Although he's now famous for his epic (in scale and length) Game of Thrones, perhaps George RR Martin's finest hour was with the little-known one-off, Fevre Dream.

Fevre Dream is a haunting and evocative tale of the American age of steam - when massive steamboats with gilded saloons cruised up and down the Mississippi, racing, sporting, entertaining and even doing a bit of business. Martin is lavish with description of the boats and the river - the half-tamed wilderness of the central US and the half-tamed wildness of the men that pilot through it.

Into this atmosphere, he brings vampires. A lost and fragmented coven of vampires is spread through the US, alternately hiding and feasting as their needs demand. While some 'good' vampires see the age of steam as an opportunity to learn, grow and explore, others see it as a means to spread their evil more quickly.

Thankfully, this is not a textbook on the politics of vampirism. Nor is it a seedy supernatural romance - although the occasional New Orleans setting makes a few comparisons to Anne Rice inevitable. The vampires of Fevre Dream are not romantic or passionate (or even particularly good looking), they're a perverse subculture in desperate need of shelter and survival.

In fact, the hero of the book - Captain Marsh - is the anti-Rice. Not only is he not a vampire, but he's ugly. And rude. And very rough around the edges. And not in the least bit sexy.

Although not quite steampunk, fans of the genre will enjoy this book for the absorbing look at an interesting historical period. And although not quite horror, fans of that genre will enjoy this as well, as Martin shows off his ability to create and sustain tension throughout. Overall, a terrific book - and one extremely worthy of notice.

I have a soft spot for vampire novels/movies, and I really wanted to like this book, but it was a little slow for my tastes. The pacing towards the end was uneven, making the ending quite abrupt. The best part of the novel was the vivid imagery, description of the steamboats and colorful characters.

This is my second favorite vampire novel--after SALEM'S LOT. Martin takes the now-almost-trite vampire novel and injects with a healthy dose of originality and action. The melding of vampires and late-1800's riverboats is fresh, ingenious and inventive, and Abner Marsh is about as different from Ann Rice's genteel androgynous protagonists as is possible. Marsh is a man's man--a riverboat man, dammit, which is exactly what is needed when the story careens to its thrilling, action-packed climax. Don't go looking for deep literary themes or dark psychosexual metaphors here. This is a gripping page-turner of a yarn, blending horror fiction and fast-paced adventure in the tradition of the genre's grand old masters: Shelly and Stoker.

Delving into the world of steamboats traversing the mighty Mississippi in the late eighteen hundreds, George R.R. Martin steps away from his well-loved Song of Ice and Fire series in the chilling novel Fevre Dream.

In Martin's version of the historical Midwest, most of what traditional folklore has to say about vampires is wrong - in fact they don't even like the term vampire. The superior blood-drinking people of the night are not garlic-hating, cross-fearing, transformed humans but rather they are their own race with their own hierarchy that is threatened when one of them wants to establish peace with humans. Caught in the middle of these affairs is Abner Marsh, a human steamboat captain, who has unknowingly entered into a business partnership with one of the night people.

Fevre Dream was a well-written "vampire" novel. As always, the development of a strong setting and flawed but believable characters makes Martin's work a joy to read. My only complaint was the handling of copious amounts of back story which were lumped into their own chapters. In his later works, Martin more artfully weaves his characters' pasts into their tales instead of including such large chunks of narrative that slowed the pacing of climactic points of the novel.

Overall, though Fevre Dream was a good book that when placed alongside Dying of the Light, Dreamsongs and the Song of Ice and Fire series dramatically demonstrates George R.R. Martin's talent and versatility as a writer.

Nice book design, illustrations, but the second copy I ordered (the first copy had a bad binding also) #196 just came apart from the endpapers (all you bibliophiles take note this copy has been destroyed making these all the more scarcer) leading me to believe this was poorly bound for the whole run? I have purchased many books from this publisher (Subterranean Press) with no problem, I hope they find a new printer for future books (especially the Robert E Howard titles).