From National Book Award finalist Laini Taylor comes an epic fantasy about a mythic lost city and its dark past. 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 just five years old, he’s been obsessed with the mythic lost city of Weep, but it would take someone bolder than he … someone bolder than he to cross half the world in search of it. Then a stunning opportunity presents itself, in the form 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? And who is the blue-skinned goddess who appears in Lazlo’s dreams?
In this sweeping and breathtaking novel by National Book Award finalist Laini Taylor, author of the New York Times bestselling Daughter of Smoke & Bone trilogy, the shadow of the past is as real as the ghosts who haunt the citadel of murdered gods. Fall into a mythical world of dread and wonder, moths and nightmares, love and carnage.
The answers await in Weep.
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I loved every moment in this story. Hauntingly beautiful prose, tragic characters, and DAMN THAT ENDING! Can’t wait for the next instalment.
If you loved the Daughter of Smoke and Bone books, this one is for you. Lazlo Strange is one unforgettable character. Bittersweet ending with room for a sequel!
This book was absolutely incredible. Reading it was in some ways familiar. It had the lushness and breadth of imagination of The Night Circus curled into the sometimes sad and unnervingly lovely whimsy of The Strange and Beautiful Sorrows of Ava Lavender. I recognized the fantasy landscape and the adventure’s tale, bits of the mythology and some of the magic. But so much of this book was new and wonderful and original. It was full of dreams and fairytales and the color blue, and as hard as it is to describe, it’s even harder to put down once you’ve started. I’m looking forward to losing myself in Laini’s other books soon!
It was a beautiful book, and a terrible, powerful book. It spoke glorious images and gave form to the awful truths humans have shaped with hate and rage and fear. It’s a storyteller’s story, and yet change blue to black and brown to white and it’s a piece of contemporary news.
There is quiet magic in Strange the Dreamer, and under all the ugly truth, there is hope and there is love.
4.5 stars. I can’t think of a reason to NOT give this five stars, honestly… but I’m just stingy with 5-star ratings. I reserve them only for books I know I will read again and again and again. This book was REALLY good, but I didn’t feel that magic spark like it’s become a part of my soul.
Though a little bit overkill from time to time, the writing is eloquent and the descriptions lovely. The characters are vital and relatable. The plot moves along steadily. I loved the themes of guilt & innocence, gods & monsters, and the thin lines in-between. The world is pretty well fleshed-out (or all the worlds, I should say). Lazlo is the best kind of hero. Sarai (and all the Godspawn)… my heart aches for them. Actually, my heart aches for everyone, because let’s be real–no one in this book gets a win. And maybe that’s why I’m not giving it 5 stars (?).
Lots of beautiful quotes I’ve saved from this book, and I’m looking forward to the next installment.
If you’re looking for a fast read, this isn’t it. “Strange the Dreamer” is lovely and lyrical, and full of such strange magic as only Laini Taylor could dream up. It’s the sort of book you want to take your time with, savoring each beautiful, crazy chapter as you get closer to figuring out the mystery at the center of Lazlo Strange’s world. Unforgettable characters, incredible stories, and epic adventures: “Strange the Dreamer” is my new obsession. I’m already scanning the shelves hoping to see the sequel, even though I know I’m gonna be waiting a while.
Ok so I’m not even done reading this yet but OMG Laini Taylor is by far one of my favorite fantasy authors. Her prose is amazing! She defines the meaning of page turner and the worlds and characters she builds have such a poetic feel to them. I’m in literary love! If you loved Daughter of Smoke and Bone go get this immediately! I can’t even give you the basic premise just think fantastical!
Lazlo Strange is a just a junior librarian with a fantastic dream until that dream literally shows up at his doorstep.
I did it …. I finally read and finished this book. I’m so glad I did. I did really enjoy this book but it took me a while to get into it. I started it twice put it back , started it again and feel into a reading slump….I didn’t put it back down this time, I just kept at it really slow and read a few pages every day and I’m glad for it.
Once I got into it, I absolutely loved the word Laini Taylor created with this book. I liked that is was not too massive while we still get good sized world(s) and with plenty of Characters, quiet few actually, since we get sort of a split world. It’s hard to explain without spoiling it. I really enjoyed all characters, even the not so nice ones. While I might not have liked them as a person, I enjoyed the way they were written and portrait.
I wasn’t really sure at first who the villain will be and I liked that we had two candidates and both came through a bit at the end. Just one more than the other.
Of course I loved Lazlo and enjoyed his fresh view and of course his love for books, but I was pretty sure there is more to him than they let us believe in the beginning. I also enjoyed Eril- Fane and his Mother a lot, he sure was a kind but tortured soul.
I wasn’t so sure about Sarai in the beginning but I ended up loving her……. And her relationship with Lazlo, or the more and less what they had for one that is…….
While I enjoyed their time together it was also a bit odd and left a few things open and questioned by me but overall I really loved it.
Minya was someone I really didn’t like and that never changed….. I just disliked her more and more the more we get into the story. Thyron was someone I’m on the edge on, even now that I’m done… I think more is to come about him …. Maybe .
The ending… while some things I saw coming early on other things were a complete shock to me. I was in awe, how she could end it with such a cruel cliffhanger.
Overall I loved this book, and while I loved her writing but I thought it was dragging on a bit and was sort of glad for the end of the book. But I’m really looking forward to read the next book and see how she ended it.
I rate it 4
Laini Taylor has some wicked storytelling skills because this is serious high-quality fantasy, and the prose is 100% beautiful. Lazlo is precious. Sarai is lovely. Minya is creepy but fascinating. And Thyon is darkly intriguing. And THAT ending! Cannot wait to start book two…
The words flow like a river from the page. It’s lyrical and beautifully written.
The world that Strange inhabits in this book seems well fleshed out and definitely worth coming back to. As soon as I finished this book I was already looking up the realease of the sequel.
This is one of those books you both love & hate to read. You love it so much you spend every free second you have reading it. And you hate it because each word you read brings you that much closer to the end.
Layni Taylor is one of my “must read” authors. Lush imagery, fully fleshed out characters and a unique perspective on everything makes for intoxicating story telling. I only wish the next book in the series was already published!
very creative fantasy world-building, beautiful imagery, compelling characters.
This is such a unique storyline. Every minute I spent reading this was a visual treat.
Not usually what I go for (full of twisted evil and tragedy), but so gorgeously written I couldn’t help but love it. A land is newly freed from evil, magical, blue gods, but their fortress remains suspended in the air, blocking light and rain and slowly killing the city beneath. The legendary warrior who killed the gods brings Lazlo Strange along with several other specialists to try to solve the mystery of the fortress and dismantle it. But they are haunted by strange dreams, until Lazlo discovers that the dreams and the fortress are connected, and that he has a bond to them both that could save them all. Beautiful and lyrical, with characters so heartbreakingly real it almost hurts. WARNING: it has a horrible cliffhanger ending, which would’ve killed me had I not been able to immediately read the sequel.
Very well written, great and novel story.
Excellent wordsmithing and some memorable and believable characters. I wasn’t a fan of the rather juvenile romantic scenes, which I thought broke up the narrative more than they added. Your mileage may vary, however. Be warned that the book ends with a cliffhanger.
I’ve been looking for a fantasy book that will grab me and transport me into another world. This one had that effect for the most part. It is a story pitting humans against other worldly gods in the aftermath of battle between them. Both are trapped in their cities and connected by a magic metal no one can destroy. Enter an orphaned boy with his love of stories and fairy tales living to help others but dreaming of discovering live and his own true identity.
This story is similar to a Romeo and Juliet regarding the relationship between Lazlo (the orphaned dreamer) and Sarai (the orphaned half breed daughter of a god). Their relationship is both tender and tragic. It doesn’t help that Sarai’s “sister” is out for total control and revenge.
This book was good with a unique story, but there is a cliffhanger at the end and I’m not dying to read the sequel right away (my to read list is quite long).
Great until it got to the “to be continued” ending.
I didn’t like this one as much as the Daughter of Smoke and Bone series, but it’s still a wonderful read.