Review: Clash of Kings by George R.R. Martin

I began reading this book the day after reading Game of Thrones, because I obviously fell in love with the plot & characters and so wanted more of the feisty & complex characters, and was so excited to begin reading this. 

From goodreads: 

A comet the color of blood and flame cuts across the sky. Two great leaders—Lord Eddard Stark and Robert Baratheon—who hold sway over an age of enforced peace are dead, victims of royal treachery. Now, from the ancient citadel of Dragonstone to the forbidding shores of Winterfell, chaos reigns. Six factions struggle for control of a divided land and the Iron Throne of the Seven Kingdoms, preparing to stake their claims through tempest, turmoil, and war. It is a tale in which brother plots against brother and the dead rise to walk in the night. Here a princess masquerades as an orphan boy; a knight of the mind prepares a poison for a treacherous sorceress; and wild men descend from the Mountains of the Moon to ravage the countryside. Against a backdrop of incest and fratricide, alchemy and murder, victory may go to the men and women possessed of the coldest steel...and the coldest hearts. For when kings clash, the whole land trembles.

Although I thoroughly enjoyed Game Of Thrones, I thought that this book would provide me with the same gripping plots and characters. However I found the plots to be too complex and I found myself forgetting who was who, what was happening and why, but I kept on reading in the hopes that it would all come clear. It didn't. I ended up watching Season 2 of the Game of Thrones tv series which is literally this book, and that helped me understand what happened in the book. I think a major player in this issue was the book being so long, and there seemed to be alot of descriptive text going on. Which I skipped most of the descriptive parts which probably made me miss important parts of the story?

I did however enjoy the characters development and getting a better understanding of their backgrounds and their personalities; Arya, Sansa & Tyroin are my favourite characters, and Daenerys of course with her dragons! This is one of the best parts of this series, the fact that you get to know the characters and you end up knowing what might happen and the politics involved between the families who want the throne.

Tomorrow I will review A Storm Of Swords by George R.R. Martin.

Holiday reads & reviews

Crap. Just realised how late this post is. Since I have more spare time on my hands and I seem to by flying through books this month: I pledge to post every Friday, and if your lucky I may post in-between Fridays!

If you are following me on Twitter (if not @nichola09) then you know I have been in a much sunnier climate than England last week; Majorca! This meant I had an excuse to read to my hearts content whilst lounging on a sun-bed. I have close to 30 books on my kindle, and got through Game of Thrones & 3rd way through Clash of Kings by George R.R. Martin, before my kindle decided to run out of battery *cries*. Yes, I forgot my kindle charger. Luckily Flick had bought a book along too called I Heart Vegas by Lindsay Kelks, so I wasn't without reading material. 

Game of Thrones by George R.R. Martin

I began reading this book a month ago, after 2 weeks i think i only got through 200 pages and was confused about the plot and characters, mainly due to there being a million characters in the book and my general lack of concentration. So I decided to put the book down and read it whilst on holiday, because the main problem was me; I don't concentrate properly on characters names, and this makes it hard when the book has loads of characters. 

However upon reading via the second attempt, I made an effort to properly concentrate on what I was reading. This obviously was the best way to go whilst reading such a detailed and complex book because I was not at all confused. What I most liked was the characters felt real and believable, and the fact that there are politics entwined within the book just makes me think the author is amazingly talented and creative to have an imagination that allows him to create works of art such as this book.

The book is part of a volume of fantasy novels (Song of Ice and Fire), where the seasons as we know them last decades (so summer for like 10 years say). King Robert makes Lord Eddard Stark his Hand, and from then onwards treason, secrets and family affairs cause issues in the kingdom and power, as the Dragon King who was deposed tries to reclaim power. 

This is one of my favorite books, I am currently reading the second book to this which is literally amazing. So i shall be giving this book a rating of:  5/5

I Heart Vegas

I am not usually a reader of Chick Lit's, but on this occasion it was my last resort. As much a dislike fluffy books, i really enjoyed reading this book! It follows Angela Clarke who is a brit living in New York who is a fashion writer but has just lost her job and is now being kicked out of America and sent packing back to Britain. However she has 30 days to get her new visa and work out how to get a visa without a job, her friends promptly take her on a weekend getaway to Vegas and it all goes wrong/right from there. 

The main thing i loved about this book, and the reason why i don't despair of this book as much as other chick lit's is that the writer can actually write and it was laugh out load funny in the situations that the main character got into. Also i fell in love with Alex slightly :3

You may see upon googling this book that its in a series (I heart Hollywood/London/New York) however I had not read any of these books previously and was able to quickly grasp who everyone was. So its a lovely beach side read, where you WILL laugh out load and 'aww' aloud. 

Rating: 4/5