Dreamstrider

August 10, 2015
Smith (Sekret and Skandal) returns with another spy-centric novel, this one set in a richly imagined fantasy world where the citizens of the Barstadt Empire pray to a godlike Dreamer for protection, while those in the Land of the Iron Winds labor to restore the long-defeated Nightmare to glory and terror. Meek and fearful Livia, once a lowly tunneler, has risen in importance because of her ability to enter a person’s dreams. Livia’s rare skill—called dreamstriding—allows her to inhabit and control the bodies and minds of unsuspecting generals and traitors while they sleep, making her the ideal spy. Her lack of self-confidence in her abilities can grate, however, in addition to endangering Livia and her mission. Smith narrates exciting scenes of espionage via dreamstriding and showdowns against the forces of Nightmare, yet the narrative drags when Livia’s self-doubts take center stage. A love triangle involving a boy of a higher station and one of questionable heritage unfolds amid Livia’s attempts to fight off Nightmare and come into her own. Ages 12–up. Agent: Ammi-Joan Paquette, Erin Murphy Literary Agency.

August 15, 2015
Livia, a girl from the poor tunnels beneath the Barstadt Empire, is hired to work as a government spy because of her valuable ability to possess people through their dreams. To dreamstride, readers learn as the suspenseful first chapter unfolds, Livia moves through the shared dream world of Oneiros and lets her soul inhabit another sleeper's body. Once inside, Livia moves her borrowed body through the waking world, gleaning information from the sleeper's consciousness and from whatever actions she takes while posing as the sleeper. This form of espionage puts Livia and her fellow elite operatives in considerable peril, both in the waking world and the dream world. Livia performs missions with the memory of having let her friends down in an incident whose details are revealed slowly, and her ashamed certainty that she is unworthy of her position is deeply sympathetic. The central mission here involves three different cultures, and the ways of Barstadt in particular, where dreams are woven into religion, politics, and intimate conversation, are lushly imagined. The imagery of dreams and nightmares is unusual and vivid, and a web of romances and arranged marriages among the spies adds emotion and intensity. Tense action and rich worldbuilding make for thrilling reading. (Fantasy. 14-18)

COPYRIGHT(2015) Kirkus Reviews, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

September 1, 2015

Gr 9 Up-Livia has the unique ability to inhabit other people's bodies. She was born a tunneler, the lowest class in the Barstadt Empire, and laments that "I always dreamed too big, too bright, too much." The Professor she cleans for recognizes her unique dreaming ability and teaches her to dreamstride. While her body is asleep, she can inhabit another person's sleeping body, hijack their memories, and impersonate them for short periods of time. She is hired by the Emperor's secret police to work as an operative with his spy network. While dreamstriding in the shared dreamworld of Oneiros, she uncovers information about a plot by a neighboring nation to invade Barstadt. If she succeeds in stopping the invasion, she'll get her citizenship papers and earn her freedom. Dreamstriding is very dangerous because if she can't get back into her body in time, she'll be lost in Oneiros's Nightmare Wastes. The Barstadt Empire's very distinct social stratification is well developed, as are all the characters, with the villains being particularly intriguing. Gender diversity is organically worked into the text, and several of the main characters are gay or bisexual. Livia's a very appealing protagonist. Her self-doubt about her abilities, struggle to overcome her low social class, love for a man she can't have, and desire to find the strength to resist the Nightmare Wastes and embrace her destiny will engage readers and leave them rooting for her to succeed. VERDICT An engaging stand-alone fantasy spy thriller.-Sharon Rawlins, New Jersey State Library, Trenton

Copyright 2015 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.