>The Dark Dreamweaver by Nick Ruth
Book 1 of The Remin Chronicles

The first book in a planned series, The Dark Dreamweaver takes a young boy into a fantasy world where he discovers that while magic isn’t as easy as he thought, he has a talent and ability to learn it and use it well. David, the main character, enjoys illusion and “tricks” as much as the next child, and when he discovers a wizard cursed into a never-ending life cycle of a monarch, he eagerly agrees to help him combat the evil being who has taken over the world of Remin and caused literal nightmares in David’s human world.
In the world of Remin, David and his new friend Houdin join forces with several imaginative creatures on a journey to find and combat the evil wizard, freeing Houdin from his curse and recapturing control of Remin and the dream world in the process.
Houdin and his friends are fascinating and friendly characters. These diverse and multi-faceted characters adapt to each other and bond as a team, using their strengths to compensate for each others’ weaknesses. Houdin reveals that Remin residents have become dependent on a finite resource, spectrum, and suffer greatly when an unnatural shortage develops. Is this shortage a veiled statement on our own world’s dependence on fossil fuels for energy? Perhaps, but it‘s not obvious or heavy handed.
The main weakness in The Dark Dreamweaver is stylistic. Overuse of simple sentences produces an almost choppy feel. Increasingly more complex sentences will improve its flow. But on the other hand, the author also uses creative and humorous statements such as “If you have ever been in a vortex between worlds, you know what happened next.” With practice and experience, I expect author Nick Ruth to become better and better.
I enjoyed The Dark Dreamweaver and look forward to the continuing saga of The Remin Chronicles. I can willingly recommend this book to those who enjoy fantasy, but may not be advanced enough readers to tackle some of the longer books in the genre. In fact, now that I am finished reading my publisher-provided copy, I plan to donate it to the library of the school in which I teach. I’m sure it will not sit on the shelf for long.
As I was nearing the end of the book (during a silent reading session at school), I saw two butterflies rise from the prairie garden below my classroom window. Coincidence? Perhaps, but you’ll have to read The Dark Dreamweaver to truly appreciate the connection.