If you follow many of the posts on Pixelated Geek (and, you know, own a computer and have access to the internet) you’re probably already aware that the new season of Game of Thrones starts on April 6. Obviously that means the Tumblr posts, plot speculations, and the rivalry between fans of the TV series and fans of the books (not getting into that, thanks) will all be reaching a fever pitch over the next couple of months. With that in mind, it might be helpful to take a breather, step back for a bit, and remember that while George R.R. Martin’s magnum opus first started in 1996, the man has been writing professionally since 1971. There are a lot of his works out there. Some of them, like this short-story collection, have been out of print for a while, but they’re definitely worth hunting for.
If you love Martin’s The Song of Ice and Fire series, if you can’t wait for the next one to be released or the next season of the TV show to start, and you want to spend all your time re-reading the series and reading anything that reminds you of it, then Sandkings…is probably not for you. This book is nothing like that.
In fact, none of the stories in this collection are even similar to each other.
- The Way of Cross and Dragon
- Bitterblooms
- In the House of the Worm
- Fast-Friend
- The Stone City
- Starlady
- Sandkings
In one book you get : a space-traveling Inquisitor, a coming-of-age stone age fairy-tale with a twist, an end of the world (sort of) Poe story with a touch of Cthulu, a space-age story of unrequited love, another space-age story of unrequited love (with prostitutes and mutants), a horror story of the world’s most unusual pet, and I don’t even know how to describe The Stone City. The only thing each of the stories have in common is Martin’s (and my) love for details details details: The Social Scene on Baldur, Ceremonies of the yaga-la-hai, Everything You Ever Wanted to Know About Life On Thisrock (But Were Afraid To Ask). And of course these are all written by the same person who wrote The Red Wedding, so needless to say they’re all pretty dark. And occasionally violent. And decadent and in many ways beautiful. And did I remember to mention dark?
I think you can find most of these stories in other collections or as kindle editions, but I still think this book needs to be put back into print. If nothing else, a re-release of this collection would be something to help pass the time before the sixth book in the series is released. There was a five-year gap in between A Feast For Crows (late 2005) and A Dance With Dragons (July 2011), so fans of the book series may be in for a long wait.