She’s dreamed of being a great warrior. Instead, she becomes her world’s worst nightmare. Aria is living the life of a healer, a position that’s been forced on her to keep her away from her dreamwalker abilities and her true desire of being a warrior. But there’s one dream that refuses to leave her alone- a man in a barren landscape of sand and rocks and ur’gel, deadly creatures designed for … and rocks and ur’gel, deadly creatures designed for war.
But as she fights to learn how to hone her dreamwalker gifts in order to save this man who she feels an odd connection to, her world folds in around her. Her village is attacked and her brother is taken. The ur’gel demand one thing: bring Beru.
The man from her dreams.
But all the information she has about the man called Beru is that he was a traitor to the great hero, Onen Suun, who imprisoned the fallen over two centuries ago. If she frees this enemy in order to save her brother, how could she live with herself?
But if she doesn’t and her brother dies…
Save her brother or start a war. The decision is hers.
more
This is the first book in the Legends of the Fallen series and the main character is a reluctant healer called Aria. She wants to be a warrior, but because she has an untrained ability as a dreamwalker, she has been forced to train as a healer. She is not very good at any type of magic or spell and most end in disaster. She sees the role of warrior as one she has always wanted, where she can do the most to hit back at those who attack her family or village and to keep them safe from the monsters that are multiplying and attack from the sky, called ur’gel. During the Dark War, someone called Dag’draath used these creatures as he tried to conquer the world, hundreds of year before. He was vanquished, but the seed of distrust was planted between all the races, human, dragon, and elves. After a busy few days healing the injured from battle, she falls asleep and has a strange dream of a man, she will later learn is called Beru. He is in a strange world, all alone, until an ur’gel attacks him. She tries to help and gets hit by the ur’gel’s sword on her hand and then awakens to find her hand bleeding!
This injury doesn’t heal, no matter what she of her best friend Noble can do, so Mother Ofburg, the head healer, is called in. She knows it is from an ur’gel blade and that is obviously happened when Aria was dreamwalking, something she denies, having never been told about it before. It seems this is an ability, a rare one, that she has and she will need to be trained to use it safely and properly. The man from her dreams keeps pulling her in, there is a strong connection somehow between the two, even when she learns he is in an extreme and very safe prison. Put there after he supposedly betrayed Onen Suun, the great hero who imprisoned the Fallen some two hundred years ago. She continues to have dreams about him in his vast and barren prison, with ur’gel all around. When another attack happens, this time her family farm is also attacked and one of her brothers is killed and another taken prisoner, by a much larger and somewhat different ur’gel, who seems to be their leader.
The creature communicates through her mother and tells them all that all they want is the dreamwalker and they will set the boy, her brother Gavin, free. The dreamwalker is to bring Beru to them and they will set the boy free! That is the name of the man she keeps visiting in her dreams. If she does what they ask, it will start another war and one that humans and others on this world may not survive. If she doesn’t then her brother Gavin will die. Whether she can even trust the word of what are mainly mindless killing monsters, is unclear. She now needs to travel to the Western March to locate a known dreamwalker to ask for his help in training her, so she can find Gavin and the ur’gel that took him. Once she gets this man’s help, she will be able to get Beru out and turn him over to this strange shadow mage and the ur’gel, in exchange for her brother. What they want with Beru is unknown.
She has a difficult decision to make and what she decides will change everything, one way will affect her family, but the other may cause a war. If she doesn’t do as requested, the ur’gel will continue to hunt her down and kill anyone that gets in their path, leaving innocents dying by the hundreds or even thousands. Even her healer trainer blames her for all the deaths that occurred and she takes it hard. Someone close to her has been killed and now she has no idea who will help her in her journey! Freeing a traitor may leave a doorway open for other Fallen to travel back to her world, from the prison Onen Suun gave his life to create. A great read and only the start of what is to come, in this adventurous series. Fantastic characters and an adventure that has only just begun. I can’t wait to read more of this series and see where Aria’s dreamwalking takes her. I received an ARC copy of this book from the author and I have freely given my own opinion of the book above.
This is a wonderful start to a new series. This was about Aria- a Dreamwalker . We get to share an emotional journey with her in her healing role . But it’s much more than that .
It’s an incredible introduction to a new dimension in typical J.A.Culican style and with the collaboration with Tanya Dawson it’s nothing short of a winning formula.
I thoroughly recommend this and I’m sure the rest of the series will be just as engaging.
I’ve loved everything written by J.A. Culican do its no surprise that I glommed on to Culican’s collaboration with Tanya Dawson even though the latter is new to me. I’m glad I did, as I freakin’ loved Dreamwalker (Legends of the Fallen, Book 1). Highly imaginative and perfectly written. Read the publisher’s blurb to get the plot basics – but know that this is complex yet totally wonderful (and totally fun). But for the fact that I’m literally dictating this review to my husband from my hospital bed I could go on and on with praises. The book definitely deserves it. Since I can’t do that I will simply note that the book is most definitely one to read, and it is easy to highly recommend. I’m definitely looking forward to the next book in this series.
Terrible Book and reviews on Amazon are fake!
What good storytelling for a continuing series. Aria was a dreamwalker and really didn’t know what it was or how to use what she had. Along the way Aria’s brother was kidnapped and she was trying to get him back with lots of help from her friends. Good reading
Aria is a young girl who wants to be a fighter, but she’s been designated as a healer. Oh, joy! She just doesn’t have the skill for it but still, she tries. She’s seen the suffering of others, but let’s be real…her abilities…aren’t the best. When the call arises, she steps up the plate and helps defend her people when ur’gel invade her village and begin slaughtering the people. Oddly enough though…they are there…for her! Seems like she has a unique talent that she is just now discovering. The healer she was training under wants nothing to do with her and now she must seek help from another Dreamwalker. Her brother has been abducted and unless she can release a man that she sees when she dreamwalks, they will never let him go. Sounds like Aria has her work cut out for her because now she has to learn how to dreamwalk and learn the possibilities that come with it and fast.
Dreamwalker is an engaging story that hits the ground running from the beginning. I liked that I could feel how unhappy Aria was with being made to apprentice as a healer. You just feel that she wants to be a fighter and to be out there doing something more…useful, in her mind. I appreciate that she understands the importance of healing, but she also knows that she’s not adept at it either. It makes me curious as to why her family wanted her to be with the healers. You really get a feel for the danger that they live in when the village is attacked, and then there is the curiousness of why the crops and land are dying. The authors weave a story with a lot of suspense, mystery, humor and danger! The characters kept me engaged as I was eager to learn what was going to happen next. The race is on to save her brother Gavin and to release someone that so many believe is nothing but evil.
There isn’t much that I don’t like about this story. I understand that Aria is young and impulsive, but I wanted more from her. When she was fighting with the monsters, her shots were just…terrible. For wanting to be a fighter I honestly wanted her to be out training in secret if need be to get better. There are also some scenes/moments that I wanted to read. I wanted to read how certain characters were taken out. But this is Aria’s story so I get it. LOL.
All in all, I enjoyed reading this book and look forward to reading the next in this series! If you love fantasy novels, twists, suspense, and danger then this is the book to pick up. I am rating this book 5 out of 5 star
If you love magic, action, mythical creatures, and well written prose, check out Dreamwalker! Here’s the blurb:
Aria is living the life of a healer, a position that’s been forced on her to keep her away from her dreamwalker abilities and her true desire of being a warrior. But there’s one dream that refuses to leave her alone- a man in a barren landscape of sand and rocks and ur’gel, deadly creatures designed for war.
But as she fights to learn how to hone her dreamwalker gifts in order to save this man who she feels an odd connection to, her world folds in around her. Her village is attacked and her brother is taken. The ur’gel demand one thing: bring Beru.
The man from her dreams.
But all the information she has about the man called Beru is that he was a traitor to the great hero, Onen Suun, who imprisoned the fallen over two centuries ago. If she frees this enemy in order to save her brother,how could she live with herself?
But if she doesn’t and her brother dies…
Save her brother or start a war. The decision is hers.
I haven’t finished just yet. However this opinion is 100% mine.
The world buildup is amazing. I connect to the characters, and seriously the amount of detail in this book is phenomenal!
A fantastic read. As soon as I opened the book, This read grabbed me right from the start. Aria is a healer she is helping her family. All the sudden there place is attached and her brother is kidnapped and the only way she can get him out. Is to complete the mission of getting someone else released. The Author takes you into a fantasy world that you can see visually in your mind. And you really feel for the Characters. Some scenes you may need a box of tissues. Once I started reading I couldn’t put the book down. Fantastic Writing. And an Epic beginning
Shauna Joesten
An exciting first book in this new series promises to be a fun ride. Aria is a dreamwalker but needs some guidance on how to manage her talent without using up too much energy. When her village was attacked by ur’gels her invalid brother was kidnapped. She would do anything to save her brother from the ur’gels so she sets off to find him with the aid of a warrior friend, Sade. On the road they meet up with a novice sorcerer and onward they go to the village of Western March where an experienced dreamwalker resides and where the ur’gels are set to attack next. Much happens in Western March while this merry band is there. Suffice it to say there is a happy ending but not without some struggles and sadness. The characters in this book add an interesting uniqueness to the story that makes you smile, laugh and cry. The world building is multidimensional and is easy to imagine. Although with 27 books expected in this series I would venture to say there will be more lands to discover and different characters to become acquainted with. I’m greatly looking forward to reading the future books in this series.
Oh my goodness! This story is amazing. I loved the characters, the action, suspense, mystery, drama, and all that was packed into it. It is one of those tat you just can’t put down. It is like a balm that soothes my mind. I started reading and the more I read the more I was drawn in. I loved all the characters with their quirks and personalities. It is extremely well written and the flow is superb. This is so good and I can’t wait to read more.