Bridge of Dreams

January 30, 2012
Bishop adds a third chapter (after Sebastian and Belladonna) to the story of the living world Ephemera. Protagonist Lee is a Bridge, able to join disparate chunks of the fractured world. Still dealing with his disquiet over the deep changes in his sister, Glorianna Belladonna, whose act of self-sacrifice saved Ephemera but split her personality, Lee is taken prisoner by evil wizards who want to use him to get to his family. Blinded and imprisoned in an asylum in the distant city of Vision, Lee finds an unlikely ally in the asylum’s Keeper, a shaman named Danyal, and an even less likely romance with his caretaker, Zhahar. Together, they must face the threat that ambushed Lee and now looms over Vision, even as Zhahar’s magical secrets add a new complication. Strong on world-building but light on action, Bishop’s romantic fantasy focuses more on character interaction than on exploring the possibilities set up by its premise. Agent: Jennifer Jackson, the Donald Maass Agency.

March 1, 2012
Ephemera is a world of landscapes connected by bridges that have the power to take you where your heart belongs. Lee is a Bridge, who can make connections between pieces of the world. Just coming from a visit to Glorianna Belladonna (his sister), he runs into a group of wizards out to wreck his sister's work. In a desperate attempt to keep them from her, he creates a bridge to a place disconnected from any of his family's landscapesthe city of Visionand takes the wizards with him. In Vision, he is taken to an Asylum, a raving madman. Vision has its own problems: a darkness is hiding its streets, baffling the Shamans who watch over it. Fortunately, one of those Shamans has been assigned to oversee the Asylum Lee is sent to. Between Danyal, the Shaman, and Zhahar, a Handler at the Asylum, Lee recoversand discovers that the threat to Vision is not just to the city. With a well-paced mystery, likable characters, and fascinating world building, this is a fun read.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2012, American Library Association.)