The Dream and the Muse

A delightful and original portal fantasy with a heroine who is not in any way conventional, in the process of discovering her potential.

Her mentor is an out-and-out rogue, but his caper turns out to be laudable. The whole thing is pretty much an ode to chaotic good.

Along the way, the characters visit a number of different worlds, including one where everyone is some kind of undead, a shattered planet where witches can each have their own asteroid, and a bastion of lawfulness/awfulness. Thirteen worlds are connected by a nexus, but we only hear about half a dozen by name, so there's scope for more adventures in this universe. The different worlds only really have one idea each - there's not much depth to them - but they're fun anyway.

The heroine's exploits are ingenious, her character is appealing, and all in all it's a good ride.

A charming Alice in Wonderland type novel, sprinkled with a little of Kafka's Trial, reminiscent of Neil Gaiman' Neverwhere and the Ghibli's anime the Cat Returns. We are plunged into a strange world, that ends up making a lot more sense than initially thoughts. It is a great dive into the absurd dream scape with darker tones. Interesting if you like that type of work, it has a timeless quality.

It was a fun and easy to read story. I flew through the book. Once i started i coudn't stop anymore. But don't be fooled, this is a heavy story that will make you think about live. The story has a wonderfull fmc and each character she meets is amazing in their own way.

I could not have loved this book more. It's quite beautiful, imaginative, poetic, and everything is written with so much feeling. I almost thought I would put it down after chapter 2, but then realized an hour later that I couldn't stop reading it. Absolutely marvelous.

The Dream and the Muse by Jake Burnett - 5/5 stars

I received a review copy of this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest and fair review.

This book was slow to start, meandering quite a bit before reaching it's main plot. It was also very quick to finish, with most of the plot's loose ends tying up within the last few pages. That being said, I thouroughly enjoyed the story, characters, and, most of all, the worlds in which the story tool places. The setting of this story really is it's strongest point and I would jump at the opportunity to read other tales in these lands. The end of the book really does a wonderful job of setting up the potential to expand into a larger story and I hope very much there is more story to come of Madarena and Apophax.

I read a large range of age ranges and this feels to me to be mostly aimed at older middle grade or younger YA readers with lots of advanced vocabulary thrown in for the educational opportunity. Not at all a bad thing, just something I haven't experienced in a book before that being said, I was very happy I got my Kindle before starting this book in earnest, as the dictionary feature was heavily utilized.

I'd definitely recommend this book to those who love fantasy and sci-fi with very intricate, but very soft magic systems. As I said previously, while the pacing is a little off for my taste, I wouldn't hesitate at all to read the next book in the series if one is developed.

This young adult fantasy novel centres on Madarena Rua, a young woman with a phobia of ennui. She’s discontented with her life, feeling limited by her family and their expectations. Her life takes a turn for the bizarre when she meets a strange old man named Apophax. When she puts on his hedgehog spine coat, she will run for her life, uncover her potential, and become an accomplice in a grand Plan.

This was a wild and joyous read. Burnett’s imagination is certainly impressive in being able to come up with the places and people of this book. There is some darkness, but much more whimsy, in his creations. I think the characters who stood out most were the witch Mouldywarp and Kitchen Jack, a being brought to life from kitchen scraps. I also enjoyed going on the journey with Madarena and the roguish Apophax. I was also impressed with the references, plenty of which are to Greek mythology, but there are also a few to other fantasy or science fiction classics. The story itself is also very reminiscent of Alice in Wonderland.

One of the highlights of the book was the word play. Madarena employs her time reading from the dictionary to improve her vocabulary, and she has recently begun on the IM words when she meets the impious Apophax and is pushed into this impossible journey. The word play and the dialogue between the characters is deft and sometimes very funny. I think I may be appropriating the word imprecation to use myself. I very much like that the word play and the references in the book challenge younger readers.

While the story is quite humorous, and presents us with a wild adventure, at its heart is a love story and a story of friendship. It turns out that meeting Apophax is the best thing that could have happened to Madarena, and I’d love to see them continue their adventures.

The book is quite fast paced and a quick read. I would have liked to spend more time in the characters’ company. While I enjoyed the unfolding of the story through the middle, I would have liked more set up at the beginning and more at the end, as that felt a little abrupt. There is a lot of scope for more stories. While this doesn’t appear to be listed as the beginning of a series, I do hope Burnett returns to these characters.

This novel is a highly imaginative and well written adventure of what can happen when dreams and reality collide in a story reminiscent of Alice in Wonderland, The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, A Wrinkle in Time and a healthy dose of Greek mythology.

This was a fun and unique fast paced read.

This is one of those rare books that capture your mind, attention, thoughts, and heart right from the very first chapter.
We follow Maderena Rua, a young girl who wears a cloak of potential and carries a trunk of words in her mind. This book gives off a lot of "Alice in Wonderland" vibes in the sense that the world that Jake Burnett has created is absolutely bizarre. It definitely has a magical feel to it, just like "Alice in Wonderland", but I think that is where all the similarities end.
What really stood out for me was the characters. Usually in books that toe the line between middle grade and YA, the protagonist and some selected side characters are the only ones worth remembering, but in this book, I must say that each and every character, whether their role ended only after a single dialogue or just a run-into in a random scene, each and every character was so well fleshed out and thoughtfully created, that you can't help but remember them all. Starting from zombie kids, to lip-sewing dragonflies, to talking chalks, metallic whirring characters with lots of springs - everyone had a role in the story. There was not a single moment that felt unnecessary or irrelevant. Every scene furthered the plot and had a purpose.
Maderena was a curiously unusual character, whose favorite pastime was going through new words in the dictionary. She has a penchant for adventure and a phobia of boredom. Clever, smart, and witty, I promise she will not bore you at all, and might even make laugh out loud. However, there is one thing that immediately brought down the rating for me by one star, and that is when I read Maderena is "not like other people."
I loved the constant bickering between Maderena and her mentor/accomplice/not-really-a-friend - Apophax, who is an old Dream burdened with sorrow, in search of his Muse, who was stolen from him in a treacherous moment of misplaced faith.
The ending got me chewing on my nails, but I really wished this was a series and not a stand-alone because the world that Burnett has created has so much potential. The pacing of the story was medium to fast, but it definitely doesn't bore you. The vivid descriptions make you feel like you are right by Maderena, discovering the world through her eyes.
This brings me to one of the most interesting and bold aspects of the book and that is the language. Honestly, the story could easily fit into the middle-grade category, if not for the language. The writing style is not hard to follow, but it isn't easy either. It took me a while to get used to the way that it's written, and it kind of reminded me of children's classics (yes, Alice in Wonderland to be specific). And the author uses really difficult, uncommon, and new words which made it really hard for me to keep up.
Overall, the book was a magical bundle of words, characters, and an amazing whimsical world. I would definitely love to read more from this author in the future!