A Clash of Kings Themes

War is ever-present in this story. The War of the Five Kings is ongoing at the novel's beginning, and it won't reach a definitive conclusion until later in the series. Importantly, though, much as...

Think living in the 21st century can be rough? Then we suggest you skip your Westeros vacation, since that place can go medieval on you. You know the drill: kings, knights, chivalry, and disease—...

Family plays a huge role in A Clash of Kings, and not just because the families of the Seven Kingdoms are huge. Seriously, everybody is related to everybody, and they all share, like, five names be...

The political scene of Westeros is all about manipulation: of people, of information, of money, of the law, of other manipulators, and so on. Of course, this is nothing new if you read the first bo...

Sometimes power in fantasy can be as simple as a sword swing, but in A Clash of Kings, power is a much more nuanced affair. Varys uses information to levy his influence, while Joffrey's authority c...

Death is everywhere in A Clash of Kings, and that's not an exaggeration—people die in every location in every horrific way imaginable. Ser Amory is killed by a bear at Harrenhal, and thousands di...

A Clash of Kings serves as a formative entry in many characters' stories. Characters that started as innocent children, such as Arya and Sansa, begin to realize the true harshness of the world with...

In the Seven Kingdoms, gender roles are pretty much set in stone: Boys will be boys, girls will be girls, and that's the end of the discussion. Good talk. This is especially true amongst the countr...

In A Clash of Kings, the past has a powerful influence over the present. The War of the Five Kings would not have happened had Joffrey not executed Ned Stark, but the seeds of that deed were plante...

In A Clash of Kings, duty is all up in everyone's business. For example, it is a lord's wife's duty to birth boys for her family's lineage (no pressure there), and it's a knight's duty to fight for...