Fevre Dream - George R. R. Martin

I've worked in a library for three years, but I don't think you have to be a librarian (or even much of a book worm) to know that the market is saturated with vampire fiction - either new or re-released. I freely admit that I haven't read much of the recently released vampire fiction... but I am very much aware of it and the ingredients usually involved - a young woman being pursued by a brooding, handsome vampire - and, to be honest, I've been a little put off by it. That's not to say I think it's bad, or that I don't appreciate the escapist nature of these books. I just think there's so much of it that it's nice to find an author that will do something different with the vampire genre.

So I bought Fevre Dream by George R. R. Martin. After hearing that it was about vampires and also because I was impressed by his "A Song of Ice and Fire" series, I thought I would see how he approached vampire fiction. I was sure I was on safe ground... partly because Fevre Dream was written before the big boom in supernatural romance novels, but mostly because Martin definitely does not seem the type to write a formulaic vampire love story. And I was right.

Fevre Dream is the story of Abner Marsh, a steamboat captain working the great Mississippi river during the late 1850s. Having fallen on hard times, he receives unexpected support from the mysterious Joshua York, who gives him the funds to build a new steamer, the Fevre Dream, the finest steamship to sail the Mississippi. But things grow complicated as rumours of York's unusual habits begin to spread - his odd eating habits, his strange hours and his even stranger companions. And as the Fevre Dream sails downriver, leaving dark tales in its wake, a confrontation soon becomes inevitable.

Reading this book firmly cemented my opinion that George R. R. Martin is a brilliant writer. If you had told me a few weeks ago that I would be getting excited about a race between two steam boats, I would have laughed. But that's exactly what happened, so invested was I in the lead character of Abner Marsh, who loves his boat and his profession like nothing else on earth. He's brash, ugly and about as far from a romantic lead as you can get, but he's likeable and it was easy to become invested in his dream. Given Martin's "anyone-can-die" approach to writing, I was praying that Marsh survived his ordeal. The other characters all have their own unique appeal and the relationships that develop between them give a wonderful depth to the story without the need for any overblown romance. I can't say too much about the supporting characters without giving away the story, but I will say that Martin keeps you guessing as to what everyone is up to, what their motivations are and, by the end, even the villains have a terrible tragedy to them that makes them more than the cardboard cut-outs they might otherwise have been.

The setting is also inspired for a number of reasons. The Mississippi river provides an excellent backdrop for the story and the steamboat Fevre Dream itself is a great set piece for the action that takes place - from its claustrophobic cabins to the elaborate dining rooms. Also the problem of how vampires hide themselves from humans is obviously greatly reduced by having the story set in the 1850's, though suspicions still inevitably arise to drive the story onwards, and in this regard Martin finds ways of being original while also drawing on some of the traditional vampire stories people know so well. Various other aspects of the time and setting, most notably slavery, add new angles to our perception of the characters, both good and evil.

Thankfully, I have little to criticise about the book. Many of the problems I noted in my review of "A Song of Ice and Fire" are absent here - there are fewer editing errors and there are fewer point of view characters so the narration is blessedly stable. However there were times when I worried that the story was gearing towards an anti-climatic finish and while the end is exciting it's not as exciting as I might have hoped from George R. R. Martin. There's a particular break in the action - a very long break - towards the end of the book which, I felt, detracted from an otherwise good build-up and this may have contributed to my feeling that the end was not what it could have been.

But all-in-all, I would recommend this book to any fan of the vampire genre, especially anyone wanting an escape from the supernatural romances that are still overflowing on the bookshelves.

George R. R. Martin - A Song of Ice and Fire (Series)

Well, it's been a little while since my last review, but I like to think I have a reasonable excuse. After hearing so much about George R. R. Martin's series A Song of Ice and Fire from my brother (mostly about how it was the most amazing thing ever written and how I had to read it) I finally got around to it and picked up the first book: A Game of Thrones. It says a lot for the series that I couldn't stop there and went on to read the follow up books: A Clash of Kings, A Storm of Swords and A Feast for Crows and I am currently waiting for the fifth book, A Dance with Dragons, to be released in paperback (in a few days). While I wait, I thought I'd do a review of the series so far.

Well, you might have already guessed that I absolutely loved the series. Heck, my brother (who, by his own admission, is not much of a reader) adores it. It's the kind of series that you have to talk to someone about and I phoned my brother quite a few times to rant about how much I was enjoying it and what did he think of this character, or that plot twist and how did he think the story was going to go from here. Even my dad and my fiance are now involved and we're starting to form a little club of obsessed fans. I don't think my family has bonded over literature like this since Harry Potter!

I won't even attempt to write a proper synopsis for the series. There are too many plot threads to follow, to many characters and too many spoilers that I might inadvertently reveal. I'll settle for telling you that it's a true fantasy epic - bloody battles, family feuding, royal shenanigans, a little bit of magic and mystery... all you could possibly want - and it's done on a truly mind-boggling scale. And at the same time, it manages to avert some of the old cliches that have become synonymous with the fantasy genre. One of the first things I was told about the series was: "Don't get attached to any of the characters. Odds are, they're going to die". Good advice, but nearly impossible to follow, because even if you hate a character... you love hating them and it's almost disappointing to see them go. But that's one of the great things about the series. You really can't anticipate what's going to happen. Sometimes hints will be dropped and you can take a guess, but most of the twists that Martin sends your way tend to leave you re-reading the last couple of pages, in case you hallucinated what was printed there (A Storm of Swords in particular had me doing this... and calling up my brother at the end to ask: "What the hell did I just read!?")

If I must be critical of anything in this series (and I will be, in the spirit of fairness) then two things spring to mind. First, there seems to have been a problem with the editing of some of the books. Sometimes paragraphs appear in odd places (near the end of someone's speech and without the usual quotation marks to show that it was done deliberately to break up the paragraphs). Sometimes words ran together likethis whichwas ratherannoying. One or twice words were repeated like like this. Not often enough for me to give up on the series... but often enough for me to mention it in a review. It seems a shame that an otherwise fantastic series should suffer from poor editing.

The second problem I have is more of a personal quibble. Now, I mentioned earlier about the mind-boggling scale of the series. In terms of setting this is a great thing, but it almost becomes a drawback for the plot and characters. Inevitably, as you go through the series, you find characters that you are more interested in hearing about and plot threads that your are more eager to follow. Unfortunately, the narrative dances between the various characters, and you often have to spend a chapter following a character that, although interesting, is not always as interesting as some of the other characters. It became tempting to skip ahead to chapters that focused on my favourite characters, but I didn't dare in case I missed some new development that would prove important later in the series. As a result, certain chapters dragged a little for me, but this may not be as much of a problem for others, and there's always the possibility that I'll realise (during a re-read of the series) that I actually enjoy some characters a lot more second time round.

So, all in all, an amazing series. I owe my brother a big hug for talking me into reading it (and giving my fiance and I several of the books as Christmas/birthday presents). I highly recommend this to anyone, even those who wouldn't normally think of themselves as fantasy fans.

WARNING -  I'll just add an extra little piece of advice, since it ties in with one detail of the books I really loved: DO NOT READ THESE BOOKS ON AN EMPTY STOMACH. Martin's descriptions of food are mouth-watering and since most of the narrative takes place amongst the wealthy lords of the realm, you're guaranteed plenty of sumptuous feasts, with such delicacies as hot crab pie, quails drowned in butter, honeycakes baked with blackberries and nuts... the list goes on Just remembering makes my stomach rumble.