Tom DeLonge, formerly of Blink-182 (a very good band), and Suzanne Young, author of The Program, teamed up to write Poet Anderson… Of Nightmares, the first in a trilogy. Knowing DeLonge only from his music, and having honestly never heard of Suzanne Young, I was intrigued by the book, especially with the great short film that goes with it.
In Of Nightmares, we follow two orphaned teenaged brothers, Alan and Jonas, who are Lucid Dreamers, meaning they can control their dreams. After a lightning strike sends Alan into a coma, Jonas must survive on his own in not only the real world but the terrifying Dreamscape, full of Dream Walkers, Night Terrors, and the villanous REM, who Jonas must protect dreamers from.
It is a very quick and quite enjoyable read. It is full of action and suspense as well as humour. The world DeLonge has created is incredibly vivid and well imagined and the plot has some great twists, especially near the end, which were utterly unexpected.
The idea of someone going into a magical world only a few can enter isn’t exactly a new concept. I hoped this would provide some sort of new take on it, but I am a little disappointed. The main characters feel almost too perfect, and the romance contrived and not particularly original. Attractive, poor, rebel outsider Jonas falls in love with equally attractive, rich, popular Samantha, who is just waiting for Jonas to rescue her from her snobbish friends and family. The characters with the most personality, the ones I was most interested in, were side characters who we learnt little about. I hope to see more of them in the rest of the series.
Overall, Poet Anderson… Of Nightmares was an enjoyable read. It was just another YA book with a stunningly creative world, let down only by poor characterisation and narrative. It takes a while to explain what is going on, and it also moved incredibly fast, both of which can be confusing. I would have appreciated more in-depth character background, but I assume this will occur in later books. I would very much like to read the rest of the series in the future because I felt it had so much potential. I would encourage you to read it if you enjoy fast paced action and romance with tense cliff hangers.
- Buy this book at the Guardian Bookshop
