What do you think?
Rate this book
In the Lost Lands
Short story.
Unknown Binding
3 people are currently reading
554 people want to read
About the author
George R.R. Martin
1,511 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...
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 21 of 21 reviews
February 8, 2022
Yet another George short...
This was a fun GRRM short that came close to missing its mark with an almost-too-subtle last twist.
A notable thing about this take on the old 'be careful what you wish for' cautionary tale is the POV it is related from. Generally we follow the poor unfortunate fresh from their encounter with the: mischievous genie, mysterious merchant, inscrutable mystic, greedy leprechauns, etc. In the Lost Lands, it is Gray Alys who knows what people desire, and she denies no request on her. It is from Alys' eyes that we see this story unfold, and that's a bold authorial choice. There are plenty of reasons to avoid using an enigma-shrouded, all-knowing figure as a main character...it's too easy to ruin the mystery, maybe; too tempting to try and reveal motivations. Or, on the flip side, it becomes frustrating for the reader to slog through the false tensions created by a 'protagonist' who knows everything but doesn't share it with the audience until it is convenient. Perhaps it is a function of the constraint of a short story, but Martin really pulls it off in In the Lost Lands.
Gray Alys is doubly tasked by the knight Jerais: the beautiful queen Melange wants the ability to shapeshift – to roam free and wild as a wolf in the nighttime – and Jerais himself wants badly for Alys to fail in giving the Queen what she most desires. As Alys refuses no one, it is this seemingly impossible undertaking that we watch unfold.
Martin, as always, manages to sneak in a great sense of place as he weaves this smart tale. And it is so very clever. I nearly came away disappointed, though, as the final bit of the wish granting was almost too offhand to catch. I originally thought that maybe it was just me, but when I sheepishly confessed my 'a-ha!' moment to my buddy-readers, it turned out that it wasn't apparent to them, either. It was this 'a-ha!' that elevated this short from good to great for me.
This ranks pretty highly in my estimation of Martin's short stories, and in general. Worth a read for most fantasy fans.
This was a fun GRRM short that came close to missing its mark with an almost-too-subtle last twist.
A notable thing about this take on the old 'be careful what you wish for' cautionary tale is the POV it is related from. Generally we follow the poor unfortunate fresh from their encounter with the: mischievous genie, mysterious merchant, inscrutable mystic, greedy leprechauns, etc. In the Lost Lands, it is Gray Alys who knows what people desire, and she denies no request on her. It is from Alys' eyes that we see this story unfold, and that's a bold authorial choice. There are plenty of reasons to avoid using an enigma-shrouded, all-knowing figure as a main character...it's too easy to ruin the mystery, maybe; too tempting to try and reveal motivations. Or, on the flip side, it becomes frustrating for the reader to slog through the false tensions created by a 'protagonist' who knows everything but doesn't share it with the audience until it is convenient. Perhaps it is a function of the constraint of a short story, but Martin really pulls it off in In the Lost Lands.
Gray Alys is doubly tasked by the knight Jerais: the beautiful queen Melange wants the ability to shapeshift – to roam free and wild as a wolf in the nighttime – and Jerais himself wants badly for Alys to fail in giving the Queen what she most desires. As Alys refuses no one, it is this seemingly impossible undertaking that we watch unfold.
Martin, as always, manages to sneak in a great sense of place as he weaves this smart tale. And it is so very clever. I nearly came away disappointed, though, as the final bit of the wish granting was almost too offhand to catch. I originally thought that maybe it was just me, but when I sheepishly confessed my 'a-ha!' moment to my buddy-readers, it turned out that it wasn't apparent to them, either. It was this 'a-ha!' that elevated this short from good to great for me.
This ranks pretty highly in my estimation of Martin's short stories, and in general. Worth a read for most fantasy fans.
June 19, 2020
This was a good story. I saw several elements that seeped into A Song of Ice and Fire.
When Blue Jerais came to Gray Alys I thought of Maggy the Frog and Brienne the Blue of King Renly's Rainbow Guard. Blue Jerais is of Lady Melange's coloured guard.
The way that Alys shapeshifts is similar to what the Boltons used to do to the Starks that they capture. They flayed them and wore their skins as cloaks. In this way Gray Alys seems to absorb the power of the creature whose skin is being worn.
Poor Boyce. He seemed like a villain but then became a victim and a very tragic and tormented character - physically tormented by the end.
Gray Alys does not have to do what she does so I wonder why she does it when it causes her unhappiness. She says that she never refuses. Perhaps she should. I suppose she is an enabler and is fine with that role, no matter the costs.
It was a friend who figure it out. Lady Melange was Boyce's lover and that's why she wanted to become a wolf. Ironically, her request and Jerais' request killed Boyce. Lady Melange becoming a wolf would give her the chance to be with her lover, Boyce. When she got her pelt she lost Boyce but she got her wish from Gray Alys. Jerais got his Lady but he ended up married to a mad woman who he feared. Understanding this made the story better so I had to give it one more star. Before this, I really wondered why Lady Melange wanted to be a wolf.
When Blue Jerais came to Gray Alys I thought of Maggy the Frog and Brienne the Blue of King Renly's Rainbow Guard. Blue Jerais is of Lady Melange's coloured guard.
The way that Alys shapeshifts is similar to what the Boltons used to do to the Starks that they capture. They flayed them and wore their skins as cloaks. In this way Gray Alys seems to absorb the power of the creature whose skin is being worn.
Poor Boyce. He seemed like a villain but then became a victim and a very tragic and tormented character - physically tormented by the end.
Gray Alys does not have to do what she does so I wonder why she does it when it causes her unhappiness. She says that she never refuses. Perhaps she should. I suppose she is an enabler and is fine with that role, no matter the costs.
It was a friend who figure it out. Lady Melange was Boyce's lover and that's why she wanted to become a wolf. Ironically, her request and Jerais' request killed Boyce. Lady Melange becoming a wolf would give her the chance to be with her lover, Boyce. When she got her pelt she lost Boyce but she got her wish from Gray Alys. Jerais got his Lady but he ended up married to a mad woman who he feared. Understanding this made the story better so I had to give it one more star. Before this, I really wondered why Lady Melange wanted to be a wolf.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
April 19, 2021
"You can buy anything you might desire from Gray Alys. But it is better not to."
For this opening alone, i'd give 5 stars. It's like a story wrapped into a 1.5 sentence.
As mysterious, creepy, omniscient witches are my cupp, I found the main charecter more than appealing. The ending itself was so-so, but the premise, and what was left unwritten but insinuated - is simply great.
For this opening alone, i'd give 5 stars. It's like a story wrapped into a 1.5 sentence.
As mysterious, creepy, omniscient witches are my cupp, I found the main charecter more than appealing. The ending itself was so-so, but the premise, and what was left unwritten but insinuated - is simply great.
October 25, 2025
Read as part of Dreamsongs. This is one half a monkey’s paw scenario (only the monkey’s paw here is a magical shopkeeper who goes to some pretty extraordinary lengths to fuck with her customers) and one half a Gift of the Magi situation (only instead of sweet young newlyweds it’s a typical George RR Martinesque collection of miserable assholes).
It’s certainly not earthshaking, but it is at the very least a ton of fun, has a nice atmosphere to it, and the twist at the end is neatly done. Also it has maybe my favorite opening line I’ve seen in a while: “You can buy anything you might desire from Gray Alys. But it is better not to.”
It’s certainly not earthshaking, but it is at the very least a ton of fun, has a nice atmosphere to it, and the twist at the end is neatly done. Also it has maybe my favorite opening line I’ve seen in a while: “You can buy anything you might desire from Gray Alys. But it is better not to.”
February 27, 2025
This (for me) was a really enjoyable gripping read. I enjoyed pretty much everything about the story. My only quibble is that I'd have liked it to be a bit longer, particularly with the ending...but, overall that's a minor quibble. The characters, setting, writing and pace are really good. Highly recommended.
February 11, 2022
In the Lost Lands was a story that I didn’t quite reach my expectations. At first, I was super intrigued by the elements introduced. As the story progressed, though, I felt some of the tension in it slipped away. It was certainly an interesting tale, yet it never quite wowed me in the way I had hoped.
Many love this more than I did, though, so it is probably one of those cases where it just wasn’t for me.
Many love this more than I did, though, so it is probably one of those cases where it just wasn’t for me.
December 12, 2020
Not George's best work. Interesting but nothing more than that.
6/10
6/10
April 9, 2024
Amazing. I simply #love George Martin!
March 28, 2025
My first time reading George RR, picked this short story because of Paul WS Anderson’s recent movie adaptation (which was excellent and unfairly dismissed by critics and audiences)
June 9, 2025
Es un relato que no convence como una historia de licántropos y tampoco como fantasía oscura romántica. Las descripciones de Martin aquí están muy poco inspiradas y el contenido del texto no ha conseguido atraparme porque parte de un capricho estúpido y de unos personajes planos que no tienen tiempo para desarrollarse. Hasta las escenas de acción y de sexo me han parecido frías, básicas, de escritor principiante.
ENGLISH
It's a story that doesn't convince as a werewolf story, nor as a romantic dark fantasy. Martin's descriptions here are very uninspired, and the content of the text failed to capture me because it stems from a stupid whim and flat characters who don't have time to develop. Even the action and sex scenes struck me as cold, basic, and stingy, coming from a novice writer.
ENGLISH
It's a story that doesn't convince as a werewolf story, nor as a romantic dark fantasy. Martin's descriptions here are very uninspired, and the content of the text failed to capture me because it stems from a stupid whim and flat characters who don't have time to develop. Even the action and sex scenes struck me as cold, basic, and stingy, coming from a novice writer.
August 28, 2025
Very basic "careful-what-you-wish-for" fable that does try to introduce some chaotic-vs-civilized dichotomies it can't really develop or do anything with and which was recently turned into a vastly superior and more interesting film, even if I actually "understood" it less. But there's no reminder like this that Martin, for all his flaws, is among the absolute best--if not borderline unparalleled--at evoking real-feeling settings and creating-developing atmosphere within a literary work; nothing about this is ultimately particularly interesting, but it is surprisingly memorable, let alone enjoyable within the moment, for what amounts to an atmospheric sketch of primarily evocative means.
March 5, 2025
A likeable short story of a mysterious woman who can grant what anyone desires, when one requires her to get powers of a werewolf, she meets a stranger to guide her through the lost lands to complete the request
Read this short story from the Dream Songs compilation after hearing it was to be adapted for a movie, although the trailer seems to only have taken the basic concept of this story for its script
Read this short story from the Dream Songs compilation after hearing it was to be adapted for a movie, although the trailer seems to only have taken the basic concept of this story for its script
October 31, 2025
thought i should read a werewolf story for halloween. i saw most of the story coming but was thoroughly enjoying the ride, fully prepared to call this good but not necessarily great. but that final page—recontextualizing everything preceding it in ways so poignant, subtle, and viscerally human—is pure GRRM. “the only thing worth writing about is the human heart in conflict with itself” and that ending unfolds the heart of every character in the story with breathtaking subtlety.
December 17, 2023
"You can buy anything you might desire from Gray Alys. But it is better not to."
I was not expecting to like this short story as much i did. George has the ability to make you care about characters with very few lines. I loved Gray aly. I hear there is a tv adaptation in works. Excited about that.
I was not expecting to like this short story as much i did. George has the ability to make you care about characters with very few lines. I loved Gray aly. I hear there is a tv adaptation in works. Excited about that.
May 23, 2025
I saw the movie and wanted to read the original material. The movie did better in showing this world (as usual, Martin is very descriptive in armors and banners but nothing else). The final battle (a bird vs werewolf) and the end was way better and gruesome in the short story. I was terribly disappointing with the sex scene, this could have been great and it was terribly mediocre.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
August 2, 2025
A nice creepy fantasy story of a witch. Gray Alys did not refuse any of those who came to her...Yet somehow, those who dealt with [her] were never happy with the things she bought them, the things they had wanted.
Forget that utterly terrible and completely altered movie. This story is brilliant.
Forget that utterly terrible and completely altered movie. This story is brilliant.
January 14, 2025
I love the ending. It is a modern fairy tale.
February 23, 2025
A beautiful engrossing story with a very poetic ending. Paul WS Anderson, don't mess this up.
July 15, 2025
Excellent short story, but almost depressing. Very different from the movie.
September 6, 2024
The way Alys' cloak of feathers and claws are described immediately made me think of a design for a piece of clothing in Elden Ring! The Raptor's Black Feathers, while comprised of a half-cape amount of black feathers over a typical black cloak, has the item description "A ritual implement for transforming into a Deathbird, it only by imitation." This connection may be miniscule but knowing GRRM helped write the backstory for the world, maybe Miyazaki and the team at FromSoft did a deep dive of his work beforehand?
This is a lovely, morbid folktale regardless.
This is a lovely, morbid folktale regardless.
Displaying 1 - 21 of 21 reviews