This month’s book review is yet another duology, so lucky you, you get two for the time of one! Really, reading YA Sci-Fi Fantasy (which, don’t get me started on how sci-fi and fantasy are completely different genres that deserve their own designations within the YA space), I’ve come to expect that most books are going to be in a series of some kind. The reasons why are a discussion topic for another day. But today! Today is all about Laini Taylor’s strange and beautiful world in Strange the Dreamer and its follow-up Muse of Nightmares.
Synopses below are from Goodreads:
Strange the Dreamer
The dream chooses the dreamer, not the other way around—and Lazlo Strange, war orphan and junior librarian, has always feared that his dream chose poorly. Since he was five years old he’s been obsessed with the mythic lost city of Weep, but it would take someone bolder than he to cross half the world in search of it. Then a stunning opportunity presents itself, in the person of a hero called the Godslayer and a band of legendary warriors, and he has to seize his chance or lose his dream forever.
What happened in Weep two hundred years ago to cut it off from the rest of the world? What exactly did the Godslayer slay that went by the name of god? And what is the mysterious problem he now seeks help in solving?
The answers await in Weep, but so do more mysteries—including the blue-skinned goddess who appears in Lazlo’s dreams. How did he dream her before he knew she existed? And if all the gods are dead, why does she seem so real?
Welcome to Weep.
Muse of Nightmares
Sarai has lived and breathed nightmares since she was six years old.
She believed she knew every horror and was beyond surprise.
She was wrong.
In the wake of tragedy, neither Lazlo nor Sarai are who they were before. One a god, the other a ghost, they struggle to grasp the new boundaries of their selves as dark-minded Minya holds them hostage, intent on vengeance against Weep.
Lazlo faces an unthinkable choice—save the woman he loves, or everyone else?—while Sarai feels more helpless than ever. But is she? Sometimes, only the direst need can teach us our own depths, and Sarai, the Muse of Nightmares, has not yet discovered what she’s capable of.
As humans and godspawn reel in the aftermath of the citadel’s near fall, a new foe shatters their fragile hopes, and the mysteries of the Mesarthim are resurrected: Where did the gods come from, and why? What was done with thousands of children born in the citadel nursery? And most important of all, as forgotten doors are opened and new worlds revealed: Must heroes always slay monsters, or is it possible to save them instead?
Love and hate, revenge and redemption, destruction and salvation all clash in this astonishing and heart-stopping sequel to the New York Times bestseller, Strange the Dreamer.
Recommendation
Okay. Where to even begin with how much I loved these books? First, I have to acknowledge the covers, which are exquisite and divine and I have to give many, many props to the designer. The ones above are the US editions, because that’s where I’m located and those are the ones I read. But all of them are phenomenal. Book Riot did a roundup of some of the international covers for Strange the Dreamer, so if you want to drool over them, check it out here. Some sources say that readers prefer covers with people on the front, but if I’m in the minority on this, I will stand tall and say I prefer elemental/thing-based covers. Moving on.
Once I managed to stop staring at the front and crack open the 500+ page tome that is Strange the Dreamer, I fell instantly in love with the mysterious legend of Weep and the earnest librarian who wanted to find it. Prologues usually make me go “ehh” *shrug emoji* but this one captivated me from the beginning. I had to find out how the two main characters’ lives were going to intersect.
And that leads me to the characters. Man, I loved this cast. The wide range of personalities jumped off the page. I appreciated Taylor’s ability to make me feel compassion for every single one of them, especially the antagonist in Muse of Nightmares.
The world of Weep is magic and mystery and tragedy and hope all rolled into one and I was sad to leave when I made it to the end. But I also felt extremely satisfied with everything that transpired. For me, one mark of a wonderful book is finishing it and feeling the dichotomous mix of feeling fulfilled enough to go but having a part of me that wants to stay. That’s the kind of thing that makes me return to books I’ve already read. And I can say that someday, I will return to Weep, and I hope you’ll join me.
