Book Review of Dreamwalkers: A YA Fantasy

Narciso (Ciso) di Angelo is a sixteen-year-old homeless boy living on the streets of Rome, Italy. During the day he panhandles tourists, and at night he walks in the dreams of strangers. Ciso believes he’s one of a kind, but soon discovers there are others like him who “Walk the bridges between two worlds, between reality and dreams.”

One night Ciso walks in the dream of a homeless man, but this intrusion is different from others. In this dream other dreamwalkers appear, with  the nightmare known as Melaina being the worst. She is the novel’s antagonist who heads Tantibus, a terrorist organization hell-bent on taking over the world.

The only thing standing in Tantibus’ way is Project Somnus. Lead by Commander Sawyer, Project Somnus is a highly secret underground division of the United Nations. Its objective is to combat and prevent terrorism. To do that efficiently, they need to be aware of terrorist plots before they are committed. When they can’t get close enough to a terrorist cell’s plans, Project Somnus employs dreamwalkers to uncover their secrets.

Tantibus intends to recruit Narciso to their ranks, but agents of Project Somnus arrive in time to save the teen from this fate. Now, for the first time in his life, Ciso has a family. The team of dreamwalkers he’s assigned to by Commander Sawyer watch each other’s backs and treat each other like family. Ciso figures this is too good to be true. He finally has a home in Project Somnus’ Swiss base in the interior of a mountain with people who really care about his welfare.

Tiaan Lubbe begins his Oneiroi Legacies Books with a thrilling story that takes readers from one exciting scene to the next. He does an incredible job with characterization, especially the growth of Ciso; who moves from introvert into leader willing to confront evil to preserve his new home and family. Dreamwalkers is the first in this YA book series with a promise of further Ciso adventures.

Though Dreamwalkers is well written with many surprising plot twists, my only negative comment on the book is sloppy editing. I noticed too many editorial errors that really shouldn’t have been there if the editor paid attention. With this said, Dreamwalkers is an excellent YA novel for anyone who enjoys a fantasy about teens with extraordinary talents.

About the Author

Tiaan Lubbe lives in Pretoria, South Africa where he spends his time teaching little monsters, directing plays, doing what he calls writing and dreaming up the future. Mostly all at once.

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