Strange the Dreamer is more than a high fantasy book. It is pure poetry. Words converted into musical notes, soaked in milk and honey, deep and sublime. A carefully constructed world, like a beautiful dream, that takes you to its lands full of challenges and mystery. Gods and people, love and carnage. An incurable dreamer and a muse of nightmares.
This book caught me off guard. It charmed me so much and so deeply that it is beyond my ability to put into words what I feel. Laini Taylor is an enchantress who knows how to handle prose and turn it into a work of art, far too beautiful and touching. It catches you in its net and won’t let you go.
“It was impossible, of course. But when did that ever stop any dreamer from dreaming.”
Synopsis
Since he was a little boy, Lazlo Strange has always been fascinated with the Lost City known as Weep. Growing up, he dedicated himself to knowing everything about it: the culture, the language, the mythology, and the people. Everyone labelled him as a dreamer, but he firmly believed that one day he will visit the city. When the soldiers of Weep march into Lazlo’s city, begging volunteers to come to help them on a secret mission, Lazlo doesn’t hesitate to join them.
Sarai is trapped in the Citadel with the other children of the gods, each of them with enough power to help them to survive in isolation. Each night, she travels to the land of Weep through people’s dreams and haunts those that wish to forget her. What happens when Lazlo and Sarai’s worlds collide?
“You’re a storyteller. Dream up something wild and improbable,” she pleaded. “Something beautiful and full of monsters.”
“Beautiful and full of monsters?”
“All the best stories are.”
Writing style
Fantasy is my favourite fiction genre, as it encompasses a multitude of spectacular magical systems and unique supernatural characters. I read a lot of fantasy books, and I haven’t seen anything like Strange the Dreamer before. It’s amazing in every way. The only downside – for some people – is the slow pace in the first part, as the emphasis is on character development. But it didn’t bother me too much.
I was completely enchanted by the author’s writing style. It is as if she sprinkled stardust and velvet woven with magic, immortal promises and illusions. I have not yet discovered a narrative style that reaches as high as Taylor’s.
“I think you’re a fairy tale. I think you’re magical, and brave, and exquisite. And I hope you’ll let me be in your story.”
Main characters
I adore Lazlo Strange, the main character of the novel. He is adorable by the simple fact that he is being himself, by his profound love for books (a very relatable character for bookworms, am I right?) and his kindness. He has a pure soul and his overflowing sincerity charms you. Lazlo is probably one of the sweetest characters I’ve ever met in a book. He is atypical because he is dreamy, innocent and strange. He has no life experience, considering that he had spent every day in the library, with his nose in books, trying to discover the mystery of an unseen city.
The female character, Sarai, also known as the Muse of Nightmares, is a goddess imprisoned in the Citadel. She has the “gift” of entering people’s dreams and turning them into nightmares, with the help of moths. Deep down, Sarai is just a child who wants to remove hatred and prejudice, to love and be loved. I adored her from the first moments and I admired her strength of character and vision of the world.
The relationship between Lazlo and Sarai is a very complex and deep one. It is also credible, although it is love at first sight, so a bit rushed. The artist and his muse. I think they complement each other perfectly.
“You think good people can’t hate?” she asked. “You think good people don’t kill?” […] “Good people do all the things bad people do, Lazlo. It’s just that when they do them, they call it justice.”
Strange the Dreamer by Laini Taylor is a tangible piece of joy, a perfect imperfection. It is a story about dreams and dreamers, struggle, justice, forgiveness, will and understanding. A world full of gods, goddesses, ghosts and demons in which sometimes people are the ones who exceed monsters in evilness.
Laini Taylor also wrote the well-known and highly-praised Daughter of Smoke and Bone trilogy, which I haven’t read yet but I’m looking forward to it.
