The Nothing (A Book of the Between) --by Kerry Schafer

Fantasy 

326 Pages / 3846 KB

5 Stars

I finished reading Wakeworld (see review here) and immediately picked up The Nothing. Almost a 1-sit read. I think it was a 2 –sit read due to work calling ;-)

The Nothing closes the trilogy begun with Between (see review here), and though this story is now satisfactorily and happily ended, the ending leaves it open for another adventure as soon as the heroine and her companions are rested enough to take it on.

Vivian and Zee must overcome some serious problems, both for the Dreamworlds, which are dying, and themselves. If the Dreamworlds die, people will be unable to dream, and they will die. Vivian must reconcile her three personas—Dreamshifter, Dragon, and Sorceress in order to save the day. But, if she shifts to Dragon one more time, she will die, thanks to a wound by dragonstone when Zee threw the knife at her.

People live in Dreamworld, and people die in Dreamworld, and people make sacrifices in Dreamworld for those they love just as they do in our world, Wakeworld. Having said that, I will say the ending is more than satisfactory.

Seldom do I read a series that MUST be read in order, but this is one of them. While you may be able to read them out of sync, it will be ever so much easier if you start at the beginning of the story and read through to the end. Not only will the worlds make better sense, so will the characters. We have the marvelous opportunity to see them change, grow, learn, and in many cases become people I wish were real and I could meet. A well-written and skillfully produced series of books. My world is better for having read them.

And, yes, Poe is in this book, too. He's so marvelous. He's one of the characters I'd love to know. If Vivian ever needs a penguin sitter, I'm her gal. And Bob. Bob can stay with me, too. Any time.

Wakeworld (A Book of the Between) --by Kerry Schafer

Fantasy

306 pages  2039KB

 5 Stars

It's been a couple of years since I read Between (my review is here) and when I saw the next two books, Wakeworld and The Nothing, I had to buy and read them. I was not disappointed.

I had forgotten Poe, the penguin, and was delighted to find he plays a major supporting role in Wakeworld. New characters are introduced in this book, Weston and his sister, Grace, both of whom play pivotal roles. Weston is a Dreamshifter who has fought it all his life, to great pain and loss.

Weston and Vivian so not start off as best buds, but they realize they must work together to save Dreamworld, and with time, they become good friends. And when Zee nearly kills Vivian, well, he and Weston have, shall we say, words?

I absolutely love the worlds Ms. Shafer has built. I would read the books just for the worlds, however, she's peopled them with such fun characters, I get to enjoy the worlds and their populations.

If you're a lover of fantasy, and new and exciting worlds, you'll enjoy this series. Although not quite a 1 sit book, it was very close.

Between --by Kerry Schafer

Fiction, Fantasy

295 pages (mass paperback)

Footnotes / Endnotes: No

Illustrations: No

Suitable for eReaders: Yes

4 Stars

This is a debut novel, and I believe this writer has a great future ahead of her. She took on an ambitious subject and turned it into a great story. There are three worlds our heroine, Dr. Vivian Maylor, lives in: Wakeworld, where she is a no-nonsense ER doctor, deals in facts and figures, is used to controlling her world and all in it. There is Dreamworld, which comes when she sleeps, where she has little if any control, and in fact isn't even sure of the rules. And there is Between, that world where one is between the other two.

That between world is one of my most favorite worlds. Not so our intrepid heroine. I spend almost an hour every night, and if I'm lucky, an hour every morning in that between world. I would not necessarily want to spend any time in Vivian Maylor's Between!

Between is an adult novel. I think I'd call it modern high fantasy, complete with swords, sorcerers, and dragons. And a penguin. In fact, Poe (the penguin) is probably my favorite character. (Never compete with small children or animals, they win every time! ;-) Rape happens, death happens, dragons happen. What is real? What is dream? Where is Between?

Ms. Schafer has done a great job of world building; her dragons are more closely related to those of fairy tales than those of Anne McCaffrey. Perhaps this should be called a modern fairy tale. It has all the elements of an old one, just brought up to date.