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.
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?
Welcome to Weep.
The Review
Strange the Dreamer is a magical, enthralling story about hatred, justice, guilt, friendship and love set in a world that abounds with nightmares and past sins. It follows Lazlo, a librarian and Sarai, the daughter of a dead goddess. Both dream for more than the lot they've been given and for a place to belong. Lazlo has dreamed of traveling to the mysterious city known only as Weep, a place all but lost to the rest of the world and whose true name is forgotten. Sarai has dreamed of mercy, of understanding and a full life lived in freedom. The prose is out of this world, haunting and beautiful. Laini Taylor's writing is like..."calligraphy if it were written in honey." I can't remember the last book I read that had the same vibrant quality to it. Taylor is one of the most poetic authors in my mind, if not the most in the YA genre. Every single sentence is crafted carefully, the result being words that don't just move--they dance; they waltz, they foxtrot, they tango. I was utterly captivated and couldn't help but to taste the magic that mingles in the ink. Every single page, every paragraph, every sentence put me into a kind of rapturous trance that I never wanted to withdraw from. The world-building is just unbelievable. The depth with which I was hurled into this world was so complete that I forgot where I really was, inhabiting instead the Unseen City. Frankly, I don't believe that Laini Taylor created this place in her beautiful, wild and brillliant mind. I cannot believe that she hasn't been there--lived there. Many--if not most--fantasy worlds have flaws; they may not be obvious to the unsuspecting eye, but if the reader peers close enough, they can always see the spider web-thin threads manipulating the puppets. Not so with Strange the Dreamer. I am left uncertain whether I want to kiss or punch Taylor.
