And I'm officially a fan of A Song of Ice and Fire. While I had minor questions about A Game of Thrones, A Clash of Kings just rocks. From Martin's diverse cast of characters to the overarching mysteries  about the history of this world, A Clash of Kings has skyrocketed A Song of Ice and Fire into my list of favorite series.

As with the first novel, this book builds its plot primarily around incredibly dramatic political intrigue. With the shocking events of the previous novel,

the end of loyalty and stability embodied by Ned and Robert

, A Clash of Kings takes the plot in a range of unexpected and yet completely satisfying ways. Martin plays heavily with dramatic irony, letting cracks in every scheme become just apparent enough to the reader so we can watch in horror as plans collapse. While Martin does brutally kill off some of his cast, it never feels like this is purely for shock value. Instead, character deaths always have clear serious impacts on the future of Westeros and its political scene. While this element of the story continues to excite me, there were parts where I found it a bit too thick. Much to my surprise, I was not quite as fond of Tirion chapters this time around as in A Game of Thrones for this very reason. Despite my real enjoyment of this book, I really felt its length.

Alongside this plot is the overarching feeling of the return of magic to this world. Describing the emergence of a red comet, Martin starts A Clash of Kings off with a fantastic prologue that shapes one of the most pivotal arcs of this book. While most of the perspective chapters in this book continue to be structured around the politics described above, Daenerys's and Jon's sections continue to flesh out this world, providing hints as to the song of ice and fire to come. The development of propecy through Daenerys's and Bran's experiences is also thrilling.

While I've mentioned several characters already, it is (as always) worth drawing specific attention to Martin's cast. Martin fills some of the holes left by the end of A Game of Thrones with new characters, one of whom is quite likable and the other of whom is utterly detestable. Martin's capacity to continue to develop his quite expansive cast while adding more members is impressive. Martin's graphic descriptions of sex do increase in this book and the way he describes certain female characters's bodies continues to be uncomfortable. 

All that said, just writing this review has made it even harder to wait to start A Storm of Swords.