It took me all of five pages for my first exclamation of “this is AMAZING” because Laini Taylor managed to make me – someone who was yearning for more Strange and Sarai – care about these two completely new characters who were keeping me from returning to my favorites. It is unclear whether these events happened a long time ago, but I was immediately intrigued, not least because we see Skathis the smith, but he is far from the tyrannical force we know he’ll become… Instead, we start with two sisters, Kora and Nova, who live in a place of ice and snow, where their only hope of a better life is to be taken by the Mesarthim in one of their metal airships. The attentive reader of the opening line will notice that it is neither about Laszlo Strange nor Sarai, nor anyone else who has featured in the first book of this duology. Love and hate, revenge and redemption, destruction and salvation all clash in this gorgeous sequel to the New York Times bestseller, Strange the Dreamer. But is she? Sometimes, only the direst need can teach us our own depths, and Sarai, the muse of nightmares, has not yet discovered what she’s capable of.Īs humans and godspawn reel in the aftermath of the citadel’s near fall, a new foe shatters their fragile hopes, and the mysteries of the Mesarthim are resurrected: Where did the gods come from, and why? What was done with thousands of children born in the citadel nursery? And most important of all, as forgotten doors are opened and new worlds revealed: Must heroes always slay monsters, or is it possible to save them instead? Lazlo faces an unthinkable choice–save the woman he loves, or everyone else?–while Sarai feels more helpless than ever. One a god, the other a ghost, they struggle to grasp the new boundaries of their selves as dark-minded Minya holds them hostage, intent on vengeance against Weep. In the wake of tragedy, neither Lazlo nor Sarai are who they were before. She believed she knew every horror, and was beyond surprise. Sarai has lived and breathed nightmares since she was six years old. Opening line: Kora and Nova had never seen the Mesarthim, but they knew all about them. WARNING: Huge, gigantic, massive (seriously) spoilers for Strange the Dreamer below! If you haven’t read Strange the Dreamer, don’t even read the synopsis of this book. I had saved this book for when I needed a treat and it was exactly that! A literary treat where every page is better than the one before, a story that made me laugh and cry, characters I wish I were friends with, and a kick-ass plot that I didn’t think could be resolved (spoiler: Laini Taylor totally resolves it!).

Muse of nightmares sequel