QUEST OF THE DREAMWALKER

This fantasy finds a sorcerer’s daughter attempting to escape his influence while learning the true nature of her own powers.

The sorcerer Sidonius rules the Black Keep, aided by a young, white-haired woman he calls Daughter. Though she longs to see the vibrant life outside the Keep, her spirit is too weak to dare leave. She’s also key, along with a magic scroll, to the ritual that maintains Sidonius’ health by funneling her inner being “into Father’s unseen wound.” To escape the pain, she imagines being in a “lush woodland” that she somehow knows intimately. When Sidonius acquires some mercenaries to magically drain their life force, she notices a striking pair of men. They are Capt. Mason Khoury and Reid “Archer” Tarhill. While she believes that people are “all slaves to circumstance,” Archer disagrees. She helps the charismatic soldiers escape, and the three head west to the comforts of the Bear Clan. There, she awakens to her ability to read minds while touching a person (or animal) with her bare hands. Chieftain Bradan, who speaks with the dead, believes that “something is missing” from the woman whom Archer has named Cara (meaning friend). She also grows closer to Khoury, which becomes difficult when she learns that Nalia, another woman, seemingly dominates his heart. In this series opener, Bennett deftly illustrates village life through characters like Ingrid, an older medicine woman. Polar bears, especially Cara’s beloved Gar, play an important role, though it’s bittersweet to see a vulnerable species alongside fantasy beasts like dragons. The author’s pacing is excellent, balancing copious travel among locations like the city of Iolair with plot-jolting revelations. The cleverest narrative gambit uses the character Falin, an outcast member of the matriarchal warriors of Foresthaven. Falin’s presence threatens to upstage Cara and further complicate her romance with Khoury. Bennett’s fabulous eleventh-hour twist prevents these tropes from playing out. The finale nearly hits a dour note but instead chimes with a glorious cliffhanger.

A fantasy series opener that unfolds with increasingly delightful surprises.