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Tuesday, May 30, 2017

REVIEW: Strange the Dreamer by Laini Taylor

Twenty-year-old orphaned librarian, Lazlo Strange dreams of stories of a lost city...

Two hundred years ago, six merciless, magic-wielding Mesarthim landed their seraphim-shaped citadel in the legendary city, blocking its skies and cutting it off from the outside world. 

Fifteen years ago, the Godslayer Eril-Fane ended their reign of terror with the Carnage, and now the city is known only as Weep. Seeking to restore the skies to Weep, reluctant leader Eril-Fane recruits scientists from the world beyond Weep—and bemusedly welcomes Lazlo—to move the allegedly abandoned citadel. But the long-silent structure instead holds five surviving godspawn, gifted offspring of captured humans and cruel gods, equally traumatized by the massacre. 

Red-haired, blue-skinned 17-year-old Sarai is a dreamer like Lazlo but fears nightmares even as she inflicts them on the citizens below. Besides literal ghosts, Weep is also haunted by loss—lost memories, lost history, and lost half-blood children.

Taylor once again takes readers on a prolific journey exploring trauma, slavery, memory and identity as well as individual fears, hopes and dreams.  The prose is hypnotic in its careful execution of repetition, creativity and elevated structure.  New readers and fans of Taylor will be enthralled by this first in series and captivated by the shocking cliffhanger.

Final rating: 4 out of 5 stars

One downfall for me was the less than stellar audio by narrator Steve West. It failed to do the narrative justice.

Audio final rating: 2 out of 5 stars

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