Bio: Scott has been an avid reader of science fiction since the mid-seventies, after reading Arthur C. Clarke's "Dolphin Island". He lives in small town Idaho with his wife and two children, and works as a control engineer for a manufacturing plant. He writes a monthly column on audiobooks for SF Site called “Vox: SF for Your Ears”, and is an aspiring author himself. He loves a good hard-SF story, but enjoys most other kinds of speculative fiction as well. Favorite writers: Ted Chiang, Connie Willis, Isaac Asimov, Gene Wolfe, Orson Scott Card.

Recently, I received an e-mail stating that this story has broken a record at Fictionwise. At the time, it had received twenty "great" ratings in a row without a single lower rating. My vote made that total twenty-one. Simon Kress is a man who likes exotic pets. He likes to impress his friends with animals that are "unusual, entertaining, and expensive". After exhausting his usual resources for these kinds of animals, he discovers a new shop -- one that sells him some sandkings. Sandkings are insect-like creatures who live in a terrarium and are semi-sentient. Kress enjoys watching them build castles (yes, castles) and forage for food. Mostly, however, he enjoys watching them make war. I personally know of nothing with which to compare this story. George R.R. Martin, with his recent work, has stepped into a small group of elite genre authors; this story from 1979 proves that he's had the talent all along. Enjoy this one! I sure did.

Here is a story with many levels. On the surface, it is a story of death and a family's efforts to deal with it. From a different angle, it's a story of growing through adolescence. The main character is a boy who lives in a perfect boy's world. Mr. Jeepers waves hello as he passes, the sky is pumpkin orange, and his home is full of toys. But, as the boy grows, he starts to realize that things are not as they seem, and he isn't where he thought he was. This is a fine piece of work - the first one I've read by Walter Jon Williams. I'll certainly be looking for more.