Strange the Dreamer

2.5

A reread. Currently just as good as I remember it to be :)

I love that the main character has such a good imagination his dreams are so fun. Everyone likes Lazlo he's just a nice guy and has such a good heart. If only everyone else were the same... they're not...

This is not a feel-good book. It's complicated and at times dark. It highlights the need for forgiveness and understanding even when the most terrible cruel things happen.
It does end in a cliff-hanger and hopefully, we'll learn in the next book which wins forgiveness and compassion or rage and anger.

Strange the Dreamer
The brothers told Lazlo Strange he'd come in the wagonload of war orphans. He grows up with nothing except for his dreams about a mythical city called Weep, based on the stories an old monk shares with him. Sent to deliver manuscripts to the library, he stumbles upon a neglected vault of fairytales and he stays. The library-staff apprentices him and the more he reads, the more convinced he is that his destiny is linked to the far-off and forbidden city and then one day, a caravan arrives from Weep—this is Lazlo's chance—if only he's brave enough to put himself forward.

But the city of Weep has its own tragedies. For 200 years, its people were slaves to the evil godlike overlords. Fifteen years ago, Eril-Fane, called the Godslayer, lead a revolt and the gods died, but Weep is still haunted. Its people are desperate for cure and Eril-Fane has come in search saviors.

At the same time, Sarai, one of the five god-spawn children, who escaped death, uses her god-gift of invading sleepers' dreams to make Weep's population fear the angel citadel where the god-spawn hide. As a child, she enjoyed inflicting nightmares. Now, at seventeen, after spending so much time in others' minds, she has questions and regrets. She enters Lazlo's dream and, unlike any other dreamer she's ever known, he sees her.

The world building is rich and enchanting, but the characters made me fall in love with the story. Life has been unfair to Lazlo, yet he's kind, gentle and genuinely wants to help others. All the characters are deep, complex and conflicted and their interactions including the love story and those who seek revenge compelled me to keep turning pages.

If you read fantasy to be captivated by a story, this is a book for you.

This has been on my shelf for quite a while. I decided to finally check it out. I am so glad that I went with the audiobook! Audiobooks are really hit or miss for me, but this one was great! I loved this narrator.
I loved everything about this story. The world is interesting, especially Weep. Weep is fascinating. I adore Lazlo. Everything about this is great. I didn't even mind the insta-love. This is a beautifully written story. I will definitely read Muse of Nightmares.

Beautiful; full of such joy and wonder and heartbreak. The characters and the world and the writing are all superb.

4 stars Laini Taylor's writing is so damn lush and beautiful. I don't know why I snoozed on this one.

I absolutely loved it. Such a whimsical and unique story with some classic fantasy elements. To enjoy the book fully you need to love figures of speech and a slowly unraveling story, but of you are ok with it you'll probably adore it.

We love complex characters

... don't speak to me i need to clear my head

I have so many problems with this book I can't even rate it.

cries Laini Taylor you've ruined my life and also made it better.

I was given this book a long time ago (a year? more?) and it has been sitting on my shelf, with its beautiful blue cover, waiting. Every now and then I would think, I need to read Strange the Dreamer, but then something else would come along, and I'd set it back down.

I came to a lull in my reading just before Nonfiction November was to begin, and I decided to read this book as it is not my usual sort of read.

Results? I enjoyed Strange the Dreamer very much. Book two is at the library now, and I'm very tempted to read it now, but I think I'll wait a bit until book three comes out and read the last two together.

So, what is this book about? Lazlo Strange is told he is an orphan. He was raised to be a monk until chance led him to his dream job, as a librarian. He is fascinated with the city of Weep, and he spends all his time researching this lost city, its history, its stories, its people. And then suddenly the Godslayer appears, Strange's hero from Weep, and Lazlo has the opportunity to go with a group to Weep and use the combined talents of the group to rescue Weep once again.

There's a lot of wonderful dreaming, and the point-of-view shifts from person to person—these are two of the things I loved best about this story. The story line goes in unexpected zips and zags and you are never sure who is a hero and who is a bad guy.

A very satisfying read.

Such a magical, beautiful book. Everyone has been telling me for quite some time that I NEED to read this book and I finally did it. And I am so happy that I did and I wish I had read it sooner... but better late than never, right?

The story is magical (I can't find another word to describe it, maybe whimsical?) and it captivated me from the first pages. Blue god, a dreamer boy, love, hope, happiness and sadness, that's what this book is about. I absolutely adored the way the author “explained” the title. The book focuses on the journey of Lazlo Strange, who is a dreamer. Therefore, Strange the Dreamer is the perfect title for the book.

I knew from the very first pages that I was going to love Lazlo. He is not your typical hero, he isn't the most gorgeous man alive. He's a simple librarian, but he has a huge power: the power of dreaming. He can dream the most unusual things, he is a very open-minded person and he is not afraid of the unknown. That's why, when he meets the beautiful blue goddess Sarai, he meets her with his arms wide open and he isn't afraid of her, like the other people were.

Their story turns into something gorgeous and I loved reading about their relationship and how it evolved throughout the book. There were some pretty awesome plot twists, especially at the end. The ending left me sobbing and wanting to start reading “Muse of Nightmares” sooner. As in, after I post this review I am going to start reading the next book because I NEED to see what happens.

4.5

Some of the best writing I've ever read.
The love scenes were absolutely lovely.
The explosion's aftermath was amazing.

BUT - I wish I'd known this is just part I. This is not the first book of a series, this is just the beginning of the story.
Also, there are some bits that I find very unsatisfying.
And the beginning was quite unnecessary.
Also, how could they not have figured out what Minya would do? It was obvious.

Wow. All I'm going to say is that the second book is probably intense.

Lazlo.

while reading this i couldn't help but think of it as ‘avatar meets inception'

This book is so different and beautifully written. The tragedy of Weep was captured well without having to go into explicit detail

This book was such a surprise!

I´ve read many things about it but I wasn't prepared for how different and complex the story was going to be. And the writing? Simply GORGEOUS.

I'll be back to write more about it.

This book was not only magical in its content, but in its writing. I cannot say I've encountered such a unique writing style that spoke to me so deeply in a while. I was enthralled with parts I and II, but did feel that there were some sections of parts III and IV where I was like, “Okay, okay, next please.” That didn't sway me from rating it 5 stars. I thought it was a unique and fantastic tale and can't wait to dive into the next book. Also, Steve West is the BEST narrator. Highly recommend the book and audiobook.

AAAAAAAAJFJGKHKV MRS. TAYLOR I DON'T FEEL SO GOOD

EDIT 04/11/'19: fuck it I changed the rating to 5 stars I love this world so much

Can I give this book more than 5 stars? Gorgeous. Exquisite. I can't wait to tuck into the sequel. ❤

Wow! Just Wow! I want to re-read this book just to go back and mark all the amazing and beautiful quotes I came across, that tugged my heartstrings and soared my imagination. Laini Taylor has a wonderful way with words and I couldn't get enough of it! That alone is amazing enough, but she has also crafted an amazingly unique and imaginative fantasy world with interesting characters and a story that grabbed me from page one, lifted me up, gave me hope and maybe broke my heart a little along the way. BUT also was chock full of tantalizing imaginings, a love of stories, storytelling and books, romance, adventure and so much more. I am not sure I have words to describe what this book is, other than to say this is how fantasy should be done. Yes the usual hallmarks are there, but was wrapped up in unique layer after unique layer that never felt like I had read it's like before. Go read this book...go read it now, it's wonderful, amazing, imaginative and emotional. Can't wait for book two!!