Dreamer

In a universe linked by the instantaneous communications of the Silent, who can even possess the bodies of other Silent in order to deliver messages, a new kind of Silent arises: a boy who can possess the non-Silent, threatening to trigger a new wave of violence against the Silent, who are already often enslaved. Against the background of contending empires, a few Children of Irfan (a group of Silent who serve a particular empire) try to save the boy—or at least use him for their own purposes. Pros: complicated worldbuilding where everybody’s got a point of view; sexual, racial, and ideological diversity. Cons: slavery is a big part of the worldbuilding, not being fought by anybody in the novel, and while that was plausible under their circumstances and it was not “yay slavery” in any way, I found it really depressing to read. ( )

The Silent have the ability to communicate through the Dream, a plane where one exists in a purely mental state of awareness, and can communicate over vast immeasurable distances in an instant. Such ones are greatly valued, but when it becomes apparent that there is boy with even greater abilities such that he can posses even the non silent at his will, the search is on to find, and if necessary destroy this boy.

The Children of Irfan, a benevolent monastic like order of the Silent, are amongst the first to become aware of this boy and Kendi, one the Children, is quick to search him out, but his fate, and that of the Dream itself, are not necessarily secure.

Dreamer is the first book written in The Silent Empire series, and as we meet Kendi we learn that his lover Ben, the son of Kendi’s one time teacher at the Chldren of Ifran, has ended their relationship much to Kendi’s disappointment. While dealing with the problem of finding and protecting this boy he also hopes that he can re-establish his relationship with Ben.

The writer has created an interesting future Universe, with well drawn characters one quickly comes to care about. The later written prequel, Nightmare, while not necessary reading for an understanding of Dreamer, does add much to the characters, especially Kendi, Ben and his mother. In truth having read Nightmare first, I find it hard to imagine approaching the series any other way. The stories make for pleasurable and at times suspenseful reading; I am already part way through the next book in the series, Trickster
( )

Humanity met aliens and discovered the Dream. The dream is a plane of existence where people can communicate psionically. Genetic engineering breeds humans who can do this. These humans are known as the Silent.

Rust is nothing amazing in the Empire of Human Unity, except for the fact that there might be a child here who is causing tremors in the Dream. A monastic-like order of the Silent are looking for him to train and control him, as do many other world government.

It's interesting but it's quite weak in parts, I lost interest several times. I won't be hunting for the next in the series as it's not really my thing but the author does show promise. ( )

Some pretty cool stuff but lite humor is bad. ( )

http://scooterchronicles.com/2004/07/07/dreamer-by-steven-harper/ ( )