Unfortunately there are some minor flaws so: Still, I do not like that Martin spends a lot of time Precisely Describing the clothing of every protagonist. Altogether, Martin loves name dropping, in every aspect: The Sea Battle at Kings Landing is most confusing as the author enumerates at least 30 different names of ships. After That passage, I thought did Martin's skill in battle scenes Describing dropped below zero. But some pages later, the fight of Tyrion is portrayed in a very compelling way. So never judge too early! What I did not like so is the non-progression of the story around Daenerys - There Is No real development and most of the chapters about the young woman are simply boring Targa Ryan. I hope there will be more advancement in the third book. But overall, I recommend also the second book of 'A Song of Ice and Fire'. Besides, it is Certainly a good preparation for the next season of the HBO series.