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.
Strange the Dreamer by Laini Taylor
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
I enjoyed this book. The descriptions were fantastic. I actually listened to the story as an audiobook narrated by Steve West. I would recommend it to anyone looking for a fantasy novel in young adult genres that have a bit of an in-depth love story to the plot. Steve West was also an amazing narrator so I would definitely recommend any audiobooks by him.
The author Laini Taylor was amazing at descriptors. The way the scenes and characters were illustrated through her creative writing artistry added so much richness and depth. The imagery was where she was able to shine through her writing talents. They were really the heart and soul of the story. Some descriptions seemed to be taken right out of the book of Revelation which was interesting. There was flowery prose that added value and appeal to the beauty of the writing. I don’t know how it would read though because there were quite a few characters to keep track of with similar pursuits and agendas that would probably be slow and boring to read about, so I’d definitely recommend the audiobook book by Steve West because his ability to bring diversity and life to each character.
I enjoyed the first third of the book the most. After about chapter 18-22, the focus was more on relational development, as in sensual romance that I felt was more about dialectical tensions through a less flowery dialogue between the main characters with glorification of over-the-top eroticism and ‘imperfect situations.’ The very definition of insta-love that is found in a lot of YA fiction. And later there was an introduction of other antagonists and sub characters that also fell in similar circumstance and persona that felt a bit repetitive rather than supportive for the main plot. Basically I just wanted to live in the first third because it was my favorite part.
MY FAVORITE LINES:
“In the western outposts of the Elmuthaleth-Alkonost and others-they watched for the heat-distorted silhouettes of camel trains to energy from the emptiness as they always had, but they did not.
And they did not.
And they did not.”
“And I’m a cautionary tale! Look at me.” Lazlo did. He saw a soft, stooped creature of a man whose dandelion-fluff hair, beard, and brows encroached upon his face to such a degree that only his sharp little nose and round spectacles showed.”
“Life won’t just happen to you, boy,” he said. “You have to happen to it.”
“All his life, time had been passing in the only way he knew time to pass: uncrushed and uncrushable, as sands running through an hourglass grain by grain. And if the hourglass had been real, then in the bottom and neck-the past and the present-the sands of Lazlo’s life would be as gray as his robes, as gray as his eyes, but the top-the future-would hold a brilliant storm of color: azure and cinnamon, blinding white and yellow gold and the shell pink of svytagor blood. So he hoped, so he dreamed: that, in the course of time, grain by grain, the gray would give way to the dream and the sands of his life would run bright.”
“Men should have squint lines from looking at the horizon,” the old librarian had said, “not just from reading in dim light.”
“He asked the question, but slammed the door on any answers.”
