Scan barcode
A review by emmacatereads
Through Dreams So Dark by Angela Boord
4.0
Angela Boord has done it again! Through Dreams So Dark is a massive, sprawling portal fantasy epic of unimaginable scale. It’s not often I feel like epic fantasy and portal fantasy meld well together, but Boord does an excellent job of blending the fantastical and the mundane, introducing a brand new world while unearthing thrilling mysteries in a familiar one. The story fallows a young Russian immigrant named Sergei who, though a series of events, falls with his best friend and best friend’s sister through a mysterious otherworld called The Lake into a land populated by magic and gods. The story jumps back and forth between the hazy mysteries of Sergei and his friends’ past in our world, and several characters journeys in the parallel world. The story is magnificently intricate, but perhaps to the detriment of pacing. The sections with Sergei and his friends tended to be very slow (particularly the 1/3 of the book they spend wandering around the plains with a clan with whom they cannot communicate), but the sections narrated by POV characters in the parallel world progressed naturally and generally were more rewarding in terms of information granted. This book rewards patience, but I do think a lot of the explanations left to the end would have been better served introduced earlier. Usually having characters see a new world with fresh eyes gives a great chance to make the reader acclimate along with the characters, and while the language barrier was interesting and realistic, it made me feel as confused as the characters at times. I feel like a lot of the Sergei, Cam, and Maddie sections could have been edited down to maintain the compelling mysteries of the connection between Cam, Sergei, and Maddie and Sergei’s missing mother, while speeding up the narrative.
The characters were overall excellent: Cam, Inawe, Kaija, and Jisel were my standout favorites although I was disappointed Inawe sort of disappeared from the narrative after a point. Sergei and Maddie I enjoyed, particularly the turmoil between Sergei’s quest for his mother, struggles with the clinic, and relationship with his family, but I wasn’t convinced by Sergei and Maddie’s romance (honestly felt like Sergei had more chemistry with Cam but maybe that’s just me!) I wish Cam’s bisexuality was explored more beyond being something he was ashamed of and confused by, but maybe that’s something future books will tackle. In general it was a slightly off-putting to see most of the queer relationships/encounters in the book be ones that were toxic, ended in betrayal, or were just about sex. I was highly intrigued by Uqua but wish she had been able to communicate with Cam and Sergei earlier in the story beyond just being cast as the foreign seductress. I loved seeing the flashes of her ulterior motives, and look forward to learning more about her in future books.
Overall, this ambitious first novel feels a bit confusing and discursive at times, but makes up for it with wonderful characters and an incredibly well-devised fantasy world rich with lore. I adored the magic system and the mystery of the missing gods, and the little details like the evranni, spirit pacts, and the black market Rai artifacts were brilliant. So excited to see that explored more. The novel left a lot of questions unanswered, but has me hugely excited to see where Boord takes the story next .
The characters were overall excellent: Cam, Inawe, Kaija, and Jisel were my standout favorites although I was disappointed Inawe sort of disappeared from the narrative after a point. Sergei and Maddie I enjoyed, particularly the turmoil between Sergei’s quest for his mother, struggles with the clinic, and relationship with his family, but I wasn’t convinced by Sergei and Maddie’s romance (honestly felt like Sergei had more chemistry with Cam but maybe that’s just me!) I wish Cam’s bisexuality was explored more beyond being something he was ashamed of and confused by, but maybe that’s something future books will tackle. In general it was a slightly off-putting to see most of the queer relationships/encounters in the book be ones that were toxic, ended in betrayal, or were just about sex. I was highly intrigued by Uqua but wish she had been able to communicate with Cam and Sergei earlier in the story beyond just being cast as the foreign seductress. I loved seeing the flashes of her ulterior motives, and look forward to learning more about her in future books.
Overall, this ambitious first novel feels a bit confusing and discursive at times, but makes up for it with wonderful characters and an incredibly well-devised fantasy world rich with lore. I adored the magic system and the mystery of the missing gods, and the little details like the evranni, spirit pacts, and the black market Rai artifacts were brilliant. So excited to see that explored more. The novel left a lot of questions unanswered, but has me hugely excited to see where Boord takes the story next .