Every night, a woman on a black warhorse gallops through the mist in Chris Redston's dreams. Every night, she begs him not to come to her. Every night, she aims her rifle at his head and fires. The last thing Chris expects--or wants--is for this nightmare to be real. But when he wakes up in the world of his dreams, he has to choose between the likelihood that he's gone spectacularly bonkers or the possibility that he's just been let in on the secret of the ages.
Only one person in a generation may cross the worlds. These chosen few are the Gifted, called from Earth into Lael to shape the epochs of history--and Chris is one of them. But before he figures that out, he accidentally endangers both worlds by resurrecting a vengeful prince intent on claiming the powers of the Gifted for himself. Together with a suspicious princess and a guilt-ridden Cherazii warrior, Chris must hurl himself into a battle to save a country from war, two worlds from annihilation, and himself from a dream come way too true."
I was brainstorming ways to change the usual, run-of-the-mill-kid-steps-into-another-world-and-saves-it story. My older sister Perry Elisabeth got to hear a lot of my ramblings, and she told me I needed to read this book by K.M. Weiland. I added it to my famous Amazon cart. Wow.
The Setting:
Set in our modern world AND the medieval world of Lael, this book has a great balance of description and action. I was continually surprised and delighted by the little details the author thought to include like a car's taillight being taped in (I've seen that one!) or someone having a bent finger that they are always rubbing.
The Characters:
I loved every minute of Chris. He was complicated just enough to be realistic; and his straightforward personality was sometimes endearing and sometimes almost hilarious. Quinnon and Allara were also great favorites of mine; and I enjoyed each hilarious scene with Pitch and Raz or Mike and Brooke. Add to all this a dangerous, dangerous Mactalde, a creepy Steadman, and a tortured Orias, and you get an amazing cast of characters.
The Story:
I found the storyline to be complicated, fascinating, captivating, compelling, and often unexpected. The Spiritual lessons were very good, though often somewhat veiled. And the ending!!!! Totally unexpected!! And sweet, and sad, and hopeful. I bawled like a baby and got those cool shivers up and down my spine.
The Concerns:
Parents may want to use discernment when considering this book for younger readers because of some intense action, descriptive battle scenes, and some mild romance (including kissing). Also there are some graphic executions of a man and a Cherazii child (humanoid being similar to Tolkien's elves). Those were my least favorite parts of the book, but I got really good at skimming. Also, there was some infrequent use of the word "bloody" as a curse, and some accusations of sexual immorality which were definitely untrue.
Altogether, I found this book to be an amazing, thrilling read!!!! It had me in tears at one point and on the edge of my seat at the next! Definitely adding this to my list of favorites (as long as I skim-read the violent parts). ; )
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