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A review by ihateprozac
Strange the Dreamer by Laini Taylor
5.0
Strange the Dreamer is a dual-perspective high fantasy novel following young librarian Lazlo Strange and the mysterious city of Weep. Weep’s true name has been stricken not only from the history books, but from everyone’s collective memory, and Lazlo has dedicated his research to discovering why that may be. One day an envoy from Weep arrives with the explicit purpose of recruiting scholars, alchemists, explosionists, and experts to help solve the mystery, and Lazlo finally gets his time to shine.
All I’ve heard about Laini Taylor is how beautiful and poetic her writing is, and I can safely say that y’all weren’t exaggerating! She has such a way with words; everything is so flowery, magical, and poetic - yet never cringeworthy or annoyingly convoluted. Most authors can string a sentence together, but Laini Taylor crafts a sentence.
And her worldbuilding is absolutely stunning. Taylor’s writing is so immersive and atmospheric - while I was listening to this on audio, I could absolutely visualise Lazlo’s library and the city of Weep right down to the colours and smells! Laini Taylor really transports you through the page to the world that she’s created, and it’s a talent that so few authors possess.
While this book is technically billed as a fantasy there’s a strong pulsing vein of mystery pervading the story, and Taylor does an incredible job of building the mystery. There’s a fine line that authors tread in trying to keep audiences guessing, and Taylor kept me wondering “what on earth is going on?” rather than getting annoyed and confused and thinking “okay dude, what the fuck is going on?”
Part of the mystery lies in the narration of the story, in a device I don’t see often enough in speculative fiction: Strange the Dreamer is dual perspective, but you don’t learn who the second narrator is until a quarter of the way through the story! It’s not till the second narrator’s shocking identity is revealed that you begin to grasp what the mystery of Weep actually entails, and the plot thickens from there.
And without spoiling any of the mystery or mythology, I am in freakin’ LOVE with our mysterious migrants to Weep and can’t wait to find out more of their origins in the next story!!
The only negatives I have to mention are that there is a strong theme of sexual abuse and rape. While none of it is occurring in the story in real time, it plays a strong part in the history and background of many of the characters and is difficult to read.
I also took issue with some slight instalove in the latter third of the novel - however I do anticipate that the second book will elaborate on this and explain the intense connection between two of the characters.
Overall: Strange the Dreamer is beautiful and absolutely deserving of every bit of praise it’s received! It’s vibrant, atmospheric, beautiful, passionate, poetic, explosive, ethereal, and mysterious and I’ve never read a book or explored a fictional world quite like this! It kept me on the edge of my seat as we got closer and closer to the mystery of Weep, and doled out enough mystery to keep me hooked for Book 2. This is the most unique book I’ve read all year, and I couldn’t be happier with it.
All I’ve heard about Laini Taylor is how beautiful and poetic her writing is, and I can safely say that y’all weren’t exaggerating! She has such a way with words; everything is so flowery, magical, and poetic - yet never cringeworthy or annoyingly convoluted. Most authors can string a sentence together, but Laini Taylor crafts a sentence.
And her worldbuilding is absolutely stunning. Taylor’s writing is so immersive and atmospheric - while I was listening to this on audio, I could absolutely visualise Lazlo’s library and the city of Weep right down to the colours and smells! Laini Taylor really transports you through the page to the world that she’s created, and it’s a talent that so few authors possess.
While this book is technically billed as a fantasy there’s a strong pulsing vein of mystery pervading the story, and Taylor does an incredible job of building the mystery. There’s a fine line that authors tread in trying to keep audiences guessing, and Taylor kept me wondering “what on earth is going on?” rather than getting annoyed and confused and thinking “okay dude, what the fuck is going on?”
Part of the mystery lies in the narration of the story, in a device I don’t see often enough in speculative fiction: Strange the Dreamer is dual perspective, but you don’t learn who the second narrator is until a quarter of the way through the story! It’s not till the second narrator’s shocking identity is revealed that you begin to grasp what the mystery of Weep actually entails, and the plot thickens from there.
And without spoiling any of the mystery or mythology, I am in freakin’ LOVE with our mysterious migrants to Weep and can’t wait to find out more of their origins in the next story!!
The only negatives I have to mention are that there is a strong theme of sexual abuse and rape. While none of it is occurring in the story in real time, it plays a strong part in the history and background of many of the characters and is difficult to read.
I also took issue with some slight instalove in the latter third of the novel - however I do anticipate that the second book will elaborate on this and explain the intense connection between two of the characters.
Overall: Strange the Dreamer is beautiful and absolutely deserving of every bit of praise it’s received! It’s vibrant, atmospheric, beautiful, passionate, poetic, explosive, ethereal, and mysterious and I’ve never read a book or explored a fictional world quite like this! It kept me on the edge of my seat as we got closer and closer to the mystery of Weep, and doled out enough mystery to keep me hooked for Book 2. This is the most unique book I’ve read all year, and I couldn’t be happier with it.