My A Clash Of King's review (spoilers)

[KingAlanI]

"A great progression of the first book."

(Some general comments about the series were already covered in my "A Game Of Thrones" review)

Overall, this was a continuation of what pulled me in about the first book, as well as an excellent progression of the plotline.

Daenerys was already one of my favorite characters; I'm liking her even more as her story in exile develops. (Jon, Tyrion and Sam were already some of my favorite characters for being exiles of a sort)

Early on, I particularly liked Chapter 15/Tyrion 3. Not only was his ribald wit on full display, it also made serious points about censorship being counterproductive and the sex-positive culture of the Summer Islands. "Tell the High Septon that if I could worship with my cock, I'd be much more religious."

Tyrion continues to be the man, both in a serious rule sense and a comic relief sense. Heh, Pycelle is a literal egghead. Some of his middle chapters make interesting points about the sexual culture of Westeros.

With Chapter 27/Daenerys, I was happy to see a "Daeneyrs" header - ooh, more Daenerys. Of note was her comparison of the war wall and the sex wall. I was also particularly happy to see "Tyrion" headers.

Chapter 33/Catelyn 4 was a great in-character explanation of the Faith Of The Seven, one of many examples of Martin's smooth exposition. It seems like a reference to Christianity in general and Catholicism in particular. I wonder if some god(s) exist and have actual power as part of the fantasy setting. Also, the failures of Catelyn's diplomacy (in this and her other chapters) seem like a prime example of overaggressive machismo and a sexist refusal to listen to women who are talking sense.

I read rumors that Renly and Loras were gay, which the TV show played up. It hadn't crossed my mind, but hindsight is 20/20 and it manes sense. In general, I had noticed a relative lack of that, but figured it was explained by the focus on arranged marriages and heirs and perhaps a difference in Martin's humans. Was Loras the knight totally uninterested in the affairs of women mentioned in the first book? There was a boy whore mentioned, but were his customers male or female? There are more such references peppered throughout the book.

I knew sending Littlefinger as an emissary was a bad idea, so I wasn't surprised that we didn't hear back from him. I would have sent Cersei. I understand why Tyrion wnted to stay, since he was apparently the only one in King's Landing with a clue.

Chapter 52/Sansa 4: I like Sandor's brutally honest attack on Sansa's naievete, and it continues here. "What god would make a monster like the Imp or a halfwit like Lady Tanda's daughter?" seems like a great in-character version of the Problem Of Evil, a common anti-religion argument. As for Sansa freaking out about her first period, I'm a guy reading another guy write about that, so I can't say too much. The "old enough to bleed, old enough to breed" attitude certainly makes things worse. She has an interesting conversation with Cersei afterwards for sure.

"Septon Utt likes little boys" added to the Faith Of The Seven/Catholic Church analogy, a small detail amongst all the theological points.

Tyrion's defenses were brilliant (so that's why he wanted a chain), but I wonder if it was a lost cause anyway without Tywin breaking the siege, or did Tyrion successfully stall for time? It was smart to present the actual battle from both sides (Davos/Tyrion, with Sansa for King's Landing civilians - one character's POV often covers similar characters). I saw no stategic/tactical mistakes on either side serious enough for me to consider plot holes. Chapter 60/Sansa 6 provided more great female-specific debunking of Sansa's naievete from Cersei.

We already knew Bran and Rickon were still alive, but it was great to end with a Bran chapter as well as seeing more of Jon towards the end.