Ah! It’s been a slow start for me as far as reviewing books this year but I am super excited to shine a spotlight on my first choice – Dreamscapes by Astra Crompton. It was another one of those Twitter finds – I had made an off-handed comment about books of written dreams and this one popped up. And to make it all the more intriguing it was published in 2012 and didn’t have a single review!
Perhaps this was because of the cost – $40. I admit, this is the most I have ever paid for book that wasn’t a textbook. I wasn’t honestly sure what the price was about but it became obvious once I opened it up. This isn’t merely a book it’s a work of art. Between each chapter there is a full page of artwork, lovingly rendered and along the edges of each of the story pages there are also detailed graphics. It is what I would consider a “special edition” but as much as I love all this it is also a book that could easily stand on it’s own with the merit of its stories.
Within it we are taken on a journey through twelve dreams which the dreamer has reconstructed into short stories and vignettes. They’re whimsical and wild and the imagery is really spectacular. Clearly this is an individual of great imagionation who also has an intense grasp of the English language. I admit I had to look a few of the words up which is unusual for me! But all the same I was delighted with the sheer creativity of this piece.
As you might expect each one of these stories was wildly different from the next with nothing to tie them together. Even the genres and main characters were diverse. Some were whimsical steam punk adventures with pirates and stowaways flying in Victorian airships. Others dipped in apocolyptic visions of the future or equally vivid descriptions of past lives and events that grew a whole mythology around them.
There’s magic, there’s sorcery, there’s deception, love, romance, and danger. The heros and heroines of this anthology change like the winds with the landscapes they inhabit. Honestly if it wasn’t for the similar wording I wouldn’t have even guessed they were penned by the same person.
The only part of this book that I wasn’t totally into was the pit battle that showed dozens of these characters fighting in little disorganized vignettes. Although it captured the chaos and scatterlogical patterns of a dream it was terribly confusing to me. I think a lot of it was probably inspired by gaming and anime which are two worlds I know nothing about. But hey, that doesn’t mean it can’t be someone else’s cup of coffee. It was action-packed, certainly.
Anyway, I thoroughly enjoyed this one. It showed a surprising amount of insight and emotional depth. Would definitely recommend it to anyone who loves steampunk, science fiction, mythology, or the sort of English short stories they still teach in schools in the US. If you’d like a copy you can get one on Amazon which will go incredibly far in encouraging the author as well as giving a little tip of the hat to me as I will get a small commission for suggesting it.
I will be also using this book as the first on my bingo board as I am playing #armedwithabingo on Twitter. Participants help get the word out about the books they’re reading while possibly winning a book at the end of the year for their efforts. This book is going to be under the Book From the Last Decade 2010-2019 category.
This sounds fascinating! The full collection may be expensive, but I’ve found eleven of the stories sold individually on NOOK. The prices range from 0.99 to just over two dollars.
Very cool! Thanks for the tip!