Book Review- Dreams of Dust by Lily Anne Crow
Dreams of Dust is an excellent example of a simple premise that continually builds throughout the story, creating a full world, great character dynamics and an unfolding plot that keeps you guessing.
Seventeen-year-old cartographer Thaniel has lived a life of privilege up until now. Sent out into the world to gain some experience he lands in with a motley crew tasked with uncovering the mystery of missing people all throughout the land. Unsure of his new friends but determined to make it work, he tries his best to prove himself amongst magic users and warriors in their search.
Strange dreams start to haunt the groups sleeping hours with the Queen of Dust at the helm. Dreams of powerful undead soldiers, old gods being harnessed for sinister use, disease and famine coursing through the lands and the Queen herself who is shrouded in mystery.
Determined to get to the bottom of their task, Thaniel will need more than his cartographers’ abilities to get him through. With his own magic budding under the surface, Thaniel and crew will seek the help of unlikely friendships, suffer heartbreak and betrayal, and learn to fight together, or die trying.
The Queen of Dust takes only prisoners and leaves only husks in her quest. But going into that, would be spoiler territory, you will have to read the book to find out more.
The first thing I will say about Dreams of Dust is that it is highly underrated. The author gives us a rich world brimming with species, beasties and personalities, a complex and interesting magic system, and an intriguing antagonist which although never full explored, kept me wanting to know more throughout the entire book.
Very early on the reader is gifted with multiple species coming together in one place and learning to work as a group. From the Owl like Dhulruk whose people caused the plague many moons before to the elk headed Hernaran full of wisdom and quiet power that travel with our group. Outside of this we also have domesticated animals that set the imagine alight, the six-legged Pikalia was my personal favourite, these beasts are good for carrying any number of travel satchels, but not great at responding to their names. From there we branch out to the God like spirits of the Lilka, the original inhabitants of Erlahan who cared for the lands before any other creatures did. Although rare now, we did get to witness some of these magnificent beasts throughout the story as Thaniel learns of his affiliation with them. Learning about all the aspects of the world was delightful but the amount of care put into the creatures, big or small really took the cake for me personally. Outside of the animals, we explore various terrains, discover old ancient cities still dripping with magic crystals, trespass through disease ridden villages while making our way to the dangerous desert to find the missing people.
The next thing worth mentioning is the magic system, this was so vast and interesting to watch unfold. Harnessed using crystals in some form or another, different people had different affiliations and abilities using the same source. This was explored in some fun and beautiful ways. We of course have the classic magic user, almost mage like in execution who physically used the crystals to cast spells, we even got to see a battle between two of these types of magic user as a test for entry into the group which was a lot of fun. But there were more subtle ways this magic could be harnessed, such as a flute with the gems embedded into the body of the instrument. The songs that came from this flute would have different effects and it was often lovely to read these scenes on the page, even if the group was fighting something fairly horrific.
The last thing I will mention in terms of the story itself is the way the author has shrouded the antagonist in mystery but uses her as a way to push the plot forward. The Queen of Dust is never fully explored, but she does plague our crew throughout the duration of their travels. Her character continues to put pieces of the puzzle together for the group and they are marching ever onward towards the danger she promises. Towards the end of the book, you get a glimpse of the Queen’s motivations behind what she is doing but we don’t get to see a big showdown when the groups come together. Don’t get me wrong, we do get to see some very cool and very horrific magic and consequences during these encounters but I as a reader, really want to know what is going to happen next and what part the Queen is playing in future instalments. This element has me wanting more.
I thought this book was great and deserves a lot more praise than it currently has. For fans of found family, old gods, coming of age stories and lands with rich histories, this book is for you!
