Isabel Hoving

Whew! This book was as long and hard-going as LOTR! It kept me interested though as I tried to work out exactly what the author was getting at - no easy feat as it meanders all over the place.
The plot begins with Joshua who finds ( ie steals) a snake bracelet and is then recruited by a trading company to visit people's dreams to sell items of value. The author is dutch, so think Dutch East India Trading Company colonising the fantasy world of dreams ( called umaya) for profit. He is joined show more by his best friend Baz the drummer and Teresa, an older girl who turns out to be a storyteller. The dream world is constantly changing as the 3 travel back in time to when the trading company was first formed. Along the way Josh meets his dead twin sister Jericho (who is followed everywhere by a Death like figure called Lucide) and they are attacked by spies from a rival trading company and a senser called Spratt who thinks they can travel through time in the real world. It is all very confusing and I often had to re-read parts to understand what was happening. I wonder how young readers would cope with this. However, I would add that their adventures are highly entertaining and kept me reading until the end. show less

This book starts as an entertaining page turner, but it gets tedious. It is frankly too long for the subject matter. It is imaginative, sometimes novel, and the characters are well thought through, but as a children's book, I have to wonder how many of its intended audience will turn the 637th (reasonably cramped) page.

The Dream Merchant by Isabel Hoving is about a twelve year old boy named Joshua Cope who is recruited by Gippart International as a salesman (or rather salesboy). Gippart specializes in selling merchandise to people in the dream world, also referred to as umaya. They don't usually enlist twelve year olds but they feel that Josh has a special gift and they need him for an urgent umaya mission; to find the legendary people known as the Tembe.

This book has two modes: I show more can't-wait-to-read-what-happens-next and I will die-if-I-have-to-read-one-more-sentence. It goes back and forth every couple of chapters during the first half of the book. Then all of a sudden the writing gains consistency and the book shines. Chapter sixteen is by far my favorite part and the fact that Hoving was capable of writing it shows a lot of potential. Unfortunately, it relapses just in time to detract from the ending.

As a whole the book isn't very good but it has a lot of charming aspects. Racial diversity is included throughout the entire book. I feel that Hoving put a lot of thought into developing each character and their cultural ties. I also found it to be unpredictable. Just when I thought I knew where the story was headed it went in another direction. It was a nice change. Then there is Zizi, a little green love-bird, who belongs to Josh and joins him on his quest. At first I thought the idea was a bit dumb but I grew to love Zizi and her adorableness.

Ultimately, I have to give The Dream Merchant only 3 out of 5 stars. There are a few really wonderful parts that I will remember for a long time, if not indefinitely, but I'm never going to read it again. It was such a pain to get past the dull parts. Although, if Isabel Hoving were to write another fantasy book, I would read it. She has the ability to write an amazing piece of fantasy literature and hopefully she will someday. show less

On the one hand a typical fantasy story of a young boy who goes on his travels to seek his fate, but on the other is inventive in its methods. I.e. set in modern day, deals with crossing between dream worlds, modern corporations yet set in ancient myth.

Liked the idea about learning to alter the world around you, dependent on what your own talent is.

Yes it is a bit long for the amount of 'storyline', but I found it very enjoyable. Children/young adults may struggle with the length. I did not.