528 pages
Published April 4, 2019 by Hodder Paperbacks.
SARAI HAS LIVED AND BREATHED NIGHTMARES SINCE SHE WAS SIX YEARS OLD.
SHE BELIEVED SHE KNEW EVERY HORROR AND WAS BEYOND SURPRISE.
SHE WAS WRONG.
In the wake of tragedy, neither Lazlo nor Sarai are who they were before. One a god, the other a ghost, they struggled to grasp the new boundaries of their selves are dark-minded Minya holds them hostage, intent on vengeance against Weep.
Lazlo faces an unthinkable choice--save the woman he loves, or everyone else?--while Sarai feels more helpless than ever. But is she? Sometimes only the direst need can teach us our own depths, and Sarai, the Muse of Nightmares, has not yet discovered what she's capable of.
As humans and godspawn reel in the aftermath of the citadel's near fall, a new foe shatters their fragile hopes, and the mysteries of the Mesarthim are resurrected: Where did the gods come from, and …
SARAI HAS LIVED AND BREATHED NIGHTMARES SINCE SHE WAS SIX YEARS OLD.
SHE BELIEVED SHE KNEW EVERY HORROR AND WAS BEYOND SURPRISE.
SHE WAS WRONG.
In the wake of tragedy, neither Lazlo nor Sarai are who they were before. One a god, the other a ghost, they struggled to grasp the new boundaries of their selves are dark-minded Minya holds them hostage, intent on vengeance against Weep.
Lazlo faces an unthinkable choice--save the woman he loves, or everyone else?--while Sarai feels more helpless than ever. But is she? Sometimes only the direst need can teach us our own depths, and Sarai, the Muse of Nightmares, has not yet discovered what she's capable of.
As humans and godspawn reel in the aftermath of the citadel's near fall, a new foe shatters their fragile hopes, and the mysteries of the Mesarthim are resurrected: Where did the gods come from, and why? What was done with thousands of children born in the citadel nursery? And most important of all, as forgotten doors are opened and new worlds revealed: Must heroes always slay monsters, or is it possible to save them instead?
Love and hate, revenge and redemption, destruction and salvation all clash in this astonishing and heart-stopping sequel to the New York Times bestseller Stranger the Dreamer.
This description comes from the publisher. Muse of Nightmares is the second book in the Strange the Dreamer duology, the first of which is Strange the Dreamer.
4.5 stars
It is so fun to read a book where you have absolutely no idea what's going to happen next.
I see that many readers were impressed with this follow-up to Strange the Dreamer. Perhaps I was feeling particularly grumpy when I read it, but I found it disappointing. Although there are sparks of invention such as Laini Taylor has accustomed us to, there are also pages of what I think of as the Silver Surfer syndrome, in which the author, or one of her characters, agonize pointlessly over their place in the universe, their moral failings, and whether boy really loves girl. This does not add moral depth and is simply tedious. The two-book novel would have quite adequately filled one volume, and the doings of this second part could have been rounded up in an extra chapter to the first
