Dreamsongs is a collection of short stories and novellas written by George R.R. Martin, during a period of more than twenty years, starting with his very first story ever published. The quality of the stories varies dramatically, and by parts four and five of the book, we can see the evolution of the author who hooked us all with the magnificent struggle between powerful families struggling for the power in Westeros.
His work is at times a bit wordy and messy. However, some stories succeed in showing us the fantastic world Martin has been creating since the age of 23. It has almost been fifty years now and he has not stopped writing. All his fans hope he does not stop any time soon because we still need to see the real ending for the saga of Ice and Fire. Yes, we all know that HBO's Game of Thrones is concluding this year, and I am really looking forward to catching a glimpse of perhaps one of the most important television events of the year. Nevertheless, for the compulsive readers who "took a course on Westeros" and who have been expectant for the real ending of this rather unnecessarily intricate story, a book written by the author telling us "this is the end" is what we do really need to overcome the hangover of waiting for so long.
Highly recommendable: "The Monkey Treatment", an extremely weird story that Martin had actually lots of problems trying to sell, but that F&SF bought happily and turned into one of its most popular tales ever to have appeared on its pages. If you are very into space horror and aliens, "Nightflyers" is a must-read. Another novella that still resonates in my head is "Sandkings", a tale of a cruel human who turns his dangerous pets into monsters, for the mere sake of feeling like an almighty God.
Martin explores three different genres and sometimes he overlaps them: Fantasy, Sci-fi and Horror. Especially in his very first short stories published, his characters and language resemble the serialised pulp-look of graphic novels. He even created a character which seemed to be a combination between Dr Who and Dr Strange, I do not really know if those two characters served as inspiration for the short-lived hero devised by Martin. In addition, he created an iconic mythological creature that we could see in the last episode of Game of Thrones: "The Ice Dragon". This is another must-read for the legions of fans that fantasy has gained in the last twenty years due to their infesting presence in popular culture.
Martin is the real American Tolkien. He actually has more fluent prose than the British professor, and at times you can actually feel you are able to see what he is describing. He is engaging and smart without being illegible. Martin is an author who can take you through more than 1000 pages per book without killing you with boredom. I really do not know if I will continue reading Martin, and will grab Dreamsongs Volume 2 (the first volume almost hit the 700-page tally), but I do know I am dying to read the last two volumes of "A Song of Ice and Fire" and finally know what is going to happen in Westeros. I really do not want to acquiesce to the ending that HBO will provide to the story. I hope there is more hope for my favourite characters, though you never know with George R.R. Martin. Dreamsongs Volume I is highly recommended if you are into fantasy, horror and sci-fi. If you are not a very good fantasy fan though, there are lots of books for you out there. Life is too short and unfortunately, most of us have to work dead-end jobs. Teaching has become so tiresome these days. I can barely stand it.
No comments:
Post a Comment