Title: Dream Robbers (Goodreads)
Rating: 
Greedy thieves have stolen the children’s dreams! And not just any dreams, mind you, but the Dreams of whom they are to become. With this loss children everywhere are becoming cross, and more misbehaved by the day. They are driving their parents mad.
Left alone in their Village, it’s up to twelve, brave, Elf children to undertake a long and hazardous journey, and try to get their Dreams back. They must hurry though. The seeds within every child on Earth, the seeds these special Dreams nourish, are hardening. And, alas, hardened seeds can never sprout. (Goodreads blurb)
Details
Series: Nature Elves 1 (of 2 at present)
Genre: Middle-grade (ages 9-13) Fantasy
Published: Omega Star Publishing, December 2011
My Copy: Provided by the Author in exchange for a review
Paper copies not available.
E-copies: Amazon.com • Amazon.co.uk
Review
This delightful story is about twelve elf children, each with special powers from natural sources such as fire, snow, storm and water. They set off on a journey together to try to discover why the stream near their village has stopped flowing. They must get it to flow, so that children will Dream again.
The story starts rather abruptly with only a short prologue to explain what has happened. The reader is thrown into the story with the elf children already a week into their perilous journey, but a steady pace is soon set as the story picks up. RC Scott produces beautiful descriptions of places along the elves’ way, as well as great action scenes full of nature magic and strange creatures. There are plenty of lessons about striving to be one’s best, being kind to others and about the perils of being greedy.
Dream Robbers has a slightly Tolkein-esque feel to it: Twelve companions set out on a journey, go through a few dangers before reaching a temporary safe haven, then continue on to an evil place, then are carried to safety by magical means (or eagles). There’s even a White Wizard in this story, but the entire feeling of the tale is much lighter than Tolkein. The characters are very sweet and do quite a lot of giggling – a bit unusual for Fantasy heroes!
One thing that let this story down was that it’s rather long. There are passages that could easily have been cut down a little, especially in the parts where the elf children are getting lectured by some adult or other. Also, the author has a habit of putting commas in odd places in sentences, which can make reading feel a little stilted.
Dream Robbers was an enjoyable read and would certainly appeal to children interested in getting into epic fantasy adventures. There is a second book in the Nature Elves series that was published earlier this year – Witch Sticker Ball. I’ll be interested in reading it and Dream Robbers to my son when he’s a little bit older!
Interesting-sounding plot, but 12 characters seems like a lot to keep straight. Especially when it’s 12 elf characters who probably are described as looking and acting a lot alike. 🙂
Bookzilla recently posted..Review: Let’s Pretend This Never Happened