This book was re-released by Gollancz last year in both hardcover and tradeback editions, and I thought I should pick it up, despite the fact that it’s a monster of a short-story collection. All in all it weighs in at 1185 pages, which would explain why Martin’s American published decided to chop it up into two separate volumes.

Naturally this means that there are a shitload of stories in this collection(34 stories/novellas and 9 biographic essays), and if I were to talk about every one of them in a single review… Well, knowing me, I can only imagine and shudder at what the length of that monster would be.

So I’ve decided to review it in four parts. “Dreamsongs - A RRetrospective” contains in total nine different “chapters”, all pertaining a different aspect of the author’s career. As one would presume, some chapters contain more stories than others, so dividing the nine of them into four reviews isn’t exactly hard.

This way you’ll also get more blog posts about one of your (presumably) favourite authors, they’ll hopefully have more meat on ‘em and I can retain the option of picking up other books in between these partial reviews. In conclusion: “Yay!” on all accounts and a hearty swig of the flask for everyone to celebrate this awesome idea. What the hell, you might even take two swigs if you feel like it.

If all goes well - and let’s hope it does - I should be finished with these reviews by the end of the month. They will all contain some thoughts on every single story, though there are bound to be some stories that’ll catch my fancy more than other and will thus deserve a more lengthy, review-like approach. So let’s get to it!

Only Kids Are Afraid of the Dark (1)

The first thing that struck me was that GRRM writes his short bios that prelude the stories in a wonderful way. In them tells us a little bit about his life and his writing, thus giving us a context for the following stories and feeling of growing up with the author.

This short-story is one of his very first stories, written while he was only a teen. At that point in his life he was very fascinated by superheroes and the like, just like he is today (i.e. “Wild Cards”).

The plot of the story goes a little something like this: Dr. Weird, a sentient and crime-fighting spirit, takes on the Dark Prince Sagaael, who threatens to cast the Earth into eternal darkness and make every human his minion.

“Only Kids Are Afraid of the Dark” isn’t anything special. It’s straight-forward and unoriginal; you nearly get the feeling like you could’ve written it yourself. However, it does provide a perfect backdrop for his development as a writer, which was certainly a part of the reason it was included.

The Fortress (1)

This one is a bit special. Firstly, it isn’t a speculative story at all - it’s a historical tale about Sveaborg, a castle that once was the only thing that stood in the Russians way of conquering Finland. I liked this one a lot. Not only did it feel close to home, but it also showed us some of Martin’s trademark characters and plotting.

And Death His Legacy (1)

A political oriented story that’s current in todays world, too. A presidential candidate is traveling across America, crusading ideas that obviously taste of Nazism. Another man sees what the masses don’t, and decide to take matters into his own hands.

A nice and intriguing story, but it carries a moral that in the end comes a across as a too obvious. Still worth the read, though.

The Hero (2)

This was the first short-story that GRRM ever sold for money, and it’s also the first story that really carries the feel of science fiction with it. Martin cleverly deploys a far-off SF setting to criticize the war in Vietnam (to which he was a conscientious objector). It reads sorta like Robert Heinlein’s “Starship Troopers” and is all in all pretty standard fare.

The Exit to San Breta (2)

We’re entering the last decade of the 20th century and all the cars have been replaced by cheap helicopters, hoovertruck or gravpacks. Only fanatics still drive those automobiles around, even though the roads are crumbling away at an alarming rate. The protagonist of the story is one of those crazies who still travel the dusty and, now, lonely roads.

This is a horror story in spirit, despite the fact that it’s not so much horrifying as it is melancholic. I thoroughly enjoyed this one - it reminded me a bit of what Joe Hill did in his short-story collection.

The Second Kind of Loneliness (2)

“But there are two kinds of loneliness.

Most people don’t realize the difference. I do. I’ve sampled both kinds. They talk and write about the loneliness of the men who man the star rings. The lighthouses of space and all that. And they’re right.

There are times, out here at Cerberus, when I think I’m the only man in the universe. Earth was just a fever dream. The people I remember were just creations of my own mind.

There are time, out here, when I want someone to talk to so badly that I scream, and start pounding on the walls. There are times when the boredom crawls under my skin and all but drives me mad.

But there are other times, too. When the ringships come. When I go outside to make repairs. Or when I just sit in the control chair, imaging myself out into the darkness to watch the stars.

Lonely? Yes. But a solemn, brooding, tragic loneliness that a man hates with a passion - and yet loves so much he craves for more.

And the second kind of loneliness.

You don’t need Cerberus Star Ring for that Kind. You can find it anywhere on Earth. I know. I did. I found it everywhere I went, in everything I did.

It’s the loneliness of people trapped withing themselves. The loneliness of people who have said the wrong thing so often that they don’t have the courage to say anything anymore.

The loneliness, not of distance, but of fear.”

What a great story! Finally something that really struck a chord within me. It’s a SF story, and like GRRM says himself, it was the best thing he’d written up to that point in his life. He sold it to Analog (see the haunting cover in the image above) and it was one of things that really made his career. It’s so melancholic that you could cry.

With Morning Comes Mistfall (2)

Yet another far-off SF story about a world covered in mist. A haunting story, but I loved it the most for its atmosphere, not for its themes. Say one thing for George R. R. Martin, say that he can paint a pretty picture.

………………

That was it for now, folks. I’ll be back with more Dreamsongs as soon as I can!