Dreamhunter, by Elizabeth Knox
Title: Dreamhunter
Alternate Titles: The Rainbow Opera (UK), The Invisible Road (combined with sequel Dreamquake)
Author: Elizabeth Knox
Genre: Fantasy, New Zealand
Publisher: Harper Collins (Australia and New Zealand), Farrar, Straus and Giroux (USA) and Faber & Faber (UK)
Pages: 434 (NZ/Aus edition)
Copy Origin: Purchased from Whitcoulls
Get Your Own Copy From: Amazon.com, The Book Depository
Laura comes from a world similar to our own except for one difference: it is next to the Place, an unfathomable land that fosters dreams of every kind and is inaccessible to all but a select few, the Dreamhunters. These are individuals with special gifts: the ability to catch larger-than-life dreams and relay them to audiences in the magnificent dream palace, the Rainbow Opera. People travel from all around to experience the benefits of the hunters’ unique visions.
Now fifteen-year-old Laura and her cousin Rose, daughters of Dreamhunters, are eligible to test themselves at the Place and find out whether they qualify for the passage. But nothing can prepare them for what they are about to discover. For within the Place lies a horrific secret kept hidden by corrupt members of the government. And when Laura’s father, the man who discovered the Place, disappears, she realizes that this secret has the power to destroy everyone she loves… In the midst of a fascinating landscape, Laura’s dreamy childhood is ending and a nightmare beginning.
Reading Dreamhunter is like walking through a dream. The prose is simple, but elegant, and it has this hypnotic quality that gradually draws you in and feel like something is so wonderfully off. And, like I have experienced in dreams, it is a reality that is wrapped firmly in the arms of fantasy, and it is that feeling - combined with with an alternate history of New Zealand and drawing back further to other tales - which creates a world and story that is very unique.
Dreamhunter is one of those stories where I fell more in love with the world than the characters at first. It’s set in an alternate history New Zealand - called Southland - in a time period equivalent to the early 20th century. And it’s a world where dreams exist in a place (simply called “the Place”) where they are caught and shared as a form of entertainment, of healing, of inspiration… and torture. The real strength of this story was the mystery of the Place and the world of dreams and Dreamhunting. It is obviously a concept well thought out, and it shines through in the novel.
As an added bonus, there were many touches that I, as a New Zealander appreciated, and while this might not be the case for the majority of people reading this review, it’s just an example of the layers to this story. One example is, as shown in the map in the early pages, the place known to us as Farewell Spit is, in this alternate history, called “So Long Spit”; a second example is the explanation of some of the history of Southland, the discovery of the Place and the origins of Dreamhunting, through an excerpt from a book called A History of Southland, by Dr Michael King - in real life, the late Dr King was the author of the famous The Penguin History of New Zealand.
The one thing that keeps Dreamhunter from earning a full five stars from me is that it is very slow to start. The story is divided into six parts, and the first of which, A Talented Family is a lot of world-building and introductions to characters, and a slow build-up to events. It’s not done in a bad sense, but it is very easy to read a bit, put the book down and be a little disinclined to pick it up again. It was like trying to go to sleep so you can dream - in this case, not just a case of setting your head down on the pillow and closing your eyes. Fortunately, once you get to part two (The Try) the story picks up incredibly quickly from there, and becomes difficult to put down. All in all, it’s definitely worth getting past that first segment.
Four stars.
Mirrored from On The Nightstand.