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Type of bind: Hardcover
Dewey Decimal Number: 813.54
EAN num: 9780553805451
ISBN number: 0553805452
Label: Spectra
Manufacturer: Spectra
Quantity: 1
Page Count: 704
Printing Date: October 30, 2007
Publishing house: Spectra
Release Date: October 30, 2007
Sale Popularity Level: 38722
Studio: Spectra
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Product Description:
Dubbed “the American Tolkien” by Time magazine, #1 New York Times bestselling author George R.R. Martin is a giant in the field of fantasy literature and one of the most exciting storytellers of our time. Now he delivers a rare treat for readers: a compendium of his shorter works, collected into two stunning volumes, that offer fascinating insight into his journey from young writer to award-winning master.
Gathered here, in Volume I, are the very best of George R.R. Martin’s early works, including never-before-published fan pieces, his Hugo, Nebula, and Bram Stoker Award-winning stories—plus the original novella The Ice Dragon, from which Martin’s New York Times bestselling children’s book of the same title originated. A dazzling array that features extensive author commentary, Dreamsongs, Volume I, is the perfect collection for both Martin devotees and a new generation of fans.
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Rated by buyers 
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I enjoyed this book. It was great to have intros throughout the book by Mr. Martin, letting you into the background into his life and how he came to writing certain tales. It's also fascinating to read as a time sequence to see how he found his voice over time. While not all of the stories are fantastic, the vast majority are above average and should capture your imagination. I highly recommend it.
Rated by buyers -
This gives the reader a great look at some of George RR Martin's early work, including his expansive sci-fi work. Much of the sci-fi and some of the fantasy takes place in the same universe, and so despite being a collection of short stories it has a big vein of continuity running throughout.
Some of the very earliest stories are uneven or downright terrible, but the balance of the book is very good.
Rated by buyers -
I am probably Mr. Martin's biggest fan. I started this book when I got it and I try to read one story every couple days so it lasts longer. I love his writing. After reading the forward to this book I got a bigger picture of where his inspiration came from, comics!! So cool. Being older (cough,cough) I loved comics, but I read Archie, Veronica, Betty, and Jughead. When I was a kid there just wasn't any really good books for kids, except Nancy Drew which I also collected.
As you make your way through this book, it will amaze you at how talented the author is. Each story makes me smile when I think of an eager young mind putting his heart and soul into each written word.
Would definately reccomend it to anyone who loves to read and who isn't constrained by reality and is willing to think outside the box, and travel to parts and realms unknown. I certainly am.
Rated by buyers -
DREAMSONGS VOLUME I BY GEORGE R. R. MARTIN: The two great mysteries of this world are when scientists will come up with a unification theory for quantum mechanics and relativity, and when George R. R. Martin will release the very long-awaited fifth book in his "Song of Ice and Fire" series, A Dance With Dragons. With a hopeful but doubtful release some time subsequent year, for the time being there is thankfully Dreamsongs, a two-volume collection featuring George R. R. Martin's short stories and novellas spanning his career.
This very first volume is split into five parts, separating periods of Martin's life from the sixties and on through the seventies. At the beginning of each part, Martin gives an introduction, telling his life story at this particular moment, and what were the circumstances that led up to each particularly story and how they were published. He begins from the beginning, writing and publishing at a young age, when one would expect the work to be simple and undeveloped, and yet it is clear that George R. R. Martin was a talented writer from the start. In each story are unique and memorable characters that stick with the reader long after the story is over. In "The Exit to San Breta," the main character is driving his classic, ancient Jaguar along the old and disused freeways of North America. It is on a particular road in Arizona that he runs into an even more ancient Edsel in incredible condition riding a perfectly flat and unblemished road. Soon he becomes part of a horrific haunting accident set to continuously play itself out for all eternity.
In Martin's science fiction, he establishes himself in a unique way, using the same world each time, but different planets, an distinct plot, and unforgettable characters that just add much more meaning to the story. In the last two parts, Martin reveals his love for very first fantasy and his development as a fantasy writer, and finally as a horror writer. His most well-known story that won him the most prestigious science fiction awards involves a combination of these genres, in "Sandkings." Kress is a collector of the unusual, whatever the cost, until the day he buys a terrarium of sandkings: small insect-like creatures that form alliances and coalitions, fight wars over land and food, live in peace when able; even worshiping their owner, if he feeds them and takes good care of them. Kress seeks to control and make them his playthings, until they become too intelligent and powerful, breaking free of the terrarium, increasing in size, until Kress has no form of escape.
In this very first collection, one sees where the writer George R. R. Martin came from, and what events and stories led him to becoming an important writer in the growing science fiction genre, the barely-begun fantasy genre, and the growing popularity of the horror genre. It is in these stories that one sees the beginning characters and story complexities that would later lead to the epic "Song of Ice and Fire" series. In Dreamsongs Volume I, Martin confesses that he would never be able to write as well as one of his childhood idols, J. R. R. Tolkien, and yet has now been labeled as the "American Tolkien" of our time. Clearly, Martin is destined to become one of the most important fantasy (as well as science fiction and horror) writers of our time.
[...]
Rated by buyers -
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 subsequent volume." But, uh, there's really nothing left to say but... this installment was great and I'm certainly on board for the subsequent 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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