In the House of the Worm is a short story by George R. R Martin, author of Game of Thrones. Set in the underground world of the yaga-la-hai, In the House of the Worm is the story of Annelyn's quest to bring down the Meatbringer. Annelyn, your typical popular guy (with an atypically feminine name), is humiliated by the Meatbringer at one of the community's grandest events. Throw in the fact that the Meatbringer steals Annelyn's lady love and you have the perfect recipe for revenge-seeking. Annelyn gathers his pals Vermyllar and Reiss and they venture into the dark, tunneling deep underground where they join up with Groff...involuntarily. What ensues is a search and victory story that is more search and less victory. After a rather long (for a short story) journey, Annelyn achieves his goal but rather anti-climatically. There is not much action in this story but GRRM's narrative skills will have you engrossed. The creatures in the story are not very well defined, save for the grouns, allowing for the readers imagination to take over.
In the House of the Worm lends itself to book clubs and discussion groups. There are clear themes surrounding the separation of classes, including the upper class' lack of knowledge useful for survival. Does Annelyn become like the Meatbringer he was trying to eliminate? Is hatred passed on by mythology so much that the yaga-la-hai and the grouns live in unnecessary enmity? This short story has plenty to offer the literary reader.
For anyone looking to venture into fantasy fiction, this may be just the book for you. In the House of the Worm couples one of the foremost fantasy writers with brevity. It is also a great book for fantasy lovers who are short on time. The electronic version of the book is available at a low price and seems to be the only version currently available.
