Rating: 
Summary: Sandkings rule!
Review: I wish i had some pet sandkings! But since i dont i am glad to have this book. The title story is the best of the 6 and is worth the price alone. The other stories i found to be very good were "Star Lady" and "Bitterblooms". Sandkings is really a moral based story on what power can do to people. Martin Uses the metaphor of a man who is a deity to some insects.... but trust me they are MUCH MUCH more than just insects...Bitterblooms was a cool little story with Vampires, a Girl Trying to get through the dark woods, and a mysterious house in the middle of nowhere.... Star Lady is basically the story of a girl and an alien boy with golden skin who land on a planet and are made slaves by a pimp. its got a really cool ending... Buy this book if you can find it in a used book store.
Rating:
Summary: A good book to read on a dark night
Review: It's only a collection of short stories, and an overlooked one at that. You have to scrounge around used book stores to find a copy, but it is worth the trouble. The rest of the stories are okay, but the kicker is the title story. With a moving plot, plenty of action, and irony that has made me read it again and again, it's the best 60 page story I've read. Sandkings tells of one man whose intrest in savage and ruthless pets goes too far when he purchases the quasi-psionic haveminds that are sandkings. Sandkings are insect like creatures with a combined mind nearly as intelligent as a human's. They war, make alliances, call truces, and worship their owner. Despite the warnings to the contrary from the merchant, the main character artificially sets up war by starving the sandkings, and in doing so twists them to hatred against him.
Rating:
Summary: Classic short story sci-fi
Review: Much of the best science fiction written has been in the form of short stories. At least half of my favorite moments from sci-fi have come from short stories. The simple direct characters, and complete focus on one or two ideas that short stories demand work right into the hands of a sci-fi author. Television series such as the Twilight Zone and the Outer Limits used these types of short stories to make sci-fi into a major genre. Almost all of the great sci-fi writers started their carrers entering short story contests. This is one of Martin's two Hugo award winning short stories that he wrote in the seventies, before he became a best selling novelist and a very succesfull editor. For fans of Martin, this is a great chance to see where his work started and to read a truly clever and memorable story. As a bonus to those of you time strapped it will only take 10-15 minutes to read. Note: I orginally read this story in a collection of Hugo award winning short stories edited by Issac Asimov. I aslo beleive that it is in another collection of short stories put out by another modern master of sci-fi and fantasy Orson Scott Card. Both of those collections are highly recomended reading.
Rating:
Summary: Classic short story sci-fi
Review: Much of the best science fiction written has been in the form of short stories. At least half of my favorite moments from sci-fi have come from short stories. The simple direct characters, and complete focus on one or two ideas that short stories demand work right into the hands of a sci-fi author. Television series such as the Twilight Zone and the Outer Limits used these types of short stories to make sci-fi into a major genre. Almost all of the great sci-fi writers started their carrers entering short story contests. This is one of Martin's two Hugo award winning short stories that he wrote in the seventies, before he became a best selling novelist and a very succesfull editor. For fans of Martin, this is a great chance to see where his work started and to read a truly clever and memorable story. As a bonus to those of you time strapped it will only take 10-15 minutes to read. Note: I orginally read this story in a collection of Hugo award winning short stories edited by Issac Asimov. I aslo beleive that it is in another collection of short stories put out by another modern master of sci-fi and fantasy Orson Scott Card. Both of those collections are highly recomended reading.
Rating: 
Summary: George at his short-form best
Review: Probly George's best collection of short stories. 4 stories here are flat-out brilliant: the award-winning "Sandkings" & "Way of Cross and Dragon," the gorgeous "The Stone City" (which has everything U could ever want from a Martin story Xcept 4 a real Nding), & the overlooked "In the House of the Worm" (a sequel of sorts to George's earlier "Dark, Dark Were the Tunnels") which is well worth its 60+ pages. The other 3 stories R merely average. But the 4 great 1s R some of George's best work ever.
Rating:
Summary: Worth the title story alone!
Review: So, I was a young man sitting in a movie theatre waiting for "Invasion of the Body Snatchers" (with Donald Sutherland) to begin. I happened to overhear two people raving about this story they had read in Omni magazine called "Sandkings." I was so impressed by their reaction to the story that I made a mental note to seek it out myself. A few months later, I found the back issue of Omni magazine and rushed home to read it. After assimilating the last glorious line of "Sandkings," I decided right then and there that it was my favorite short story of all time. Nearly twenty years later, it remains my favorite short story. Admittedly, I'm more of a horror fan than sci fi or fantasy fan, so Sandkings is closer to my heart that his other works. However, if sci fi and fantasy is YOUR cup of tea, you'll also enjoy the other very well written stories in this collection (including "Way of Cross and Dragon" and "In the House of the Worm.") But I can honestly say that "Sandkings" is worth the price of admission alone. It's a true modern masterpiece.
Rating:
Summary: Worth the title story alone!
Review: So, I was a young man sitting in a movie theatre waiting for "Invasion of the Body Snatchers" (with Donald Sutherland) to begin. I happened to overhear two people raving about this story they had read in Omni magazine called "Sandkings." I was so impressed by their reaction to the story that I made a mental note to seek it out myself. A few months later, I found the back issue of Omni magazine and rushed home to read it. After assimilating the last glorious line of "Sandkings," I decided right then and there that it was my favorite short story of all time. Nearly twenty years later, it remains my favorite short story. Admittedly, I'm more of a horror fan than sci fi or fantasy fan, so Sandkings is closer to my heart that his other works. However, if sci fi and fantasy is YOUR cup of tea, you'll also enjoy the other very well written stories in this collection (including "Way of Cross and Dragon" and "In the House of the Worm.") But I can honestly say that "Sandkings" is worth the price of admission alone. It's a true modern masterpiece.
Rating:
Summary: Great Stuff
Review: The other reviewers had it right: I picked up a copy of this book in a used bookstore because I wanted to get a taste of George R.R. Martin before embarking upon his lengthy epic, "A Song of Ice and Fire." The title story was wonderful, one of the best short stories I've read in years. (I'd put it right up there with Kafka's "The Metamorphosis.") "In the House of the Worm" was quite enjoyable, and of the others the only one that I found disappointing was "The Stone City." All in all this is a strong collection of short fiction that deserves to be back in print, and I'm looking forward to spending some more time with Martin's imagination in the near future.
Rating:
Summary: King of Human Foibles
Review: The thread running through Geore R. R. Martin's work is a powerful intuitive grasp of human weakness. Sandkings gives the reader the most direct look at the author's power through the medium of a lean, horrible, funny, and unforgettable short story.
Rating:
Summary: imagination with stars and void
Review: This book is probably one of my favorites of all time. Although dark it is not without heart and is full of what i found to be absolutely wonderous places and filled with interesting people. These are stories about people who, for the most part, are not heroes but simply people who are trying to make it in a world filled with wonder and darkness. Mr. Martins imagination is wonderful to me and his stories fill me with an intense appreciation for his ancient wonders and future visions of incredible color. It is a bit of a minefield though and people who are not quite careful may fall into the philosophical traps present in it and become just as troubled as many of the characters are. I hope that it is reprinted in the wake of his recent success and if you are reading this Mr. Martin, as I have told you before, you have brought great love to my life and I thank you deeply for it!
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