Fevre Dream

Zusatztext “A novel that will delight fans of both Stephen King and Mark Twain . . . darkly romantic! chilling and rousing by turns . . . a thundering success.”—Roger Zelazny   “An adventure into the heart of darkness that transcends even the most inventive vampire novels . . . Fevre Dream runs red with original! high adventure.”— Los Angeles Herald Examiner   “Stands alongside Anne Rice’s Interview with the Vampire as a revolutionary work.”— Rocky Mountain News   “Engaging and meaningful.”— The Washington Post Book World Informationen zum Autor George R. R. Martin Klappentext A THRILLING REINVENTION OF THE VAMPIRE NOVEL BY THE MASTER OF MODERN FANTASY! GEORGE R. R. MARTIN Abner Marsh! a struggling riverboat captain! suspects that something's amiss when he is approached by a wealthy aristocrat with a lucrative offer. The hauntingly pale! steely-eyed Joshua York doesn't care that the icy winter of 1857 has wiped out all but one of Marsh's dilapidated fleet; nor does he care that he won't earn back his investment in a decade. York's reasons for traversing the powerful Mississippi are to be none of Marsh's concern-no matter how bizarre! arbitrary! or capricious York's actions may prove. Not until the maiden voyage of Fevre Dream does Marsh realize that he has joined a mission both more sinister! and perhaps more noble! than his most fantastic nightmare-and humankind's most impossible dream. Chapter One St. Louis, April 1857 Abner Marsh rapped the head of his hickory walking stick smartly on the hotel desk to get the clerk’s attention. “I’m here to see a man named York,” he said. “Josh York, I believe he calls hisself. You got such a man here?” The clerk was an elderly man with spectacles. He jumped at the sound of the rap, then turned and spied Marsh and smiled. “Why, it’s Cap’n Marsh,” he said amiably. “Ain’t seen you for half a year, Cap’n. Heard about your misfortune, though. Terrible, just terrible. I been here since ’36 and I never seen no ice jam like that one.” “Never you mind about that,” Abner Marsh said, annoyed. He had anticipated such comments. The Planters’ House was a popular hostelry among steamboatmen. Marsh himself had dined there regularly before that cruel winter. But since the ice jam he’d been staying away, and not only because of the prices. Much as he liked Planters’ House food, he was not eager for its brand of company: pilots and captains and mates, rivermen all, old friends and old rivals, and all of them knowing his misfortune. Abner Marsh wanted no man’s pity. “You just say where York’s room is,” he told the clerk peremptorily. The clerk bobbed his head nervously. “Mister York won’t be in his room, Cap’n. You’ll find him in the dining room, taking his meal.” “Now? At this hour?” Marsh glanced at the ornate hotel clock, then loosed the brass buttons of his coat and pulled out his own gold pocket watch. “Ten past midnight,” he said, incredulous. “You say he’s eatin’?” “Yes sir, that he is. He chooses his own times, Mister York, and he’s not the sort you say no to, Cap’n.” Abner Marsh made a rude noise deep in his throat, pocketed his watch, and turned away without a word, setting off across the richly appointed lobby with long, heavy strides. He was a big man, and not a patient one, and he was not accustomed to business meetings at midnight. He carried his walking stick with a flourish, as if he had never had a misfortune, and was still the man he had been. The dining room was almost as grand and lavish as the main saloon on a big steamer, with cut-glass chandeliers and polished brass fixtures and tables covered with fine white linen and the best china and crystal. During normal hours, the tables would have been full of travelers and steamboatmen, but now the room was empty, most of the lights extinguished. Perhaps there w...

Product details

• Authors: George R Martin, George R R Martin, George R. R. Martin
• Publisher: Bantam Books USA
• Languages: English
• Product format: Paperback
• Released: 30.04.2012
• EAN: 9780553577938
• ISBN: 978-0-553-57793-8
• No. of pages: 480
• Dimensions: 110 mm x 178 mm x 28 mm
• Series: Bantam Books
• Subject: Fiction > Narrative literature