The Dream Factory

by John Simes

After the violent abduction of his parents by the criminal ‘Golden Hand’, 16 year-old Peter Young and his brilliant friend, Navinda Eman, flee to the Dream Factory - a stone hut on a deserted beach. Peter has a precious secret that he must protect, but someone in the village is determined to find them and destroy the Dream Factory. The Dream Factory is a surreal comic thriller that will be enjoyed by adults and young adults. It is a coming-of-age story that employs vivid characterisation and humour to navigate the reader through the twisting plot. Within the seemingly peaceful village of Dingwell we find a gun-toting spinster engaged in espionage, a French criminal mastermind, murder most foul, and a nervous vicar with a secret past. The love story of Peter and Navinda unfolds in a world that is a maelstrom of deadly secrets, paranormal events and fear. The Dream Factory is a beautifully crafted and thought-provoking novel that will be enjoyed by young adults. This book delves into the issues of identity and how young people connect with the world – everyone has their secret ‘dream factory’. Developed with teachers and young adult readers, The Dream Factory is a thrilling, dark, funny and inspiring read.

241 pages, Kindle Edition

Published February 22, 2019

About the author

After his career as a teacher and school leader, John Simes founded Collingwood Learning – a consultancy for school improvement. In 2013 he established Collingwood Publishing Limited.

John lives with his family in South Devon, England, where he grapples with his addictions to cricket, poetry, and the stunning local landscape, as well as his continuing enthusiasm for education.

A Game of Chess is his second novel and is the sequel to The Dream Factory.

Reviews

[Mary McClarey · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Dream Factory is a super read and the plot is engaging. Imagine a cross between Harry Potter and Swallows and Amazons, a touch of Doctor Who and a focus on the hopes and dreams of young adults and you are nearly there!
The protagonists, Peter ( the boy who knows fear but doesn't feel fear) and Navinda ( a beautiful Asian girl with dreams of equality) are engaging and the characters well described.

I understand it is the first of a series and I look forward to the sequel. It has left me longing for an Om ( which is an AI e-phone, but with shades of Alexa,and so much more ), I'd love to use Splutter to send and receive Splots and am in fear of being spied upon by an all-seeing Bogle! Its not my usual genre but I found it great fun.

[Megan Rivera · Rating 4 out of 5]

The dawn rose in a miasma of purple and peach hues in the east, and the sun’s rays first slipped their gaudy spears through the curtains of Enigma Cottage. This was a great book and I enjoyed reading it. This thriller has a bit of comedy and my favorite character was Peter. In this fast paced book.

[Joni Martins · Rating 5 out of 5]

Book Review

Basic Details:
Book Title: The Dream Factory
Subtitle:
Author: John Simes
Genre: Fiction/thriller
Part of a series? Yes
Order in series: 1
Best read after earlier books in series?
Available: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/4...
Overall score:
I scored this book 5/5
⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️
Short Summary of the book:
Imagine…
Your parents are violently abducted and you narrowly escape capture yourself. Life continues, but a count now lives in your home and the locks are changed. Your ‘Om’ keeps you in touch with your parents, a futuristic device invented by your parents. Only through Om does Peter know his parents are still alive.
To survive and escape capture, Peter goes to the Dream Factory, a place his parents built. Here he lives with his friends while the count conspires to capture and kill him.
What I liked about the book:
I loved the entire book. It was fast-paced, and action-packed.
What I didn’t like about the book:
There was nothing to dislike about the book.
My favourite bits in the book:
Where Peter meets Navinda in the Dream Factory.
My least favourite bits in the book:
There are none.
Any further books in the series? Any more planned by this author?
This is the first book in the series and I look forward to reading more.
What books could this be compared to and why?
This book combines thriller with futuristic devices, spy-action and romance. It sits on the boundary between young adult and adult reading.
Recommendation:
In summary, I would recommend this book for the following readers:

Children No
Young Adult Yes
Adult Yes

If you like thrillers, spy novels or science fiction, this book may be the book for you.
I’m certainly looking forward to reading more by this author.
Book Description by Author:
After the violent abduction of his parents by the criminal ‘Golden Hand’, 16 year-old Peter Young and his brilliant friend, Navinda Eman, flee to the Dream Factory - a stone hut on a deserted beach. Peter has a precious secret that he must protect, but someone in the village is determined to find them and destroy the Dream Factory.

The Dream Factory is a surreal comic thriller that will be enjoyed by adults and young adults. It is a coming-of-age story that employs vivid characterisation and humour to navigate the reader through the twisting plot. Within the seemingly peaceful village of Dingwell we find a gun-toting spinster engaged in espionage, a French criminal mastermind, murder most foul, and a nervous vicar with a secret past.

The love story of Peter and Navinda unfolds in a world that is a maelstrom of deadly secrets, paranormal events and fear. The Dream Factory is a beautifully crafted and thought-provoking novel that will be enjoyed by young adults. This book delves into the issues of identity and how young people connect with the world – everyone has their secret ‘dream factory’. Developed with teachers and young adult readers, The Dream Factory is a thrilling, dark, funny and inspiring read.
About the Author:
After his career as a teacher and school leader, John Simes founded Collingwood Learning – a consultancy for school improvement. In 2013 he established Collingwood Publishing Limited.

John lives with his family in South Devon, England, where he grapples with his addictions to cricket, poetry, and the stunning local landscape, as well as his continuing enthusiasm for education.

A Game of Chess is his second novel and is the sequel to The Dream Factory.

[Allyson Dyar · Rating 3 out of 5]

[note: I was given a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review]

Author John Simes has written an ethereal and magical fantasy book centering on two young people, Peter and Navinda and the Dream Factory -- a house in the middle of the forest and the secret they must protect. It's not easy given the ruthless people pursuing him for the secret he is hiding. Helping them in their endeavour are several of the villagers as well as a very wise ginger tabby, Monty.

For me, this isn't the kind of book that I would normally read, preferring cozy mysteries and medical history books. But I would recommend this book for those readers (young and old) who enjoy poetic prose along with their fantasy.

[Aastha Goel · Rating 5 out of 5]

The book is set in a peaceful village of Dingwell and revolves around 16 year old Peter Young and his brilliant friend Navinda Eman.

The title of this book is intriguing and very appropriate for the book.
This is a combination of a comic trailer and a romance novel.
The book beautifully describes all the details about the village and the characters.
The choice of words and the language used is very good.

It is an interesting and a delightful read.

[Alicja · Rating 4 out of 5]

Finishing ‘The Dream Factory’ on the first day of 2020 has definitely been an excellent way to start a New Year. Thank you ‘Booktasters’ and the author himself for kindly gifting me a copy of this book.

I genuinely enjoyed John Simes’ book and his style of writing. Described as ‘a surreal comic thriller’, ‘The Dream Factory’ takes you on a magical journey, where you often wonder whether something is real at all. The dreamlike atmosphere is prevalent throughout the book and adds to the beauty of the story. It’s a very different book to the ones I usually read, though both stories with magical elements and thrillers are something I enjoy. The combination of both is slightly more unusual, but it has been executed well in this coming-of-age story following young Peter Young after the disappearance of his parents.

While I liked the beginning of the book (and all the ‘interludes’ of sorts present in ‘The Dream Factory’), it took me a while to get immersed in the story. Some parts have been harder to follow, but the beautiful descriptions have made the book very enjoyable. The beginning is slower, with the reader getting to know most of the characters playing an essential role in the story, while the last part of the book speeds up the narrative.

I am looking forward to reading future books in the series.

[Jan Anderegg · Rating 4 out of 5]

First of all, I have to say that the opening pages of The Dream Factory contained some incredibly beautiful descriptions. Such a strong beginning. The vivid analogies and colors were picture perfect. Unfortunately, after that, I found the novel rather confusing and difficult to follow. The vivid opening chapter/prologue about Peter’s parents seemed to be setting a scene to be built on, but after that, nothing seemed to link to that particular idea. By the time I’d reached the fourth chapter, I was confused and went back to the beginning, hoping a re-read would help clarify the issues I was having following the story. It didn’t help so I continued on.
I found many of the characters delightful, including Peter or Pi, Navinda and Monty, the striped village cat. But there were so many other chartI couldn’t figure out. It never really became clear to me WHY Peter’s parents were kidnapped or why the Count and the wicked Miss Cloke wanted to kill Peter, or for that matter why they couldn’t find him when he continued to attend school. Or why they were able to simply move in and take over his parent’s home. Perhaps the answers were right there, but if so I got lost in the constantly changing perspectives and addition of new characters who didn’t seem to fit into the plot.
.
I was confused by the annihilation of the “Dream Factory” building itself as it seemed to be portrayed at first in a slightly mysterious and magical way and yet was destroyed easily enough.
The end of the book was also al little confusing. I do understand this is the first book in a series. It’s just that I couldn’t make sense of what was happening and why.
There were quite a few lines of French dialogue. Some were easy enough to comprehend because of the next speaker’s response, but others were not. I could see this being an issue with the targeted audience of Y. A.
I would like to read the next book in the series in the hope that it will tie some of the confusing ends together for me.
I must say that the part about the birth of striped kittens to the purebred mother cat made me laugh out loud. A great humorous touch.
I’m rating this book four stars instead of three because of the vivid and beautifully written scene descriptions, strong main characters and the mystical elements. This book has wonderful potential if the author would be willing to edit it to focus more on the main characters and leave some of the wordy descriptions of minor characters and scenes out qI see other reviewers have thoroughly enjoyed the story and didn’t appear confused so I have to wonder if some of my confusion is due to the cultural differences between this book’s setting and my own country.

[Mark Rasdall · Rating 4 out of 5]

I don't usually read books such as John Simes's The Dream Factory, and realise that it is targeted primarily at young adult readers. I am 61 and read (and have read) a great deal of fiction but few books in the fantasy/science fiction genre where this one resides. I really enjoyed it.

If you want to escape into the dreamy village of Dingwell with hawks and cats and the strangest of human characters, then this will fulfill your wish - or dream. I particularly liked the characters of Peter, Yvonne and the priest, Thomas. My favourites though were the Misses Cloke and Bonkers - both astute in their own very different ways.

The message of the book is either completely bonkers, as in a logically-consistent but utterly nonsensical Lewis Carroll homage, coupled with JK Rowling in parts, or it is a quite alarming suggestion of what is to come in the world of artificial intelligence (I thought the Om device was great) and the worry of it getting into the wrong controlling (Golden) hands. I really did pick up on that tension and its contrast with the idyll of a dream factory by the sea.

I did find the use of italics a bit inconsistent and places where the fourth wall was broken unsatisfactory and unwelcome. They broke up the flow too much for me. I also struggled with the placing of adverbs before principal verbs, rather than after, until I got used to it.

However, I heartily recommend this as a book for older readers also who, like me, might have been hitherto too afraid of dreaming.

[Lauren Stewart · Rating 3 out of 5]

John Simes has a fantastic way with words and it's clearly shown in this story. He writes with such detail of description, which allows the setting and characters to really take place in your mind. He does not shy away from small details, which would often be overlooked.
There were some excellent characters such as Peter and Navinda, as well as the count and Yvonne. I would have loved to have gotten to know Peter and Navinda a bit more so that I could have been more invested in their adventure. Because there were so many characters it was tough to really hang on to them and follow the events with them, which caused me to lose some interest.
The general premise of the book, the more realistic side, is good. Unfortunately , I found the fantasy aspect a little confusing and would have preferred it to be more explained as I found myself getting rather lost. I wasn't sure if I had missed it or forgotten parts of the story that would have helped to have made sense of it. There were some parts that seemed to be dropped in with no background of explanation.
Overall, if you love a bit of mystery and enjoy unanswered questions and great detail, then this book is for you. If you need to hang on to a character and have a clearly explained plot, this might not be up your street.

[reading with rylanne · Rating 3 out of 5]

When Peter’s parents are viciously taken in the middle of the night, he has to go into hiding so that the evil people who took them can’t find him. Taking shelter in the Dream Factory, Peter meets other young people and takes them under his arm. The Dream Factory is a dark and mysterious read that is sure to keep readers questioning.

Overall, I did enjoy this book. Peter and Navinda were two sweet characters, and I liked their development. Once I got into the book, the plot picked up and I started to understand what was going on. For a while, I was confused by all of the POVs introduced throughout the story, and I wasn’t sure what role some of them played into the overall plot. However, I did like the fact that there was an insight into both the good and the bad characters.

There were some holes in the background of the story that I found made it harder to understand what was going on, but the more I read, the more I got used to the underlying mystery of the story. I would be interested in reading a sequel to this story because of the mystery of it and for the sake of watching the plot get resolved!

[Nipun Bamania · Rating 4 out of 5]

A real entertainer. It is a book set in a small village, Dingwell, where a young boy, Peter Young stays with his parents, who are scientists and have invented a robot named Om and some other prototype named Alpha that had to be inserted into the body and would merge with the body and make it powerful. Peter's parents are taken by the Golden Hand, an evil organization and their house taken over by a henchman named Count de Boodle, a war veteran in association with a spy Miss Cloke, who goes by the code name Mata Hari. Peter takes refuge in an old rectory outside thr village with a girl Navinda who is present with him, but actually her body is at her place. There are other people in the village, who somehow assist Peter in his fight against the Count and Miss Cloke. There is Thomas the reverend of the church, Tizzy and Gideon, who run the village pub, Whodhavethoughtit, Yvonne, the policewoman, and of course Monty the village cat. There are other characters too that add to the spice of the story. It is an exciting read, and keeps one interested till the very end. There is no dull moment in the book.

[Lauren Mcangus · Rating 4 out of 5]

Not my usual style of book that I enjoy to read but it was a refreshing style that it was written in.

I really liked the way the characters and locations are described, it really makes them straight away appear in your imagination with each detail being unveiled very nicely.
The idea of the dream factory being introduced as a safe place and as a way for Peter to get away from the reality of the situation that he's in is pretty good. This in a way makes you think Peter is quite young for his age but then again it's his own interesting coping mechanism which automatically makes him different from the other boys his age. Because of that Peter is easy to be invested in and you really want him to be safe.
The chunks of dialogue made it an easy read and helped move the story alone smoothly.

The blurb pulled me in and the first chapter made me want to stay for more.
Definitely would recommend to friends who are wanting a different style of story.

[Bernadette Blyth · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a great idea for a book and the descriptions are amazing.

I enjoyed reading this and will more than likely read it again as it was a little hard to follow in parts, though that maybe me splitting my time between reading and having a little one. There was humour that had me laughing out loud and emotions came across clearly causing you get very connected to the characters, I'm looking forward to reading the next one in the series.

It is a book that makes you think and really picture all the areas you visit which is great, though some of the descriptions are a little wordier than they need to be for places that you've visited before or play little to no part in the story.

[mel · Rating 5 out of 5]

Com suas brilhantes descrições e narrativa cativante, Simes nos prende no universo de "The dream factory" desde o início: algo muito ruim aconteceu e você só descobrirá certamente ao decorrer da história, que gira em torno de personagens maravilhosos e perfeitamente construídos.
Apesar de ser um Young adult, acredito que esta ficção científica deva ser apreciada tanto por adolescentes e adultos quanto por idosos, pois certamente valerá a pena independentemente da sua idade.
Eu amei e recomendo para todos! É inevitável se apaixonar por esse universo altamente tecnológico ao terminar esta obra prima. Emocionante, hilário, cativante e surpreendente. Leia e não se arrependerá!!

[Kathleen Van Lierop · Rating 5 out of 5]

While reading, I always make some short notes, but this time I absolutely
wanted to know the end. So, be aware, this is a real page turner! I even
couldn't stop reading.

I liked the lay-out, the clear chapters and the fantastic characters of the
story. It was a mix of adventure, fantasy and humour.

Later I learned that this is the author's first book. This is very hard to
believe!

My conclusion: don't hesitate to read this book, if you like adventure
and fantasy. I give with lots of pleasure a 5* rating.

I received a free copy via the author and Booktasters

[Chloe Hines · Rating 4 out of 5]

I had the luck of receiving the dream factory from booktasters and John Simes.

This coming of age tale enchants the reader into a vivid world where one doesn’t know what is real and what is, well, a dream.

Within the book both adolescents and adults can get their teeth into the interesting and surreal themes.

Though this is not my normal read, it was certainly refreshing and I look forward to delving into the genre.

[Ananna Dutta · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is the first book of John Simes I have read.The book-The dream Factory is something very unique I have read in my recent times. The story is very different and very intriguing. There were certain times where I was a bit confused but as I went on reading it got cleared. I must thank booktasters for offering me such wonderful book to read. I must recommend this book to those who are willing to read something unique.

[Linda · Rating 5 out of 5]

Part The Golden Compass and part Redwall, this story is impossible to put down. The tale cuts from cloak and dagger to adults acting like asses to kids acting like adults with a touch of Celtic magic and timelessness. As improbable as the teens’ stories seem, “children tell the truth more often than adults do” and only the best adults know this is true.

[Isabelle Plourde · Rating 4 out of 5]

This Simes' first novel blow my mind away,I'm looking forward to the next in the sequel. Word in french make my heart skip a beat. As a french Canadian, it was great to find some Molière words in an English book. I will suggest to have this book at the school I work for. AI technologies mixed with love and family,it was a good book. I highly recommend it!

[Sarah Davila · Rating 5 out of 5]

Just the title alone reels you in, and this becomes something that you would not have expected! I loved it!

[Chris Bullock · Rating 1 out of 5]

Couldn't get into it. Well written but seemed to lack any oomph.