Customer Reviews
One of the most original SF short stories yet written
I read Sandkings over 15 years ago and still call it to mind when asked about my favorite SF works. It contains some of the most singularly chilling moments I've read while slowly exposing you to one horrifying revelation after another about Martin's unique and brilliant life forms, which consist primarily of a large mouth (the maw) and a powerful psionic brain - but oh how they hunger and grow... (a good friend actually dropped the book at one point because of a particularly scary moment).
Sandkings is a short, extremely rewarding read for anyone seeking a fresh, exciting, adrenaline-filled afternoon with a brilliantly original story.
5 Stars for Sandkings
I first read 'Sandkings' in the annual Best of SF edition of OMNI magazine when I was in 8th grade oh so many years ago... I am STILL in awe of this story. When I saw the book at a store several years ago I figured maybe George had taken his amazing short-story and lengthened it to novel-size...or had simply written a sequel or well I didn't really care as long as it was built upon the best short-story I had ever read. I am sorry to say that it was just a collection of short stories
with 'Sandkings' being one OF them. This in NO WAY dimishes how utterly original this story is, though. I'm telling you the last written line of 'Sandkings' is worth the price of the book alone...but please, please do NOT spoil the surprise by skipping ahead and doing so. The main character is flawed in that he loves to be sadistic with these tiny adaptable creatures that learn to revere him as deity. But what happens along the way is horrific...and amazing. Spend an hour or two and read this short story and get to know one of the best novelists of the past 20 years. George R.R. Martin is fast becoming one of THE prominant names in the fantasy field (just check out his 'Song of Ice & Fire' series beginning with 'A Game of Thrones') but he was first a sci-fi author...he's not just good at both, he's fantastic...
Memorable Sci-Fi/Horror Story
I read this story a long time ago--I think I was still in junior high. I stumbled across it in an anthology of science fiction short stories. I don't even remember the title of the anthology but I remember this story. It gave me the willies.
It's amusing to look at the cover art displayed above. I kind of imagined the sandkings to look like that thing that crawled in Ricardo Montalban's ear in Star Trek the Wrath of Khan, or that adult thing that lived in the sand-tank and got mad when somebody poked a stick at it.
