Strange the Dreamer (Strange the Dreamer, #1)

by Laini Taylor

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 braver than he to cross half the world in search of it. Then a stunning opportunity presents itself, in the form 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? And who is the blue-skinned goddess who appears in Lazlo’s dreams?

In this sweeping and breathtaking novel by National Book Award finalist Laini Taylor, author of the New York Times bestselling Daughter of Smoke & Bone trilogy, the shadow of the past is as real as the ghosts who haunt the citadel of murdered gods. Fall into a mythical world of dread and wonder, moths and nightmares, love and carnage.

The answers await in Weep.
source: https://www.lbyr.com/titles/laini-taylor/strange-the-dreamer/9780316341646/

• ISBN10: 0316341649
• ISBN13: 9780316341646
• Publish Date: 28 March 2017
• Publish Status: Active
• Imprint: Little, Brown Books for Young Readers
• Format: eBook
• Language: English

Reviews

[lizarodz]

4.5

[Kelly]

Abandoned Lazlo Strange was utterly delightful, a charmingly innocent and kind hearted young man who is consumed with the mystery of The Unseen City. Spending his days as a junior librarian, Lazlo breathes history, foregoing his adolescence for the inked pages of a land lost to time. Demure and intelligent, Lazlo is determined to accompany the scholars and alchemists to uncover the secrets of Weep, a half yearly journey and coming of age for the charismatic librarian. Surrounded by warrior escorts, Lazlo shares his journey with Thyon Nero, an entitled young man praised for his fraudulent alchemy. Lazlo and Thyon are rivals, while Lazlo has a warm and gentle disposition, Thyon is guarded and sees Lazlo as a nemesis, questioning the librarian's motives. As a secondary character, Thyon was wonderfully developed which allows readers to engage with his character beyond his bravado.

Sarai is a young woman trapped within the mausoleum anchored to the sky above Weep. Also orphaned as a child, the massacre that slain her family resulted in a world suspended in time. Sarai's character is enchanting. Each evening retiring to her room to explore the city, a silent scream releasing her vaporescent moths into the night to perch on the brows of sleeping residents. Sarai's slain mother is the Goddess of Despair, both young men and women of the Unseen City were taken and brought to the citadel, kept as companions against their will and creating a new generation of Godspawn. Sparrow who tends to nature, Feral who can control the weather, Ruby and the malevolent Minya, who captures the souls of the dead and uses them for her amusement. Minya was an interesting character. Although suspended in the body of a child, Minya is a militant leader who commands respect. Although she wants to protect the citadel, Minya is a warmonger and prepares her ghostly souls to slay the humans who threaten their existence. Including Lazlo. The connection between Sarai and Lazlo was lovely. The Muse of Nightmares and The Dreamer, Sarai has never experienced vivid visions of her city as seen through Lazlo's imagination and is enamoured. Their connection was gentle, tender yet incredibly passionate.

Strange The Dreamer is lyrical, consuming and atmospheric. Laini Taylor has transcended young adult fantasy. Beautifully. Immaculately. Ethereally.

[Jo]

Second read: even more beautiful and devastating than I remembered. Just glorious!

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Originally posted on Once Upon a Bookcase.

Strange the Dreamer by Laini Taylor was one of my most anticipated books of 2017. I absolutely adored the Daughter of Smoke and Bone trilogy, and couldn't wait to get my hands on Taylor's latest - and it most definitely does not disappoint!

For me, as much as I loved the Daughter of Smoke and Bone trilogy, Strange the Dreamer surpasses it. Taylor is more than just an author, she's a storyteller; she weaves words in the most beautiful way, there's no chance of me not becoming completely enthralled. We knew this already, of course, but with this book, I can't help buy marvel at the world, the characters, the story she has created. Taylor completely captured my imagination, and I felt I was right there with Lazlo Strange; his childhood at the Abbey, his early adulthood at the library, his journey from Zosma to Weep with Eril Fane the Godslayer - and I was completely mesmerised by the mysteries surrounding Weep as Lazlo was, and just as dumbfounded by what he found there.

It's been a very, very long time since I've wanted to nothing but read, where everything else needing my attention - work, cooking, eating, bathing, shopping, sleeping - was a major inconvenience, but Strange the Dreamer is that book; the book you won't want to put down, the book you will stay up late into the night reading just a few pages more. Reading Strange the Dreamer, for me, was like discovering the joy of reading for the first time all over again. There's no greater compliment that I can give. It's so rare that books fill me with such a sense of wonder and so much delight over the simple pleasure of reading. And because it brought back that wonder, that joy and delight that I first experienced reading Pawn of Prophecy by David Eddings as a 12-year-old, Strange the Dreamer felt like coming home.

All bookworms everywhere will relate to Lazlo, this young man who loves books and stories, fairy tales and myths, who is filled with the same awe at reading the books in the sublevel of the library as I was with reading his story. And through him, we learn the little that is known about the mysterious city of Weep; a city that outsiders were forbidden to go to, and executed as spies if they tried, a city from which the most beautiful and amazing objects came, to be traded around the world, a city that the world stopped hearing from two hundred years ago, a city who, 15 years ago, everyone forgot the name of - when they tried to say the city's true name, it was stolen from their minds, and all that came out was "Weep". Lazlo is passionate about Weep, and its two mysteries; what happened two hundred years ago that led to an end of all contact from Weep to the rest of the world? And what happened 15 years ago to steal it's true name from the minds of everyone? When Eril Fane, leader of the fabled Tizerkane warriors of Weep, arrives at Zosmos - the first contact with Weep in two centuries - seeking a delegation of qualified people to help his city with a problem Eril Fane won't go into, Lazlo is desperate to go, too. But what he finds there is beyond anything he could ever imagine.

I've not even covered the first third of the book, but the wonders and mysteries of Weep should stay that until you discover them along with Lazlo. There is a second protagonist, one who's third person narration joins Lazlo's once the delegation arrive at Weep. Her name is Sarai, a 17-year-old girl, who feels lonely, and trapped, and stuck. And that's all I will say about her.

Taylor has this incredible way of showing us the morally grey of people. Then there is fighting, a war, she shows there is no side that is completely right or completely wrong, no side that is good, no side that is bad. There are just people; people who are faced with impossible decisions, people who do the wrong thing to do the right, people who are trying to do what's best for their people, their safety, their survival. What is a god, and what is a monster? What is a hero, and what is a dictator? What is just and fair, and what is evil? The lines are blurred. At times you will abhor those you previously rooted for, and feel for those you hated. Were they right to do what they did, or were they wrong? It's a question Taylor forces you to ask yourself, but I'm struggling to work out what the answer is.

Strange the Dreamer ends on such a cliffhanger. One of the worst, because we have to wait until next year to read, but one of the best, because you won't be able to stop thinking about it, and the consequences, and where they will lead. Like with Lazlo himself, you're left with even more questions than you started with. Strange the Dreamer is one of the most incredible fantasy novels I've ever read, but it's sequel, The Muse of Nightmares, is undoubtedly going to be even more epic. With this book, I think Taylor has landed herself the position of my most favourite author.

Strange the Dreamer ruined my imagination for all other books.

Thank you to Hodder & Stoughton for the proof.

[shannonmiz]

You can find the full review and all the fancy and/or randomness that accompanies it at It Starts at Midnight
I really don't know where to begin with this book, since I know that so many people are anticipating it. So I will tell you my only downside I experienced while reading this book: I had a bit of trouble getting started. The beginning starts off slowly, and I wasn't hooked immediately. But I soon was, and when I was in, I was all in.

So why did I love this book? Let's talk about it! 

• The writing was undeniably gorgeous from start to finish. Laini Taylor writes in such a lyrical and captivating way that I could not help but be pulled into the story. But here's the thing: it isn't just beautiful prose for the sake of beautiful prose. Every word meant something, and that made it all the more special.


• I positively loved the characters. This is Lazlo's story, yes, but Sarai stole the show on many occasions. And I adored Lazlo, but at times, I adored Sarai more. But does it even matter? Because the point is, they are fabulous. And the cast of secondary characters is no less great. They were all so very complex and fleshed out and really brought so much to the story. The interactions between the characters were incredible as well. The rapport Lazlo had with a lot of the people he encountered on his journeys added so much to the story. There was banter, and wittiness, and it was a great way to showcase the very best of Lazlo's personality. And Sarai's story just completely captured my interest from the moment she was introduced.


• The romance was super slow burning, but also incredibly swoon-worthy. It's complicated, and it is unsure, and it is just everything that a really great romance should be. I can't say much more, other than I am a fan, so we'll leave it at that.


• The plot was incredibly complex, and there was a lot I did not see coming. There were plot points that had me cheering, some that had me horrified, some that had me in tears, and some that had me holding back laughter. My emotions ran the gamut in this book, and I loved that. 


• While the world building was incredible, it also kept a lot of room open to learn new things in the next book. I think it was a great balance between the reader being familiarized with the world, and knowing just as much as they needed to know to be comfortable reading, and mysteries that will undoubtedly unravel as the story goes on. The atmosphere fit the story completely, too, and was woven into the plot so, so well.

Will I Read The Sequel? Um, YES. Can someone just give it to me now? Please and thank you? Splendid.

Bottom Line: I was originally going to go with 4.5 stars, because of the trouble I had in the beginning. But you know what? It is too good to even deduct the half star. So just know that it starts a little slow, but that it ends up being worth that little bit of slowness. Because it is truly a phenomenal story with amazing characters. It's wildly imaginative, unique, and written in the loveliest of ways. Absolutely met- no, surpassed- my expectations.

[nightingalereads]

3.75 stars

Wow. Okay, um, how to sum up Strange the Dreamer. Initially, a lot of people told me to go into this book knowing nothing. But I probably would've picked it up a lot sooner if I'd been given a vague (non-spoilerly) premise. So here's one, in case you're flip-flopping about whether or not to read Strange:

Strange the Dreamer is about an orphan boy named Lazlo Strange who grows up fascinated by the ancient city of Weep, a place that has lost its true name. Working in a huge library, Lazlo lives on stories and fairytales about "the Unseen City". As events unfold, he falls into a world full of gods and warfare, legends and tragedy. This story also belongs to Sarai, a girl hidden in the sky who is connected to this mysterious tragedy of Weep. Eventually their stories begin to merge, and that's when things really pick up speed.

So, like I said, Strange is broken into two main narratives - Lazlo's and Sarai's - although we are occasionally given insights into other characters as well. This being my first Laini Taylor book, I was blown away by the scale of her writing, and how epic and intricate her world-building is. Along with being wholly original, Strange has the feel of a modern classic.

Characterization

Characters being what matter most to me, I really enjoyed the majority of them - they all felt real and had their own motivations. Lazlo's personality could've come off syrupy, but it didn't. He was unlike most male protagonists I've read, and I really appreciated his genuine nature. And ugh, Sarai. 3 Sarai had all my sympathies throughout this book. Some other personal favorites: Sparrow, Feral, Eril-Fane, and Thyon. The romance(s?), while nothing world-altering, were enjoyable enough. The one character I hated was Minya. But I think...hopefully...you're supposed to dislike her.

Plot

Here's where my main issue cropped up. Pacing. The plot was epic and well-executed, but the first half of this book is soo slow. I'm a character-driven reader, so I usually love long, slower-paced books. But the beginning chunk of this heavy tome moves at a snail's pace, and I felt like I was wading through thick (but beautifully written!) water. Once certain events kick off, the plot picks up some speed. I just found patience was a necessary tool. The last quarter of the book in particular had my head spinning, as there were so many reveals and twists. I sat staring into space for 10 minutes afterwards, trying to grasp the full implications of everything that happened.

All in all, I cannot wait for the release of Muse of Nightmares. After the final events of Strange, I can't imagine how everything will go down in the end.