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La fleur de verre
Un mystérieux artefact qui permet de changer de corps... au prix d’un sacrifice terrible.
Une étrange auberge où l’on croise de curieux voyageurs... mais où personne n’est ce qu’il prétend être.
Des enlèvements inexpliqués...
Une ancienne petite amie un peu trop envahissante...
Une lutte entre le Bien et le Mal digne des meilleurs pulps des années 1950...
Les nouvelles de George R. R. Martin sont autant de redoutables récits à l’écriture implacable, où se côtoient horreur, fantastique et science-fiction.
Célèbre grâce à sa série au long cours Le Trône de fer (Game of Thrones), il excelle également dans le format court. Avec La Fleur de verre, cinquième titre de l’auteur aux éditions Actusf, découvrez l’autre facette de ce conteur hors pair.
Contient « Le Régime du singe », prix Locus.
Une étrange auberge où l’on croise de curieux voyageurs... mais où personne n’est ce qu’il prétend être.
Des enlèvements inexpliqués...
Une ancienne petite amie un peu trop envahissante...
Une lutte entre le Bien et le Mal digne des meilleurs pulps des années 1950...
Les nouvelles de George R. R. Martin sont autant de redoutables récits à l’écriture implacable, où se côtoient horreur, fantastique et science-fiction.
Célèbre grâce à sa série au long cours Le Trône de fer (Game of Thrones), il excelle également dans le format court. Avec La Fleur de verre, cinquième titre de l’auteur aux éditions Actusf, découvrez l’autre facette de ce conteur hors pair.
Contient « Le Régime du singe », prix Locus.
320 pages, Paperback
First published September 1, 1986
332 people want to read
About the author
George R.R. Martin
1,510 books119k followersGeorge Raymond Richard "R.R." Martin was born September 20, 1948, in Bayonne, New Jersey. His father was Raymond Collins Martin, a longshoreman, and his mother was Margaret Brady Martin. He has two sisters, Darleen Martin Lapinski and Janet Martin Patten.
Martin attended Mary Jane Donohoe School and Marist High School. He began writing very young, selling monster stories to other neighborhood children for pennies, dramatic readings included. Later he became a comic book fan and collector in high school, and began to write fiction for comic fanzines (amateur fan magazines). Martin's first professional sale was made in 1970 at age 21: The Hero, sold to Galaxy, published in February, 1971 issue. Other sales followed.
In 1970 Martin received a B.S. in Journalism from Northwestern University, Evanston, Illinois, graduating summa cum laude. He went on to complete a M.S. in Journalism in 1971, also from Northwestern.
As a conscientious objector, Martin did alternative service 1972-1974 with VISTA, attached to Cook County Legal Assistance Foundation. He also directed chess tournaments for the Continental Chess Association from 1973-1976, and was a Journalism instructor at Clarke College, Dubuque, Iowa, from 1976-1978. He wrote part-time throughout the 1970s while working as a VISTA Volunteer, chess director, and teacher.
In 1975 he married Gale Burnick. They divorced in 1979, with no children. Martin became a full-time writer in 1979. He was writer-in-residence at Clarke College from 1978-79.
Moving on to Hollywood, Martin signed on as a story editor for Twilight Zone at CBS Television in 1986. In 1987 Martin became an Executive Story Consultant for Beauty and the Beast at CBS. In 1988 he became a Producer for Beauty and the Beast, then in 1989 moved up to Co-Supervising Producer. He was Executive Producer for Doorways, a pilot which he wrote for Columbia Pictures Television, which was filmed during 1992-93.
Martin's present home is Santa Fe, New Mexico. He is a member of Science Fiction & Fantasy Writers of America (he was South-Central Regional Director 1977-1979, and Vice President 1996-1998), and of Writers' Guild of America, West.
http://us.macmillan.com/author/george...
Martin attended Mary Jane Donohoe School and Marist High School. He began writing very young, selling monster stories to other neighborhood children for pennies, dramatic readings included. Later he became a comic book fan and collector in high school, and began to write fiction for comic fanzines (amateur fan magazines). Martin's first professional sale was made in 1970 at age 21: The Hero, sold to Galaxy, published in February, 1971 issue. Other sales followed.
In 1970 Martin received a B.S. in Journalism from Northwestern University, Evanston, Illinois, graduating summa cum laude. He went on to complete a M.S. in Journalism in 1971, also from Northwestern.
As a conscientious objector, Martin did alternative service 1972-1974 with VISTA, attached to Cook County Legal Assistance Foundation. He also directed chess tournaments for the Continental Chess Association from 1973-1976, and was a Journalism instructor at Clarke College, Dubuque, Iowa, from 1976-1978. He wrote part-time throughout the 1970s while working as a VISTA Volunteer, chess director, and teacher.
In 1975 he married Gale Burnick. They divorced in 1979, with no children. Martin became a full-time writer in 1979. He was writer-in-residence at Clarke College from 1978-79.
Moving on to Hollywood, Martin signed on as a story editor for Twilight Zone at CBS Television in 1986. In 1987 Martin became an Executive Story Consultant for Beauty and the Beast at CBS. In 1988 he became a Producer for Beauty and the Beast, then in 1989 moved up to Co-Supervising Producer. He was Executive Producer for Doorways, a pilot which he wrote for Columbia Pictures Television, which was filmed during 1992-93.
Martin's present home is Santa Fe, New Mexico. He is a member of Science Fiction & Fantasy Writers of America (he was South-Central Regional Director 1977-1979, and Vice President 1996-1998), and of Writers' Guild of America, West.
http://us.macmillan.com/author/george...
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 32 reviews
November 15, 2019
A pleasant romp into the world(s) of GRRM, this story was fun to think about. I particularly enjoyed finding the seeds of ideas that have been more fully developed in George’s subsequent writing. I found the balance between explanation and mystery to be extra satisfying based on how, in later works, so much is left up to the reader to interpret. Call me lazy, but The Glass Flower didn’t require quite as much effort on my part to suss out the motivations of characters and the method by which they played the Game of Mind. The prose during the game itself was exciting, fast-paced, and enticed me to think about how I’d go about battling to control the will of others. Furthermore, it made me think about the morality involved in bending others to one’s will and left me with clear answers to that question when it comes to my personal morality. The story was rife with symbolism, another hallmark of Martin’s work, and an aspect I always enjoy. Overall, it was a quick, pleasant read, and one I’ll likely reread at some point, perhaps more than once.
November 21, 2015
Weird, and more mystical than the others I've read recently by GRRM. Reminds me of the House of Black and White in "Ice and Fire", even though we don't know what is going on there. I liked this one the best since A Song for Lya (which was even better) and Tuf Voyaging (which was funnier but less mysterious). Also the awful pain described when the souls/minds are forced into existence separate from their bodies and then can change body is a bit like the wildling woman who goes crazy when Varamyr tries to warg her. Perhaps this story sheds some light on how GRRM is thinking about mind/soul/body and truth, absolute truth about a person like the "no one" priests of the House of B&W.
April 17, 2015
[3.5]
I found this story to be both very captivating and interesting as well as quite confusing. The very concept is confusing but it didn't infringe on my enjoyment of it. I love Martin's writing style in this and everything else I read of his.
I found this story to be both very captivating and interesting as well as quite confusing. The very concept is confusing but it didn't infringe on my enjoyment of it. I love Martin's writing style in this and everything else I read of his.
April 2, 2022
The Glass Flower was a story that can easily cause confusion due to the somewhat strange and abstract nature of the tale, yet it was one I enjoyed. It hooked me with ease and had me curious about how things would develop, eagerly turning the pages to see how the specifics would play out. Although there were some elements in this one that I feel were not as resolved as I would have liked, I did enjoy the story.
While not George R.R. Martin’s best, it’s certainly worth it for those willing to give something different a try.
While not George R.R. Martin’s best, it’s certainly worth it for those willing to give something different a try.
March 7, 2015
I have to admit that I had this book read to me by the incredible actress, Claudia Black. It really stayed with me. It has some unique connections to Asimov's robots/androids, and also similarities to Blake's 7 main female antagonist. Even "The Game" itself was similar to one of those old 7episodes. In any event, I think this is one of Martin's best short works, and my favorite by far from his short story collection. But don't let me stand in opposition to the majority here - to put things in context, I also eat medium rare chicken breasts (yakitori) and I give The Fountainhead out to both friends, and enemies. Cheers!
July 18, 2016
Martin had tried too hard to be poetic in this book and failed to his usual impressive philosophical exploration and character building. There is no plot twist in the story, in fact, there is no plot at all. It was descriptive and straightforward. There were a lot of writing for the exotic life forms (which fits for the ultimate topic of this book - what it means to be alive - and Martin has failed to explore - and I know his answer is life is confusing and full of wonder and questions, but still, the exploration is poor) and background of his thousand world universe, which are fascinating. Overall I gave the book three out of five stars.
January 29, 2016
Wow, odlicna prica, nakon nekog vremena sto sam ispao iz Martina obzirom da nas bombardiraju sa Igrom prijestolja na sve strane, covjek se uvjeri da je Martin daleko bio bolji u kratkim pricama i novelama. Uvijek su mi se svidjale njegove Druga vrsta usamljenosti, Pjesma za Lyu, Samotne pjesme Larena Dora, Put Kriza i Zmaja e pa ova spada medju te najbolje. Stvarno je stil predivan sa dovnim mislima i opisima. Duboka cak na trenutke neshvatljiva al eto opustit se i uzivat u atmosfericnosti price. Sigurno cu ju ponovit kroz neko vrijeme
July 2, 2021
This is another Thousand Worlds story, set at the outer edges of the universe on a planet with an artifact that will allow eternal life, but there's a catch. You must play the game and take someone else's body. The characters are carefully developed and revealed, and then they must battle for their lives. An interesting concept that cleverly inserts a lot of the history you may have been wondering about in Thousand Worlds stories (Why does no one go to Old Earth? Where did all these colonies come from? Why are some people genetically modified?)
April 2, 2019
Interesting premise, a little pretentious and the ending was too neat
June 6, 2019
Strange story - but interesting...
May 24, 2020
Started reading and put it off 3 times before completing it. Very hard to get into and i don't understand the purpose of the story
Read
March 14, 2017WHO WANTS TO LIVE FOREVERRRRRRRR???????
September 19, 2022
This story is a bit like A Song for Lya but I don't think that it managed to have the same impact.
I love that we got some version of Klerenomas, the legendary figure that is constantly alluded to throughout The Thousand Worlds. He's a cyborg and interested in life and the death which gives meaning to life.
Yeah - this is one of those stories. One that makes you think about life and death. Existentialist woes.
Cyrain allows people to live a second life. She herself does it and claims several bodies in an attempt to live forever. She deludes herself and Khar Dorian lies to her but she kills people. The prizes who are meant to have their bodies taken over are not willing. It's quite disturbing. Her current body, a girl's pre-pubescent body that looks remarkably like Daenerys is her her most recent victim.
The second life reminds me of Bran and what he is doing and in light of the TV show I am seriously considering if Bran skinchanged Daenerys. I had previously dismissed this idea but after reading this is popped into my head.
Anyway, this may not have anything to do with the way A Song of Ice and Fire ends. GRRM recycles a lot of themes, names and physical descriptions. A Valyrian-looking person was bound to show up eventually.
Like A Song for Lya, this made me think about life and death. But somehow it just was not as strong as that story. I think that the story best described pain more than life and death well and yet pain was not the main theme. I do feel like pain being there shows its undesirable yet unavoidable place alongside life and death.
Finally, the glass flower, it is quite perfect and beautiful even though it never actually does anything but reflect light. Perhaps that is the point. For a moment I thought Kleronomas might have been the boy who gave the flower to Cyrain or the ghost of the academic was the boy but there was no real acknowledgement of that. The glass flower is perfect, but not alive. It is perfect but dead and cannot do anything but reflect light. In a way the flower represents death and the the cyborg body that will live forever but never feel or grow and change. In a way it also represents death giving meaning to life as the dead flower reflects light with myriad colour. Like that glass flower neither Klerenomas nor Cyrain get to do much with their permanent lives. Cyrain lies to herself and says she is a thief even though she kills unwilling people. Klerenomas at least understands that he is not living truly or feeling. They're both stuck and not living, merely existing like the glass flower until the end when they swap places. Klerenomas will eventually die after living. Cyrain, however, becomes more like the glass flower than before. She will never change bodies again but will be a cyborg and never feel and may possibly be taken over by Klerenomas like the academic. I suppose it is what she wants. It is important to decide how you want to live your life. Who am I or anyone to judge?
I love that we got some version of Klerenomas, the legendary figure that is constantly alluded to throughout The Thousand Worlds. He's a cyborg and interested in life and the death which gives meaning to life.
Yeah - this is one of those stories. One that makes you think about life and death. Existentialist woes.
Cyrain allows people to live a second life. She herself does it and claims several bodies in an attempt to live forever. She deludes herself and Khar Dorian lies to her but she kills people. The prizes who are meant to have their bodies taken over are not willing. It's quite disturbing. Her current body, a girl's pre-pubescent body that looks remarkably like Daenerys is her her most recent victim.
The second life reminds me of Bran and what he is doing and in light of the TV show I am seriously considering if Bran skinchanged Daenerys. I had previously dismissed this idea but after reading this is popped into my head.
Anyway, this may not have anything to do with the way A Song of Ice and Fire ends. GRRM recycles a lot of themes, names and physical descriptions. A Valyrian-looking person was bound to show up eventually.
Like A Song for Lya, this made me think about life and death. But somehow it just was not as strong as that story. I think that the story best described pain more than life and death well and yet pain was not the main theme. I do feel like pain being there shows its undesirable yet unavoidable place alongside life and death.
Finally, the glass flower, it is quite perfect and beautiful even though it never actually does anything but reflect light. Perhaps that is the point. For a moment I thought Kleronomas might have been the boy who gave the flower to Cyrain or the ghost of the academic was the boy but there was no real acknowledgement of that. The glass flower is perfect, but not alive. It is perfect but dead and cannot do anything but reflect light. In a way the flower represents death and the the cyborg body that will live forever but never feel or grow and change. In a way it also represents death giving meaning to life as the dead flower reflects light with myriad colour. Like that glass flower neither Klerenomas nor Cyrain get to do much with their permanent lives. Cyrain lies to herself and says she is a thief even though she kills unwilling people. Klerenomas at least understands that he is not living truly or feeling. They're both stuck and not living, merely existing like the glass flower until the end when they swap places. Klerenomas will eventually die after living. Cyrain, however, becomes more like the glass flower than before. She will never change bodies again but will be a cyborg and never feel and may possibly be taken over by Klerenomas like the academic. I suppose it is what she wants. It is important to decide how you want to live your life. Who am I or anyone to judge?
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
February 18, 2017
I found it a bit disturbing, but it is very interesting. It is confusing, and you would have to reread some parts, just to understand what is going on.
October 28, 2016
My first encounter with this story was through the audio version read by Australian actress Claudia Black, whose amazing performing skills made it quite special (the different voices she can bestow on the main character’s acolytes, for example, being a case in point). Shortly thereafter I bought and read the collection “Dreamsongs”, a retrospective of GRR Martin’s stories, interspersed with information about his writing career, and it also included The Glass Flower. This time around, I decided to merge the two, re-reading the story while listening to Ms. Black’s performance, and it was indeed an enhanced experience: when simply listening, my mind tends to wander and I lose focus on the finer details, but listening at the same time as I’m reading the text makes for a total immersion, something that made me appreciate this story even more.
Continue reading on SPACE and SORCERY BLOG
Continue reading on SPACE and SORCERY BLOG
May 24, 2016
Had to abandon this one. Such a disappointment that this came from George R.R. Martin, even if it was one of his earlier stories. Not only was the first third of it extremely boring, but it was also very confusing. Most of it was background history on whatever world they're suppose to be inhabiting. It's very rare that I don't finish a book, and this is the first short story I've failed to finish. I'm pretty sure I should stick to Martin's fantasy, because his Sci-Fi just doesn't do anything for me.
July 21, 2015
Ottimo racconto sci-fi ricco di temi importanti,dalla perdita di identità alla confusione tra uomo e macchina fino all'indagine sull'eternità e il suo significato,le descrizioni dei luoghi sono deliziosamente dettagliate e simboliche e il "gioco" al centro della storia e ricco di colpi di scena e momenti forti,peccato solo che la brevità del tutto abbia portato alcuni personaggi a non ottenere lo sviluppo necessari a renderli più memorabili.
January 23, 2018
Though this book wasn't what I expected (I'm not sure what I expected) it still was a wonderful read. With darkness as an undertone and shadows as it's hues, Wisdom and the cyborg reveal a world we already know exists, but here, in the game of the minds, we get a stunning, vivid parallel of what our lives could be or what are lives actually are. This story lead to many thoughts of self examination and in some ways even inspiration.
June 28, 2012
Another great, thought-provoking short story by Martin. This has been my least favourite so far, but only because it is more sci-fi than fantasy, which is not really my taste. I got so confused with basic names in the beginning that it took me longer to get into the meaning of the tale. However, by 40% in I was really enjoying it. Another great example of how Martin can out his pen to anything.
July 10, 2013
Although I only gave this book 'one star',(& I'm actually against the notion of book reviews) it is worth reading. George R R Martin is an exceptional writer I just did not think the graphic sexual content was in context.
Also it is a short story, which means the characters are not developed in the long run , as opposed to his novels.
Also it is a short story, which means the characters are not developed in the long run , as opposed to his novels.
August 13, 2014
Not sure what this was about really - it was totally lost on me. I read it but I'm not sure why. Definitely not to my taste. I thought I liked science fiction but sometime it's just too weird for me and this was one of those times. I got the feeling it should have been thought provoking for me but the only thought it was provoking was "What??"
May 7, 2015
This was a DNF unfortunately. George R.R. Martin is one of my favorite authors. I just love his books, short stories, anthologies, and anything else the man has written. Unfortunately, I just couldn't get into this one. It was boring, and didn't hold my attention. Maybe I'll try again some other time when I'm actually in the mood for it.
August 21, 2012
Another great short story from Mr Martin, this time of a sci-fi bent, that touches on themes of life, death, morality and the concept of self.
December 10, 2012
Sci-Fi er nok bare ikke mig...
April 9, 2014
Pretty forgettable.
June 24, 2014
Very interesting idea for the story and a great antagonist thrown in. I did enjoy this one but the overall plot got a little lost in the sci-fi details
June 26, 2015
Less pictures and more text than a comic, otherwise the same. I didn't get the end, but that doesn't matter, I'll soon forget this anyway.
March 26, 2017
short story in the 1000 worlds universe. not my favorite
April 20, 2017
Out of all George RR Martin's prose I have read for the Thousand Worlds Bookclub, none has been so heavy on symbolism as this one.... and I love it! While the story can be a bit difficult to understand at times, this story depicts the main character's struggle to accept death. The conflict between Cyrain and Kleronomas represents a clash of ideology: the difference between fearing and avoiding death as the enemy of life, and between embracing death as a natural part of life and living one's life to the fullest. The glass flower itself symbolises how the fear of death can force one to reject living altogether; that empty eternity is greater than mortal substance. The religious associations with the text was also interesting to see, especially given the author's views on religion. I would recommend this book to anyone who enjoys their scifi with less action and more philosophic symbolism.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 32 reviews