The Dreamhunter Duet

Dreamhunter 
written by Elizabeth Knox



I wasn't expecting to love this book as much as I did.  I thought it would be just another one of those fantasy novels written by a wanna-be fantasy writer, full of weird names with too many consonants and desperate clumsy attempts at world-building.  Wow, was I in for a surprise.  Yes, there are new names and you're immersed in a totally new world, but you're learning right beside the main character, rather than being plunged into a pre-existing confusing universe.  The novel explores a subject not explored much in YA books (with the possible exception of Lisa McMann's Wake series), the world of dreams.  There are some passages that drag a bit, but once the story gets going, you are immersed in an intricately developed universe where dreams are the basis for society's continued productivity.  All of the questions, the set-up, everything is addressed and if it isn't resolved in this novel, it is rapidly picked up in its sequel.  You are going to want to have the second book handy as you finish the first.

Rating: 5/5

Dreamquake
written by Elizabeth Knox



Starting things off to tie up loose ends left by the predecessor, Dreamquake takes the characters we grew to know and love and intensifies everything.  Now that the universe has been set up, the characters and story can fully be explored.  We get to know more of the 'why' behind the world, since the 'what' has been answered.  The characters really grow into their own skins through the course of the story, getting more and more comfortable with who they are and where they fit.  This could have been a trilogy.  This could have been one of those lengthy sci-fi series, dragged out into dozens and dozens of volumes.  Instead, Knox builds a world and wraps a story up in two books, but fits decades of mythology in such a compact duet.  The story may take place in an alternate world, but the undertones resonate with contemporary readers, and the plot's intricate twists and turns will take each and every one who sticks it out for the ride of their lives.  I have not seen a world as well-developed in a YA novel since Harry Potter and The Hunger Games, and it's truly a pity that this series isn't as well-known as it should be.  What a story.  Bravo, Elizabeth Knox, you really know what you're doing.

Rating: 5/5