An Ancient Mystical Kingdom at a Crossroads

filled star filled star filled star star unfilled star unfilled
lizzyh Avatar

By

The first chapter of Lizz Huerta's mythology-inspired fantasy "The Lost Dreamer" is a richly vivid description of a mystical ancient kingdom populated by temple-dwelling seers, dreamers, and others with magical/spiritual gifts. The first chapter also overwhelms the reader with dozens of names of unfamiliar people and places. While the story is meant to start suddenly - with the reader feeling the same sense of wary disorientation as the main character, Indir - I fear that young adults may feel "left behind" in the initial state of worldbuilding. Just based on the first chapter, "The Lost Dreamer" is the kind of book that would benefit from an illustrated map or family tree at the start (although I know that's not always in the author's control). Hand this to to gifted readers who are fans of Sabaa Tahir's "An Ember in the Ashes" series and Tomi Adeyemi's "Children of Blood and Bone" books.