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 himself. 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.’
I’m pretty sure this one’s another book from a trip to ‘Forbidden Planet’ in London.
And for those who are hooked by George RR Martin's 'Game of Thrones' TV adaptation, it'll seem a rather curious book to have been penned by the same author. Vampires on the Mississippi..? Are you kidding me?
And yet...it works! It showcases his growing talent for writing characters you care about because of, and in spite of, their flaws. And it clearly must have been well researched, because it immerses you into the past and the history of its setting like no other novel.
It would be nice to think the success of 'Game Of Thrones' meant hungry TV studio execs would cast their eyes over this one. If they didn't screw it up, it could be good, so very, very good.
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