Waking in Dreamland

Dreamland #1

by Jody Lynn Nye

Ostracized as the only unchanging, "normal" person in Dreamland, a place where people go when they sleep and constantly change into other things, Roan must prevent an evil force from destroying the Seven Sleepers. Original.

Genres: Fantasy, Fiction, Science Fiction, Science Fiction Fantasy, Adventure

390 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published April 1, 1998

About the author

Jody Lynn Nye lists her main career activity as ‘spoiling cats.’ When not engaged upon this worthy occupation, she writes fantasy and science fiction books and short stories.

Before breaking away from gainful employment to write full time, Jody worked as a file clerk, book-keeper at a small publishing house, freelance journalist and photographer, accounting assistant and costume maker.

For four years, she was on the technical operations staff of a local Chicago television station, WFBN (WGBO), serving the last year as Technical Operations Manager. During her time at WFBN, she was part of the engineering team that built the station, acted as Technical Director during live sports broadcasts, and worked to produce in-house spots and public service announcements.

Over the last twenty-five or so years, Jody has taught in numerous writing workshops and participated on hundreds of panels covering the subjects of writing and being published at science-fiction conventions. She has also spoken in schools and libraries around the north and northwest suburbs. In 2007 she taught fantasy writing at Columbia College Chicago. She also runs the two-day writers workshop at DragonCon, and is a judge for the Writers of the Future contest, the largest speculative fiction contest in the world.

Jody lives in the northwest suburbs of Chicago, with her husband Bill Fawcett, a writer, game designer, military historian and book packager, and three feline overlords, Athena, Minx, and Marmalade.

Reviews

[Greg Frederick · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a fun journey. I expected it to be more fantastical, since the story takes place in dreamland, but it was still creative enough to be intriguing. The characters were interesting. The story was a bit flat though, as almost the entire book is one big chase scene. I won't be re-reading this one, and don't really recommend it, but I don't regret having read it.

[Isabelle · Rating 3 out of 5]

The writing and story were okay, I was a little bit annoyed and frustrated by the first half of the book. But by the end, I had grown very attached to the characters and realized I was going to miss them once I finished.

[Myra · Rating 3 out of 5]

In Dreamland, the 7 providences are each dreamed by one of the 7 Sleepers. When a sleeper is replaced by a new sleeper, the land and people undergo a Changeover which alters the very fabric of existence.
But really, that's just another day in dreamland, because the land and people change based on the whims of the dreamers anyway. One moment you might be a tall blonde woman, a few minutes later--if you happened to cross into the right area or take on a certain mood--you might be an otter.
The exception is Roan, who never changes. He is unusual in that his appearance remains the same, not just over days, but over years. He's the king's investigator, and childhood sweetheart with the princess.
When scientists at the palace create an Alarm Clock and declare their intention to conduct an experiment to wake the Sleepers, Roan is put in charge of the expedition to chase down the scientists and prevent the Alarm Clock from ringing....

This book reminded me a lot of the Xanth novels that I read as a teen, but I wasn't nearly so enthralled with Dreamland. (I remember not being a huge fan of the Mythadventure novels at that time either, so this may just not be a match for me.) In some ways it also reminded me of Discworld, but not as funny.

It is a fun concept, and the whimsical nature was mildly entertaining.
Yet... when anything can happen, nothing is surprising. I just got frustrated that it took the entire book for all that stuff to happen.

[Samanda · Rating 3 out of 5]

Inventive & Clever

When a band of rogue Scientists decide to wake the Sleepers whose Dreams create his Kingdom, King Byron sends his Chief Investigator, Roan, to stop them. Aided by Chief Spar, several of his officers, & the Princess Leonora, Roan embarks on a chase thru Dreamland. Unlike his companions, Roan is unable to shift his shape - altho his faithful steed shifts from bicycle to horse at the drop of a thought, or Nuisance … & Leonora is unchanging in her love for Roan….

[Jason Thompson · Rating 2 out of 5]

I have to admit, after about a quarter of the way through I skimmed to the end. The idea of a constantly changing Dreamland is interesting, but the book is padded with too much dialogue and way too many long-winded magic battle sequences of "you can do whatever you can imagine in Dreamland, so you have to outwit your opponents by being more creative!" There's not much in the way of interesting placenames and details, and the main character is kind of a Gary Stu.

[George Craig · Rating 3 out of 5]

A strange read

Basically, a decent story that causes you to think outside the box. Full of plot holes though, but still a decent read. They need to fix the ebook version though misspelled words, separated words, and areas you can tell.a word is missing.

[Cara · Rating 3 out of 5]

Hmm I'm gonna think about this and come back to write a short review

Later:

This book was fine. An enjoyable read, for the most part. It was just an extended chase scene, with a lot of detours. I didn't really like the romance, especially with the reveal at the end.

It's a tough environment to capture and convey to a reader. In Dreamland, everything is always changing: the people, the buildings, the land. Nye spent probably the first 50 pages describing how the capital city had changed from when the main character last saw it just a few weeks ago. The constant descriptions of change were a little tedious for me.

I did like the world and the plot. The world is dreamt by seven Sleepers and one scientist wants to know what will happen if they wake up. Most people agree the world will probably just end. Scientist is determined to test this hypothesis.

I was torn between amusement and annoyance the whole time I was reading. Not sure if that's a recommendation or not!

[Linda · Rating 3 out of 5]

I liked this book. It was more of a young adult Sci-fi. It reminded me of a more advanced / detailed version of Phantom Tollbooth. I loved the dream world. The ending was a little wonky with too much detail but not bad and some may enjoy it. It is a quick and fun read.

[Janin · Rating 5 out of 5]

Imagine that the world of dreams is real for the things we dream about-- even when we're not there dreaming them. Yeah. It's that cool (:

[Ron Judenberg · Rating 5 out of 5]

to-read