Dreamsongs: Volume I
by George R.R. Martin
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Book Summary Information
Author: George R.R. MartinEdition: Hardcover
Audio: English (Unknown); English (Original Language); English (Published)
Published: 2007-10-30
ISBN: 0553805452
Number of pages: 704
Publisher: Bantam
Book Reviews of Dreamsongs: Volume I
Book Review: A Whitman's Sampler of George R. R. Martin fantasy, horror, and science fiction goodness
Summary: 5 Stars
Twenty-two terrific, highly readable stories, accompanied by five very entertaining autobiographical essays by the author (each essay introducing a group of stories and discussing what the author was doing in his life at the time he wrote the stories in question). There's also a nice little initial introduction to the whole package by Gardner Dozois.
What I liked a lot about these stories is the skillful, artful balance between clarity and ambiguity. Plot points and story developments are always very clear, so the reader knows exactly what is going on; yet Mr. Martin often chooses to pull back and let the reader decide the implications of characters' decisions rather than hit us over the head with an obvious "lesson".
It's funny, though. Mr. Martin's developed his writing craft much quicker than he accumulated life experience. The result: several stories ("The Second Kind of Loneliness" and "Meathouse Man" chief among them) that are highly polished in their craft but about little more than a young man's fear of talking to a pretty girl or depression when a relationship with said girl doesn't work out. Make no mistake, with their imaginative science-fiction, horror, or fantasy trappings, they're very interesting stories; I just thought it was amusing how, in certain particular stories, the writing was very sophisticated but the human/emotional themes were so basic. But even some of these stories feature the sophisticated ambiguity mentioned previously.
Highlights of the book? I particularly enjoyed the long "Nightflyers" (it's pretty much a novella); it reminded me of a really good Arthur C. Clarke story. "Sandkings" was a great SF/horror hybrid. And the out-and-out fantasy entry, "The Ice Dragon" was wonderful, too. In fact, there's not a clunker in the bunch, even among the early "fan fiction" stories ("Only Kids Are Afraid of the Dark", "And Death His Legacy", etc.) also included by Mr. Martin.
When posting a positive review of an entry in a multi-part series, I try to avoid a trite closing sentence along the line of "this installment was great, and I'm certainly on board for the next volume." But, uh, there's really nothing left to say but... this installment was great and I'm certainly on board for the next volume.
Well, I do have ONE more thing to say. Maybe my new Amazon Kindle will arrive in time for me to purchase the also-hefty "Dreamsongs, Volume 2" via that handy electronic device. Like Mr. Martin's also excellent "A Song of Ice and Fire" fantasy novels, these suckers are BIG books and a bit of a pain to lug around. Get working, Amazon!
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