Scan barcode
A review by arnrockwell
Fevre Dream by George R.R. Martin
adventurous
dark
tense
medium-paced
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
Yes, George R.R. Martin wrote a vampire novel. This book was published roughly 14 years before A Game of Thrones and while I wouldn't call it "groundbreaking," it was an interesting read.
Fevre Dream takes place between 1857 and 1870 and follows Abner Marsh, a river boat captain who lost the majority of his fleet before the start of the novel during a harsh winter. This leaves him with only one small steamboat and not much of business left. He is approached by a wealthy and mysterious aristocrat named Joshua York, who gives him a proposal: he owns half of Marsh's business and funds the construction of his dream ship, so long as Marsh allows him to keep his secrets.
The novel is well-written and easy to read. While some people may have had issues with the amount of detail concerning steamboats and their functionality, it didn't bother me much at all. It did come close to too much a couple of times, however.
Probably the best thing about this book was Martin's vision of vampires, which is a fair bit different from the norm. Yes, then burn in the sunlight and consume blood to survive, but that's where the similarities end. My favourite chapter in the entire novel is about halfway through, when the truth about vampires and their origins are revealed to Marsh.
Slavery is a strong theme throughout the novel. Not only slavery of black people by white people, as was common for the time period, but also vampires enslaving both humans and their own kind. It's what drives the plot of the novel.
As good as the novel is, there are four things I wasn't a fan of that stood out too much for me to ignore. I was going to give the book 4-stars, but dropped it to 3 due to the following:
1) The ending was lackluster. While there is a small encounter at the climax, don't expect it to anywhere near epic. The book teases something bigger, than lets you down by revealing something else.
2) The villains were kinda meh. The villains are horrible people and get what they deserve in the end, but they don't stand out. Evil just because with real backstory or explanation as to why. Very forgettable.
3) Too many lies. There are too many times in this novel where characters lie and are deliberately misleading for no apparent reason other than the author just wanting to pad the book with more words. It doesn't work in movies and shows, and it doesn't work here.
4) The n-word is used way too much. It if was in dialogue only, I would've let it slide. But in the first half of the book, it's all over the narrative. A third-person narrative. Historical accuracy is no excuse for such excessive use.
Overall, I feel that Fevre Dream is at least worth a read to see Martin's interpretation of vampires and how they differ from the norm. It has its faults of course, but no book is perfect. Just don't go into this expecting A Song of Ice and Fire levels of storytelling, because you're not gonna get it here.
Fevre Dream takes place between 1857 and 1870 and follows Abner Marsh, a river boat captain who lost the majority of his fleet before the start of the novel during a harsh winter. This leaves him with only one small steamboat and not much of business left. He is approached by a wealthy and mysterious aristocrat named Joshua York, who gives him a proposal: he owns half of Marsh's business and funds the construction of his dream ship, so long as Marsh allows him to keep his secrets.
The novel is well-written and easy to read. While some people may have had issues with the amount of detail concerning steamboats and their functionality, it didn't bother me much at all. It did come close to too much a couple of times, however.
Probably the best thing about this book was Martin's vision of vampires, which is a fair bit different from the norm. Yes, then burn in the sunlight and consume blood to survive, but that's where the similarities end. My favourite chapter in the entire novel is about halfway through, when the truth about vampires and their origins are revealed to Marsh.
Slavery is a strong theme throughout the novel. Not only slavery of black people by white people, as was common for the time period, but also vampires enslaving both humans and their own kind. It's what drives the plot of the novel.
As good as the novel is, there are four things I wasn't a fan of that stood out too much for me to ignore. I was going to give the book 4-stars, but dropped it to 3 due to the following:
1) The ending was lackluster. While there is a small encounter at the climax, don't expect it to anywhere near epic. The book teases something bigger, than lets you down by revealing something else.
2) The villains were kinda meh. The villains are horrible people and get what they deserve in the end, but they don't stand out. Evil just because with real backstory or explanation as to why. Very forgettable.
3) Too many lies. There are too many times in this novel where characters lie and are deliberately misleading for no apparent reason other than the author just wanting to pad the book with more words. It doesn't work in movies and shows, and it doesn't work here.
4) The n-word is used way too much. It if was in dialogue only, I would've let it slide. But in the first half of the book, it's all over the narrative. A third-person narrative. Historical accuracy is no excuse for such excessive use.
Overall, I feel that Fevre Dream is at least worth a read to see Martin's interpretation of vampires and how they differ from the norm. It has its faults of course, but no book is perfect. Just don't go into this expecting A Song of Ice and Fire levels of storytelling, because you're not gonna get it here.