The Gods of Dream by Daniel Arenson
The Particular: Fantasy, Amazon, available as e-book
The Source: Free read from Amazon ( sometime during 2011)
The Grade: B
The Blurb:
What are dreams? Some think they are figments of our mind. But what if they were wisps of a distant, magical world… a world you could visit?
Twins Cade and Tasha discover Dream, the land dreams come from. It is a realm of misty forests, of verdant mountains, of mysterious gods who send dreams into our sleep. Cade and Tasha seek solace there; they are refugees, scarred and haunted with memories of war. In Dream, they can forget their past, escape the world, and find joy.
Phobetor, the god of Nightmare, was outcast from Dream. Now he seeks to destroy it. He sends his monsters into Dream, and Cade and Tasha find their sanctuary threatened, dying. To save it, the twins must overcome their past, journey into the heart of Nightmare, and face Phobetor himself.
The Review:
The blurb caught my attention, and when the author offered it as a free read on Amazon, I decided to take the chance. I am leery when it comes to indie books, since you never know what you get. I am glad I took the chance.
To me, this book felt like one of the old sagas, set in the unique world of Dream. Dream are filled with gods, speaking animals, and magical beings like the Pegacats. Dream is lush and sunny.
If Dream is sunny, Nightmare is dark and bleak. Nightmare is home to demons, and other monsters.
The contrast is stark, but it felt right. I liked how the bleakness of Nightmare affected Cade and Tasha.
I loved how all the characters, both gods, Elorians, and animals were prepared to fight for Dream. I liked how Moonmist, which was a protected princess, took charge of a large group of soldiers.
The book was good, but after awhile I started to wonder if Cade and Tasha would ever reach their goal. On the other hand, I don’t think the book could have been that much shorter.
Will I buy another book by Daniel Arenson? Yes. The price is decent, I liked it. But, not the coming three months.