A Clash of Kings (A Song of Ice and Fire #2)

Does anybody care that by embarking on this second book in the series you're committing to a story that gets progressively more complicated and never goes full circle?

Not a jot because A Game of Thrones is that good and all you want is more.

The world and character building are amazing, which is my only real criticism with the book, the endlessness possibilities and dozens of extra novels if George Martin was blessed with immortality, so overwhelming you might wish you never started, unlike The Lord of The Rings trilogy that reaches an obtainable and satisfying conclusion.

You're stuck at this point, committed to going forward and becoming even more invested, knowing there's an entire box set out there and yet more adventure.

I've never read anything like it: the wall in the north, Daenerys Targaryen in the south, understanding little of how it interconnects but instinctively knowing there's going to be a massive pressure point at some stage, plus all the posturing, politics and entangled relationships.

My favourite character is king Joffrey preening himself in his ivory tower like a demented Saruman, behaving as he wishes, treating others like scum, championed by his equally hateful mother, queen Cersei, creating a pivotal point of abhorrence for every other faction to try to conquer and claim the throne for themselves, which opens the possibilities for new families, tribes and armies around the map. Get the iron throne and you get the kingdom.

This is an incredible book, frightening and exciting, polarizing and invigorating, a mixture of high fantasy and satisfying medieval muck and grime. War, sex and betrayal in spades.

George Martin got it right and this is just the beginning.