Sandkings

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Summary: "It's Good to be King"
Review: "Sandkings" is a wonderful story about the darker side of human nature. The central character, Simon Kress, is a man who has a fascination with the macabre, especially in his choices of pets. The story's setting is futuristic and occurs on another planet, which gives Kress a larger variety of abnormal pets from which to enjoy.

At the story's beginning, Kress has rather mundane piranha and two rather unusual off-world creatures. He is detained for a lengthy business affair and finally comes home to find that his aquatic pets have annihilated themselves and one of his other bizarre pets has apparently fallen to the lone survivor.

Kress searches the local pet stores and finally comes across one store with some rather interesting creatures. They appear insect-like, though the store's representative seems to take offense when Kress makes this rather innocent observation. What intrigues Kress about the creatures is their propensity to fight very human-like wars. The store's owner also tells him that these creatures do one other thing that sets them apart from the animal kingdom. These creatures actually will worship their owner.

Kress is intrigued. With his purchase of the creatures, however, Kress launches himself on a macabre side trip through the Twilight Zone. He discovers a gruesome fact. Even gods have to face the inescapable law that for every action there is an equal and opposite reaction.

Fans of Martin's A Song of Fire and Ice series will love this earlier work of the master. Excellent plotting and character development seem to be a forte that has always been a strength of Martin's writings. For those interested in experimenting with e-books, this is a good, inexpensive way to begin your electronic library.

Rating:
Summary: Am I missing something?
Review: George R. R. Martin is not just one of the best fantasy or science fiction writers of our time, it is hard to pin him down into any genre. Some of the stories in this volume could better be described as horror rather than fantasy or science fiction.

Sandkings, the title story and easily the best of the lot falls into this category. Simon Kress, a rather unpleasant character, acquires as pets these exotic, quasi insect creatures comprised of a physically distinct body (with brain and alimentary functions) and a number of dispersed mobile units who serve as foragers and warriors. Picture an ant-nest or a beehive, except that the queen is of a vastly higher level of consciousness and intelligence and can command her mobiles to undertake more complex projects. Kress' selfishness and sadism wreak havoc on his pets till they transform from loyal subjects (almost disciples in a way) to something beyond scary. It is as if a people long oppressed finally turn on their master. This is just the bare outline, the story itself is compelling and left me gasping by the end (which I am not going to spoil for you - take my word that it is one of the most gripping finales you will read).

The other stories are shadowed by Sandkings but are excellent in themselves. I particularly liked The Way of Cross and Dragon, a searing look at religion and the religious hierarchy. Also Star Lady, a tale of the loss of innocence on a planet with no rule of law, and then in a way, a strange redemption as well.

The mood throughout the book is dark and this is not a book you want to read in a low mood. I strongly recommend it however as a superb example of storytelling and a sample of the versatility and imagination of George R. R. Martin.

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Summary: Memorable Sci-Fi/Horror Story
Review: I read this story a long time ago--I think I was still in junior high. I stumbled across it in an anthology of science fiction short stories. I don't even remember the title of the anthology but I remember this story. It gave me the willies.

It's amusing to look at the cover art displayed above. I kind of imagined the sandkings to look like that thing that crawled in Ricardo Montalban's ear in Star Trek the Wrath of Khan, or that adult thing that lived in the sand-tank and got mad when somebody poked a stick at it.

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Summary: Only 1 story in the e-book
Review: I think most of the reviewers here read the paperback because they refer to this as a collection of short stories. However, the eBook only has the title story. Nevertheless, for the price, this story is really worth it. It was quite an entertaining read and certainly one of the better short stories I've read in a while.

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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: 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: Worth the title story alone!
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: 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.