Strange The Dreamer by Laini Taylor: A Whimsical, Impossibly Imaginative, Lushly Narrated Fantasy

It was impossible, of course.
But when did that ever stop any dreamer from dreaming?

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The dream chooses the dreamer, not the other way around—and Lazlo Strange, war orphan and junior librarian, has always feared that his dream chose poorly. Since he was five years old he’s been obsessed with the mythic lost city of Weep, but it would take someone bolder than he to cross half the world in search of it. Then a stunning opportunity presents itself, in the person of a hero called the Godslayer and a band of legendary warriors, and he has to seize his chance or lose his dream forever.

What happened in Weep two hundred years ago to cut it off from the rest of the world? What exactly did the Godslayer slay that went by the name of god? And what is the mysterious problem he now seeks help in solving?

The answers await in Weep, but so do more mysteries—including the blue-skinned goddess who appears in Lazlo’s dreams. How did he dream her before he knew she existed? And if all the gods are dead, why does she seem so real?

Welcome to Weep

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Probably one of the most whimsical, magical, wonderful story I have ever read, Strange The Dreamer by Laini Taylor is the kind of young adult fantasy novel that challenges what constitutes as “impossible”. It is the kind of story where magic and science co-exist in such perfect harmony that the lines between reality and fantasy are duly blurred, and this vibrant, stunningly improbable world is full of people from all walks of life, each with heartbreaking and yet inspiring stories of their own.

The story begins with Lazlo Strange, an orphaned child who escapes the misery of his terrible, abusive childhood through daydreams of a fabled magical city that allegedly existed up until 300 years ago. He (and the reader) get their first taste of magic when one day, while Lazlo is still a child, everyone across the world forgets the name of this magical city–every time they try to speak it, they can only say Weep.

Things begin to get even stranger after that. But that’s not important at all. What’s important is that after a series of absurd, unfortunate incidents, Lazlo gets the chance to actually visit this mystical fabled city of Weep.

This is where the story begins to unfold, and what a stunningly beautiful story it is. Just like in her debut series (the Daughter of Smoke and Bone trilogy), Laini Taylor takes inspiration from the stories of colonialism in our own history to weave a gorgeous tale about an incredibly advanced, flourishing city that fell to its knees at the hands of cruel gods and goddesses. The mysteries of this city is slowly revealed through a large cast of brilliantly developed characters, who play instrumental roles in the development of the plot as well as in the development of each other’s character arcs. From the fiesty and good-humored Calixte who is constantly challenging the patriarchy with her resourcefulness and intelligence, to the selfish, spoiled, heartless entitled, rich brat Thyon Nero (man I really hated this kid), each and every character in this story were unforgettable, and so full of life they seemed to step out of the pages.

I have so much to say about these fictional people–the Godslayer, Minya, Feral, Sarai and Azareen each deserve to have essays written about them–but for the sake of keeping this review concise, we’ll focus mostly on Lazlo, who won my heart like no other fictional character has ever done. He is a dreamer to his bone, and despite his timid nature, he never hesitates to seize his chance and make his dreams a reality. He is the love child of every super hero ever created–be it a geeky high schooler who gets bitten by a spider or a spectacled journalist from another planet–and his impossible story is a sweet reminder that dreams can come true.

I cannot review a Laini Taylor book without gushing over her world-building, so here we go: the world-building here had such rich culture, and the way Taylor made all the details flow seamlessly into the story made it easy to get lost in the history of this fictional universe (yup, this story does not take place in Earth my friends). This is one of those rare books where you can truly immerse yourself in the fantasy, and in an industry where books of this genre are overflowing with the same old medieval European settings, Laini Taylor brings something refreshingly new–that too in a book for young adults and thus proving critiques that YA books can be ingenious and counted as a “quality literature”. And by bringing in difficult issues such as genocide, enslavement, sexual abuse and acknowledging these subjects with the utmost care and sensitivity, Taylor proves that YA books can be the perfect medium to help young readers have a better understanding of these issues without resorting to “shock value” (aka sensationalizing abuse) to keep her readers turning the pages.

Speaking of difficult issues, I loved how Taylor masterfully explains the cycle of violence and abuse in this story. The actions and the experiences of all the characters in this book ultimately show that in a world plagued by racism, we are all victims. Even the best of us fall prey to blind hate when we become the victims of violence, and we resort to generalizing entire groups of people as dangerous monsters even when most of them are innocent. In a world where Islamophobia, homophobia, and misogyny and so many other forms of prejudice is rampant, this message struck home.

All of that being said, I did feel like the PoC representation here was somewhat vague–most of the characters were coded to be people of color, there was no clear mention of their exact ethnicity, and this was rather glaringly obvious when you read the descriptions of all the distinctively white characters mentioned in the book. For an author of Taylor’s calibre and influence, I do expect more.

If you want a book that will change your life and lift your spirits up, this is the book for you. Read it. It is wonderful, wonderful story.

“You’re a storyteller. Dream up something wild and improbable,” she pleaded..
“Something beautiful and full of monsters.”
“Beautiful and full of monsters?”
“All the best stories are.”