Title- Strange the Dreamer and Muse of Nightmares
Author- Laini Taylor
Series- Strange the Dreamer Duology
Published- 2017, 2018
Page Count- 536, 522
Publishing House- Hodder&Stoughton
Genre- YA High Fantasy
Rating- 5/5 stars, 4.5/5 stars
About the Author
Laini Taylor (born December 22, 1971) is an American young adult fantasy author and a finalist for the National Book Award in Young People's Literature. She is best known for the Karou or Daughter of Smoke and Bone series, whose third book appeared in 2014.
In 2017, Taylor's novel Strange the Dreamer was released. In February 2018, the novel was selected as a Michael L. Printz Honor Book. The sequel to Strange the Dreamer, titled Muse of Nightmares, was released on October 2, 2018.
Taken from Wikipedia
Plots
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 to 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?
In this sweeping and breathtaking new novel by National Book Award finalist Laini Taylor, author of the New York Times bestselling Daughter of Smoke & Bone trilogy, the shadow of the past is as real as the ghosts who haunt the citadel of murdered gods. Fall into a mythical world of dread and wonder, moths and nightmares, love and carnage.
Taken from Goodreads
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 gorgeous sequel to the New York Times bestseller, Strange the Dreamer.
Taken from Goodreads
Opinions
For such an incredible book, it's hard to imagine that it took me three attempts to read it. I actually went to a signing for Laini Taylor back in 2017 and had started reading it back then. I then, somehow, acquired the audiobook for it. It wasn't until I was on holiday this summer that I finally picked it up. I then had to start an Audible account just so I could listen to the second book.
Speaking of the audiobooks, they are some of the best audiobooks I have ever listened to. As the world is highly complex, I found that listening to them meant I understood better what was happening. I also was very happy that the narrator was British as I felt I wouldn't have enjoyed it as much with an American narrator. This is just a personal preference. I was fully invested during my time as I was concentrating so hard on these audiobooks.
I had put of reading these books for ages due to the sheer size and the fact that they were high fantasy. High fantasy is something I normally avoid as I struggle to wrap my head around it. However, such a complex world it felt really well developed. Yes, there were lots of examples of info dumping, but for once I didn't mind as you actually benefited from them as a reader. Like I've already mentioned, I was fully invested during my time as I kept on wanting to learn more about this world and the characters in it.
For once, I didn't mind the insta-love element of a book. Normally, this is a big no-no in my mind. However, Laini wrote it so well that I didn't mind. I could tell that Lazlo and Sarai were going to end up together as they were pretty much the only perspectives we got throughout the books. I also felt that they complemented each other very well and were a healthy couple.
Truthfully, the only thing I wasn't the biggest fan of was the "villain" from the second book. I just felt that it took a very long time to get to know her and how she was a threat to our current characters. She also proved to be quite easy to defeat, even though she killed two characters. If it hadn't have been for that, I would have given both books five stars.
I would love for Laini to write more books set in this world. I also think it would be a great idea if some kind of history of the world was written. Kind of like the info books you can get for the Harry Potter series and Game of Thrones. If one of those was released, I would happily read it. I also am desperate to reread the first book in the Daughter of Smoke and Bones series and then continue with the series as I think Laini is an author I really admire.
Carenza x
