 sooner than I did but there was something in the way it was written that just didn't make that happen. There just wasn't so much happening in Book 2, I guess. It didn't grip you as much as GoT did. Perhaps it didn't help that we're already on Season 3 and much of what happens is already known. That's probably it.
There just wasn't much of a clash between the four kings of the realm (and one queen across the seas). We didn't hear much from King Robb. King Stannis wins the battle against King Renly although it isn't clear whether he knew how it happened. Meanwhile, Joffrey plays at king and just grows more annoying every day. Stannis makes his claim known by sending announcements to the realm. If this was in modern day, he could have print flyers and rented choppers to make the drops at densely populated areas of the realm. That surely would have made more of an impact to his claim. Anyway... I am still looking forward to the rest of the series but I think I'll take a break and grab some light reading before I start with the next installment.
Awards received: Locus Award for Best Fantasy Novel (1999), Ignotus for Novela extranjera (2004)
0 comments:
Post a Comment