Vampires on the Mississippi

Often I hear that good stories can be retold if the author brings their own voice to the work and some originality.  I thought I understood this concept until I read Fevre Dream by George R. R. Martin.  This is a vampire story like no other, one where the obsessions of the night creatures are as viscous as blood and only matched by the obsessions of a Steamboat Captain in the grand years of the Mississippi River trade. 

The Vampires are real.  Martin creates them anew, a race that interacts with humanity, or cattle as the beasts call us, but isn't part of us and never were.  These are brutal, nocturnal predators who, while possessing great intelligence, submit themselves to primal urges and instinctual wolfpack behavior.  That is, until a bloodmaster arises to challenge all other bloodmasters, Joshua York, a vampire who brings the cure to the bloodlust and demands all his kind submit to his will.

Another bloodmaster, Damon Julian, refuses and a battle of wills results with the fate of Captain Abner Marsh's beloved Steamboat, the Fevre Dream, caught in the middle.  The Captain is willing to risk all else to preserve his beloved beauty.

With the Mississippi as backdrop and the passions of all involved raising the tension on every page, it's a shock that this volume didn't overshadow all of Anne Rice's efforts in the genre.  It's to the fickle tastes of the reading public that I blame this oversight.

Fevre Dream belongs on every Vampire Story list and on every bookshelf.  Mr. Martin, I applaud you.

Comments

[Graeme]

nice. i am glad i found your review site. I look forward to your take on "economic hitman" I have that on my list to read

[CVRick]

I'm glad you found it, Graeme. I read several books a week. I started this as a way to keep track of what I've read. Economic Hit Man is good so far - I'm more than half through it.