C.S. Friedman leaves her traditional realm of dark fantasy
for a young adult novel that encompasses elements of both
fantasy and science fiction with DREAMWALKER.
Jessica Drake
has strange dreams. She shares them only with her younger
brother, Tommy, a video game fiend who uses details from
her dreams to create modules for his online games. Jessica
has more disturbing information to deal with when her
paternity test shows that her DNA doesn't match that of
either of her parents. She and Tommy snoop around online
and find a group of people with the same issues; they call
them changelings. Jessica meets with two of them, Rita and
Devon, who share with her that many of the group have been
dying in seemingly unrelated ways, and they're afraid they
will be the next targets. Jessica confides in her mothers,
but before either of them can do anything, their house is
set on fire, and Tommy goes missing.
Jessica traces her brother to an alternative reality, and
where Friedman excels most in this novel, is in her world-
building in this other world, known as Terra Prime. She
explores the people, guilds, magic and geography of this
other world in detail, leaving this reader at least,
wanting even more. While science has a place in this novel
such as how the gate works to transport people from one
world to another, Friedman doesn't bog the story down with
scientific explanations. While the bulk of the story is
told from Jessica's point of view, we also hear from Tommy.
Unfortunately, while I really enjoyed the story, I never
connected with the heroine. She was a bit too whiny for my
personal taste and close-minded in that others might not
agree with her beliefs.
I also would have liked to know more about Jessica's
dreamwalking ability, and I hope this will be explored in
more depth in future installments. Lastly, I'd like to see
more depth in the supporting cast: Rita and Devon, for
example.
Friedman is a strong writer and able to tell a
fast-moving, flowing story well, but in order to "love" a
book, I need to connect better with the characters. I will
read future books in Friedmans' Dreamwalker series.
All her life Jessica Drake has dreamed of other worlds, some
of them similar to her own, others disturbingly alien. She
never shares the details with anyone, save her younger
brother Tommy, a compulsive gamer who incorporates some
aspects of Jessica’s dreams into his games. But now someone
is asking about those dreams...and about her. A strange
woman has been watching her house. A visitor to her school
attempts to take possession of her dream-inspired artwork.
Why?
As she begins to search for answers it becomes clear that
whoever is watching her does not want her to learn the
truth. One night her house catches on fire, and when the
smoke clears she discovers that her brother has been
kidnapped. She must figure out what is going on, and
quickly, if she and her family are to be safe.
Following clues left behind on Tommy's computer,
determined to find her brother and bring him home safely,
Jessica and two of her friends are about to embark on a
journey that will test their spirits and their courage to
the breaking point, as they must leave their own world
behind and confront the source of Earth's darkest legends –
as well as the terrifying truth of their own secret
heritage.
I really liked Tommy and wanted to see more from his perspective as I liked him better than Jessica. However, the world building is phenomenal in DREAMWALKER! I look forward to seeing how this series develops. (Debbie Wiley 7:42am April 18, 2014)
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