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rogue_lurker's review against another edition
4.0
Since it seems every time I check my Goodreads feed, there's a new K Aten book out - and I've got about four on my e-reader based on the reviews I've seen - I figured it was time to crack open the virtual cover of one of them and start reading them.
Waking the Dreamer is a dystopian, cyberpunk-lite novel - not a common genre in the larger lesfic ecosystem - and it was a nice change of pace. The novel is set in the not so distant future that has pretty much gone to hell in a hand-basket with the environment being pretty much toxic, a military dictatorship, mega-corporations and lots of cool tech. Aten has taken the state of the world today and spun a pretty dark (but entirely plausible) future where humanity's inaction on current crisis like the environment and isolationism have created a pretty grim world. In addition to the sci-fi elements, Aten has also introduced a new breed of humanity called Walkers - people who are able to consciously leave their bodies while asleep. Obviously, once this is discovered, the government and military want to study and weaponize this ability.
The story is told in first person POV so the character of Julia is much more developed. As Dreamer One, Julia has been hiding in plain sight under a new identity, and her paranoia and fear of being discovered has made her isolated and uncaring. She's actually quite a bitch at first, but based on what she's been through and what is likely to happen if they ever find her - it makes sense.
Nikko, is a bit less developed and more of a foil for Julia's awakening. She was a bit too perfect at times - physically due to her getting the best of food and training as a BEN (Goverment/Military Enforcer) but also emotionally. Julia has had years to get used to being a Walker, living under the radar - Nikko seems to adapt pretty fast and the relationship between the two moves at a lightening pace.
Things really start moving about halfway though, with Julia getting more of a chance to be an active participant rather than hiding who and what she is. Once she gets going, she's quite the bad-ass and not someone I'd want to piss off. I can see this story on the big screen - there's a ton of atmosphere and action.
I have mixed feelings about the epilogue and have gone back in forth in my head whether the book would have been better if it had been left out.
Waking the Dreamer is a dystopian, cyberpunk-lite novel - not a common genre in the larger lesfic ecosystem - and it was a nice change of pace. The novel is set in the not so distant future that has pretty much gone to hell in a hand-basket with the environment being pretty much toxic, a military dictatorship, mega-corporations and lots of cool tech. Aten has taken the state of the world today and spun a pretty dark (but entirely plausible) future where humanity's inaction on current crisis like the environment and isolationism have created a pretty grim world. In addition to the sci-fi elements, Aten has also introduced a new breed of humanity called Walkers - people who are able to consciously leave their bodies while asleep. Obviously, once this is discovered, the government and military want to study and weaponize this ability.
The story is told in first person POV so the character of Julia is much more developed. As Dreamer One, Julia has been hiding in plain sight under a new identity, and her paranoia and fear of being discovered has made her isolated and uncaring. She's actually quite a bitch at first, but based on what she's been through and what is likely to happen if they ever find her - it makes sense.
Nikko, is a bit less developed and more of a foil for Julia's awakening. She was a bit too perfect at times - physically due to her getting the best of food and training as a BEN (Goverment/Military Enforcer) but also emotionally. Julia has had years to get used to being a Walker, living under the radar - Nikko seems to adapt pretty fast and the relationship between the two moves at a lightening pace.
Things really start moving about halfway though, with Julia getting more of a chance to be an active participant rather than hiding who and what she is. Once she gets going, she's quite the bad-ass and not someone I'd want to piss off. I can see this story on the big screen - there's a ton of atmosphere and action.
I have mixed feelings about the epilogue and have gone back in forth in my head whether the book would have been better if it had been left out.
Spoiler
When reading the epilogue I found it an odd cross between a Wizard of Oz and Thomas Covenant with the idea that Jules was dreaming of the potential future and identifying people in her present that were there in the future (Souza, Nikko). Was the idea that somehow, with forewarning she could somehow prevent the eventual downfall, or was she and Nikko going to escape to Toronto and just let the rest of the world go to shit or was it all just a delusion from the brain tumour? Ugh. I'm okay with open endings, but I think it just made the book a little heavy handed in drilling home how close we (in the present) are to ending up with the type of dystopian future Aten has created. I think the book could have ended with Jules and Nikko heading north in the future and let the reader connect the dots on their own.rebl's review against another edition
4.0
Genre: SciFi
Pairing: F/F
Orientation: Lesbian
Sexual Content: (Fairly) Graphic
Content warnings: Abduction, Child Abuse/Psychological Torture, Scientific experimentation on humans, murder scenes
RATING: Four stars
BLURB:
By the end of the 21st century, the world had become a harsh place. After decades of natural and man-made catastrophes, nations fell, populations shifted, and seventy percent of the continents became uninhabitable without protective suits. Technological advancement strode forward faster than ever and it was the only thing that kept human society steady through it all. No one could have predicted the discovery of the Dream Walkers. They were people born with the ability to leave their bodies at will, unseen by the waking world. Having the potential to become ultimate spies meant the remaining government regimes wanted to study and control them. The North American government, under the leadership of General Rennet, demanded that all Dream Walkers join the military program. For any that refused to comply, they were hunted down and either brainwashed or killed.
The very first Dream Walker discovered was a five year old girl named Julia. And when the soldiers came for her at the age of twenty, she was already hidden away. A decade later found Julia living a new life under the government’s radar. As a secure tech courier in the capital city of Chicago, she does her job and the rest of her time avoids other people as much as she is able. The moment she agrees to help another fugitive Walker is when everything changes. Now the government wants them both and they’ll stop at nothing to get what they want.
REVIEW
I purchased this book as soon as I read that blurb. Dystopian future? Impact of climate change? Cool astral projecting dream walker types? Lesbians? Well, sign me up!
As someone who isn't especially enamoured with action scenes, my favourite part of this novel was the opening third. The descriptions of a plausible future were provocative, posing many of the classic questions that make sci-fi such a great genre, and answering those questions with a keen and discernible eye. I loved this line:
And humanity was left to harvest the fields we seeded with our own ignorance.
And then there's this:
The world was actually on the cusp of great change until one political leader tipped it all back into the dark-age. Figuratively, of course. It took just one powerful man to back out of climate initiatives, to roll back renewable energy programs, to eliminate the Environmental Protection Agency, and increase funding and subsidies to the fossil fuel industry. It was a far reaching ideological shift and the world paid for it. Being the “greatest country on Earth” meant that we led the other nations by example, poor though it was.
What's not to love? When the romance took over the book, I became a little less interested (just because it meant less attention was being paid to the futuristic world itself), but I know that's probably the part a lot of people will turn up for with this story -- I think this book is romance first and sci-fi second, despite the rich dystopian tones of the opening chapters. That's definitely not a bad thing, but I point this out because there are a handful of readers out there who prefer the situation in the reverse (a small handful, indeed, but I know we exist!).
Overall, the book is well-written and the relationships are developed quite nicely. There's a complex relationship between the individual and society, a theme I love to see explored in any book, but especially one like this with a flawed, (occasionally) morally reprehensible female lead who refuses to play by the rules set down by the Corporation. I mean, how great is this?...
He helped me find a new identity before agents came around to collect everyone with a serial number that had become more important than their name.
That one sentence says a lot, and reflects all of my favourite things in Waking the Dreamer. Power. Authority. Control. Censorship. Repression. Rebellion. Resilience. Great stuff, really!
Now for the main thing that held me back from five stars (though, to be fair, four stars is the highest rating I've given for a while! It's pretty darn good). There are a few minor editing errors ('typos') but what book doesn't have those, right? I swear, you can read a manuscript fifty times and they still slip through, so that didn't really influence the rating very much. I may be in the minority here, but I didn't particularly enjoy the final chapter. I appreciate it was a twist, and many readers may find this sudden shift of the narrative arc to be exhilarating, shocking, and therefore fascinating, but for me, it detracted from the entire story and I wished I'd stopped reading at the end of the second-last chapter because that was a comfortable place to end. A place that didn't leave me confused enough to have to re-read passages and try to work out what had just happened. I love complexity in stories, and it may be the lack of sleep talking (thanks to my toddler who seems to have regressed to a screaming newborn recently), but I was more lost than anything.
Final chapter aside (and hey, you might LOVE the way it ends, my friends), this is an engaging book with much to say, though sometimes the love story overshadows the political and social guts of the tale. WAKING THE DREAMER is perfect for someone after balance between what might be considered traditional "lesfic", with the romantic and sexual elements, and the gritty, meaningful exploration of society that only comes with speculative fiction.
3dking's review against another edition
5.0
And she did it again. I grabbed the book and could barely put it away when life got in the way. Once again I wished for a epilogue with some fluffy feel good stuff, but other than me longing for it this is a perfect adventure.
The romance is safe again. Two adults find each other, learn to love each other and continue to do so even if it gets difficult. I really like this about Aten and it further strengthens my resolve to read every other book she has written. And: our hero Jules starts out powerful and remains so! No hero journey to the bottom and clawing their way back up. I still feared for her and Niko when bad stuff happened, but I felt so much better knowing Jules had the will and the power to fight!
Throughout the book there are some really nice quotes and one in particular made me chuckle with murderous glee:
“I will be your nightmare until she is safely back with me. You can’t fight your dreams.”
I'ld really like to read some short stories of Niko and Jules doing jobs for Souza using their abilities.
The romance is safe again. Two adults find each other, learn to love each other and continue to do so even if it gets difficult. I really like this about Aten and it further strengthens my resolve to read every other book she has written. And: our hero Jules starts out powerful and remains so! No hero journey to the bottom and clawing their way back up. I still feared for her and Niko when bad stuff happened, but I felt so much better knowing Jules had the will and the power to fight!
Throughout the book there are some really nice quotes and one in particular made me chuckle with murderous glee:
“I will be your nightmare until she is safely back with me. You can’t fight your dreams.”
I'ld really like to read some short stories of Niko and Jules doing jobs for Souza using their abilities.
brennooth's review
5.0
Oh, I loved this so much I don’t even know how to put it into words properly. First things first (not particularly in that order): that ending? that was brilliant because it’s not your standard “and they loved happily ever after” thing, which - don’t get me wrong - I love, but it seemed like this story had its own way of being extraordinary and therefore Jules and Niko riding off into the sunset together just wouldn’t have cut it. Loved, loved, loved that twist wrapped in a twist hidden in a twist there. It leaves you wondering about what actually happened and it’s brilliant. The entire story of the book is crazy cool. Dream walkers? How friggin’ fancy is that? And all the abilities that just go along with that? Jules being so skilled in what she does that she teaches Niko who is also a really quick learner. The way they meet? It took me three seconds to ship them and love them. The slow buildup that they had, the loneliness that Jules had within her that Niko chased away. Their unique connection of talking without words, Jules dropping everything to rescue Niko in the end? I adore them, they’re such a badass team. And even post-plot-twist relationship? I just wanted to hug them both for quite a while. It’s a good thing that I didn’t have to switch from disliking Olivia after that twist :p Such a cold hearted person... yikes.
It seems that both Niko and Julia crawled into my heart and made themselves at home. Truth be told, I’m totally okay with that.
random sidenote: Niko running through a wall and into the sofa? Priceless.
It seems that both Niko and Julia crawled into my heart and made themselves at home. Truth be told, I’m totally okay with that.
random sidenote: Niko running through a wall and into the sofa? Priceless.
rogue_lurker's review
4.0
Since it seems every time I check my Goodreads feed, there's a new K Aten book out - and I've got about four on my e-reader based on the reviews I've seen - I figured it was time to crack open the virtual cover of one of them and start reading them.
Waking the Dreamer is a dystopian, cyberpunk-lite novel - not a common genre in the larger lesfic ecosystem - and it was a nice change of pace. The novel is set in the not so distant future that has pretty much gone to hell in a hand-basket with the environment being pretty much toxic, a military dictatorship, mega-corporations and lots of cool tech. Aten has taken the state of the world today and spun a pretty dark (but entirely plausible) future where humanity's inaction on current crisis like the environment and isolationism have created a pretty grim world. In addition to the sci-fi elements, Aten has also introduced a new breed of humanity called Walkers - people who are able to consciously leave their bodies while asleep. Obviously, once this is discovered, the government and military want to study and weaponize this ability.
The story is told in first person POV so the character of Julia is much more developed. As Dreamer One, Julia has been hiding in plain sight under a new identity, and her paranoia and fear of being discovered has made her isolated and uncaring. She's actually quite a bitch at first, but based on what she's been through and what is likely to happen if they ever find her - it makes sense.
Nikko, is a bit less developed and more of a foil for Julia's awakening. She was a bit too perfect at times - physically due to her getting the best of food and training as a BEN (Goverment/Military Enforcer) but also emotionally. Julia has had years to get used to being a Walker, living under the radar - Nikko seems to adapt pretty fast and the relationship between the two moves at a lightening pace.
Things really start moving about halfway though, with Julia getting more of a chance to be an active participant rather than hiding who and what she is. Once she gets going, she's quite the bad-ass and not someone I'd want to piss off. I can see this story on the big screen - there's a ton of atmosphere and action.
I have mixed feelings about the epilogue and have gone back in forth in my head whether the book would have been better if it had been left out. When reading the epilogue I found it an odd cross between a Wizard of Oz and Thomas Covenant with the idea that Jules was dreaming of the potential future and identifying people in her present that were there in the future (Souza, Nikko). Was the idea that somehow, with forewarning she could somehow prevent the eventual downfall, or was she and Nikko going to escape to Toronto and just let the rest of the world go to shit or was it all just a delusion from the brain tumour? Ugh. I'm okay with open endings, but I think it just made the book a little heavy handed in drilling home how close we (in the present) are to ending up with the type of dystopian future Aten has created. I think the book could have ended with Jules and Nikko heading north in the future and let the reader connect the dots on their own.
Waking the Dreamer is a dystopian, cyberpunk-lite novel - not a common genre in the larger lesfic ecosystem - and it was a nice change of pace. The novel is set in the not so distant future that has pretty much gone to hell in a hand-basket with the environment being pretty much toxic, a military dictatorship, mega-corporations and lots of cool tech. Aten has taken the state of the world today and spun a pretty dark (but entirely plausible) future where humanity's inaction on current crisis like the environment and isolationism have created a pretty grim world. In addition to the sci-fi elements, Aten has also introduced a new breed of humanity called Walkers - people who are able to consciously leave their bodies while asleep. Obviously, once this is discovered, the government and military want to study and weaponize this ability.
The story is told in first person POV so the character of Julia is much more developed. As Dreamer One, Julia has been hiding in plain sight under a new identity, and her paranoia and fear of being discovered has made her isolated and uncaring. She's actually quite a bitch at first, but based on what she's been through and what is likely to happen if they ever find her - it makes sense.
Nikko, is a bit less developed and more of a foil for Julia's awakening. She was a bit too perfect at times - physically due to her getting the best of food and training as a BEN (Goverment/Military Enforcer) but also emotionally. Julia has had years to get used to being a Walker, living under the radar - Nikko seems to adapt pretty fast and the relationship between the two moves at a lightening pace.
Things really start moving about halfway though, with Julia getting more of a chance to be an active participant rather than hiding who and what she is. Once she gets going, she's quite the bad-ass and not someone I'd want to piss off. I can see this story on the big screen - there's a ton of atmosphere and action.
I have mixed feelings about the epilogue and have gone back in forth in my head whether the book would have been better if it had been left out.
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