The Dreamhunter Duet by Elizabeth Knox

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The Dreamhunter Duet
by Elizabeth Knox



Laura comes from a world similar to our own except for one
difference: it is next to the Place, an unfathomable land that
fosters dreams of every kind and is inaccessible to all but a
select few, the Dreamhunters. These are individuals with special
gifts: the ability to catch larger-than-life dreams and relay them
to audiences in the magnificent dream palace, the Rainbow
Opera. People travel from all around to experience the benefits
of the hunters' unique visions. Now fifteen-year-old Laura and
her cousin Rose, daughters of Dreamhunters, are eligible to test
themselves at the Place and find out whether they qualify for
the passage. But nothing can prepare them for what they are
about to discover. For within the Place lies a horrific secret kept
hidden by corrupt members of the government. And when
Laura's father, the man who discovered the Place, disappears,
she realizes that this secret has the power to destroy everyone
she loves . . .

I borrowed both books of this duet from the library recently, and I thought they were good enough to be worth sharing on the site. What caught my attention was the creation of a rather unusual trade of "Dream-hunting", whereby gifted individuals enter an alternate realm called "the Place" to catch dreams simply by sleeping. These Dreamhunters then return to the real world to perform these dreams before paying clients, projecting their prized commodities into the minds of their audience in Dream Palaces/Parlors. The value of these dreams lies in the fact that many of them are cathartic, soothing to the soul and having observable postive effects on one's health and general well-being. However, some dreams are exploited for darker intentions -- nightmares are used for intimidation, while other less malignant dreams may be employed to skew public opinion for political leverage.

I won't spoil this any further, but what I've highlighted here is but a small fraction of the trade of dream-hunting, not to mention the use and abuse of dreams in prison reform and dirty politics. The pace of the story was a bit slow for my liking, but the intricately woven plot was what kept me reading on. I'd give it a 3.5/5 rating, just for the record.