a clash of kings by george r.r. martin is much like a game of thrones was, with an intercut story of court intrigue. i think it suffers a bit from middle-novel syndrome: it doesn’t really doesn’t have many complete stories of its own. but it is a good middle novel — it pushes forward on all the major plots in the series so far, does a good job of backfilling more of the backstory and details about the world, and introduces some interesting new characters and twists.

it is even more graphic than the first novel. so for novels that feature a lot of younger characters, it’s not entirely suitable for younger readers. a previous reader had helpfully underlined a couple of salacious bits in the library’s copy of the book.