Name: Dreamhunter
ISBN: 9780374318536

Elizabeth Knox

While attempting to get passage into the Place as a qualified Dreamhunter, Laura uncovers corruption at the heart of the government ruling this magical land and fears that her knowledge of this secret may be the reason why her father has suddenly gone missing. 25,000 first printing.

Book One of the Dreamhunter Duet

Dreamhunter

Pepper

What a gorgeously written, unique historical-fantasy treasure. I am so in love with the book and it's characters and really admire Knox for her wonderful imagination and writing. Everything about the book from it's setting, it's characters, it's writing to it's concept is compelling and engaged me from the very first page.

Dreamhunter introduces to us an island set in the 1900s and not unlike our own NZ except that it has The Place where Dreamhunters go to catch dreams which can then be sold at a price. There are all types of dreams - Healing Dreams used in hospitals to make patients feel better, Novelist Dreams which tell a story from various POVs which people can enjoy (kind of like reading a book) etc. However it seems that all is not well in The Place - that it has a message to give if only someone would take heed of it. Tsiga Hame spent his life denying himself the truth - that there was something The Place wanted him to do but when he finally opens his eyes he leaves the task to his quiet daughter Laura to fulfill. 

The reason Dreamhunters struck such a chord with me is not just because it has a unique idea to illustrate but also because all the characters in the book are so 3 dimensional. I love the Hame/Tiebold household - a Very Talented Family indeed. Each one of it's inhabitants is wonderfully characterised:
Tsiga Hame - the talented deamhunter who can be faulted for having loved too well because of which when his wife fell ill he seemed to forget all his responsibilities and spent most of his existence trying to use the dreams to help her. 
Chorley Tiebold - Hame's wife's brother who raised Laura (Hame's daughter) and his own daughter Rose and took care of Tsiga whenever he returned from The Place hopeful that the new dream would be the one. Such was his love for Tsiga Hame and his sister's daughter Laura that he asked his own sister to let go and make sure that Tsiga did not die with her which he was sure to if he kept bringing her dreams.
Grace - the dreamhunter that can outdream many, she is such a strong female character and I love that she is the one who takes care that the family is financially well. I love how much she loves her calling. She is Rose's mother and Chorley's wife.
Laura & Rose - They are inseperable cousins and while Rose has always been the one who leads the way among the duo Laura is not as timid as she appears to everyone who thinks she merely follows Rose. Her strength and talents are what Tsiga Hame calls upon when he leaves Laura with a mission. They are both such wonderful heroines in their own right.
Not only that but there are so many side characters but each have such a story behind them that none of them ever seem 1-d.

Enough rambling though. I now need to get my hands on the sequel!

Dreamhunter Book One of the Dreamhunter Duet