The Republic of Dreams

This is the final part of a duology, set both in our world and in a parallel world, where dreamers can make their dreams become a reality.  Tamurlaine has become the young Queen of this kingdom called Balthazar and wants to ban dreamers, even though this means that the population may lack food and other much needed resources.  Her nemesis, Nicodemus Malladain (what a fantastic name) has fallen through to our world and sets about regaining his powers by stealing dreams from young people.  However, he has been recognized by Toby, who had helped Tamurlaine regain her throne, before being drawn back to our own world.  We then have a thrilling series of adventures, as our heroes try and prevent Malladain from conquering both our world and that of Balthazar.

Despite this being the second book in the series there is enough background information given, so that you can enjoy the story, without having read the first book; although I think that starting at the beginning would enhance the experience.  I really enjoyed this fascinating story, which really zipped along and kept me totally engaged with the plot and it is one of those stories that keeps you reading late into the night.  Toby was a great character, who we all end up having great sympathy with, especially as he has an absent father, who appears to work for the Prime Minister.  However, Tamurlaine can be quite frustrating at times, as she tries to learn the best way to serve her country; the title of the book finally begins to make sense as we reach the finale of the story and change is in the air for Balthazar.  This is an exciting and magical story for the top of KS2 and in to KS3 and ended up exceeding my expectations.