What do you think?
Rate this book
All From Dreams: Book One: The Seodrassian Chronicles
Rhys Harrison’s dreams of a medieval fantasy world called Seodrass have lost her a lot of sleep, but also provide inspiration in her story writing and design for her video game company’s latest project. When her brilliant young intern, Braeden Somerleigh, suggests her dreams are visions of a real place, she suspects his genius has driven him insane—until his research leads them to a doorway between the two worlds.
The two find themselves in a once-peaceful kingdom now torn apart by tyranny and genocide, masterminded by a mysterious figure known only as Malmuir. What’s more, Rhys and Braeden learn their arrival is believed to fulfill a prophecy of two “Foretold Ones” sent to preserve Seodrass. Unable to find a way back home and hunted by Malmuir’s bloodthirsty troops, the pair has little choice but to accompany Sir Daeg—a knight straight out of Rhys’s dreams, or so she thought—on a desperate quest to save the kingdom and their own lives.
All From Dreams, the first volume in an epic new series by Bethanie F. DeVors, weaves a tapestry of action, magic, humor, and romance that will spellbind lovers of fantasy and high adventure from the first page to the last.
The two find themselves in a once-peaceful kingdom now torn apart by tyranny and genocide, masterminded by a mysterious figure known only as Malmuir. What’s more, Rhys and Braeden learn their arrival is believed to fulfill a prophecy of two “Foretold Ones” sent to preserve Seodrass. Unable to find a way back home and hunted by Malmuir’s bloodthirsty troops, the pair has little choice but to accompany Sir Daeg—a knight straight out of Rhys’s dreams, or so she thought—on a desperate quest to save the kingdom and their own lives.
All From Dreams, the first volume in an epic new series by Bethanie F. DeVors, weaves a tapestry of action, magic, humor, and romance that will spellbind lovers of fantasy and high adventure from the first page to the last.
- GenresFantasy
399 pages, Kindle Edition
First published June 25, 2015
2 people are currently reading
11 people want to read
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews
July 12, 2015
I love portal fantasy and cut my teeth on romance books, so to have both rolled up in one great story was a double great bonus. The main character, Rhys, is a gamer who has been dreaming in detail of another place and time. She thinks they are just dreams, anyway, until her intern Braedon, surmises that the dreams (he's having them too) actually are events happening in another realm and that they might be able to go there.
The story is well written, full of kindness and heart, action and turmoil.
For fans of romance and fantasy, this book will keep you entertained and provide you with a beautiful happy ever after.
The story is well written, full of kindness and heart, action and turmoil.
For fans of romance and fantasy, this book will keep you entertained and provide you with a beautiful happy ever after.
October 30, 2015
3.5 stars, rounds up.
This is a nice, filling read. It satisfied like a good basic pizza satisfies: warm, packed with familiar flavors and cooked to a nice golden brown. The descriptions are lush without being wordy, the dialogue is snappy, and the characters are memorable, fun, interesting, people I enjoyed getting to know. I want to see them again, and I will be buying the sequel when I get word that it's available for pre-order. Neither formatting nor grammar errors ever threw me out of the plot, and that's worth mentioning. So I have.
More positives: I could relate to the protagonist's emotions; I liked the fish-out-of-water premise of a tech-savvy modern woman dropped into fantasy setting premise; (I am on a serious portal fantasy kick, yes. I am not ashamed.) I enjoyed the fantasy setting on the far side of the portal; and I appreciated the way the romantic elements were woven into the progression of the plot without being forced. The magic system is consistent and not over-powering, and the difficult trick of presenting information through dreams and prophecy worked well too.
Negatives? No, really not. Nothing jumped out at me. It's a pizza. Familiar is good, and I'm a grumpy old lady who loves pizza. In summary, it's good stuff, and well worth a nibble. Give it a try.
This is a nice, filling read. It satisfied like a good basic pizza satisfies: warm, packed with familiar flavors and cooked to a nice golden brown. The descriptions are lush without being wordy, the dialogue is snappy, and the characters are memorable, fun, interesting, people I enjoyed getting to know. I want to see them again, and I will be buying the sequel when I get word that it's available for pre-order. Neither formatting nor grammar errors ever threw me out of the plot, and that's worth mentioning. So I have.
More positives: I could relate to the protagonist's emotions; I liked the fish-out-of-water premise of a tech-savvy modern woman dropped into fantasy setting premise; (I am on a serious portal fantasy kick, yes. I am not ashamed.) I enjoyed the fantasy setting on the far side of the portal; and I appreciated the way the romantic elements were woven into the progression of the plot without being forced. The magic system is consistent and not over-powering, and the difficult trick of presenting information through dreams and prophecy worked well too.
Negatives? No, really not. Nothing jumped out at me. It's a pizza. Familiar is good, and I'm a grumpy old lady who loves pizza. In summary, it's good stuff, and well worth a nibble. Give it a try.
November 14, 2015
I really enjoyed this trip into another world. Light and fun, with a sweet romance that charmed me, but doesn't shy from moral questions. The author's faith is presented with a deft, delightful touch. If you're looking for a portal fantasy with good jokes and a good heart, look no farther.
August 20, 2018
So, Full Disclosure: I'm a friend of the author. However, I'm also a nitpicky critic, so this will be as unbiased as I can be.
All From Dreams: Book One: The Seodrassian Chronicles is a portal fantasy romp into fictional Seodrass with real world protagonists Rhys and Braeden (who are from our world and time). Seodrass, reminiscent of Outlander's Scotland with a hint of the magic of Middle-Earth (from The Lord of the Rings), is a land of knights and castles and of course, romance. Daeg, Seodrassian protagonist, is described as if Chris Hemsworth's Thor and Henry Cavil's Superman had a baby. Delish. It could happen, right?
In any case, Seodrass seems to be in peril, and some figure called Malmuir is basically responsible. And wouldn't ya know it? As soon as they step through the portal, Rhys and Braeden are looked at as the saviors, aka "The Foretold Ones."
So yes, some of the plotlines seem predictable. It is after all a portal fantasy romance; they tend to go by a formula from the ones I've read. But this one has a twist that doesn't fully play out in this book (Hence, the "book One" moniker) which keeps you reading. Also the characters seem very real, and very today. Despite wielding swords and living in castles, Seodrassians could teach us a lesson in diversity and acceptance. Rhys is a model of an independent, realistic woman. (If this gets made into a movie, and the actress playing her is less than a size 8 or 10, I'm going to be pissed.) And Braeden shows us even nerdy skinny guys can be cool.
So why not a full 5 stars? Well, if you noticed my reading progress, it took me over a year from the time I bought the book to finish it. Part of that is me, but part of it is because it moves too slowly in the beginning for me. I remember bookmarking this a lot in the beginning. While this may work for classic fantasies like The Chronicles of Narnia, in this day and age a slow burn beginning could mean a loss of readership. There were also a few times when I had to reread because something wasn't clear (technical) or an element seemed downplayed when it was kind of a big deal. Like when
In all, this was a solid debut novel, and I've got book two in my queue!
All From Dreams: Book One: The Seodrassian Chronicles is a portal fantasy romp into fictional Seodrass with real world protagonists Rhys and Braeden (who are from our world and time). Seodrass, reminiscent of Outlander's Scotland with a hint of the magic of Middle-Earth (from The Lord of the Rings), is a land of knights and castles and of course, romance. Daeg, Seodrassian protagonist, is described as if Chris Hemsworth's Thor and Henry Cavil's Superman had a baby. Delish. It could happen, right?
In any case, Seodrass seems to be in peril, and some figure called Malmuir is basically responsible. And wouldn't ya know it? As soon as they step through the portal, Rhys and Braeden are looked at as the saviors, aka "The Foretold Ones."
So yes, some of the plotlines seem predictable. It is after all a portal fantasy romance; they tend to go by a formula from the ones I've read. But this one has a twist that doesn't fully play out in this book (Hence, the "book One" moniker) which keeps you reading. Also the characters seem very real, and very today. Despite wielding swords and living in castles, Seodrassians could teach us a lesson in diversity and acceptance. Rhys is a model of an independent, realistic woman. (If this gets made into a movie, and the actress playing her is less than a size 8 or 10, I'm going to be pissed.) And Braeden shows us even nerdy skinny guys can be cool.
So why not a full 5 stars? Well, if you noticed my reading progress, it took me over a year from the time I bought the book to finish it. Part of that is me, but part of it is because it moves too slowly in the beginning for me. I remember bookmarking this a lot in the beginning. While this may work for classic fantasies like The Chronicles of Narnia, in this day and age a slow burn beginning could mean a loss of readership. There were also a few times when I had to reread because something wasn't clear (technical) or an element seemed downplayed when it was kind of a big deal. Like when
In all, this was a solid debut novel, and I've got book two in my queue!
January 8, 2017
I will admit I bought this book purely off the cover and someone mentioned ‘fantasy.’ It seemed a good enough reason at the time and I wasn’t disappointed. The funny thing is, Bethany DeVors breaks some of the “rules”. An example would be, it starts off with a dream. However, it’s a very well-written dream that drags you straight into the book and gives you a glimpse of things to come. You’re then introduced to Rhys Harrison.
Rhys is a story designer for a video game company. However, she’s doing a little more with this game, Seodrass, because her vision for it is so detailed. What she doesn’t tell anyone is that all of it is coming to her in segments at night, in her dreams. She’s eventually joined by Braeden Somerleigh. At first, she thinks he’s going to be a nuisance, a fan boy, but it turns out they get along great. Not only that, but Braedon has been having similar dreams as well and has begun to believe Seodrass is a real place. At first, Rhys believes Braedon has completely lost it, but after another dream, she couldn’t help but ask to look at his information. Over the course of a Christmas vacation at Braedon’s family home in Scotland, they find a lot more than they bargained for. Such as, a portal to Seodrass.
I’m not normally a fan of what I call “portal fantasies.” However, I enjoyed the writing in All From Dreams so much, I couldn’t help but fall in love with it. I love how strong Rhys is, even when the circumstances would break lesser people. Like Rhys, you can’t help but fall in love with Daeg. Handsome, but not a pretty boy. Braedon is like a puppy as he plays around and constantly pushes to learn more. Even though the situation they’re in is shaky and dangerous, he can’t help but still have fun.
There is a romantic element between Rhys and Daeg. In the two times I’ve read it, it didn’t bother me too much. It seemed to be a natural progression of the storyline. There were obvious parts as well. Even knowing where the story was going didn’t keep me from reading the entire book to the end. I can’t wait for the second book and I’ll definitely be keeping an eye on Bethanie F. DeVors.
Rhys is a story designer for a video game company. However, she’s doing a little more with this game, Seodrass, because her vision for it is so detailed. What she doesn’t tell anyone is that all of it is coming to her in segments at night, in her dreams. She’s eventually joined by Braeden Somerleigh. At first, she thinks he’s going to be a nuisance, a fan boy, but it turns out they get along great. Not only that, but Braedon has been having similar dreams as well and has begun to believe Seodrass is a real place. At first, Rhys believes Braedon has completely lost it, but after another dream, she couldn’t help but ask to look at his information. Over the course of a Christmas vacation at Braedon’s family home in Scotland, they find a lot more than they bargained for. Such as, a portal to Seodrass.
I’m not normally a fan of what I call “portal fantasies.” However, I enjoyed the writing in All From Dreams so much, I couldn’t help but fall in love with it. I love how strong Rhys is, even when the circumstances would break lesser people. Like Rhys, you can’t help but fall in love with Daeg. Handsome, but not a pretty boy. Braedon is like a puppy as he plays around and constantly pushes to learn more. Even though the situation they’re in is shaky and dangerous, he can’t help but still have fun.
There is a romantic element between Rhys and Daeg. In the two times I’ve read it, it didn’t bother me too much. It seemed to be a natural progression of the storyline. There were obvious parts as well. Even knowing where the story was going didn’t keep me from reading the entire book to the end. I can’t wait for the second book and I’ll definitely be keeping an eye on Bethanie F. DeVors.
January 24, 2018
A wonderful first offering from a debut author. While there are a lot of technical mistakes that are in no way the fault of the author's, I still quite enjoyed the story and loved the characters. I'm eagerly awaiting the second book so I can continue to follow Rhys and Daeg's adventures.
October 23, 2016
An awesome debut fantasy novel from a talented writer. Can't wait for Book Two.
Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews