A Clash of Kings: The Illustrated Edition (A Song of Ice and Fire Illustrated Edition)

Such a beautiful book! I absolutely love the illustrations!

Game of Thrones, the first book in George R.R. Martin’s A Song of Ice and Fire series is cruel, brutal, merciless while also immersive and creatively beautiful. It’s highly addictive. The world in which the story takes place is richly built with interesting and unique locations. No two places are alike, not even the small towns and the villages. Similarly, no two characters are alike, even if they have minor roles like Robert Baratheon’s Kingsguard or Jon Snow’s friends at Castle Black. Each and every castle has layers of uniqueness not only to it but also to the people living in it. The palaces of their birth and upbringing affect the way each and every character works. What makes this world really immersive and addictive is that its characters are real. They are not mythical heroes striving to do the right thing or malicious villains trying to ruin everything. They’re flawed and humane. The “good guys” commit atrocities that degrade them while the “bad guys” possess redeeming qualities that put them on the same moral pedestal as everyone else. It’s also an intriguing read because you’ll never know what’s about to happen. Eddard Stark is the hero of the series? Don’t be so sure about that! Tyrion Lannister is a vile creature? Well his POV chapters beg to differ. The plot slithers like a snake as Martin pulls the rug from beneath the readers feet without skipping a single beat. This is what I really love about the book and when you reread it, you’ll find that everything was building up to what ended up happening. As a reader, we are so accustomed to stereotypes in storytelling that we forget that the main characters of the story are mortal as well, that they are cut from the same cloth as everyone else in this story. This is what the whole book is basically. It’s a mockery of stereotypes in storytelling. One might read a particular chapter and ask themselves, “How could this happen? It’s impossible!” When in reality, it’s more possible than whatever you thought was going to happen. As I’ve mentioned before, the moral greyness of each and every character is what that makes you care for them. I’ve to admit that no book has ever moved so emotionally as A Game of Thrones did. By emotions I don’t simply mean tears, this book will make you undergo some thousand different emotions from the moment you begin to the moment you end.

Love these books so far. So much better than the show! A good read to pick up in your spare time or if you just need to kill time!

Fantastic gift idea for game of throne fans. Perfect quality. Arrived on time.

This is for the anniversary, illustrated hardcover edition of the book: Gorgeous and hefty, just like the first edition in this series. My only gripe would be that it seems they’ve cut down on the total number of illustrations in favor of including both the B&W illustrations within the text along with collections of color versions of them coupled in three places along the book. I prefer the style of the first, where they had like four total big color illustrations for big moments and then B&W dispersed throughout the rest of the book, feeling no need to reproduce those in color. But still a fantastic volume, will keep purchasing these editions for the remainder of the series.

Product came a bit scratched up but the quality of the paper and art is amazing. Considering I got this for around 22$, it’s quite a good deal.

Beautiful series of books. Very happy with this purchase

Of course the book(s) are better. They always are. As a fan of the TV series, I knew I would enjoy the books, but I actually now prefer the books. They fill in plot holes, while explaining some of the backstories to help engage more with characters. At times it seems a whole different world from the show, but in a good way. That being said, the writing can be a little confusing at times. I re-read a paragraph five times, leaving that paragraph without ever comprehending it’s meaning. George has an imagination that raises the bar for other fiction writers.

A must have edition if you love this book serie

Bought as a gift, recipient was happy with purchase.

Piccola delusione perché ci sono meno immagine, che sono di nuovo all’inizio di alcuni capitoli e poi sono raggruppati a colori insieme.

Es una buena novela, le pongo 4 estrellas porque aunque es cierto que está ilustrada, son poquitas las ilustraciones que aparecen en la misma. No creo que el pequeño número de ellas que hay aporte un valor sustancial adicional a la novela sin ilustrar. Es cierto que la calidad de las ilustraciones sí es buena.

I love the sheer size of this book. The ilistrations are 20 something. They are sprinkled along the book in black and white versions, and there's also 3 clumps with the same illistrations in color.