Fevre Dream

Fevre Dream
by George R. R. Martin
New York: Bantam Books
1982
336 pages



Now that Game of Thrones, George R. R. Martin's magna opera, has become a best-selling series and television phenomenon, some people are going back to read his earlier works. This book is one of those.

I must tell you that I first read this historical fiction novel in about 1990, so well before Game of Thrones was even any sort of thing in popular culture. I read it because I love vampire stories, and the more classic the better. This book fits my requirements very nicely.

This is the story of Captain Abner Marsh, an almost has-been steamship captain who has lost most of his fleet of ships that move up and down the Fevre River and Upper Mississippi. He meets a very strange man one evening for dinner, by the name of  Joshua York, who has a proposition to make to him. Joshua wants to buy Captain Marsh's business and increase it by building the biggest, finest ship on the Mississippi. In exchange, Marsh will work for him and take him to the lower Mississippi, all the way to New Orleans, and not ask questions. He will have some associates also on board and there may be some mysterious comings and goings, but as long as Captain Marsh asks no questions or gets curious about it, he will be able to run the new fine sternwheeler as he sees fit.

Needless to say, this sounds like a dream come true to Captain Marsh, who thought his business was going under water fast, literally and figuratively. But he wonders about this strange new partner? What is he really after?

The Fevre Dream is born--the most elegant, most deluxe, the fastest sternwheeler on the mighty Mississippi. Wouldn't it be grand if the Fevre Dream could out outrace the famous sternwheeler, the Eclipse? That would be something, all right.

A Steamboat Race on the Mississippi by George F. Fuller, 1858

Abner Marsh is well pleased with himself.

That is, until Joshua York starts acting oddly. Why does he always come out of his cabin at night? Why is he always reading newspaper stories about mysterious deaths along the river? Where does he go on shore, sometimes for days, only meeting up with the ship later downriver. What is going on with Joshua? But Captain Marsh made a promise not to meddle.

Now, all of you readers of this blog post know that Captain Marsh is going to meddle. And he does. He learns something rather chilling about his partner, and yet it is okay. Joshua is not the bad character of this story, but there is someone else who is. That "man" is the reason for Joshua York's nightly excursions.

This book is very well-written. It has a tight story and the characters and setting are fully described. I like the descriptions of the river and river life. I won't go into detail about vampires, although you probably have guessed that Joshua York is one, but he obeys all of the typical rules: no sunlight, burning skin, drinks blood (or does he?), mesmerizes humans, etc. Joshua does some other more unusual things, such as eats food occasionally, is more social than other vampires that we have met in traditional stories; doesn't see humans only as dinner; and is not afraid of mirrors, holy water, or crucifixes. Other vampires in the story enlarge and change the meaning of what it is to be a vampire in Martin's world.

For those of you who are interested, this book has been turned into a graphic novel. It is not in print any longer, but used copies can be found. I have not read it yet, but I have seen some of the pictures online. I guess I prefer to form my own pictures of the story in my own imagination.

Joshua York in the graphic novel version

So, for a good historical vampire story, I heartily recommend Fevre Dream for readers who like George R. R. Martin books, good vampire stories, or quirky historical fiction.

Recommended for ages 16 and older, for violence and gory descriptions.