There’s a special circle in cell for people who stamp their ownership in books, and then don’t destroy those books before passing them on…
In February, 2026 I acquired a copy of the trade edition of George R. R Martin’s 1987 collection, Portraits of His Children. The book was in pristine condition, but on the first page inside the book some had stamped their name in a way that never can be undone: “Library of [name removed] M.D.” How nice of you, Dr. X, to have your own personal stamp to mar the books that you own. Has Dr. X now shuffled off his mortal coil, and his book then passed to some dealer/seller to push the book along? Possibly so. I’m almost tempted to tear out that page. Instead, I may look for another copy without such a stamp, then foist this book off to someone less finicky.
All grumbling aside, this book collects 11 stories from Martin’s early years as a writer, when he wrote SF stories, and before he ventured into fantasy with the Game of Thrones series of books and TV shows. These were stories published in Analog and Asimov, as well as anthologies. The introduction is from Roger Zelazny, an SF/fantasy writer. The publisher: Dark Harvest—whose first book was by Martin, a book apparently only published in a limited edition (no additional trade edition), and it’s quite expensive on the current used book market. I used to own a couple of Martin novels years ago, and gave them away. I never got into Game of Thrones, so I only have this book because I’m trying to collect all books published by Dark Harvest, a small publisher that existed between 1983 and 1993. Martin’s novella, “The Skin Trade,” is one of the best stories in the Night Vision anthologies.
