Strange the Dreamer by Laini Taylor

Genre: YA Fantasy

Format: Hardback (purchased)

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Terrible as it is to admit I’ve never actually read Daughter of Smoke and Bone so this was my very first Laini Taylor. With all of the good things I’d heard about her stories and her writing I was very excited but I have to confess my experience of reading Strange the Dreamer was mixed.

The story is wonderful. It’s about an orphan, Lazlo Strange, who follows his dreams and travels to the mysterious, and cursed, city of Weep. It’s full of magic, monstrous creatures, heroes and stories, basically all the things I love.

I absolutely adored Lazlo Strange, the Dreamer, who sees the best in everyone and everything and is happy to help others do great deeds rather than seeking glory for himself. He loves stories and fairytales and believes anything could be possible and he’s just so sweet. I think I fell a little in love with him.

The other characters are also wonderfully etched from Eril-Fane the Godslayer who is plagued by nightmares of past deeds, to Thyon Nero the golden boy considered a genius and Lazlo’s tormentor, to Minya the woman trapped in a child’s body who is so full of hate and anger. Each and every one was captivating in their own way.

The writing is beautiful but for me I found it a little too flowery for my taste. I’m generally not a fan of lots of description and imagery though so this is definitely a me issue. I also believe it could have been shorter without really losing much.

The ending was however stunning, edge of the seat reading so there is absolutely no question over whether or not I will read the sequel (I will).

Synopsis

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 bolder than he to cross half the world in search of it. Then a stunning opportunity presents itself, in the person 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? What exactly did the Godslayer slay that went by the name of god? And what is the mysterious problem he now seeks help in solving?

The answers await in Weep, but so do more mysteries—including the blue-skinned goddess who appears in Lazlo’s dreams. How did he dream her before he knew she existed? And if all the gods are dead, why does she seem so real?

Welcome to Weep.