Just recently I finished reading Strange the Dreamer, by Laini Taylor. Her writing has been described as beautiful prose. If you’re unfamiliar with her writing, you’ll just have to read her works to see it. I didn’t want to put down this book, and I’m looking forward to reading the second half of this duology, Muse of Nightmares, later on this year.
Lazlo Strange is an orphan. He was originally raised in a monastery, but he is drawn to stories. When he gets the opportunity to deliver books to the library, he decides not to leave. He becomes an apprentice librarian, reading books in his spare time. With his head in a book and his mind in a fairy tale all the time, he becomes known as Strange the Dreamer. Above all other stories, he is fascinated by the story of a city called Weep. Or at least, that’s what everybody calls it now. Lazlo knows that it had another name… once. He felt it disappearing from his mind.
Lazlo would have continued this life indefinitely, living out his life as a lowly librarian, until fate intervened. He decides to take a chance and do something bold, which is a move that will change his life forever.
In the city of Weep, there is a girl called Sarai. She lives with a few other people, isolated from the rest of the world. Until the day that she finds herself in Lazlo’s dreams. This is the beginning of an unlikely romance.
Lazlo and Sarai are from two different worlds that don’t understand each other. Will their relationship ever evolve from anything outside of dreams? You’ll have to read the story to find out.
The characters in this story are outstanding. Lazlo is not particularly handsome on the outside, but he’s an interesting character that more than one avid reader will probably be able to identify with. In contrast to Lazlo’s rough exterior and beautiful insides, the people that are beautiful on the outside aren’t always the most beautiful people on the inside. Our other main protagonist, Sarai, is also a wonderfully complex character, who has changed over time as she gains understanding about the people around her.
Like the prose of this story, the world of this story is also beautiful. Ms. Taylor’s writing is wonderfully descriptive, which makes the deserts and cities and library come alive. Even though this world contains creatures and magic not present in our own world, it’s not hard to imagine.
Strange the Dreamer seems to have underlying themes to it. Revenge and hate is not the answer. Good people sometimes do bad things. Often, both sides of a conflict have good reasons to have grievances against the other, but if we let hatred simmer forever, it hurts everyone. If those aren’t messages that we need more than ever, I don’t know what are.
If you’re looking for a beautiful story in an imaginative world that you won’t want to put down, consider getting this book.