Description
Fantasy. Fiction. Science Fiction. Short Stories. HTML:Even before the enormous success of A Game of Thrones, George R. R. Martin had secured his reputation as one of the most exciting storytellers of our time. The second of two thrilling collections, Dreamsongs: Volume II continues the story of his amazing journey from a young writer to a #1 New York Times bestselling force of nature. Whether writing about werewolves, wizards, or outer space, George R. R. Martin is renowned for his versatility and expansive talent, as demonstrated in this dazzling collection. Dreamsongs: Volume II contains acclaimed stories such as the World Fantasy Award winner �The Skin Trade,� as well as the first novella in the Ice and Fire universe, The Hedge Knight�plus two early screenplays. Featuring extensive author commentary, Dreamsongs: Volume II is an invaluable chronicle of a writer at the height of his creativity�and an unforgettable reading experience for fans old and new. �Science fiction, fantasy and horror fans alike will be blown away by the diversity and quality of stories. . . . This extraordinary collection is one to cherish.��Publishers Weekly (starred review) �Dreamsongs is the ideal way to discover . . . a master of science fiction, fantasy and horror. . . . Martin is a writer like no other.��The Guardian (U.K.) PRAISE FOR GEORGE R. R. MARTIN �Of those who work in the grand epic-fantasy tradition, Martin is by far the best. In fact . . . this is as good a time as any to proclaim him the American Tolkien.��Time �Long live George Martin . . . a literary dervish, enthralled by complicated characters and vivid language, and bursting with the wild vision of the very best tale tellers.��The New York Times �I always expect the best from George R. R. Martin, and he always delivers.��Robert Jordan.… (more)
Language
Original language
English
Original publication date
2003
Physical description
740 p.; 25 cm
Publication
New York : Bantam Books, 2007.
Pages
740
ISBN
9780553806588
Local notes
Contains short stories by George R. R. Martin, with Martin's own autobiographical introductions to each grouped section. Additionally has an extensive Martin bibliography section by Leslie Kay Swigart.
The stories included are:
A Beast for Norn (Tuf Voyaging, The Thousand Worlds)
Guardians (Tuf Voyaging, The Thousand Worlds)*
The Twilight Zone: The Road Less Traveled
Doorways
Shell Games (Wild Cards)
From the Journal of Xavier Desmond (Wild Cards)
Under Siege
The Skin Trade**
Unsound Variations
The Glass Flower (The Thousand Worlds)
The Hedge Knight (A Song of Ice and Fire)
Portraits of His Children***
* Winner of the 1982 Locus Award for Best Novelette.
** Winner of the 1989 World Fantasy Award - Novella.
*** Winner of the 1986 Nebula Award for Best Novelette.
The stories included are:
A Beast for Norn (Tuf Voyaging, The Thousand Worlds)
Guardians (Tuf Voyaging, The Thousand Worlds)*
The Twilight Zone: The Road Less Traveled
Doorways
Shell Games (Wild Cards)
From the Journal of Xavier Desmond (Wild Cards)
Under Siege
The Skin Trade**
Unsound Variations
The Glass Flower (The Thousand Worlds)
The Hedge Knight (A Song of Ice and Fire)
Portraits of His Children***
* Winner of the 1982 Locus Award for Best Novelette.
** Winner of the 1989 World Fantasy Award - Novella.
*** Winner of the 1986 Nebula Award for Best Novelette.
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User reviews
LibraryThing member CKmtl
Where the first volume of Dreamsongs is arranged more-or-less chronologically, this second volume is divided into three thematic/form chapters and a catch-all final chapter: two Haviland Tuf stories in A Taste of Tuf, two screenplays in The Siren Song of Hollywood, two of Martin's Wild Card stories
I found the contents of the second volume to be far more variable than the first... many 5-star stories, but a few 3- or 2-star ones. While I greatly enjoyed the Tuf and Wildcars sections, and four of the miscellaneous stories, the screenplay section seemed lacking. I think it's mostly due to not being used to the format: screenplays are a lot more stripped down than prose. As for the two miscellaneous stories, that was a matter of their subjects: the Finnish and chess tales didn't snag me.
Shortly after finishing the Wild Cards section, I was pleased to discover that the earlier books (which were out of print and notoriously hard to find) will soon be reissued.
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in Doing the Wild Card Shuffle, and six miscellaneous stories in The Heart in Conflict.I found the contents of the second volume to be far more variable than the first... many 5-star stories, but a few 3- or 2-star ones. While I greatly enjoyed the Tuf and Wildcars sections, and four of the miscellaneous stories, the screenplay section seemed lacking. I think it's mostly due to not being used to the format: screenplays are a lot more stripped down than prose. As for the two miscellaneous stories, that was a matter of their subjects: the Finnish and chess tales didn't snag me.
Shortly after finishing the Wild Cards section, I was pleased to discover that the earlier books (which were out of print and notoriously hard to find) will soon be reissued.
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LibraryThing member dw0rd
You may ask why I give the audio version of this book 5 stars and the book itself only 4 stars. Audio: The author is heard. The selected stories include the best in the book. Paper: More stories, but the "less than best" bring the rating down. The book has 2 "Wild Card" stories. I never read one
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before and I'll never read one again. I didn't like the "Tuf" stories either. Ok, I'm not a typical fan.The book also has the "The Hedge Knight," an "Ice and Fire" prequel that got me ravenous for the next book in the series. There are also some award winners and more author comments.The British version of this RRetrospective (how cute) is comprehensive but we're getting it in pieces and the audio books are pieces of the pieces but with some overlap. Huh? In other words, there are stories in each that aren't in the other. Show Less
LibraryThing member edecklund
You may ask why I give the audio version of this book 5 stars and the book itself only 4 stars. Audio: The author is heard. The selected stories include the best in the book. Paper: More stories, but the "less than best" bring the rating down. The book has 2 "Wild Card" stories. I never read one
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before and I'll never read one again. I didn't like the "Tuf" stories either. Ok, I'm not a typical fan.The book also has the "The Hedge Knight," an "Ice and Fire" prequel that got me ravenous for the next book in the series. There are also some award winners and more author comments.The British version of this RRetrospective (how cute) is comprehensive but we're getting it in pieces and the audio books are pieces of the pieces but with some overlap. Huh? In other words, there are stories in each that aren't in the other. Show Less
LibraryThing member trinibaby9
I found the stories of volume two to be much more enjoyable than those of volume one. I think this is due to the natural progression on the aurthor's talent over time. The stories of Vol. 2 are much more refined and well developed. Once again as in volume 1, it was interesting to discover where
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GRRM was in his life when writing many of these stories. This is good for anyone who is interested in the writing process in general, or a more in depth look at the background and development of GRRM's works. Show Less
LibraryThing member Cecrow
A bit of a letdown in its first half: the Tuf stories are predictable (but still entertaining), the scripts seemed only average (Doorways reminded me of Sliders) and the Wild Cards exerpts suffer for being taken out of context. The latter half makes up for it however, with six excellent short
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stories that each have something going for them. This volume contains more of those great autobiographical introductions to each section, but the first volume was superior. Show Less
LibraryThing member MillieHennessy
I really enjoyed all the stories in this book. I bought it because of The Hedge Knight, which is set in the same realm as his Song of Ice & Fire series, and I wasn't dissapointed. The other stories just made me more interested in his other works. I have a Wildcard book, and though it's not the
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first in the series, from the way he presented his Wildcard stories in this book, I shouldn't have a problem keeping up. I am alos interested in the characters of other authors. I also really loved the Haviland Tuf stories, and his take on werewolves was interesting too. I'd have to say my least favorite story was the one about chess, but that's only because I have no interest in chess. Overall, the story itself was still compelling, and I enjoyed the twist, I just wasn't interested in the technicalities of the game. I definitely want to get Volume I, and this book has given me an appreciation for Martin's work outside Ice & Fire. Show Less
LibraryThing member fyrefly98
The Dreamsongs books are a compilation of George R. R. Martin’s best known short stories and novellas. The span a variety of genres, often blending science fiction, horror, and fantasy. The books are broken into two volumes; the audiobooks are broken into three volumes. Volume Two of the
Part 4: The Heirs of Turtle Castle – Read by G. R. R. Martin – How he got his start writing fantasy.
The Lonely Songs of Laren Dorr – Read by Kim Myguest - Shara, the girl who can “travel between the worlds” in search of her lost love, arrives on a world inhabited by a solitary man, kept alone there by the gods as punishment for a long-ago crime. Interesting, and believable characters and pathos, even if it’s not a particularly original story line (I found it very Beauty-and-the-Beast-ish). Also, the writing was fairly un-subtle, but it’s one of Martin’s earlier stories, so that’s understandable.
The Ice Dragon – Read by Emily Janice Card – Adara is a winter child, feared and isolated from the villagers and even from her own family. She also befriends the feared ice dragon, who breathes cold instead of fire like the dragons of the king’s army… an army which is slowly losing its war. The course of this story was a little predictable, but the ice dragon itself is a cool (heh) creature, and I thought Martin did a nice job with the perspective of a very young girl.
In The Lost Lands – Read by Claudia Black. “You can buy anything you desire from Grey Alys… but it is better not to.” A messenger from the queen comes to Grey Alys, asking to buy the power to shapeshift. Grey Alys accepts, and so must go into the Lost Lands to hunt a werewolf… but the price of the request is one that no one expects. I liked this story – the idea of the cost of magic being high, and the “be careful what you wish for” message are not new, but it was told well – although I thought some of the accents in the narration were unneeded overdone.
Part 5: Hybrids & Horrors – read by George R. R. Martin – an introduction to his horror works, including the “hybrids” of horror with other genres, mostly sci-fi.
Meathouse Man – read by Kirby Heybourne – A tale of love and relationships set in a world where corpse-handlers – people who can link to brain-dead bodies and control their movements – comprise most of the workforce. I was sufficiently grossed out by the premise of the corpse-handlers and its implications, so if that was the intent, bravo. On the other hand, the main character was angsty and not particularly likeable, so it made getting involved in the story a little harder.
Remembering Melody – read by Scott Brick – A successful lawyer gets a visit from a college friend who is has let her life fall apart: drugs, suicide attempts, borrowing money, etc…. except this time, something’s different… I don’t read much horror, because I would tend to get scared and have nightmares, and crawling into your parents’ bed in the middle of the night is no longer really an option when you’re a grownup. So, either I’ve gotten better at not being so easily creeped out, or this story just wasn’t that scary. Also, I didn’t like either of the main characters (one too whiny and one overly harshly mean), and the ending was a little predictable.
Sandkings – Read by Mark Bramhall – A collector of exotic pets buys a tank of sandkings, semi-sentient colonial-insect-like creatures who engage in warfare and a primitive religion with their owner as their god. However, playing god often comes around to bite you in the ass… in this case literally. I don’t know why I’m not finding these stories more scary. Part of it is that I think you have to identify with the protagonist, so that at least part of your brain is imagining these horrible creepy things happening to you. Watching characters I don’t really care for or care about get their comeuppance – even if it’s gruesome and horrible comeuppance – just doesn’t rank as that scary.
Nightflyers – Read by Adenrele Ojo – A group of scientists book passage on a ship to study the Vollkryns, ancient star-travelers of legend. But the ship is not a normal ship – their captain stays behind a sealed bulkhead, and only communicates via intercom and hologram. Over the course of their journey, suspicion and paranoia builds… until it explodes. I didn’t really care for this one – too long, too many characters (each given rather outrageous and distracting accents by the narrator), too much like the script for an action movie in parts (and apparently it was actually made into a movie), and enough disparate elements and themes that the main focus kind of got lost.
The Monkey Treatment – Read by Kirby Heybourne – Kenny Dorchester is constantly on the lookout for new diets, but when he tries The Monkey Treatment, his addiction to food is no longer just a figurative “monkey on his back”. While this story kept my attention better than the previous one did, it seemed a little too straight-forward. A little more subtlety around the metaphor would have moved it from “gross” to “creepy”, although perhaps not all the way to “disturbing and scary.”
The Pear-Shaped Man – Read by Roy Dotrice – Jessie is concerned by her downstairs neighbor in her new apartment building – pear-shaped, sweaty, addicted to cheese doodles, and no one seems to know his name. Furthermore, he keeps staring at her, and offering to show her his “things”, and even her dreams are plagued with visions of him. At last, an actually scary story! Usually, real-life scenarios of human baddies don’t scare me nearly as badly as more supernatural things, (which is a stupid position to take, since I’m much more likely to encounter a rapist or serial killer than a vampire or angry poltergeist.) In this case, however, the Pear-Shaped Man combined enough supernatural elements with a very familiar real-world sense of uncomfortable and unexplainable fear to make the result horribly creepy, with the bonus that Jessie seemed like an everyday person, and was therefore much more sympathetic as a narrator. There were a number of elements that weren’t explained fully (or at all), but I was so pleased to finally be creeped out by a supposed horror story that I didn’t much care.
Part 6: A Taste Of Tuf – Read by George R. R. Martin – An introduction to the next two stories, which are taken from a larger series of short stories featuring the same protagonist, Havilon Tuf, an ecological engineer and owner of a “seed ship” – a DNA bank and cloning facility containing millions of species from thousands of worlds.
A Beast For Norn – Read by Roy Dotrice – Tuf is contacted by one of the noble houses on a world where animals are pitted against each other in Roman gladiator-style combat. They want to buy a fighting beast that will let them win against the other houses and regain their honor. While Tuf fills their request, they also get more than they bargained for. I like the character of Tuf, and the story moves along quickly and well, but it’s quite predictable, a standard pride-goeth-before-the-fall tale of hubris and arrogance. Also, the morality is a little bit strange: fighting animals to the death is bad, but completely devastating an entire planet’s ecosystem to teach the humans a lesson is okay?
Guardians – Read by Roy Dotrice – Tuf encounters a world where the humans are fighting a desperate – and losing – battle against giant sea creatures. The guardians on the surface enlist his help, but no one is prepared to face what the real problem is. I spotted the end of this one pretty much right from the beginning, but it was still a decent story. Not quite as good as A Beast for Norn, since there was more talking and less about the creatures on Tuf’s ship, but I really like Tuf – and his cats – as a character.
Recommendation: All of the stories are pretty well-told; they mostly only vary in how much I liked the story being told. I liked the Tuf stories, and most of the fantasy stories, better than the average of Volume 1, but I liked most of the horror stories less. Overall, it’s worth checking out if you like Martin’s work or enjoy fantasy/horror/sci-fi short stories, but probably not otherwise.
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audiobook contains the end of Volume One of the print version (labeled as parts 4 & 5, below), as well as the beginning of Volume Two of the print version (part 6, below).Part 4: The Heirs of Turtle Castle – Read by G. R. R. Martin – How he got his start writing fantasy.
The Lonely Songs of Laren Dorr – Read by Kim Myguest - Shara, the girl who can “travel between the worlds” in search of her lost love, arrives on a world inhabited by a solitary man, kept alone there by the gods as punishment for a long-ago crime. Interesting, and believable characters and pathos, even if it’s not a particularly original story line (I found it very Beauty-and-the-Beast-ish). Also, the writing was fairly un-subtle, but it’s one of Martin’s earlier stories, so that’s understandable.
The Ice Dragon – Read by Emily Janice Card – Adara is a winter child, feared and isolated from the villagers and even from her own family. She also befriends the feared ice dragon, who breathes cold instead of fire like the dragons of the king’s army… an army which is slowly losing its war. The course of this story was a little predictable, but the ice dragon itself is a cool (heh) creature, and I thought Martin did a nice job with the perspective of a very young girl.
In The Lost Lands – Read by Claudia Black. “You can buy anything you desire from Grey Alys… but it is better not to.” A messenger from the queen comes to Grey Alys, asking to buy the power to shapeshift. Grey Alys accepts, and so must go into the Lost Lands to hunt a werewolf… but the price of the request is one that no one expects. I liked this story – the idea of the cost of magic being high, and the “be careful what you wish for” message are not new, but it was told well – although I thought some of the accents in the narration were unneeded overdone.
Part 5: Hybrids & Horrors – read by George R. R. Martin – an introduction to his horror works, including the “hybrids” of horror with other genres, mostly sci-fi.
Meathouse Man – read by Kirby Heybourne – A tale of love and relationships set in a world where corpse-handlers – people who can link to brain-dead bodies and control their movements – comprise most of the workforce. I was sufficiently grossed out by the premise of the corpse-handlers and its implications, so if that was the intent, bravo. On the other hand, the main character was angsty and not particularly likeable, so it made getting involved in the story a little harder.
Remembering Melody – read by Scott Brick – A successful lawyer gets a visit from a college friend who is has let her life fall apart: drugs, suicide attempts, borrowing money, etc…. except this time, something’s different… I don’t read much horror, because I would tend to get scared and have nightmares, and crawling into your parents’ bed in the middle of the night is no longer really an option when you’re a grownup. So, either I’ve gotten better at not being so easily creeped out, or this story just wasn’t that scary. Also, I didn’t like either of the main characters (one too whiny and one overly harshly mean), and the ending was a little predictable.
Sandkings – Read by Mark Bramhall – A collector of exotic pets buys a tank of sandkings, semi-sentient colonial-insect-like creatures who engage in warfare and a primitive religion with their owner as their god. However, playing god often comes around to bite you in the ass… in this case literally. I don’t know why I’m not finding these stories more scary. Part of it is that I think you have to identify with the protagonist, so that at least part of your brain is imagining these horrible creepy things happening to you. Watching characters I don’t really care for or care about get their comeuppance – even if it’s gruesome and horrible comeuppance – just doesn’t rank as that scary.
Nightflyers – Read by Adenrele Ojo – A group of scientists book passage on a ship to study the Vollkryns, ancient star-travelers of legend. But the ship is not a normal ship – their captain stays behind a sealed bulkhead, and only communicates via intercom and hologram. Over the course of their journey, suspicion and paranoia builds… until it explodes. I didn’t really care for this one – too long, too many characters (each given rather outrageous and distracting accents by the narrator), too much like the script for an action movie in parts (and apparently it was actually made into a movie), and enough disparate elements and themes that the main focus kind of got lost.
The Monkey Treatment – Read by Kirby Heybourne – Kenny Dorchester is constantly on the lookout for new diets, but when he tries The Monkey Treatment, his addiction to food is no longer just a figurative “monkey on his back”. While this story kept my attention better than the previous one did, it seemed a little too straight-forward. A little more subtlety around the metaphor would have moved it from “gross” to “creepy”, although perhaps not all the way to “disturbing and scary.”
The Pear-Shaped Man – Read by Roy Dotrice – Jessie is concerned by her downstairs neighbor in her new apartment building – pear-shaped, sweaty, addicted to cheese doodles, and no one seems to know his name. Furthermore, he keeps staring at her, and offering to show her his “things”, and even her dreams are plagued with visions of him. At last, an actually scary story! Usually, real-life scenarios of human baddies don’t scare me nearly as badly as more supernatural things, (which is a stupid position to take, since I’m much more likely to encounter a rapist or serial killer than a vampire or angry poltergeist.) In this case, however, the Pear-Shaped Man combined enough supernatural elements with a very familiar real-world sense of uncomfortable and unexplainable fear to make the result horribly creepy, with the bonus that Jessie seemed like an everyday person, and was therefore much more sympathetic as a narrator. There were a number of elements that weren’t explained fully (or at all), but I was so pleased to finally be creeped out by a supposed horror story that I didn’t much care.
Part 6: A Taste Of Tuf – Read by George R. R. Martin – An introduction to the next two stories, which are taken from a larger series of short stories featuring the same protagonist, Havilon Tuf, an ecological engineer and owner of a “seed ship” – a DNA bank and cloning facility containing millions of species from thousands of worlds.
A Beast For Norn – Read by Roy Dotrice – Tuf is contacted by one of the noble houses on a world where animals are pitted against each other in Roman gladiator-style combat. They want to buy a fighting beast that will let them win against the other houses and regain their honor. While Tuf fills their request, they also get more than they bargained for. I like the character of Tuf, and the story moves along quickly and well, but it’s quite predictable, a standard pride-goeth-before-the-fall tale of hubris and arrogance. Also, the morality is a little bit strange: fighting animals to the death is bad, but completely devastating an entire planet’s ecosystem to teach the humans a lesson is okay?
Guardians – Read by Roy Dotrice – Tuf encounters a world where the humans are fighting a desperate – and losing – battle against giant sea creatures. The guardians on the surface enlist his help, but no one is prepared to face what the real problem is. I spotted the end of this one pretty much right from the beginning, but it was still a decent story. Not quite as good as A Beast for Norn, since there was more talking and less about the creatures on Tuf’s ship, but I really like Tuf – and his cats – as a character.
Recommendation: All of the stories are pretty well-told; they mostly only vary in how much I liked the story being told. I liked the Tuf stories, and most of the fantasy stories, better than the average of Volume 1, but I liked most of the horror stories less. Overall, it’s worth checking out if you like Martin’s work or enjoy fantasy/horror/sci-fi short stories, but probably not otherwise.
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LibraryThing member rivkat
Despite two annoying Tuf Haviland stories, I enjoyed this volume. Some stories I’d read before, but I liked the Twilight Zone script and the anecdotes surrounding it, ditto the pilot that never got picked up. And I got Wild Cards nostalgia from those stories. The volume is rounded out with a few
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other stories that never became series, including one about a seriously skeezy werewolf and the PI whose father was killed by a “wild animal” and one set several generations before Game of Thrones. Show Less
LibraryThing member Rinnreads
My favourites from this collection: The Glass Flower and The Hedge Knight.
LibraryThing member ten_floors_up
I borrowed this from my local library, looking for signposts into Martin's books after reading the "Song of Ice and Fire" series.
His splendid introduction to Section 4 ("The Heart In Conflict") is well worth a read: I loved this piece of rhetoric on perceived boundaries in storytelling.
His splendid introduction to Section 4 ("The Heart In Conflict") is well worth a read: I loved this piece of rhetoric on perceived boundaries in storytelling.
LibraryThing member AltheaAnn
(Review of both Book One and Book Two)
Got both of these anthologies from the library. Together, they're a great retrospective of Martin's career.
They're worth reading, for any Martin fan, even completists who've already read nearly everything in them, as Martin introduces and arranges the contents.
It starts off with a hilarious (and, admittedly, hilariously bad) fantasy story first published in an independent fanzine when Martin was a teen... and quickly moves into his excellent sci-fi and horror stories, includes some TV scripts, and more recent short fiction. Nearly all of it is 5-star material, with, (in my opinion) the exception of the 'Wild Cards' material... but that's just me; I'm just not a fan of the superhero genre, even when it's well-done, socially relevant and gritty as hell. I just can't force myself to love it.
That's OK, though, because I love everything else here - and that's a lot to love - this collection is two big, thick books. Go read.
Got both of these anthologies from the library. Together, they're a great retrospective of Martin's career.
They're worth reading, for any Martin fan, even completists who've already read nearly everything in them, as Martin introduces and arranges the contents.
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His commentary on the stories is worth the price of admission alone.It starts off with a hilarious (and, admittedly, hilariously bad) fantasy story first published in an independent fanzine when Martin was a teen... and quickly moves into his excellent sci-fi and horror stories, includes some TV scripts, and more recent short fiction. Nearly all of it is 5-star material, with, (in my opinion) the exception of the 'Wild Cards' material... but that's just me; I'm just not a fan of the superhero genre, even when it's well-done, socially relevant and gritty as hell. I just can't force myself to love it.
That's OK, though, because I love everything else here - and that's a lot to love - this collection is two big, thick books. Go read.
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LibraryThing member Firewild
Some of the stories were great, but definitely not all. I have also skipped quite a few because of the genres (I am not a super hero fiction fan).
LibraryThing member pamirick
I loved almost all the stories except for the last one. This book is definitely worth reading, and I enjoyed discovering so many exciting characters. I did not care for the way he would jump in to explain or set up some of the stories, but those parts are easy enough to breeze past. All in all, a
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very good read. Show Less