GAME OF THRONES: A NEW ORIGINAL SERIES, NOW ON HBO.

Here is the second volume in George R.R. Martin magnificent cycle of novels that includes A Game of Thrones and A Storm of Swords. As a whole, this series comprises a genuine masterpiece of modern fantasy, bringing together the best the genre has to offer. Magic, mystery, intrigue, romance, and adventure fill these pages and transport us to a world unlike any we have ever experienced. Already hailed as a classic, George R.R. Martin stunning series is destined to stand as one of the great achievements of imaginative fiction.

A CLASH OF KINGS

A comet the color of blood and flame cuts across the sky. Two great leaders—Lord Eddard Stark and Robert Baratheon—who hold sway over an age of enforced peace are dead, victims of royal treachery. Now, from the ancient citadel of Dragonstone to the forbidding shores of Winterfell, chaos reigns. Six factions struggle for control of a divided land and the Iron Throne of the Seven Kingdoms, preparing to stake their claims through tempest, turmoil, and war. It is a tale in which brother plots against brother and the dead rise to walk in the night. Here a princess masquerades as an orphan boy; a knight of the mind prepares a poison for a treacherous sorceress; and wild men descend from the Mountains of the Moon to ravage the countryside. Against a backdrop of incest and fratricide, alchemy and murder, victory may go to the men and women possessed of the coldest steel...and the coldest hearts. For when kings clash, the whole land trembles.--From the Trade Paperback edition.

乔治·雷蒙·理查·马丁（Geoger Raymond Richard Martin）：1948年出生于美国新泽西州的贝约恩。在1971年取得硕士学位以后，马丁陆续在重要的科幻杂志上，如《类比》杂志，发表了许多短篇作品，并很快以感伤怀旧的浪漫笔触，略带歌特气息的荒凉氛围，以及糅合恐怖小说元素的科幻作品，受到读者瞩目。这一时期他的代表作有中短篇小说《莱安娜之歌》（A Song For Lya），《沙王》（Sandkings），《十字架与龙》（The Way Of Cross And Dragon）等，长篇小说《光逝》（Dying Of The Light），《热夜之梦》（Fever Dream），《末日狂歌》（The Armageddon Rag）等。而在此后的十年中，马丁转向影剧界发展，担任了多部电视剧集的编剧工作。直到上世纪90年代，马丁受到《冰与火之歌》故事的感召，退出影剧界，转而投入《冰与火之歌》的创作中。