Hippoi Athanatoi

A great horror novel that was nominated for the World Fantasy Award for the year it was published. It is, in many ways, the finest vampire novel set in the historical United States -- in fact, it's certainly superior to Anne Rice's over-rated Interview with a Vampire. Martin's grasp of atmosphere is impressive and does much to make the story alive. His take on the life of vampires, and particularly his depiction of the relationship between a vampire and a fat, rough but honest southern riverboat captain, is fascinating and without parallel in the sub-genre of vampire horror. Finally, like Mark…

Review forthcoming.

Dying of the Light, a work clearly influenced by Jack Vance's Dying Earth tales, is set primarily on the planet of Worlorn, which flourished to life as it passed near to the life-giving heat of a star but is now wandering further away into the grip of eternal cold. Turned into a cultural fairground, populated by human cultures from across the galaxy, Worlorn is now abandoned as it dies. Or almost so, in any case, as Dirk t'Larien arrives at the summons of his former lover Gwen. Yet whatever hopes he had about her summons, it turns out that she is bonded -- practically married -- to two fierce…

The second in GRRM's "Dunk & Egg" series, "The Sworn Sword", is really equaled only by Neil Gaiman's entry in the Legends II anthology, "The Monarch of the Glen". Following Dunk and Egg on their progression through life, the story opens a year and a half after the events of "The Hedge Knight" (also reviewed here) and finds the two in the midst of a terrible Summer drought in the Reach (which itself followed the Great Spring Sickness, which slaughtered tens of thousands in Westeros, including King Daeron the Good and his two most immediate heirs).…

When it was announced that GRRM would be releasing an original novella set approximately 90 years before A Song of Ice and Fire, there was quite a lot of excitement in the fan community. I recall buying the book on the date of release from my university's bookstore and reading it even as I made the 45-minute walk home in 90 degree weather (the dustjacket -- and the actual cover itself -- did not particularly appreciate that). Among all the fine stories in Silverberg's collection of original tales from various masters of the fantasy genre, this was the best (something which was acknowledged by…