Short Story Review - Sandkings (George R. R. Martin)

Before his epic A Song of Ice and Fire series, George R. R. Martin was best known for writing short stories, either science-fiction, fantasy, horror or a blend of these genres. “Sandkings” is the first of these that I've read, and what a story it is to start with.

Simon Kress is a rich snob who lives in a fancy mansion in the desert of the planet Baldur. Kress has no real job to speak of, and his favourite hobby is buying obscure and ferocious pets to watch them tear each other apart. Bored one day, Kress discovers a quaint petshop which offers him a remarkable new attraction: sandkings. These ant-like creatures live in vast colonies overseen by an ever-ravenous maw, and maintained by an army of mobiles. Kress buys four colonies to put on elaborate war set-pieces for himself and his equally voyeuristic friends.

To the shock of absolutely no one, Kress's playtime comes to a halt when his minions start to act quite strangely ...

“Sandkings” is a wonderful blend of genres. It has all the trappings of a Gothic classic – the vain and sadistic aristocrat, the slave rebelling against its master, the corrupted mirror image of the protagonist (in this case, the hideous likenesses of Kress's face the sandkings carve on the walls of their domains). By situating it on another planet however, Martin gives the concept a twist that makes the story feel fresh.

Kress is a suitably vile character for this type of story, and it gives the story a satisfactory bite as his power fantasy is eaten away by his former pets. Another character of note is the mysterious Jala Wo, the shopowner who supplies Kress with the sandkings. While Kress's fate is clear from the outset, Martin keeps the reader guessing about Wo's own motivations right until the end. In this way, he hints at a universe with more depth than just a setting for his macabre story.

The story revels in the violence and destruction of the sandkings. Spiders, snakes, puppies and eventually people are all dispatched with little remorse. And, not content there, Martin ends on a chilling note that suggests the sandkings' march is not finished yet.

If you're burning with anticipation for the next ASOIAF entry, or just want a dalliance into the dark nether-regions of science-fiction, I cannot recommend “Sandkings” enough.