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内容简介
THE BOOK BEHIND THE SECOND SEASON OF GAME OF THRONES, AN ORIGINAL SERIES NOW ON HBO.
George R. R. Martin, a writer of unsurpassed vision, power, and imagination, has created a landmark of fantasy fiction. In his widely acclaimed A Game of Thrones, he introduced us to an extraordinary world of wonder, intrigue, and adventure. Now, in the eagerly awaited second volume in this epic saga, he once again proves himself a master myth-maker, setting a standard against which all other fantasy novels will be measured for years to come.
Time is out of joint. The summer of peace and plenty, ten years long, is drawing to a close, and the harsh, chill winter approaches like an angry beast. Two great leaders—Lord Eddard Stark and Robert Baratheon—who held 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, as pretenders to the Iron Throne of the Seven Kingdoms prepare to stake their claims through tempest, turmoil, and war.
As a prophecy of doom cuts across the sky—a comet the color of blood and flame—six factions struggle for control of a divided land. Eddard’s son Robb has declared himself King in the North. In the south, Joffrey, the heir apparent, rules in name only, victim of the scheming courtiers who teem over King’s Landing. Robert’s two brothers each seek their own dominion, while a disfavored house turns once more to conquest. And a continent away, an exiled queen, the Mother of Dragons, risks everything to lead her precious brood across a hard hot desert to win back the crown that is rightfully hers.
A Clash of Kings transports us into a magnificent, forgotten land of revelry and revenge, wizardry and warfare. It is a tale in which maidens cavort with madmen, 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, the price of glory may be measured in blood. And the spoils of victory may just go to the men and women possessed of the coldest steel . . . and the coldest hearts. For when rulers clash, all of the land feels the tremors.
Audacious, inventive, brilliantly imagined, A Clash of Kings is a novel of dazzling beauty and boundless enchantment—a tale of pure excitement you will never forget. 作者简介
George R. R. Martin's bestselling A Song of Ice and Fire fantasy series has earned him the title of 'the American Tolkien'. The first book of the series has been made into a HBO TV adaptation, A Game of Thrones. He is the author of eight novels, several collections of short stories and numerous screenplays for television drama and feature films. He lives in Santa Fe, New Mexico.
乔治·雷蒙德·理查德·马丁(Geoger Raymond Richard Martin)欧美奇幻小说大师。1948年9月20日出生于美国新泽西州的贝约恩,在伊利诺伊州伊凡斯顿的西北大学就读,主修新闻写作,1971年取得硕士学位。马丁的作品主要以人物为关注点,描写细腻丰富,突破了幻想文学界固有的创作模式,多次引领阅读潮流。代表作有十大浪漫太空歌剧之一的《光逝》、由雨果奖获奖名篇扩展而成的《风港》、在杂志读者群中深受爱戴的《图夫航行记》,以及当代正统奇幻的第一经典《冰与火之歌》等。由于马丁的辉煌成就,他被誉为美国的托尔金和新世纪的海明威。从1989年开始,马丁淡出文学界,转而投身演艺界发展,其中包括《美女与野兽》的编剧和The Twilight Zone的剧本编辑。1996年他才重返文坛而开始奇幻文学的创作,处女作便是《权力的游戏》(The Game Of Throne),即为《冰与火之歌》(The Song Of Fire And Ice)的首部曲。虽然封笔几近10年,但大师风范犹在,《权力的游戏》甫出便拿下了British Fantasy Society、 世界奇幻奖和星云奖年度最佳幻想作品提名,即使是由其中抽取章节编成的Blood of the Dragon也获得多个最佳中篇奖,在科幻奇幻界引起极大的反响。在非官方的不记名奇幻作品投票中,《冰与火之歌》俨然已经可以和《魔戒》平起平坐,作者网站的访问量也是和斯蒂芬·金、J.K.罗琳等不相上下,其受欢迎的程度可见一斑。他的读者群早已是远远的超越奇幻科幻爱好者的范围,而受到更为广泛的关注。
权力的游戏已在HBO播出。乔治·马丁被时代杂志评选为2011年影响世界的一百人。 精彩书评
In the sequel to A Game of Thrones (1996), Martin skillfully limns the complicated, bitter politics of an inbred aristocracy, among whom an 11-year-old may be a bride, a ward, or a hostage, depending on the winds of war. Each of four men pronounces himself the rightful king, and the land of Westeros shudders with battles and betrayals. The dark, crisp plotting will please fans of the layered intrigues of Dorothy Dunnett or Robert Graves, and Graves' Claudius is echoed by the character of Queen Cersei's dwarf brother, Tyrion. Other notable characters are crippled eight-year-old Bran; Melisandre, a beautiful, menacing priestess; and Ser Davos, who won knighthood breaking a siege with a boatload of dried fish. Over all hover the threats of decades-long winter and the rebirth of the loathsome, magical Old Powers. Aided by an appendix of kings and their courts, Clash can be enjoyed on its own, though many then may retreat to Game, reread Clash, and impatiently await more of Westeros.
--Roberta Johnson
"The second novel of Martin's titanic Ice and Fire Saga [is]...a truly epic fantasy set in a world bedecked with 8000 years of history, beset by an imminent winter that will last ten years and bedazzled by swords and spells wielded to devastating effect....Here, he provides a banquet for fantasy lovers with large appetites."
--Publishers Weekley, starred review 精彩书摘
Tyrion
In the chilly white raiment of the Kingsguard, Ser Mandon Moore looked like a corpse in a shroud. "Her Grace left orders, the council in session is not to be disturbed."
"I would be only a small disturbance, ser." Tyrion slid the parchment from his sleeve. "I bear a letter from my father, Lord Tywin Lannister, the Hand of the King. There is his seal."
"Her Grace does not wish to be disturbed," Ser Mandon repeated slowly, as if Tyrion were a dullard who had not heard him the first time.
Jaime had once told him that Moore was the most dangerous of the Kingsguard--excepting himself, always--because his face gave no hint as what he might do next. Tyrion would have welcomed a hint. Bronn and Timett could likely kill the knight if it came to swords, but it would scarcely bode well if he began by slaying one of Joffrey's protectors. Yet if he let the man turn him away, where was his authority? He made himself smile. "Ser Mandon, you have not met my companions. This is Timett son of Timett, a red hand of the Burned Men. And this is Bronn. Perchance you recall Ser Vardis Egen, who was captain of Lord Arryn's household guard?"
"I know the man." Ser Mandon's eyes were pale grey, oddly flat and lifeless.
"Knew," Bronn corrected with a thin smile.
Ser Mandon did not deign to show that he had heard that.
"Be that as it may," Tyrion said lightly, "I truly must see my sister and present my letter, ser. If you would be so kind as to open the door for us?"
The white knight did not respond. Tyrion was almost at the point of trying to force his way past when Ser Mandon abruptly stood aside. "You may enter. They may not."
A small victory, he thought, but sweet. He had passed his first test. Tyrion Lannister shouldered through the door, feeling almost tall. Five members of the king's small council broke off their discussion suddenly. "You," his sister Cersei said in a tone that was equal parts disbelief and distaste.
"I can see where Joffrey learned his courtesies." Tyrion paused to admire the pair of Valyrian sphinxes that guarded the door, affecting an air of casual confidence. Cersei could smell weakness the way a dog smells fear.
"What are you doing here?" His sister's lovely green eyes studied him without the least hint of affection.
"Delivering a letter from our lord father." He sauntered to the table and placed the tightly rolled parchment between them.
The eunuch Varys took the letter and turned it in his delicate powdered hands. "How kind of Lord Tywin. And his sealing wax is such a lovely shade of gold." Varys gave the seal a close inspection. "It gives every appearance of being genuine."
"Of course it's genuine." Cersei snatched it out of his hands. She broke the wax and unrolled the parchment.
Tyrion watched her read. His sister had taken the king's seat for herself--he gathered Joffrey did not often trouble to attend council meetings, no more than Robert had--so Tyrion climbed up into the Hand's chair. It seemed only appropriate.
"This is absurd," the queen said at last. "My lord father has sent my brother to sit in his place in this council. He bids us accept Tyrion as the Hand of the King, until such time as he himself can join us."
Grand Maester Pycelle stroked his flowing white beard and nodded ponderously. "It would seem that a welcome is in order."
"Indeed." Jowly, balding Janos Slynt looked rather like a frog, a smug frog who had gotten rather above himself. "We have sore need of you, my lord. Rebellion everywhere, this grim omen in the sky, rioting in the city streets . . ."
"And whose fault is that, Lord Janos?" Cersei lashed out. "Your gold cloaks are charged with keeping order. As to you, Tyrion, you could better serve us on the field of battle."
He laughed. "No, I'm done with fields of battle, thank you. I sit a chair better than a horse, and I'd sooner hold a wine goblet than a battle-axe. All that about the thunder of the drums, sunlight flashing on armor, magnificent destriers snorting and prancing? Well, the drums gave me headaches, the sunlight flashing on my armor cooked me up like a harvest day goose, and those magnificent destriers shit everywhere. Not that I am complaining. Compared to the hospitality I enjoyed in the Vale of Arryn, drums, horseshit, and fly bites are my favorite things."
Littlefinger laughed. "Well said, Lannister. A man after my own heart."
Tyrion smiled at him, remembering a certain dagger with a dragonbone hilt and a Valyrian steel blade. We must have a talk about that, and soon. He wondered if Lord Petyr would find that subject amusing as well. "Please," he told them, "do let me be of service, in whatever small way I can."
Cersei read the letter again. "How many men have you brought with you?"
"A few hundred. My own men, chiefly. Father was loath to part with any of his. He is fighting a war, after all."
"What use will your few hundred men be if Renly marches on the city, or Stannis sails from Dragonstone? I ask for an army and my father sends me a dwarf. The king names the Hand, with the consent of council. Joffrey named our lord father."
"And our lord father named me."
"He cannot do that. Not without Joff's consent."
"Lord Tywin is at Harrenhal with his host, if you'd care to take it up with him," Tyrion said politely. "My lords, perchance you would permit me a private word with my sister?"
Varys slithered to his feet, smiling in that unctuous way he had. "How you must have yearned for the sound of your sweet sister's voice. My lords, please, let us give them a few moments together. The woes of our troubled realm shall keep."
Janos Slynt rose hesitantly and Grand Maester Pycelle ponderously, yet they rose. Littlefinger was the last. "Shall I tell the steward to prepare chambers in Maegor's Holdfast?"
"My thanks, Lord Petyr, but I will be taking Lord Stark's former quarters in the Tower of the Hand."
Littlefinger laughed. "You're a braver man than me, Lannister. You do know the fate of our last two Hands?"
"Two? If you mean to frighten me, why not say four?"
"Four?" Littlefinger raised an eyebrow. "Did the Hands before Lord Arryn meet some dire end in the Tower? I'm afraid I was too young to pay them much mind."
"Aerys Targaryen's last Hand was killed during the Sack of King's Landing, though I doubt he'd had time to settle into the Tower. He was only Hand for a fortnight. The one before him was burned to death. And before them came two others who died landless and penniless in exile, and counted themselves lucky. I believe my lord father was the last Hand to depart King's Landing with his name, properties, and parts all intact."
"Fascinating," said Littlefinger. "And all the more reason I'd sooner bed down in the dungeon."
Perhaps you'll get that wish, Tyrion thought, but he said, "Courage and folly are cousins, or so I've heard. Whatever curse may linger over the Tower of the Hand, I pray I'm small enough to escape its notice."
Janos Slynt laughed, Littlefinger smiled, and Grand Maester Pycelle followed them both out, bowing gravely.
"I hope Father did not send you all this way to plague us with history lessons," his sister said when they were alone.
"How I have yearned for the sound of your sweet voice," Tyrion sighed to her.
"How I have yearned to have that eunuch's tongue pulled out with hot pincers," Cersei replied. "Has father lost his senses? Or did you forge this letter?" She read it once more, with mounting annoyance. "Why would he inflict you on me? I wanted him to come himself." She crushed Lord Tywin's letter in her fingers. "I am Joffrey's regent, and I sent him a royal command!"
"And he ignored you," Tyrion pointed out. "He has quite a large army, he can do that. Nor is he the first. Is he?"
Cersei's mouth tightened. He could see her color rising. "If I name this letter a forgery and tell them to throw you in a dungeon, no one will ignore that, I promise you."
He was walking on rotten ice now, Tyrion knew. One false step and he would plunge through. "No one," he agreed amiably, "least of all our father. The one with the army. But why should you want to throw me into a dungeon, sweet sister, when I've come all this long way to help you?"
"I do not require your help. It was our father's presence that I commanded."
"Yes," he said quietly, "but it's Jaime you want."
His sister fancied herself subtle, but he had grown up with her. He could read her face like one of his favorite books, and what he read now was rage, and fear, and despair. "Jaime--"
"--is my brother no less than yours," Tyrion interrupted. "Give me your support and I promise you, we will have Jaime freed and returned to us unharmed."
"How?" Cersei demanded. "The Stark boy and his mother are not like to forget that we beheaded Lord Eddard."
"True," Tyrion agreed, "yet you still hold his daughters, don't you? I saw the older girl out in the yard with Joffrey."
"Sansa," the queen said. "I've given it out that I have the younger brat as well, but it's a lie. I sent Meryn Trant to take her in hand when Robert died, but her wretched dancing master interfered and the girl fled. No one has seen her since. Li...
冰与火之歌:权力的游戏 (A Song of Ice and Fire, Book 1) 凛冬将至,七国风云变幻,一个关于忠诚、背叛、荣誉与生存的史诗序章 维斯特洛大陆,一个被永恒的冬日阴影笼罩的国度,七个王国曾以铁王座为中心,在看似稳固的和平中维持着脆弱的平衡。然而,这种表面的平静之下,暗流涌动。权力的诱惑、古老的宿怨、以及预示着毁灭的神秘力量,正悄然撕裂着这片土地的根基。 故事始于君临城——铁王座的所在地,也是七大王国政治斗争的熔炉。国王劳勃·拜拉席恩的“吾王之手”,艾德·史塔克,一位正直、恪守荣誉的北境领主,被卷入了王室的阴谋漩涡。他的好友兼君主劳勃国王的突然驾崩,不仅打破了维斯特洛的政治格局,更像投下了一枚重磅炸弹,将史塔克家族推向了风暴的中心。 艾德·史塔克发现,国王的继承人乔佛里王子,其血统的纯正性存在着令人震惊的疑点。为了维护他所坚信的王权合法性与家族荣誉,艾德决心揭露真相。然而,在光鲜亮丽的君临宫廷中,真相往往是最危险的武器。他面对的是王后瑟曦·兰尼斯特及其家族的冷酷无情和精明算计,兰尼斯特家族,一个富可敌国的庞大家族,正利用一切手段巩固他们对王位的觊觎。 艾德的调查如同一把双刃剑,在揭示皇室丑闻的同时,也将他自己和他的家人置于万劫不复的境地。他的女儿珊莎和艾莉亚被困在君临,成为政治博弈中的人质;而他的儿子罗柏则必须在遥远的北境集结军队,为即将到来的冲突做准备。 长城之外的黑暗低语 与此同时,在维斯特洛的最北端,被称为“长城”的巨大冰墙,是抵御蛮荒之地野人和更古老、更可怕威胁的最后屏障。琼恩·雪诺,艾德·史塔克的私生子,加入了誓言守护维斯特洛的守夜人兄弟会。 长城不仅是地理上的界限,更是文明与混沌的分界线。在这里,琼恩必须学会忍受严酷的训练、冰冷的夜晚,以及兄弟会内部的陈腐规则。他发现,那些被认为是神话故事的威胁——异鬼(The Others)——正随着漫长冬日的临近而重新活动。他们的出现,远比人类之间的权力斗争更加致命。琼恩在兄弟会中挣扎求存,并开始接触到关于古老魔法和真正威胁的令人不安的真相。 狭海彼岸的复仇之火 在狭海(The Narrow Sea)的另一边,被推翻的王朝——坦格利安家族,正试图夺回他们失去的王位。丹妮莉丝·坦格利安,被称为“龙之女”,是已故“疯王”的最后一位女儿。她在一场政治联姻中被嫁给多斯拉克游牧民族的强大军阀卓戈卡奥,成为一个异域文化的俘虏。 起初,丹妮莉丝在残酷的草原上饱受折磨,努力适应新的身份。然而,随着时间的推移,她逐渐展现出钢铁般的意志和非凡的领导才能。她学会了驾驭和指挥这个野蛮的民族,从一个受惊吓的少女成长为一名真正的女王。当她最珍贵的人被背叛和牺牲后,绝望之中,她做出了一个足以改变世界历史的举动:在火葬仪式上,三颗沉睡了数百年的龙蛋破壳而出。 龙的回归,象征着古老力量的复苏,也预示着维斯特洛的未来将不再由人类的权谋所主导。丹妮莉丝,手握三条幼龙,开始了一场漫长而艰巨的征途,目标直指她认为属于她的铁王座。 权力的代价与荣誉的重量 《权力的游戏》描绘了一个道德模糊的世界。在这里,荣誉和正直往往是通往毁灭的捷径,而狡诈和残忍才能带来暂时的胜利。 书中错综复杂的人物线索交织在一起:提利昂·兰尼斯特,一个因侏儒身份被家族轻视的智者,凭借其智慧在君临的政治游戏中左右逢源;席恩·葛雷乔伊,在史塔克家长大,内心深处却渴望回归他强硬的家族;而詹姆·兰尼斯特,以“弑君者”之名臭名昭著,却也在血腥的冲突中展现出复杂的人性。 随着艾德·史塔克的命运急转直下,七国彻底陷入混乱,曾经的联盟土崩瓦解,取而代之的是基于个人野心和家族利益的零散战争。每一个角色都在为生存、为复仇、为信念而战,他们必须做出艰难的选择:是坚持心中的道德准则,还是为了生存而彻底堕落? 本书是史诗级奇幻巨著的开端,它不仅是一场关于王位争夺的宏大叙事,更是对人性在极端压力下表现的深刻探索。凛冬已至,真正的战争才刚刚开始。