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connorreads_'s review against another edition
adventurous
dark
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? N/A
- Strong character development? N/A
- Loveable characters? N/A
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A
4.0
This is the first of GRRM that I have read that isn't Game of Thrones. I was pleasantly surprised at his mastery of short fiction. The worlds he builds come to life with beautiful descriptions and wonderous plots. Usually some stories in anthologies are duds, but here I enjoyed every story. They are told well and are really cool ideas. A wonderful read!
chriskirk's review against another edition
3.0
Many of the works in this anthology, particularly the early ones, are just mediocre. Sometimes, they're flat-out bad. The prose is elegant for the most part, and the plots themselves are creative, but thematically they're unoriginal and ham-handed. If you're a young writer, you'll be reassured; chances are you can write better. But it would be a mistake to assess each story on it's own. This anthology has one story, and it's the story of George R.R. Martin's path as a writer. It's an uneven path, but, generally, the deeper you travel down it, the greater the reward. The best works await you at the end, in his horror section. The Meathouse Man is refreshingly chillling, and Sand Kings and Nightflyer brim with "oh shit!" moments. Ah — here's the man behind A Song of Ice and Fire! Sadly, the volume ends with two of his weakest stories, The Monkey Treatment and The Pear-Shaped Man.
albon's review against another edition
4.0
2019 review:
Dreamongs: A RRetrospective is a collection of short stories from George R. R. Martin, the author of A Game of Thrones. This is the first volume in a two-part collection. I already have the second volume on my shelf, and I hope to get to it soon.
Four things I liked:
+ The book showcases a lot of Martin's early writing. It went from some of his first stories, to some of his more popular stories. Seeing his writing develop over time was a lot more interesting than I thought it would be. A few of the earlier stories were difficult to get through, but I really enjoyed his later stuff. In between the stories there were interludes where Martin describe the context behind the stories and how they fit into his life, and that was also really interesting.
+ I'm a big fan of A Song of Ice and Fire (duh, I'm sure most people reading this collection in 2019 are). It was fun to see different elements from the series appear in these earlier stories. Everything from names (with Robb and Lyanna), to concepts (like the seven gods), to straight up sentences (one of the stories had a "Winter is coming"-moment). It felt like a real behind-the-scenes look at the series.
+ There were some really great stories in here. My favorites were these ones: "A Song for Lya" (one of his most loved stories, and I definitely understand why), "The Lonely Songs of Laren Dorr", "Remembering Melody", and "Sandkings". I would definitely recommend "A Song for Lya" and "Sandkings" for any fans of Martin, because if you don't read them you're missing out.
+ My favorite section of the book was probably the horror section at the end. I am too stupid to understand the endings of "The Monkey Treatment" and "The Pear-Shaped Man", but I still thought they were great (and disgusting) stories.
One thing I didn't like:
- Not all the stories were my cup of tea (speaking of cups of tea, listen to kacey musgraves ok thanks). I especially didn't like "Meathouse Man", which is essentially about men who rape dead women, or at least that's what the first few pages I actually read were about. For my own sanity I decided to skip the rest of that story. In general I'm also just not very good with hard scifi, which makes up the majority of the stories in this collection. They were good, but it's not my genre. But if you like scifi and George R. R. Martin, this could be the collection for you!
Dreamongs: A RRetrospective is a collection of short stories from George R. R. Martin, the author of A Game of Thrones. This is the first volume in a two-part collection. I already have the second volume on my shelf, and I hope to get to it soon.
Four things I liked:
+ The book showcases a lot of Martin's early writing. It went from some of his first stories, to some of his more popular stories. Seeing his writing develop over time was a lot more interesting than I thought it would be. A few of the earlier stories were difficult to get through, but I really enjoyed his later stuff. In between the stories there were interludes where Martin describe the context behind the stories and how they fit into his life, and that was also really interesting.
+ I'm a big fan of A Song of Ice and Fire (duh, I'm sure most people reading this collection in 2019 are). It was fun to see different elements from the series appear in these earlier stories. Everything from names (with Robb and Lyanna), to concepts (like the seven gods), to straight up sentences (one of the stories had a "Winter is coming"-moment). It felt like a real behind-the-scenes look at the series.
+ There were some really great stories in here. My favorites were these ones: "A Song for Lya" (one of his most loved stories, and I definitely understand why), "The Lonely Songs of Laren Dorr", "Remembering Melody", and "Sandkings". I would definitely recommend "A Song for Lya" and "Sandkings" for any fans of Martin, because if you don't read them you're missing out.
+ My favorite section of the book was probably the horror section at the end. I am too stupid to understand the endings of "The Monkey Treatment" and "The Pear-Shaped Man", but I still thought they were great (and disgusting) stories.
One thing I didn't like:
- Not all the stories were my cup of tea (speaking of cups of tea, listen to kacey musgraves ok thanks). I especially didn't like "Meathouse Man", which is essentially about men who rape dead women, or at least that's what the first few pages I actually read were about. For my own sanity I decided to skip the rest of that story. In general I'm also just not very good with hard scifi, which makes up the majority of the stories in this collection. They were good, but it's not my genre. But if you like scifi and George R. R. Martin, this could be the collection for you!
stormblessed4's review against another edition
Okay book, wrong time. I'll likely get back to it at some point.
thejdizzler's review against another edition
5.0
Not all of these short stories were good. The early ones were actually somewhat crap. What's remarkable about this collection is the incredible growth that GRRM displays as a writer. Going from fanfiction like "only kids are afraid of the dark" to masterpieces like A Lonely Song of Laren Dorr, Sandkings, and The Second Kind of Loneliness, Dreamsongs is truly inspiring to me as an aspiring writer
cookabook's review against another edition
5.0
Some of GRRM's heaviest hitters can be found in this collection. Personal favs include Sandkings, With Morning Comes Mistfall, and Bitterblooms.
Martin's memoir interludes between phases of his career and personal life are clear and insightful, and makes for an interesting—if not practically useful—archive of the pre-internet publishing process.
Martin's memoir interludes between phases of his career and personal life are clear and insightful, and makes for an interesting—if not practically useful—archive of the pre-internet publishing process.
alles_allerlei's review against another edition
4.0
Diese Sammlung von Kurzgeschichten, Essais und Erzählungen zeichnet sich auch noch mal dadurch aus, das es Autobiografische Texte gibt, in denen George R. R: Martin genauer auf seine Schreibentwicklung und die Hintergründe zu den einzelnen Geschichten eingeht, was mir wirklich gut gefallen hat. Jede Gesichte steht für sich und doch hat man das Gefühl das sie dennoch irgenwie mit einander verbunden sind, zumindest kam mir das gerade bei den Sci Fi lastigeren Geschichten so vor.
Absolut toll.
Absolut toll.
mercar's review against another edition
3.0
The stories were rather uneven. Some I really enjoyed and some were more in "meh" category...
allison_21's review against another edition
mysterious
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? N/A
- Strong character development? N/A
- Loveable characters? N/A
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A
4.0
thestygianphrase's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
2.25