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Ever play one of those RPG video games in which you're on some kind of pursuit? We know that you've remained awake mannertoo late going through a great deal of trendy (and mad) landscapes, attempting to get to some significant castle or Mount Doom. Think about Cold Mountain as the literary second cousin of these games.

The principal character--a man named Inman--has deserted the Confederate Army following an accident and is attempting to work his way home. Home is the Cold Mountain region of North Carolina, and also happens to be the location where the girl he loves resides. Her name is Ada, and she is sort of got a pursuit going, too. But instead of traveling around in an effort to get home, her quest is to find enough food to live.

Basically, Inman is playing an RPG and Ada is playing with a particularly tough version of Oregon Path--she is coming across issues every bit as dreadful as her oxen not being able to ford the river and all of her relations dying of consumption.

Like any fantastic RPG, from Legend of Zelda on, there are tons of side quests, treasures including lives and tools to accumulate, and obviously plenty of distractions and Boss Fights. Inman has his work cut out for him (and thus does Ada--that farm ai not going to until itself).

And like any fantastic RPG, this one feels kinda strangely comfortable. There's a war-weary hero fighting through countless issues to get home to the love of his life. There's a strong, sensible girl beleaguered by hard realities as she tries to hang on while awaiting her beloved to return.

However, what if RPGs, Oregon Trail, along with the Odyssey all leave you cold? Additionally, it is simply a whip-smart bit of historical fiction series in a moment of American history which still impacts us today. If you enjoy hoop skirts and period firearms, you're in luck. And you might just find yourself imagining what it is like to live through one of the very formative wars in American history.

Cold Mountain has everything: action, love, period material, a intelligent remake of one of the best classics ever, along with also a poignant exploration of what it has to be connected to some location and to other individuals. Oh, yeah, and sufficient hard-hitting literary chops to nab Charles Fraser a National Book Award in 1997, flip him by an unknown writer into a literary huge Name, and get made into a star-studded, Oscar-winning film.

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