What do you think?
Rate this book
The Dream Keeper Saga #4
The Quest for the Guardians
Lily Embarks on a global quest to save the world from its nightmares.
Lily is excited to reunite with her family after her latest quest in the Somnium Realm, but when she reaches home, she discovers that evil nightmares have invaded the waking world. With the help of her parents, magical friends, and a team of displaced guardians of the Realm, she races to rescue the earth from destruction. Traveling by time machine to the Great Wall of China, Tanzania, and the mountains of Peru, they work together to save the world from fear. As their efforts falter, and the threat looms ever darker, Lily pleads for Pax to reach into the waking world to help . . . but can he?
Lily is excited to reunite with her family after her latest quest in the Somnium Realm, but when she reaches home, she discovers that evil nightmares have invaded the waking world. With the help of her parents, magical friends, and a team of displaced guardians of the Realm, she races to rescue the earth from destruction. Traveling by time machine to the Great Wall of China, Tanzania, and the mountains of Peru, they work together to save the world from fear. As their efforts falter, and the threat looms ever darker, Lily pleads for Pax to reach into the waking world to help . . . but can he?
413 pages, Paperback
Published March 12, 2024
13 people are currently reading
305 people want to read
About the author
Kathryn Butler
17 books79 followersKathryn Butler (MD, Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons) is a trauma surgeon turned author and homeschooling mom. Her books Between Life and Death: A Gospel-Centered Guide on End-of-Life Medical Care, and Glimmers of Grace: A Doctor's Reflections on Faith, Suffering, and the Goodness of God, reflect upon faith and medicine. She is also the author of The Dream Keeper Saga, a middle grade adventure series with Christian themes. She lives in the woods of Massachusetts, where she loves to read stories with her kids, explore the outdoors, and chase dragons from her kitchen.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 19 of 19 reviews
November 25, 2024
Well, as for the story, this was the strangest one. Time travel? Really?
Beside that, I think Mrs. Butler’s writing style has REALLY, REALLY, REALLY improved between the third and fourth books.
Also, this is one of the benefits of listening to movie soundtracks all the time: you hear the songs playing in your head as you read books. I heard Ghidora Theme by Bear McCreary during the fight at the Great Wall Of China.
Rated PG for fantasy violence.
Beside that, I think Mrs. Butler’s writing style has REALLY, REALLY, REALLY improved between the third and fourth books.
Also, this is one of the benefits of listening to movie soundtracks all the time: you hear the songs playing in your head as you read books. I heard Ghidora Theme by Bear McCreary during the fight at the Great Wall Of China.
Rated PG for fantasy violence.
March 25, 2024
Amazing book and I love these covers they look amazing on my bookshelf!
September 23, 2024
Cedric is hilarious in this book but sometimes when he feels shame I feel bad for him.
The ending was spot on.
I have two favorite series now the Wingfether and Dream Keeper saga!
The ending was spot on.
I have two favorite series now the Wingfether and Dream Keeper saga!
March 14, 2024
The DreamKeeper Saga: The Quest for the Guardians by Kathryn Butler
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Another great book (the newest one - released on 3/12!) in this series. These are clean reads with a little bit of mystery, a little bit of fantasy, and a little bit of allegory. These are great books for kids probably 8 and up but I truly enjoyed them as an adult.
Thank you @netgalley & @crosswaybooks for the ebook ARC. All opinions are honestly and my own, as always.
#goodreads #bookstagram #dreamkeepersaga #thequestfortheguardians #netgalley
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Another great book (the newest one - released on 3/12!) in this series. These are clean reads with a little bit of mystery, a little bit of fantasy, and a little bit of allegory. These are great books for kids probably 8 and up but I truly enjoyed them as an adult.
Thank you @netgalley & @crosswaybooks for the ebook ARC. All opinions are honestly and my own, as always.
#goodreads #bookstagram #dreamkeepersaga #thequestfortheguardians #netgalley
June 18, 2025
It's good!
April 16, 2024
I am really loving this series and I like them more with each book as the Gospel allegory gets richer.
September 10, 2024
Big fan of lily's dad
Sprock is certainly a Character
I like the themes of this one!!
Sprock is certainly a Character
I like the themes of this one!!
May 21, 2024
2.5 stars, rounded up.
This is the fourth book in a Christian fantasy series geared towards tweens and teens. I read it without having read the previous volumes, and as a result, I am rounding up my rating, since I might have understood and enjoyed this more if I'd had prior knowledge of the characters and the fantasy lore. As things stand, I had trouble keeping the side characters straight, thought the story dragged on too long, and found some of the world-building really vague and confusing. However, I can't judge how much of my confusion resulted from flaws in the writing, versus from me jumping into a later book in the series.
I found the beginning of this story quite interesting, and I also enjoyed part of the ending, but the middle was a slog. There were lots of repetitive action scenes and similar conversations happening again and again, and even though I'm no longer in the intended age range for this, I didn't find the story very engaging. More significantly, I felt that this book didn't progress the series plot much, and was mostly in a holding pattern to set up the next volume. This book was way too long for its actual story, clocking in at 432 pages when it could have been half that length.
There are occasional references to God and prayer throughout the book, and there are references to Pax, a unicorn from the other realm that is clearly a Jesus stand-in. The allegorical elements only come up occasionally, but they felt way too on-the-nose to me, and I didn't understand why the Jesus character was a new experience from the main character's travels to the dream realm, since she's apparently from a Christian family. If she had related Pax to Jesus, and if they were mirror versions of each other from alternate realities, I could have gone with that, but nothing indicates that there is a historical Jesus that precedes the allegorical Pax's love, redemption, and sacrifice. Again, I might be missing something by jumping into the fourth volume, but if the author did explain things better in another book, she should have restated it here. I found the spiritual elements confusing and trite, and didn't think they added much to the story.
This series will appeal to families who are looking for clean fantasy reads for tweens and teens. The Christian elements are light enough in this book that I would expect this to be a perfectly fine fit for families with other belief systems, but most Christians will want more than a few on-the-nose references to a unicorn Jesus stand-in. Overall, I didn't feel very engaged with the story and didn't feel like the faith-based elements made much sense. Even though I have to withhold judgment to some degree because I haven't read the other books, I wasn't impressed with this. I wouldn't discourage anyone from seeing if this series is a good fit for their kid, but this isn't something I would personally recommend.
I would recommend the following Christian fantasy authors and series, which I read as a teen:
The Door Within Trilogy, by Wayne Thomas Batson
The Wilderking Trilogy, by Jonathan Rogers
Books by N.D. Wilson
Books by Andrew Peterson
The Curse of the Spider-King, by Wayne Thomas Batson and Christopher Hopper
The Blood of Kings Trilogy, by Jill Williamson (Best for older teens, due to some mature content.)
The Tales of Goldstone Wood series, by Anne Elisabeth Stengl
I received a free copy from the publisher through Amazon Vine in exchange for an honest review.
This is the fourth book in a Christian fantasy series geared towards tweens and teens. I read it without having read the previous volumes, and as a result, I am rounding up my rating, since I might have understood and enjoyed this more if I'd had prior knowledge of the characters and the fantasy lore. As things stand, I had trouble keeping the side characters straight, thought the story dragged on too long, and found some of the world-building really vague and confusing. However, I can't judge how much of my confusion resulted from flaws in the writing, versus from me jumping into a later book in the series.
I found the beginning of this story quite interesting, and I also enjoyed part of the ending, but the middle was a slog. There were lots of repetitive action scenes and similar conversations happening again and again, and even though I'm no longer in the intended age range for this, I didn't find the story very engaging. More significantly, I felt that this book didn't progress the series plot much, and was mostly in a holding pattern to set up the next volume. This book was way too long for its actual story, clocking in at 432 pages when it could have been half that length.
There are occasional references to God and prayer throughout the book, and there are references to Pax, a unicorn from the other realm that is clearly a Jesus stand-in. The allegorical elements only come up occasionally, but they felt way too on-the-nose to me, and I didn't understand why the Jesus character was a new experience from the main character's travels to the dream realm, since she's apparently from a Christian family. If she had related Pax to Jesus, and if they were mirror versions of each other from alternate realities, I could have gone with that, but nothing indicates that there is a historical Jesus that precedes the allegorical Pax's love, redemption, and sacrifice. Again, I might be missing something by jumping into the fourth volume, but if the author did explain things better in another book, she should have restated it here. I found the spiritual elements confusing and trite, and didn't think they added much to the story.
This series will appeal to families who are looking for clean fantasy reads for tweens and teens. The Christian elements are light enough in this book that I would expect this to be a perfectly fine fit for families with other belief systems, but most Christians will want more than a few on-the-nose references to a unicorn Jesus stand-in. Overall, I didn't feel very engaged with the story and didn't feel like the faith-based elements made much sense. Even though I have to withhold judgment to some degree because I haven't read the other books, I wasn't impressed with this. I wouldn't discourage anyone from seeing if this series is a good fit for their kid, but this isn't something I would personally recommend.
I would recommend the following Christian fantasy authors and series, which I read as a teen:
The Door Within Trilogy, by Wayne Thomas Batson
The Wilderking Trilogy, by Jonathan Rogers
Books by N.D. Wilson
Books by Andrew Peterson
The Curse of the Spider-King, by Wayne Thomas Batson and Christopher Hopper
The Blood of Kings Trilogy, by Jill Williamson (Best for older teens, due to some mature content.)
The Tales of Goldstone Wood series, by Anne Elisabeth Stengl
I received a free copy from the publisher through Amazon Vine in exchange for an honest review.
December 17, 2024
Lily has returned from the Realm excited to see her family but also missing the Realm a bit. She has dreams of her whole family visiting the Realm in the future, but those dreams come crashing down when she sees how her long absence and her father's experiences in the Realm have jaded him. He wants to have nothing to do with it and demands that Lily have nothing to do with it either. He even demands that she turn over her sooth stone to him and he hides it away from her. Lily brought Mattie back and now they need to find her father, but her father is trying to travel back in time and stop Mattie from going into the Realm. While they are trying to find him, shrouds start showing up all over the world. Lily can't understand how they are getting here. What happened to the barrier? Can Pax even help in this world like in the Realm? One thing's for sure, Lily, Mattie, and her family can't stop the shroud invasion without help. They must travel the world to find other Guardians to help before the shrouds take over.
It was hard to enjoy this adventure because of Lily's dad. He's so panicked about her being in danger he's super overprotective and won't let her do anything to help, totally ignoring what he knows she's done before, and it is really annoying for much of the book. Parents like him are why so many middle grade adventures happen without parents. However, there is a purpose to the annoyance. He has an important lesson to learn about trusting Pax to take care of those he loves and trust that Pax has a reason for involving Lily in the plan. Lily learns some of those lessons along with him or in her own way, and by the end they are able to work together, both using their strengths but it is a long, hard road to get there. And I get it. Trust and surrender aren't easy; so there's a good reason for why Butler let them go through all that. It is a good read, but not necessarily fun. I liked the addition of Lily's Grandma and the role she has to play in this quest. It was an unexpected surprise. The end of this leaves Lily and Cedric in a bit of a pickle, so readers will be very eager for #5 to get released.
Notes on content:
Language: None
Sexual content: None
Violence: Shrouds attack people but they destroy property more than hurt anyone on page.
Ethnic diversity: Lily's grandmother is Irish, her parents are white American. Other Guardians they meet are American, Tanzanian, Chinese, and Peruvian.
LGBTQ+ content: None
Other: Parental anxiety impacting a child.
It was hard to enjoy this adventure because of Lily's dad. He's so panicked about her being in danger he's super overprotective and won't let her do anything to help, totally ignoring what he knows she's done before, and it is really annoying for much of the book. Parents like him are why so many middle grade adventures happen without parents. However, there is a purpose to the annoyance. He has an important lesson to learn about trusting Pax to take care of those he loves and trust that Pax has a reason for involving Lily in the plan. Lily learns some of those lessons along with him or in her own way, and by the end they are able to work together, both using their strengths but it is a long, hard road to get there. And I get it. Trust and surrender aren't easy; so there's a good reason for why Butler let them go through all that. It is a good read, but not necessarily fun. I liked the addition of Lily's Grandma and the role she has to play in this quest. It was an unexpected surprise. The end of this leaves Lily and Cedric in a bit of a pickle, so readers will be very eager for #5 to get released.
Notes on content:
Language: None
Sexual content: None
Violence: Shrouds attack people but they destroy property more than hurt anyone on page.
Ethnic diversity: Lily's grandmother is Irish, her parents are white American. Other Guardians they meet are American, Tanzanian, Chinese, and Peruvian.
LGBTQ+ content: None
Other: Parental anxiety impacting a child.
March 26, 2024
The Quest for the Guardians, Book 4 of the Dream Keeper Saga by Kathryn Butler, was reviewed by my daughter. This is one of her favorite series! I am looking forward to reading it next! First of all, we both agree the cover of this book is beautiful, as they all have been!
My daughter said it starts out following Lily and her family on their next quest. After Lily arrives home, the Shroud’s are staring at Lily from inside a cereal box. Lily’s dad takes Mattie home, so it’s only Lily and her mom, Andrea. At first, Andrea isn’t so sure until the Shroud’s attack her house they quickly leave. Cedric, the dragon, pops up, and so they drive off to find Mattie and her dad. They are off in the ditch where she encounters a Glower. They run off to Mr. Sprock’s house leading them to Mattie’s reuniting with her dad, and they all go into a time machine, taking them to China. They work together, fighting and trying to save the world from the Eymah and his Shroud’s. There are lots of adventures in this book and great lessons!!
My daughter’s favorite quote from the book:
“Except that’s not true. Nightmares are real, and monsters in the closet do exist. She knew the truth, had seen it, touched it. But she had also seen the light chase the darkness away, like a match strike dispersing in the shadows!”
My daughter liked how the author puts a Christian spin on the story, and you can most definitely see that. With the light and darkness in the world, she really likes this series and would recommend it to teens and adults, especially those who enjoy reading C.S. Lewis. It looks like another book to the series will be coming soon!!!
My daughter said it starts out following Lily and her family on their next quest. After Lily arrives home, the Shroud’s are staring at Lily from inside a cereal box. Lily’s dad takes Mattie home, so it’s only Lily and her mom, Andrea. At first, Andrea isn’t so sure until the Shroud’s attack her house they quickly leave. Cedric, the dragon, pops up, and so they drive off to find Mattie and her dad. They are off in the ditch where she encounters a Glower. They run off to Mr. Sprock’s house leading them to Mattie’s reuniting with her dad, and they all go into a time machine, taking them to China. They work together, fighting and trying to save the world from the Eymah and his Shroud’s. There are lots of adventures in this book and great lessons!!
My daughter’s favorite quote from the book:
“Except that’s not true. Nightmares are real, and monsters in the closet do exist. She knew the truth, had seen it, touched it. But she had also seen the light chase the darkness away, like a match strike dispersing in the shadows!”
My daughter liked how the author puts a Christian spin on the story, and you can most definitely see that. With the light and darkness in the world, she really likes this series and would recommend it to teens and adults, especially those who enjoy reading C.S. Lewis. It looks like another book to the series will be coming soon!!!
June 18, 2024
My 13 year old son and I have thoroughly enjoyed following the Lily and her friends through the Dream Keeper Saga books thus far. This book was another riveting addition, but with the new twist of taking place almost entirely in the "waking" (aka, real) world, with Lily needing to work alongside her mom and dad and other adults in order to fight the growing evil that has escaped the dream realm and is threatening to enjoy the waking world. Favorite characters return and new characters join them on a desperate attempt to save the world from shrouds. This book is definitely the darkest of the 4 so far, so be aware of that if you have more sensitive readers. It ends on yet another major cliffhanger, so now we are eagerly awaiting the next (and I believe last?) installment in the series!
I was given an eBook copy through NetGalley for reviewing purposes and all opinions are entirely my own.
I was given an eBook copy through NetGalley for reviewing purposes and all opinions are entirely my own.
March 2, 2024
My children and I just can’t get enough of Kathryn Butlers Dream Keeper Saga! We were so excited to read the 4th book in the series The Quest For The Guardians. Like the previous three books Butler uses Biblical truth throughout her book. This book is full of fun, imagination, excitement and gospel truth!
April 23, 2024
A lot of great action and sci fi elements here and I liked how the grown ups wrestled with faith while Lily and her friends were ready for battle.
At the end of the book, it seemed like not much had happened though.
Primed for the last adventure in the Realm though
At the end of the book, it seemed like not much had happened though.
Primed for the last adventure in the Realm though
March 25, 2025
This book was outstanding!
I can not recommend this book enough!
Please put this book on your want to read shelf, it is awesome!
I can’t wait to read the next book in the series!
So much respect for Kathryn butler, she is an outstanding writer!
I can not recommend this book enough!
Please put this book on your want to read shelf, it is awesome!
I can’t wait to read the next book in the series!
So much respect for Kathryn butler, she is an outstanding writer!
June 13, 2025
Tons of symbolism in this series. I was confused at first by the ending since I thought this was the last book, but turns out there’s one more! Some frustration with the characters, but an overall good story so far …
July 21, 2024
I started this series mainly to scope it out for my kids, but it really grew on me. I can't wait for the fifth one!
Want to read
March 11, 2025A
December 13, 2025
This is a pretty packed book... And leaves on a huge cliffhanger!
January 10, 2026
I didn't love this one as much as the others but I definitely have enjoyed these enough to want to finish the journey ❤️
Displaying 1 - 19 of 19 reviews