I recently finished George RR Martin’s 1977 Science fiction novel, The Dying of the Light; I saw him speak last October and among other things, he was talking about his earlier career, so I was eager to track this one down. In the 70s, Martin wrote this novel and other stories in his “Thousand Worlds” science fiction setting. Since I’ve enjoyed so many of his other books, I wanted to give this one a try.

The novel is set on “Worlorn,” a dying planet that has recently hosted a worldwide festival. Dirk T’Larien, the hero of this tale, journeys to Worlorn after receiving a ‘whisperjewel,’ a token of love, from his former girlfriend Gwen, for whom he’s been lovesick. He arrives hoping to be reconciled, but instead is met with a strange set of circumstances and a love quadrangle that goes south very quickly.

Martin did a credible job in this novel of creating some alien cultures that are difficult to wrap one’s mind around. Gwen is now involved with a man named Jaan Vikary, who is from a brutal culture called Kavalar, in which women are treated as property. Another Kavalar man shares her in this revolting arrangement, and there is a lot of discussion of the harsh conditions that caused the Kavalar to become so regressive. They are descended from humans, but have taken human culture in a strange direction after centuries of living through plagues and nearly dying out. As a Star Trek fan, they reminded me a bit of Klingons, holding honor above all else and demanding combat when insulted.

Dirk is puzzled that Gwen, who seems surprised to see him, has no interest in rekindling their relationship; Dirk had figured that the whisperjewel was a cry for help from her desperate situation. Eventually, he learns that someone else sent it to him, to lure him to Worlorn. He is drawn into a conflict between Gwen’s lover and other Kavalar on the planet who want them dead. There are some fun action scenes throughout, and I think that fans of Martin’s other work will be pleased with this novel from earlier in his career.

For me, the setting of this book was really interesting. A dying world that hosts an armageddon-type festival and is then abandoned as it dies is a neat idea. Martin has a lot of interesting history of the Kavalar through the book, and at times it feels like this could be a sourcebook for a science fiction RPG. There are plenty of twists and turns in the plot, as in Martin’s more famous works. He would later masterfully develop these kinds of plot elements in A Song of Ice and Fire, and it’s really fascinating to see this early career effort from him. It’s got a lot of DNA that would turn up in Game of Thrones and is an enjoyable science fiction adventure, provided you don’t mind some grimness. If you’re a Martin fan, that is probably not an issue for you.

This was a fun book. I really enjoyed Martin’s other early works too. Armageddon Rag is a great read about a cursed rock band, and his vampire book, Fevre Dream, is another one that any Martin fan will enjoy. I’m working my way through his collection of short stories, and also have his novel with Lisa Tuttle, Windhaven, in my to be read pile.