Dreamwielder is a YA fantasy about a young teen girl who can turn dreams into reality. Unfortunately, all magic is forbidden by the cruel emperor, and she is in danger of her life if anyone but her family finds out. Meanwhile, royal siblings begin trying to overthrow the emperor with the help of secret sorcerers.

Dreamwielder was an engaging YA fantasy novel. I enjoyed the creative plot and setting. There were some unexpected plot twists, and I enjoyed the plot as a whole. Some of the technology seemed a bit steampunk, which was fun as well.

There were four main characters — the dreamwielder girl, her grandfather, an 18-year-old princess, and the princess’s brother. They each had unique personalities, and I enjoyed reading about them. I think that they could have had a little more character development, though.

My biggest concern about the novel is the content level for the age group. The characters and the reading level seem to be written for younger teens. The main character especially seemed so innocent and young — she was only about 13, after all. Although there were 3 other, older POV characters. However, there was quite a bit of violence for a young teen age group, such as someone burning a ship full of people locked in their cabins, serious threats of torture and of “bedding” an 18-year-old unwilling girl as many times as it takes to get her with child, war violence, and more. It was a bit much for a young age group.

I enjoyed the book as a whole and found it refreshing and creative. I would recommend it, though with the content concerns included with the recommendation.

I received a complementary copy of this book. All opinions are my own, and I was not obligated to provide a positive review.

A very interesting and epic journey with a princess who possesses the power to turn dreams into a reality in which she discovers that she's a dreamwielder. The princess and prince sibling kinship was cool to see both be at the helm of the story, and then add a villain antagonist to shake things up. It was hard to connect with the characters and it felt like the storytelling was more telling and less showing.

Unfortunately for me I could not get a hold of the story and found that the writing dragged in my opinion- I could not relate to the characters or the storyline at all.

Thank you to Garrett Calcaterra and Netgalley for allowing me to read this book in exchange for my honest opinions. This book was an absolute page turner. I loved the plot and the magic of the land and people. The whole world sounded beautiful

A completely new, creative world of fantasy that grabs ahold of you and doesn't let go. The way that magic works in the world is reminiscent of the additive and subtractive magic in Terry Goodkind's Sword of Truth series. There were a few places that seemed a bit complex for a YA novel, but if you have a reader who reads above their age group it would be a great fit. All in all, I felt it was a good fantasy book for fans of YA books. It had a much different, darker feel than your standard YA fantasy book but that isn't a bad thing.

Thank you to NetGalley, Diversion Publishing, and Garrett Calaterra for allowing me the opportunity to read this book and provide my honest views to others.

I received a copy of this book from Netgalley in return for an honest review, but I never downloaded it in time to actually take advantage of the review copy. Having promised a review I purchased a kindle edition and attempted to read it. I think the major problem I had, and why I sadly DNFed this novel was that I never connected with it. I put off downloading it from Netgalley because I wasn't feeling it at the time, I waited a long time to get the kindle edition and even then I kept leaving the book hanging. Dreamwielder has all the elements I look for in a book...fantasy, romance, magic, interesting world building but for whatever reason that wasn't enough for me. I'd recommend reading a preview of the novel before buying just to make sure you don't encounter the same problem I had.

I thought I would enjoy Dreamwielder based on the synopsis. However, this book fell flat for me.

The premise of Dreamwielder was very promising. The young, unknowing Makarria holds power that she has yet to learn to harness and she is is a key to saving the kingdom. There is magic and adventure and good versus evil!

I struggled with connecting all across the board. I felt a disjoint of the plot, I was not caught up in the fantasy world, and the characters did not compel me. Makarria was one of my biggest issues, as she was portrayed much younger in mannerism than she was described in age.

This very well may just have been a case of "it's not you; it's me," but either way, I was not a big fan and struggled to push through to finish.

DNF. This one didn't hold my attention; the writing was clunky and stilted, making it difficult to want to continue reading. May just not be my cup of tea.

A lost princess, self-fulfilling prophecy's and magic - Dreamweilder is definitely a book that captures your intrigue from the first few chapters and is able to maintain it throughout. When Emperor Guderian issued the decree to eliminate everyone with magical abilities after hearing a prophecy of his demise at the hand of a sorceress, he unknowingly signed his own death at the hands of the most unlikely assassin. However, the true focus of this novel is the coming of power story of young Makarria. When we are first introduced to her she appears to be a sheltered naive young girl, but when she accidentally uses her magic to save her grandfather's life, this simple loving act turns into a catalyst that not only turns her world upside down - but the literal world as well.

I received this book on NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

There are so many great things about Dreamwielder and yet I am only giving it 3 stars (maybe this is like 3.25 stars). The characters, plot, world building and magical system are wonderful. They could easily come from any high-end fantasy book. Author Garrett Calcaterra of Dreamwielder (the first book in the Dreamwielder Chronicles) is clearly talented. Right up until you need him to describe a building or scene; or show you what is happening….

Give me more cowbell!
Really good fantasy books require some intricate descriptions. I’m not talking about 10+ pages about rocks (ugh Emyn Muil) but there has to be some sort of substance to the descriptions. If I’m in a throne room numerous times which is enthralling to the characters then I’d like to be able to see it in my head. Instead it was as if it was a generic “Lightbringer” throne room.
Here’s an example of a lack luster description: ”…the ceiling of the throne room was vaulted, and there was a high balcony lining the rear and side walls, but apart from that it was similar in size and layout to the throne room in Castle Pyrthin.”
That’s it? I want sooo much more; what are the colours, what’s on the tapestries, what does the throne look like, how big is it, are there windows, is it intimidating, etc. I started (by the halfway point of the novel) rewording the sentences to have descriptions in them that incorporated more of the plot, what characters were seeing and descriptions. Even a phrase like (forgive my bad writing) “Not unlike Castle Pyrthin the vaulted ceilings, held up by stone columns, gave the room the impression of being larger than it was. As Caile walked towards the throne he realized that the man on the small, but ornate, gold throne didn’t fit in with the elegant royal purple tapestries which depicting epic fights and sorcerers of great power flinging their blue balls of magic in battle. The Emperor instead appeared…” Yes I made up those details, because in my head that’s what I started to do when given no descriptions of the settings. I just wanted so much more! Simply put, I wanted someone like Robin Hobb, Brandan Sanderson or Elizabeth Haydon to have written this story because it could be a rich, intriguing and intricate fantasy story. Instead Calcattera gives us a glimpse into what could be an intricate, intriguing and impressive fantasy world and then lets us down with mediocre descriptions and not enough showing.

Yes I really mean it, give me more!
Now, I know what you’re thinking… “Mel, are you saying you wanted this book to be longer?” Yes!! There’s a first time for everything (lol). I wanted to be immersed in this world where we swap characters points of view and split up only to reunite characters later on. It’s an absolute tragedy to me that there is sooo much good stuff here and yet the core base of what makes a book readable and immersive is missing.
The characters, plot and world are more than good enough that I will read the next book in the series; but I suspect I will be re-writing it with descriptions in my head as well.

Genre
I know this is listed as a young adult book, and yes it’s suitable for a young adult. But I think it’s mis-categorized. This is really an epic high fantasy book that just needs a good fantasy treatment added to it. What I mean is that I want it to feel grander than it does right now. Again, I just think there’s so much more Dreamwielder could be. I’d hate to see Calcaterra stay at this level of writing because I think he can be so much more than he is. That’s not to say YA books aren’t good (I personally love them); it’s only to say that Dreamwielder feels bigger and I want a lot more out of it so an epic fantasy treatment feels like the way to go here.

In Conclusion
I’m a broken record by now because all I can say is give me more! Calcaterra should re-write this with a more adult audience in mind, add-in descriptions to flesh out this world, and overall step up the writing to a more show and less tell approach. If this was to happen I honestly believe there is a promising future for not only Dreamwielder but Calcaterra himself.
If I could afford to I’d hire him a big-time editor and copy-editor from TOR or Orbit to work with Calcaterra and make this the grand story it deserves. In the meantime I’ll be moderately content with what I have and keep hoping that a larger publishing house sees what I do in this wonderfully set-up series.

Did not finish this book. This book was not good. I didn't like the main character.

Grace

I received an ARC from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

When I was approved for this I was super excited. I love fantasy, adventure, magic, and new worlds to explore. I thought for sure that I would devour this book in an instant and that I would be addicted for life. Unfortunately that was not the case. It was a really hard read as I thought it was a bit boring an predictable. Usually I blow through books so fast I just read them one at a time however over a week period I read 5 other books and would come back to this one when I finished those and then find a new one to read when I just couldn't sit with it any more.

The beginning pulled you in to a false sense of epicness that was soon extinguished by the time you meet the first Scent-Hound. Which by the way is terrifying to envision.

https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/2136630411

This is an action packed epic fantasy novel! Makarria is born into a world where magic and dreaming are forbidden. But she can't help it that she dreams anymore than she can help that what she dreams comes true. She is a dreamwielder. She tries to hide her magic but when forced to choose between her secret or her family she chooses family. From now on she has exposed herself and has a target on her back. While being hunted by a ferocious villain she becomes friends with Taera, a princess with magic of her own. Their friendship ignites the journey of a lifetime...

I really enjoyed this novel and was able to finish it on one reading. I can't wait for the next book in this series to come out!

Book given by Negalley and publisher for a fair and honest review!

Rating: 2/5 Stars
I received a copy of this novel in exchange for an honest review. Even as I write this I'm having a hard time putting into words how I feel about this novel. I'm going to start by talking about what I liked, and then move onto my problems with the editing, writing style and the transmisogyny featured at the beginning of the novel.

I think that the concept of the novel and plot had a lot of potential, although there are a lot of plot holes and deus ex machina devices used throughout that make everything feel a little too convenient. The protagonists, for example often know exactly how to move against our MC's with little to no information about the movements of the MC's themselves. Some of the developments feel too far fetched and sometimes had a difficult time suspending my disbelief - which is ironic, considering this is a fantasy novel.
The world is well flushed out and its obvious that Calcaterra really thought through how the geography of his world relates to the ways that the characters engage with each other and the politics of their world. Some of the characters are really interesting and other than our three focal antagonists: Kadar, Wulfram and Guderian - Calcaterra has clearly tried to make as many of them as non two-dimensional as possible.
In terms of experiencing the world as it is, I would have liked more world building and less description. Calcaterra spends a lot of time describing the character's world - their surroundings, how the steam powered machines work, what they look like. For me, Calcaterra could have easily picked a few key details about each scene setting and then spent the rest of the time flushing out the history of the world he's created. Calcaterra also spends a lot of time explaining things; there is a lot of telling and very little showing in this novel. I would have liked less exposition and more exploration.

My biggest problem with this novel in terms of the overall reading experience, includes the poor editing and the writing style. Calcaterra's writing is very chunky and long winded, to the point that sometimes he doesn't make sense. He takes three sentences to explain what could be written in one and often repeats himself two or three times in some paragraphs. For example, Calcaterra repeats three times in the same scene that only women are born with the power to Dreamwield (that is, to manipulate and conjure objects and ideas from ones dreams), when really we only need that piece of information once. I think Calcaterra underestimates the readers ability to retain information. Calcaterra would also (somehow?) confuse himself. The boat Pyrthinia's Flame for example was on three separate occasions called Pyrthinia's Fire. This I think, should have been revised during the editing process, which leads me onto my next point.
The editing in this novel is also poor. I wouldn't mention it, had this been a proof copy of the novel. It is not. Dreamweilders has been available to purchase for two years and as such the poor editing - in my opinion, suggests laziness. Especially with regards to punctuation mistakes and repeated words. The grammar and punctuation was so poor in fact that I couldn't tell if one of the characters had been written to speak in broken English, or if the editing job had been so poor that that was how the character was received. I also think that much of Calcaterra's chunky writing could have been revised within the editing process as well.

Okay, so now we've gotten passed what I liked and what I didn't it's time to talk about the ignorance and transmisogyny in this novel. For this section, I will include excerpts and context where relevant.
To begin with, Calcaterra clearly did little to no research with regards to his description of our MC's first period. He describes as follows:

"I've got it,' Makarria said, but as she reached father out she got the sudden sensation that she was wetting herself.
and
She felt like she was uncontrollably peeing in her britches, but not exactly."

Any author in their right mind who knew anything about menstruation would know that periods do not feel like peeing. Its menstruation not a urinary tract infection. If you're going to write about an MC who experiences their first period within the first few chapters you should probably ask some people who experience them about what they feel like in the first place.
We then get this line:

She'd had her first moonblood now - how much older could her father expect her to be?

My problem with this is that it occurs not two days after she begins bleeding. Note - begins and not, finishes. There is no later mention of menstruation, it is as though Calcaterra believes people with periods leek out like slaughtered fishes all in one go and don't have to worry about it for another months time. Its blatant ignorance and really shows how little effort Calcaterra has put into trying to accurately capture the experience of his MC.
But that's not all, oh no. We get the traditional gender essentialism and transmisogyny that comes along with talking about periods and pregnancy:

It's part of being a woman.
and
And like with childbirth, only women are able to become dreamwielders.
and
Nothing changes a woman's body more than carrying a child.

It is also canonically mentioned that our MC, Makarria has "dark-tanned skin," which would be fine if the model on the front cover wasn't pasty white. Diversion Books have somehow managed to whitewash their own novel, whilst Calcaterra himself perpetuates colourism and white purity in his writing:


Taera, with her long blond hair and clear blue eyes, was more beautiful that Makarria ever imagined a woman could be. By comparison, Makarria with her brown hair and dark-tanned skin felt like a wretched-looking whelp.

With context, Taera does describe Makarria as beautiful when referring to Makarria who she sees in visions of, earlier on in the novel. It isn't however for me to decide what is or isn't acceptable in terms of racial bias and colourism - I feel that it is very important to highlight though.

So, that's it - that's my review. I hope you found it insightful. I don't think I'll pick up this novel again, and its not something I would recommend when one thinks about the plethora of amazing fantasy novels there are available elsewhere.

I'm a huge fantasy nerd so I was so excited to read this book and, fortunately, it was a really great read for me! It was fairly easy to become immersed in this world and I loved the magic of it all. The characters were great and the plot was easy to follow. A super easy and fun read!

Dreamwielder is the first book in the Dreamwielder Chronicles by Garrett Calcaterra. The author brings us into a world where dreaming can get you killed.

Makarria is a farm girl living in a world ruled by Emperor Thedric Guderian a man who wishes to remove magic from the world. He believes that technology is the future and will stop at nothing to make his image of the world happen. Makarria life is no longer simple when she has to hide from the Emperor men who look for her as she is a Dreamwielder. Dreamwielder is the most powerful of all sorcerer, and the Emperor can not allow her to live as Dreamwielder have the power to create anything they dream. Makarria journey is intertwined with Princess Taera, her headstrong brother, Prince Caile. This three maybe the only hope that the Five Kingdoms have to stop Emperor Thedric dictatorship.

I enjoyed the author different take on sorcery, as I have never read another character with powers like a Dreamwielder, their abilities only restricted by their own imagination. Although I wouldn't want people to see what I was dreaming .

One of my favorite character evolutions is Princess Taera, for me once she accepted who she truly was, was when she started to come into her own.

I hope to see more of an evolution with Makarria in the next book, she has the most to come deal with but I felt with the smallest change in her character. This maybe more of an age thing as she is the youngest of the protagonists.

I am glad that this story was wrapped in this book, and I wasn't left on a cliff hanger. The story ended resolved this story arch but left the story open for the next book.  It does make me wonder what will happen for our trio in Souldrifter.

I give this book 3.8

This book sounded good, but it did not turn out that way. There was very little character development. It was very hard to relate to the characters because I really felt no connection to them. Their overly formal language also came across as stilted and not natural--they sounded like automatons or something. I ended up just skimming the end and will not be reading the other books in the series.

Loved this book I liked reading about the different kinds of sorcerers and their powers imagine being able to make your dreams real! I liked the cover but mostly the uniqueness of the story and plotline. I think it's a great fantasy book to get addicted to I certainly finished it quick and it's an easy read I definitely recommend this book.

Imagine having the ability to manipulate the world through your dreams. Well, in this story, our young protagonist unwittingly sets into motion events that will change her world, as well as everyone else's. I am looking forward to the continuation of this series.

The first book in the Dreamwielder chronicles is a fantastic fantasy adventure with great characters and lots of pace-- loved it!