The Dream Merchant

Isabel Hoving (author)

Hester Velmans (translator)

Walker Children's Books, UK: 2005; 638pp

ISBN: 1844289370

Genres: adventure, fantasy

Issues:  creativity, ethics, friendship, identity, responsibility, self-discipline, trust

Josh Cope is a bit of a dreamer. And rather rather dishonest, actually. He has a very private collection of valuable bits and pieces that he's picked up in all sorts of places. Stolen, if one is to be quite truthful.

It seems a little too strange even for him, however, when an international corporation that he's never heard of, wants to employ him at an astronomical rate of pay for a skill he's not even sure he has.

As he is introduce to the idea of dream walking, Josh becomes quite excited about the possibilities of working for Gippart - until things start to go wrong. It seems that Gippart neglected to tell him how dangerous pushing his way back into the past might be. And Josh finds himself haunted by a nightmare that knows him by name. Caught between dream and reality, Josh and his fellow Associates must travel to the end of time and heal a great wrong if they are to find their way home.

Perhaps a little slow to start (skip to chapter three if you need to, then read back if you can't follow it), this huge novel is a very entertaining story, packed with interesting characters and concepts, and an endless stream of adventures. Although very much about the power of imagination, The Dream Merchant is also about people and relationships - the best kind of relationships as well as the worst.

Definitely worth reading.