It's hard to rate a collection like this. The short stories in the book span the first half of Martin's literary career. Some are excellent, and others...not so much. But reading the collection as a whole is definitely worthwhile. By the final page of the book, I was astonished by the sheer impact his writing has had not only in science fiction, but also in literature, graphic novels, horror, and even television. Despite being one of the most accomplished writers (in terms of literary awards and book sales) he is still fairly unknown outside of genre circles. Hopefully the new HBO series, A Game of Thrones, changes this fact.

I'm looking forward to reading the second volume in the set.