There are few speculative fiction books, which grab your interest from, page one and hold it through the end of the book. “Dreamlander” by K. M. Weiland is one of those outstanding books of this genre.
What makes her book stand-alone from many published each year is the outstanding style of this very talented author. We often hear the phrase “practice what you preach” and K. M. not only practices, she embellishes. “Dreamlander” is the embodiment of conflict, tension, surprises, and almost any other adjective you can think of to describe a thriller.
Weiland has been around long enough writing several other successful books which include a historical western, “A Man Called Outlaw,” a medieval epic, “Behold the Dawn,” and a Amazon bestseller “Outlining Your Novel: Map Your Way to Success.”
She has many followers who listen to her podcasts, take her courses on writing, and faithfully read her blog, “Wordplay: Helping Writers Become Authors.”
Dreamlander has an interesting concept that some people can transcend from this world to another when they are asleep. K. M. calls them the gifted! Her main character Chris Redston has a recurring dream, which takes him to another world. He discovers in this other world that he has to save it from disaster! Chris does not have a background that prepared him for battles with primitive swords or ancient guns that could only fire one bullet at a time. In fact, he was an ordinary man living in modern times. However, when in the dream world, he discovers that he has talent to be an excellent swordsman and strategist.
Characters in any story are very important for the development of their interaction, but also for the telling of what is taking place. What makes this book unusual is that those characters from this world are normal, everyday people. Those in the dream world are more interesting. There are very short people or animals who speak! A relationship and romance foment between Chris and a princess. Royalty comes into play as Chris takes sides with the king and endeavors to take part in battles to save the realm.
What makes this an outstanding book is the fact it does not use offensive language and youngsters from age 12 and up can read it without their parents needing to protect them. On the other hand, the parents can read and enjoy this same book, which leads to a win – win situation for all readers.
Some humorous incidents occur during this epic saga. Chris Redston is able to introduce an advantage to his battle prowess by bringing a Glock to his dream world. The downside to this is his ammunition runs out each time he fights and he never has time to get more when he returns to the other world. In one scene, there is a need to travel a long distance in a short time and he is able to ‘borrow’ his friend’s car that has a full tank of gas, taking it back to his dream world for the completion of the trip.
Lifelike descriptions of both worlds make this book a candidate for an excellent screenplay. One of the best parts of this journey is an exciting look into two worlds. There are some very interesting uses of the Internet. K. M. ties the end of the book up in marvelous fashion by taking her readers to a specially constructed website where there is music, outtakes, and more dialogue between the characters. This is a five star book!
Dreamlander
Speculative Fiction
Author: K. M. Weiland
ISBN: 978-0-9789246-8-3 Pages: 530, $15.69, Publication Date: Fall 2012, Soft Cover, Fiction, Published by Pen For A Sword Publishing
