Friday, June 01, 2007

Dreamquake by Elizabeth Knox

Laura Hame, a young dreamhunter and daughter of the most famous dreamhunter of all, must get to the bottom of the government’s maniacle scheme. She and her family know the government has something to do with the disappearance of Laura’s father, as well as torturing convicts and rigging elections with the use of dreams. Laura and her cousin Rose soon discover a secret rail line heading straight in to the Place, a desolate and mysterious land where a select few people can enter and bring dreams back to the outside world. Nothing as big as a railroad had ever been built into the Place, so Laura’s family knows it means trouble. Throughout the story, as Laura learns more about the secrets hidden deep inside the Place, she worries about her future as a dreamhunter and how she is going to reveal the government’s secret plans to the public. Mysterious things are going on, both in and outside the Place, and Laura needs to find a way to fix them.

In this sequel and final Dreamhunters book, there is exciting plot twists, thought-provoking events, and questions from the first book are all answered. Because Dreamquake is the second novel, the first book really needs to be read first. It will make the stories more enjoyable, and if you don’t read them in order, it will be somewhat confusing. In my opinion, the first book was more exciting, but Dreamquake certainly completed the series and made it come full circle. The tone and events happening in the two books are somewhat different, but Dreamquake is a good ending to the series. All confusion is sorted out in the end, and it is finally discovered what the Place really is and why it is there. Dreamquake is well written and a good book, so I recommend the Dreamhunters duet to any fantasy lover.

Content: Though the majority of this book is fine for young readers, the book contains a couple scenes that have material only appropriate for older children. Probably not ok for kids under 13 or so.

Rating (0 - 10 scale): 7

Reviewer Age: 14
Reviewer City, State and Country: Fairview Hts, IL USA