Dream Thief by Shana Abe

Not as engaging as The Smoke Thief...

I really enjoyed The Smoke Thief; the characters were well-fleshed out, the conflict and plot arc were well done, and the action was exciting. Unfortunately, The Dream Thief doesn't measure up quite as well.

The Dream Thief, in contrast to the first book, has sketchily drawn characters, and the execution of the plot arc, which could have been fascinating and exciting -- especially given the grown-up Zane and Lia's dream-premonitions -- is very thin.

The middle section of The Dream Thief consists mainly of these two traveling to find Draumr -- all of which forcibly reminded me of the meanderings of Harry Potter, Ron Weaseley, and Hermione Granger in Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows; that is to say, none of it was very interesting because nothing much of import happens. We don't learn anything very deep about either Zane or Lia -- what makes them tick, how have they become the characters they now are -- and events just roll along. When Lia finally Turns, what should be an exhilarating moment is given short shrift and quickly becomes an event that is easily accepted then done. We also barely see Lia's parents, Rue and Christoff. As these 2 had a large role in shaping both Zane and Lia, the essential absence of them seems rather glaring.

The last part of the book reaches a climax, but it comes and goes so quickly, it's almost a "blink and you miss it" event. We're introduced to other drakon and Draumr but don't learn much about them either, what they've done and how they've lived during the separation of the drakon. The section reads more like a "Hi, 'Bye, Later" series of blip-verts. Considering how much appeared to be riding on Draumr, which then led to the other drakon, this was a huge disappointment on top of everything else.

Overall, my take on this second book is that it's more an outline of a story than a full novel. You see the framework of what could have been an amazing story, but it's still bare bones rather than a full-course meal. I hope the next book will follow the model of The Smoke Thief.

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