Following the adventures of Jonas Anderson, whose abilities as a Poet allow him to travel between the waking and dream worlds at will, the dream world being an completely alternate reality accessible when asleep and somewhere where Poet Anderson finds himself with unique powers, from creating and harnessing weapons to controlling the entire dreamscape and it's atmospheric conditions. Poet's powers are unusually powerful, but the other poets in the stories also have unusual powers, from immense strength and speed to the ability to stop time.
The original story ended after an encounter with REM, the big baddy of the dream world who seeks to take it over for himself and inflict himself upon the waking world too. With the help of his comatose brother Alan, they manged to defeat REM only to become separated once again.
This sequel sees Jonas dealing with his inevitable destiny in the dreamscape; battling with intense emotions and relationships between him and his brother, his girlfriend Samantha and a variety of other characters and beings within the dreamscape. If this wasn't enough to deal with as a adolescent horny teenager with a liking for whiskey, the fact that REM is back and burrowing his way into the waking world only adds to the pressures. Poet must try however he can, through dodgy dealings, explosive battles and unlikely team-ups to seek out his brother and try as he might to take on the dreaded REM.
Picking up about a year after the previous book, this one is just as exciting. It doesn't feel quite as well written - some of the sentences take strange turns and it took me a while to remember who was who and just what the hell was going on. I also noticed a few typos within my edition which led to some backtracking. However, the imagination employed exceeds all expectations for the newly turned author from musician, obviously taking his inspiration from popular sci-fi culture especially things such as the Matrix.
Both stories feel truly different, yet accessible and are real page turners, so much so I often found myself walking and reading after my beloved coffee shop had to kick me out for closing. Boo hiss.
This second story is obviously an interim to possibly the finale of a trilogy, but that's no bad thing and I wholeheartedly look forward to enjoying the next installment as much as I did this one.
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