热夜之梦 (1982)

热夜之梦（Fevre Dream）是美国奇幻作家乔治·R·R·马丁所著的一部奇幻小说。本书故事背景是1857年南北战争前的美国（蒸汽船时代），描写了船长阿布纳·马什和雇佣他的吸血鬼乔希·约克的旅行，主题是友谊和希望，全书风格沉郁，具有传奇色彩。，1982年由海神出版社出版，并于2001年由猎户座丛书公司以他们‘奇幻大师选’系列的第十三本出版。本书曾于1983年入围世界奇幻奖和轨迹奖。

Fevre Dream is a 1982 vampire novel written by American author George R. R. Martin. It is set on the antebellum Mississippi River, beginning in 1857, and has been described by critics and Martin himself as "Bram Stoker meets Mark Twain". About writing the novel, Martin said that "It was strongly influenced by the time I spent in Dubuque, Iowa, where river steamboats were once built".

The novel was first published in the U.S. by Poseidon Press in 1982. It was later published as a mass market paperback in 1983 by Pocket Books. Both editions featured cover art by Barron Storey. The novel was also published in 1983 as a UK hardcover by Gollancz and in paperback by Sphere Books. In 2001, Fevre Dream was reprinted by Orion Books as volume 13 of their Fantasy Masterworks series. Bantam Books reprinted it as a paperback in 2004 and 2012.

The novel was nominated in 1983 for both the Locus Award and World Fantasy Award.

Plot

In 1857, Abner Marsh, an unattractive but highly skilled Mississippi River captain, is grappling with a financial crisis when he is contacted by Joshua York, a rich, soft-spoken gentleman. They become unlikely business partners when Joshua promises to finance the construction of a magnificent new riverboat that will be larger, faster and more opulent than any other ever constructed.

When finally completed, the large white, blue and silver paddle steamer is christened Fevre Dream, for Abner's previously failing company, the Fevre River Packet Company. Abner and Joshua co-captain the new vessel, with Abner being solely responsible for her actual command and navigation. Many questions are soon raised by both the crew and passengers about Joshua and his circle of unusual friends, who hardly ever venture out of their cabins during daylight hours. Abner's own suspicions begin to grow when he finds scrapbooks in Joshua's cabin containing newspaper clippings detailing many mysterious, unexplained deaths.

Abner confronts Joshua, who reveals that he and his friends are vampire hunters, using the Fevre Dream as their base of operations to investigate a trail of unusual deaths and disappearances along the river. Eventually he reveals the whole truth: He and his friends are themselves vampires, humanoid beings specialized in and dependent upon hunting humans. Joshua has developed a potion, using ancient alchemy and rudimentary chemistry, which controls the "red thirst" of all vampires. This has led many of his kind to consider him a kind of vampire messiah destined to free them from their bloodlust. Joshua's companions have all submitted to his control as their lord (or "bloodmaster").

The ancient and evil Damon Julian, a rival bloodmaster, soon learns of Joshua's efforts. He boards the Fevre Dream with his own vampire followers and manages to overpower and depose Joshua, becoming the new bloodmaster of all vampires. Abner escapes and sets out to search for the Fevre Dream, which Julian now uses for his own nefarious purposes. After a failed attempt to retake the ship, Joshua convinces Abner to give up as he has already lost.

Abner later serves as an agent of the Underground Railroad and the United States Navy during the Civil War, all the while being haunted by the memory of his lost riverboat, which he retells to others as a ghost story. Years later, in 1870, he receives a surprising letter from Joshua. He travels to New Orleans, where he learns Joshua's mate Cynthia is pregnant, giving Joshua the will to finally depose Julian. Aboard the decaying Fevre Dream, the two vampires eventually square off. With the aid of Abner and the betrayal of Julian's thrall Sour Billy, Joshua finally overpowers Julian and becomes the bloodmaster once again, before Abner kills Julian for good.