A Clash of Kings: The Graphic Novel, Volume Two

A Song of Ice and Fire: The Graphic Novels #6

by Landry Q. Walker (adapter), George R.R. Martin, Mel Rubi (illustrator)

The second volume of a four-part, full-color graphic novel adaptation of the second book in George R. R. Martin's landmark Song of Ice and Fire series, the inspiration for HBO's Game of Thrones.

As chaos grips Westeros, a flaming red comet continues to burn a crimson path across the sky. Some see this fiery herald as a sign of their impending victory. Others see it as a mark of the blood and terror that will soon engulf this divided kingdom. But one thing is certain: none of the six contenders who seek either the Iron Throne, or the lands their ancestors once held as kings, are willing to back down. And as factions scatter or come together, there are many witnesses to the unrest that is to come.

Arya Stark finds herself in the heart of enemy territory at Harrenhal, while her mother is trapped between two brothers battling each other for their dead brother's throne. In the heart of King's Landing, Tyrion is busy ferreting out traitors as the Hand of the King, while Jon is beginning to comprehend the lawlessness of life beyond the Wall. New friends arrive in Winterfell for Bran, a forgotten son finds life in the Iron Islands quite different than he remembered, and the Mother of Dragons at last arrives in the fabled city of Qarth.

But even as these would-be kings draw their lines of battle, it is the people of Westeros who will most suffer for their ambitions. For when kings clash, it is the commoners who bear the greatest cost.

Genres: Fantasy, Graphic Novels, Comics, Fiction, War, Epic Fantasy, Graphic Novels Comics

192 pages, Hardcover

First published November 19, 2019

About the author

Landry Q. Walker is a New York Times bestselling author of comics and books. His work includes Star Wars stories, Batman and Supergirl comics, and the Project Terra series of novels. He also co-created a Saturday morning cartoon called Scary Larry. He likes castles and robots and also pop-tarts. Most days he sits in his office and pushes buttons on a keyboard until stories somehow happen.

Reviews

[Ilkhom Turgunboyev · Rating 5 out of 5]

A Clash of Kings by George R. R. Martin Martin knows how to write an amazing story. His world and characters are taken seriously, with each chapter containing an intricate plot and multiple character development. The story is rich in detail.

[Meggies Fussnoten · Rating 5 out of 5]

Noch immer liegen die Sieben Königreiche im Streit. Jeder will König sein und verteidigt sein Reich bzw. macht sich auf, neue Reiche zu erobern. So auch Joffrey, der Sohn des verstorbenen Königs Robert Baratheon. Doch Gerüchte gehen um. Er sei nicht Roberts Sohn, sondern entstanden aus dem Inzest seiner Mutter Cersei mit deren Zwillingsbruder Jaime.
Robb Stark, der König des Nordens leistet heftigen Widerstand und möchte Gerechtigkeit.
Doch auch Daenerys Targaryen, die Drachenmutter möchte den verloren gegangenen Thron wieder für sich und ihre Familie erobern. Und sie hat die Hilfe von drei Drachen.

Wie auch in den Rezensionen zu den Vorgängerbänden gehe ich wieder auf den spannenden Stil der Graphic Novel ein. Die Detailliebe nimmt meiner Meinung sogar noch zu und so findet man sich in den wundersamsten Gesprächen, Racheplänen, Strategieplanungen und Gedanken der Charaktere vor.

Noch immer habe ich meine Lieblinge wie Tyrion Lennister, Jon Schnee und Daenerys Targaryen und es kommen auch immer noch Charaktere hinzu, denen ich am Anfang nicht so nahe war und nun mittlerweile auch mehr um sie bange oder ihnen Böses wünsche.

Neu hinzugekommen ist Osha, eine Wildlingsfrau, die sich um Bran und seinen Bruder Rickon kümmert. Sie hat immer einen „coolen“ Spruch auf den Lippen, weiß Rat und versucht, das Leben der beiden Kinder zu retten.

Oder aber auch Bronn, ein Söldner und – meiner Meinung nach – bester Freund von Tyrion. Er sagt seine Meinung, auch wenn diese nicht immer ankommt. Aber gerade diese Ehrlichkeit finde ich sehr gelungen.

Wie auch in "Königsfehde 1" sind die Panels weicher gehalten und es kommt mehr Farbe ins Spiel, als in den vier Vorbänden.
Ebenso ist der Umfang hervorzuheben. 192 Seiten prall gefüllt mit der Geschichte. Dies führt zu einem sehr ausführlichen Lesevergnügen. Insoweit ist es auch so, dass sich an den Büchern orientiert wird und nicht an der TV-Serie, was ich sehr begrüße. Mit vielen Details wird das Lied von Eis und Feuer erzählt. So verpasst man nichts, wenn man die Bücher nicht kennt.

Ich bin immer wieder begeistert, mit welch Herzblut die Illustratoren an die Geschichte herangehen. Die Charaktere sind sehr gut in Szene gesetzt, das Setting passt perfekt. Für mich sind die Comis bislang ein wahres Lesevergnügen und werden in meinem Bücherregal auch einen Stammplatz einnehmen.

Die Serie wird definitiv von mir weiterverfolgt.

Meggies Fussnote:
Ein wundervolles Leseereignis.

[Jamie Connolly · Rating 5 out of 5]

Really good. Not as good as the books of course but true to the material. Though it lacks certain elements from the books it does get most of it. 5 stars.

[Francis · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another fun retelling of my favourite book series of all time. Some of the pictures were a tad too childish for my liking (like Arya), but others were done quite well. As much as I love the character of Brienne in the tv show, I thought her character of this graphic novel really grasped her ugliness. Each character POV left with a cliffhanger, which is exactly how the novels are written. I’m excited for the third and fourth volumes to be published!

[Kayley Nicole · Rating 5 out of 5]

Loving GOT in graphic novel form, but my God, Bran REALLY is so boring.

Also, I hope more graphic novels will be released someday. They end with Clash of Kings.

[Emily · Rating 4 out of 5]

Revisiting the book in this medium is a good review after so long. It's such a rough book for Sansa, it's hard to see a visual depiction of Joffrey's abuse . Looking forward to an adaptation of book 3, my favorite of the series so far. Oh, except for the Red Wedding. That will probably kill me like the TV adaptation did.

[The Pixie Reader · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love this world so freaking much.

[Elizabeth Raines · Rating 4 out of 5]

Going into the world of "A Song of Ice and Fire" feels like going home. It is the series that reawakened my love for reading, and I love these graphic novels. They provide an easy way to immerse myself back into the universe. I will admit that these graphic novels are rather dense; since we are still in a high fantasy world filled with political intrigue, it does take a little longer to get through than the average graphic novel or comic book. However, I would still recommend them even if you haven’t watched the TV series or read the book series. This is a great adaptation of the book series.

[James · Rating 5 out of 5]

Well done. I like this version of Arya's story.

[Chris · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is volume two (of four) of the graphic novel adaptation of A Clash of Kings, which itself is book two George RR Martin’s epic A Song of Ice and Fire.

This volume continued with the same writer and artist as the previous volume and with following the source material of chapters named after the perspective character.

The main problem with this volume is they are just setting up all the pieces. That’s great for the source material where Martin spends three quarters of the book setting everything up and then amazing us in the final part. Dividing the book into four chunks it makes volumes two and three (likely) weaker than the others. Still, I give this a low three stars.

To follow along with the war of the five kings and trying not to spoil (though I recommend you read the novel first or at least watch the television series), this volume ends with a dangerous shadow.

One thing I picked up from the graphic novel adaptation that I don’t remember as much from the book or tv show is how Renly was really curious to where Barristan Selmy ends up (we don’t know yet by the end of this volume) and what that meant to him in terms of who should be king. It ties in with something easy to miss in the other two versions of this story the work that Varys is doing and how that explains why he didn’t save Ned when he had the chance.

[Ashiedu · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not a review, but I was just going to accept the fact that like most ficiton, black people just wouldn't be in this adaptation, even characters made black for the show. Until the first characters, two women, that popped up in the story as black were two whores. That one kind of shocked me. Contrary to popular belief, black people such as myself don't go around thinking of themselves as black. We know who and what we are as people--as individuals, but you can't really have an identity based on your skin color. I might have thought so in my youth, but it's just not a thing. Not culturally either anymore as far as I can tell. We consume all kinds of media, especially since our heritage is widely varied, something I think I learned from outwardly biracial associates such as being raised by a white woman with a black father or being raised by a Korean woman with a black father, that there really isn't any reason to just consider yourself black and ignore the rest of your heritage. Accept it all. Accept none of it. It's your choice.

Anyway, stuff like that grates on me not because I'm sensitive, but how else would you take it if you were only portrayed as whores or slaves even in a fantasy world with giants and dragons.

[Fahasa · Rating 5 out of 5]

A comet the color of blood and flame cuts across the sky. And 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.

https://www.fahasa.com/

[Joey Nardinelli · Rating 4 out of 5]

Just a feeling that the whole run of Clash of Kings, given the strength of the source material, should be pretty fun even in this condensed format. I remember there being a lot of fluff in the novel that allowed Martin to worldbuild, but by bypassing that sort of content as it doesn’t lends itself to visuals as consistently, this feels like it moved with a tight urgency. I don’t actually remember the timeline for the back half of the novel, but I suspect it will end in similar fashion to the book. Art continues to improve slowly as the series moves along, with some of the same issues of shallow character design intruding from time to time.

[Mark Adkins · Rating 4 out of 5]

The graphic novel adaptation of the book. An amazing version of the story. Always interesting to see how artists interpret the story.

[Claudia Riendeau · Rating 4 out of 5]

A sixth volume in this interpretation of a great saga. The violence of the colours used is in adequation with all the action of the book. A great interpretation of the original masterpiece series.

[Tiffany · Rating 5 out of 5]

Lovely artwork

I loved the book, and it's nice to see it so well done with illustrations! Great pacing of the story, and dramatic presentation.

[Candace C · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 stars

[Lynn · Rating 4 out of 5]

I like these graphic novels. A Clash of Kings isn’t as great as one and two and this is a middle book (2) so it drags a bit. Still good.

[Paul Taylor · Rating 5 out of 5]

Lovely story. Can't wait for future volumes!

[Scott · Rating 3 out of 5]

Almost as long as reading the book itself.

[Dave · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great

Excellent graphic adaptation. Especially for those who have read and enjoyed the novels. Vibrant and colorful, well worth the time.

[Jiří Böhm · Rating 5 out of 5]

Mně to prostě baví. Teď přemýšlím o nákupu dalších těchto komiksových adaptacích…

[Nick Katenkamp · Rating 4 out of 5]

True to the material and well illustrated. It takes quite some time for each volume to come out but they are quite good.

[Tracy Barrett · Rating 4 out of 5]

These graphic novels are a great refresher for the books. They make me wast to read them again.

[Catsalive · Rating 1 out of 5]

Read for a challenge but I really didn't enjoy the experience. The book is great, I just hate this format.

[Stephanie · Rating 3 out of 5]

A decent alternative for folks who might not have read the books or watched the TV series.

[sberatelka.knih · Rating 4 out of 5]

Pokud jste už četli knihy a viděli seriál, nic nového se tu nedozvíte. Jestli je to ale dávno a vy si chcete příběh připomenout, je tento komiks parádní volbou! Je barevný, což mám ráda, a ilustrace jsou povedené, i když jsem ne vždy rozeznala o koho se jedná. Mám teď chuť znovu se podívat na seriál 😁