One of the problems with the series as a whole is what’s relevant and what isn’t. In fact I found myself digging deeper into some of this Westerosi history, folktales, and legends even more so than I did with my re-reading of the first novel. With this re-read, I obviously had little trouble tracking the story lines, characters, and lore of the overall series. Once you get into the story and figure out how to read high fantasy you can fully appreciate the story, characters, prose, and plot….but at times it’s difficult. The series itself is intricate and tedious and one of the things I remember not liking about this series is how long it took me to get into the first book. I am not going to give a lot of background on this book since you can see it all from my first review, rather I am just going to get right into my thoughts on this re-read! You don’t have to be a fantasy reader to enjoy this series at all! It’s one of the best books and series I’ve ever read hands down but I will say it is something to savor and revisit frequently (as in re-reads) because you might miss important plot details! It’s so rich, textured, and character driven. With no real rush or agenda, I started reading the second book back in May and I just finished it in July….yes it took me much longer to read this time but I chalk that up to being in my third trimester and having the attention span of a gnat at the moment. The last time I read the second book was in 2012 so obviously it’s been a while and lots of details have been forgotten. It’s been two years since I re-read the first book and I got so much out of the second reading that I vowed to continue re-reading the series over the years.

After watching the rapidly developing plot lines of season 6 of Game of Thrones on HBO, I felt the need to re-read the second book in the ASOIAF series.

A clash of kings series