HBO's hit series A GAME OF THRONES is based on George R R Martin's internationally bestselling series A SONG OF ICE AND FIRE, the greatest fantasy epic of the modern age. A CLASH OF KINGS is the second volume in the series. `Characters so venomous they could eat the Borgias' Guardian ` `Tears: the woman's weapon, my lady mother used to call them. The man's weapon is a sword. And that tells us all you need to know . . . ` Throughout Westeros, the cold winds are rising. From the ancient citadel of Dragonstone to the forbidding lands of Winterfell, chaos reigns as pretenders to the Iron Throne of the Seven Kingdoms stake their claims through tempest, turmoil and war. Five factions struggle for control of a divided land. Against a backdrop of incest, fratricide, alchemy and murder, the price of glory is measured in blood.