Fevre Dream

When it comes to horror stories I've always preferred zombies over vampires, but damn if there's a zombie story even half as good as George R. R. Martin's vampire novel Fevre Dream, I'm yet to hear of it. The thrills, characterisation and storytelling rhythm are all top-notch, and the atmospheric 1850s Louisiana setting allies with Martin's evocative writing to create a gloomy and malevolent setting for the vampires to roam.

The vampire mythology is quite conventional – exposure to sunlight, drinking blood, etc. – but Martin provides his own refreshing spin on it. It's like if Stephen King re-wrote Huckleberry Finn. Martin also traces a compelling – if underutilised – link between vampirism and the slave trade; when one vampire show more challenges our protagonist that "only a handful have died… More slaves die every day in New Orleans, yet you do not work against slavery" (pg. 293), we see some of the grey morality that Martin would go on to use to stunning effect in A Game of Thrones. From the first meeting of minds at the start of the book to the tombstone epitaph at the very end, Fevre Dream is an enchanting piece of storytelling. Just as one character on page 179 is surprised at how the magnificent steamboat – named the Fevre Dream – could be borne out of such horror, so do I find it remarkable that Fevre Dream, the book, manages to be as beautiful as it is amidst the blood. show less

Publicada en 1982, 'Sueño del Fevre' fue un soplo de aire fresco en el manido subgénero de terror dedicado a los vampiros. George R.R. Martin tiene mucho oficio y eso se nota. Además, es uno de los escritores que mejor caracterizan a sus personajes. En sus historias los personajes son la clave, y ahí está la magistral saga de Canción de hielo y fuego para ratificarlo.

En 'Sueño del Fevre', pese a ser muy anterior, no podía ser menos, y Martin nos da a conocer a un personaje que atrapa desde su primera aparición. Se trata de Abner Marsh, capitán y dueño de una empresa de transportes de barcos de vapor que transita por aguas del Mississippi. Rudo, malhablado y leal a partes iguales, Abner constituye todo un hallazgo. Pero tal show more vez el verdadero protagonista de la novela sea ese gran barco, el Sueño del Fevre, todo un sueño en sí mismo, como su nombre indica, construido para convertirse en leyenda.

La historia comienza en San Luis, en 1857. Abner Marsh es un marinero al que la suerte no acompaña, ya que ha perdido gran parte de su flota de vapores. Hasta que se cruza en su vida un extraño personaje, Joshua York, con una proposición: ser su socio, y construir un gran vapor con el que surcar el Mississippi, transportando pasajeros y mercancías. York pondría el capital y Marsh su experiencia en el negocio. La única condición que pone York, es que Marsh se abstenga de hacer ningún tipo de pregunta, aunque observe que su comportamiento no sea el habitual. Marsh es un hombre del río y esta oferta resulta demasiado jugosa para rechazarla. Además, lleva años navegando el río y ha visto de todo en su vida.

Por otra parte, también conoceremos a Sour Billy, el otro narrador de la historia. A través de él, sabremos de Damon Julian y del siniestro grupo de seres que le acompañan, que se dedican a diezmar las tierras en las que habitan. Sour Billy es traidor y pendenciero, todo un villano, dedicado a servir a Damon Julian en busca de su propio sueño y recompensa por sus servicios. Estos vampiros no son los típicos engendros sobrenaturales de los que hablan las leyendas, y poco a poco se van desvelando sus orígenes. Decir únicamente que se nota en donde puede que Anne Rice se inspirase para la creación de su saga vampírica.

En cuanto a la ambientación, Martin disfruta con los detalles y nos sumerge en una época donde la esclavitud todavía persistía. Las descripciones de los vapores y su funcionamiento son perfectas. Resultan particularmente memorables las carreras a las que eran aficionados los diferentes barcos por alzarse con el título de vapor más rápido.

'Sueño del Fevre' nos arrastra a través de venganzas, traiciones, resentimientos y aventuras, en una historia que no da respiro al lector. Martin es un consumado narrador, y ya se notaba desde estos sus inicios. Imprescindible para los fans del género de vampiros. Todo un clásico. show less

Fevre Dream by George. R. R. Martin

This book is almost as old as I am, so it seems almost silly to review it. However, I do have thoughts, so here goes.

This is a story of vampires of a sort - ageless blood drinking creatures who seem to have evolved independently of humanity, but not the traditionally supernatural type - and a riverboat captain's complicated relationship with them around the time of the American Civil War.

It is the kind of complex story you might expect from Martin, although it does bear some signs of immaturity of thought (for example, it's made clear that the vampires require human blood to function fully, but it also says that they evolved long before humans did. So... What did they eat?) but what really strikes me show more is the way it so evokes the time and place of its setting.

It is set in the American south, in the 1850s, and it confronts the evils of slavery in a way that I find somewhat uncomfortable. The parallels between vampiric preying on humanity in general, and the way a slave society preys upon the enslaved, are hammered home almost too bluntly. And there is that scene, that brutal, almost unforgivable scene, that I think might not be publishable in today's world. I wonder about this. I wonder if perhaps the wrapping of unnatural vampirism around this story is almost a cop-out. Because I think a story that deals with slavery needs more focus on the purely human evils of that institution, instead of muddying them with the inhuman evils of Julian Damon and is ilk.

I'm not sure. I'm really not. There is no veiled whitewashing of the institution, at all, but this kind of muddy presentation of the brutal viciousness of slavery, and the inhumanity it tries to force on the enslaved, reaches deep into places that many people don't want to reach, while at the same time giving readers an out, a chance to focus on the viciousness of the inhuman characters and ignore the evils of the human society around them.

It's a book worth reading, and thinking critically about, at any rate. show less

I have never been a fan of vampire books, but every so often I still pick up one and enjoy the read. That was certainly the case with Martin's Fevre Dream, a book about which I have heard only praise. It's worthy of the buzz. Foremost, it's darn good historical fiction set right on the eve of the Civil War. It uses the stench, the language, the tension of that setting in a vivid, visceral way. Marsh is a flawed yet sympathetic man, a fellow who passionately loves the river and his boats. Every character is well done, and Martin displays his usual ruthlessness as the Fevre Dream makes its way through the Mississippi and its bayous. Martin's take on vampires uses the traditional mythology--no sparkles here--with several fresh twists. I show more found this to be a more cohesive and enjoyable book than any in the Song of Ice and Fire. show less

One of the best written vampire novels I have read. A real pleasure after having waded through so much tripe elsewhere.

GRRM knows how to write, and how to plot.

The main character in this book isn't really a person at all... it's a steamboat, the Fevre Dream. It is built by a Captain, and his strangely pale partner. Together they take to the river, getting involved in trying to set fast times and race other steamers.

Things hot up when it becomes obvious that the pale partner has night-time interests. He is hunting for others of his kind. And when he finds them, we get to some of the most vicious vamps in literature, along with their equally vicious human "pet"

The characters are all vividly drawn, especially Abner, the steamboat show more captain who just wants to be on the river, in a big boat.

And GRRM has enough twists and turns in the plot to keep the reader intersted through until the end, which comes with a perfect grace note. There won't be a dry eye in the house.

They really should make this into a movie... just to show what "Interview with The Vampire" COULD have been. show less

Many of you know George R.R. Martin through his fabulous epic fantasy The Song of Ice and Fire. Some of you may even remember him from a little shared universe series called Wildcards, which was a lot of fun. But y’all may not know that Martin wrote one of the coolest vampire books around: Fevre Dream. Not only did Martin re-imagine the biology and evolution and history of the vampire, but he also gave his book one of the most unique settings in horror lit—a Mississippi riverboat during the Mark Twain era. The story of the struggle between Joshua and Julian for control of a small band of vampires is well thought-out and executed, but the heart of the novel is the blunt and stubborn riverboat captain Abner Marsh and his loyalty to show more his friends and to his beloved riverboat. It’s not a happy book, but it’s an honest one, and more folks should be aware of it. show less

The year is 1982 and while there have been a ton of traditional vampire novels floating about, the big twist in the vampire industry hasn't quite come about yet with Interview... or has it? Enter Fevre Dream, taking this our darkest mirror to our humanity and turning him into something tragic and noble and throwing him into a Mark Twain novel.

What? Mark Twain? Oh yeah, steamboats, 1857, we've got 15 mile an hour races and chases and deeply disturbing looks at what makes men monsters and what makes monsters into men. Hate being a cow or a slave? Hate being a slave to your baser instincts, and have you decided never to simply give into them, unlike so many others? How heroic. :) Of course, this came out a good deal before our current glut show more and, at least to me, it marks a sudden and fantastic development in the whole field.

Sure, we might have had some sympathy for the original Dracula, just as we have sympathy for the Devil, but the heroes were much more often outside of the curse. And up till now, Vampires were still just the expression of truly base humanity, not worth much redeeming.

So this human aspect is truly excellent in the tale, but don't let me downplay the real gem here: steamboats. Total immersion in the world. Totally cool. I never guessed that chugging along at 8 miles per hour could be so exciting! But of course, that's all due to a master storyteller. :) GRRM has been around for a long, long time, practicing a very fine craft. We really shouldn't forget that. :) show less