Review and Giveaway of K.M. Weiland's Dreamlander!

When I first read the blurb for K.M. Weiland's newest release, an epic time travel adventure/romance, I was immediately intrigued. It reminded me vaguely of the premise behind the NBC show, Awake, which was one of the greatest shows cut short on television. (Did a review of that show here.)

Here's the blurb from Katie's website:

What if it were possible to live two very different lives in two separate worlds? What if the dreams we awaken from are the fading memories of that second life? What if one day we woke up in the wrong world?

Every night, a woman on a black warhorse gallops through the mist in Chris Redston's dreams. Every night, she begs him not to come to her. Every night, she aims her rifle at his head and fires. The last thing Chris expects—or wants—is for this nightmare to be real. But when he wakes up in the world of his dreams, he has to choose between the likelihood that he's gone spectacularly bonkers or the possibility that he’s just been let in on the secret of the ages.

Only one person in a generation may cross the worlds. These chosen few are the Gifted, called from Earth into Lael to shape the epochs of history—and Chris is one of them. But before he figures that out, he accidentally endangers both worlds by resurrecting a vengeful prince intent on claiming the powers of the Gifted for himself. Together with a suspicious princess and a guilt-ridden Cherazii warrior, Chris must hurl himself into a battle to save a country from war, two worlds from annihilation, and himself from a dream come way too true.

What if your dreams came true?

Dreamlander is different from other time travel novels in that Chris is dreaming as he time travels back and forth between Earth and Lael. When he is asleep on Earth, he is awake in Lael and dreaming about life in Lael (at least, that's what he thought). Vice versa.

Wouldn't be so bad, except Chris has got a man out to kill him on Earth, and when he's sleeping in Chicago, he's at his most vulnerable. Some of the most intensely suspenseful scenes are the cliffhangers as Chris makes himself go to sleep in Lael to get something from Earth only to have him waking up to the most recent drama.

There is a learning curve to any speculative novel, but I never got bogged down in learning about the storyworld of Lael and Gifteds. The details are weaved in seamlessly.

K.M. really nailed the psychological factor, as well. I was impressed with how realistic she made the reactions of Chris's friends. They were ready to send him to the loony bin when he started trying to communicate to them about his dreams being real. Several diagnoses were bandied about, which I found could definitely be true if some guy came to my office saying what Chris was.

Since I don't read books without a romantic element, I have to say that the story of Chris and the princess is one worth mentioning. Weiland doesn't go over the top with melodramatic moments, which makes the strides the two make all the more compelling.

K.M. advertised this book as an "epic fantasy novel," and the epic portion managed to keep my interest, as well. All the side stories, in particular the "guilt-ridden Cherazii warrior" storyline, added so much to the book. I keep tabs of my emotions when reading, and this book certainly managed to make me run the gamut between love/hate and delight/disgust in the characters.

And the ending is worth waiting for. That's all I'll say about that. I was extremely satisfied on the adventure/time travel wrap up and especially happy with the how romantic thread ended. In truth, for a book that absolutely could not happen, it rang with realism.

Watch the trailer here, read an insert here, or just buy the book in whatever format you like: 

Amazon Paperback / Kindle / Nook / Kobo / PayPal

Giveaway Details

K.M. has graciously agreed to offer a digital ebook copy of Dreamlander for one lucky commented below. The giveaway is open outside the US, too.

I like for giveaways to be a perk for my readership, so I'd greatly appreciate it if you'd click "follow" in the Google Friend Connect box or subscribe to my blog feed.

Let's Analyze

Are you a time travel fan? Why or why not?