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The Dream Engine cover art

The Dream Engine

Written by: Sean Platt, Johnny B. Truant
Narrated by: Ray Chase
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Publisher's Summary

A truth terrible enough to bury for a millennium

A mysterious boy calling in her sleep

A secret city that shouldn't exist

When Eila Doyle first sees the strange boy beckoning in whispers from somewhere deep in her imagination, she questioned her sanity. She was used to seeing strange things with her eyes closed - that's what Eila did all day while strapped to the Blunderbuss, building whatever the Ministry of Manifestation required - but never before have those images felt so real, or so dangerous. After Eila learns the terrible truth about her reality and the monsters inside it, she thinks that maybe madness might be her only escape.

This thrilling young adult steampunk adventure is the first in the Dream Engine series by masters of story Platt & Truant, authors of The Beam, Unicorn Western, and many more.
©2014 Sean Platt and Johnny B. Truant (P)2014 Sterling & Stone
Science Fiction & Fantasy
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    4 out of 5 stars
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Profile Image for John C. A. Manley

The sypnosis doesn't doesn't do justice

After reading the first chapters of a few of Truant and Platt's works I had all but given on up on them. It's not that I thought the books were poorly written, just not my type of fiction. The characters in Invasion were too sleazy, and the Boricio psychopath in Yesterday's Gone was just not the type of character I wished to spend time with. And the Unicorn Western reminded me too much of the months I spent trudging through Don Quixote de la Mancha.

But with the Dream Engine, despite the fact the synopsis didn't pull me much, I decided to take a plunge, buy the audio and listen to it with my 12-year old son and wife (who is older than 12). From the opening chapter we were enchanted. The unique world they created, the vibrant and diverse characters and the unfolding mystery and sense of inner and outer discovery pulled us in. The overall story plot of a society unknowingly addicted to a substance and unknowingly enslaving another culture was an apt metaphor for our own society today. The awakening and breaking free of the main character and the unexpected developments with another propelled the story.

My only complaint about the book is that at times I felt the writing could have been tighter. It slows down in places almost feeling as if the authors are either trying to make a word count or just can't bare to chop away at their own art.

And the reader... my goodness, one of the best I've heard. His ability to perform character voices so distinctly is a rare talent. He even does a good job at the female voices -- though the mother was a bit weak.

Since the second book isn't available in audio format, I already ordered and received a paperback copy which we will read soon. From what I've heard from other readers, the second book outdoes the first. And the first, while not an absolute masterpiece, certainly deserved 4 stars in my book. It would have warranted five stars if the plot unfolded with a little less predictability. But where the plot lacks, character, overall idea and the unique world the authors created makes up for it.

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Profile Image for Fred Platt

The Dream Machine

the struggles for a 15 year old young girl who is made to grow up faster than she should have to work with the adults before her time and discovering that what she believed to be real was not

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