A Song of Ice and Fire, Book 2

The second novel of Martin's titanic Song of Ice and Fire saga (A Game of
Thrones, 1996) begins with Princess Arya Stark fleeing her dead father's capital
of King's Landing, disguised as a boy. [...] In between [the beginning and the end],
her actions map the further course of a truly epic fantasy set in a world bedecked
with 8000 years of history, beset by an imminent winter that will last 10 years and
bedazzled by swords and spells wielded to devastating effect by the scrupulous and
unscrupulous alike. Standout characters besides Arya include Queen Cersei,
so lacking in morals that she becomes almost pitiable; the queen's brother,
the relentlessly ingenious dwarf Tyrion Lannister; and Arya's brother, Prince Brandon,
crippled except when he runs with the wolves in his dreams. The novel is notable
particularly for the lived-in quality of its world, created through abundant detail
that dramatically increases narrative length even as it aids suspension of disbelief;
for the comparatively modest role of magic (although with one ambitious young woman
raising a trio of dragons, that may change in future volumes)... Martin may not rival
Tolkien or Robert Jordan, but he ranks with such accomplished medievalists of fantasy
as Poul Anderson and Gordon Dickson. Here, he provides a banquet for fantasy lovers
with large appetites.and this is only the second course of a repast with no end in
sight.

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