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Dreamscape #1
Dreamscape: Looking for Altheda
Dreamscape: Looking for Altheda is a psychological fantasy quest entwined with a wide range of traditional stories and themes that’ll be sure to evoke some genuine scares in young readers. Amid the absurdity of negotiating a fairy tale world that exists inside a wooden chest, the young protagonist, Samuel Flynn, unspools an impossible adventure with heart-racing perils that unfold in the land of Dreamscape. The story takes many turns with humorous situations that’ll surely make readers giggle and gasp right up until the climax when Sam battles it out with an evil queen and saves not only Dreamscape, but his own world too.
282 pages, Paperback
First published December 26, 2019
6 people are currently reading
21 people want to read
About the author
Elizabeth Klein
27 books154 followersElizabeth Klein, grew up in a small village in New South Wales. She trained as a teacher and taught for almost thirty years, but in 2015, she and her husband left Sydney to travel around Australia in a caravan. She’s written three YA books, two junior fiction and two educational texts, with four more to be released soon. She has also written many short stories, articles, plays and poems.
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Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews
April 24, 2022
The author did a great job at creating Dreamscape, a world that has many familiar characters with slightly different stories than their traditional fairytales. The characters were interesting and weren't static, making the story engaging. Highly recommend for young adults and adults alike!
I received a complimentary copy of this work through Voracious Readers Only in exchange for my honest opinion.
I received a complimentary copy of this work through Voracious Readers Only in exchange for my honest opinion.
March 6, 2023
Superb writing, thank you. Excellent in format and story telling. If a person wants to escape reality and be a child again, this and its companion "Rescuing Pancrates" are the books for you. The author incorporates childhood nursery stories that we all hear and see into a somewhat adult reality, but still retains that child inside of each of us. This author is one of the best that has come along in a long time, keep up the good work. Thank you again.
June 19, 2024
A great fantasy read where fairy tales we’ve heard all our lives become real in the experiences a young thirteen year old boy has when he puts on a green coat at his grandfather’s farm.
Sam Flynn is visiting with his grandfather when he tells him how his wife disappeared so many years ago. After describing what happened and telling him that the coat had mysteriously reappeared, his grandfather collapses and Sam calls for an ambulance. Left alone his curiosity gets the better of him and he investigates this strange chest and opens it and finds the coat. Putting it on he is whisked away and the book tells of the wondrous adventures he has with the friends he makes in the magical world called Dreamscape!
Wouldn’t you like to meet some of the characters you’ve only read about in books? Well in this book you can! You can meet Snow White, go to the Teddy Bears Picnic, meet Humpty Dumpty’s wife and child, meet the woodsman who was to kill Snow White, meet the wicked queen and more as you enjoy the rich imagination of Elizabeth Klein’s world opening up to you as Dreamscape shows you how loyalty and friendship and trust can overcome the fear of facing overwhelming odds in finding and destroying a evil queen and one boy’s quest to find his missing grandmother!
I wholeheartedly and enthusiastically recommend you pick up this book! It’s truly a delight to read! These fairy tales come alive in a way they’ve never done to me before! I loved this book! There are places that tug at your heartstrings so you’ll probably need some kleenex handy but overall you’ll love the story and I know you’ll want to share it with your friends and family!
Sam Flynn is visiting with his grandfather when he tells him how his wife disappeared so many years ago. After describing what happened and telling him that the coat had mysteriously reappeared, his grandfather collapses and Sam calls for an ambulance. Left alone his curiosity gets the better of him and he investigates this strange chest and opens it and finds the coat. Putting it on he is whisked away and the book tells of the wondrous adventures he has with the friends he makes in the magical world called Dreamscape!
Wouldn’t you like to meet some of the characters you’ve only read about in books? Well in this book you can! You can meet Snow White, go to the Teddy Bears Picnic, meet Humpty Dumpty’s wife and child, meet the woodsman who was to kill Snow White, meet the wicked queen and more as you enjoy the rich imagination of Elizabeth Klein’s world opening up to you as Dreamscape shows you how loyalty and friendship and trust can overcome the fear of facing overwhelming odds in finding and destroying a evil queen and one boy’s quest to find his missing grandmother!
I wholeheartedly and enthusiastically recommend you pick up this book! It’s truly a delight to read! These fairy tales come alive in a way they’ve never done to me before! I loved this book! There are places that tug at your heartstrings so you’ll probably need some kleenex handy but overall you’ll love the story and I know you’ll want to share it with your friends and family!
April 18, 2022
I loved this book with its fast-moving story and its liberal quirky humour. Especially towards the end, the twists and turns in the plot meant that I couldn't put this book down and it was an exciting ride right to the finish. I cared about the characters, who were well-drawn and most unusual, reminiscent of "Alice in Wonderland" in all its zaniness. However, there was a serious quest at the heart of the story. Warmly recommended for anyone who enjoys a thrilling fantasy adventure.
June 1, 2021
This is an imaginative and well-constructed novel. The story centers around Sam Flynn, a boy from Sydney, discovering a mysterious coat inside a strange dragon box. After putting the coat on, he is transported to another world called “Dreamscape”, which is inhabited by characters from fairy tales and ruled by an oppressive queen. He attempts to locate his grandmother, who is supposedly trapped there. Along the way, he meets a girl called Lyrica. They journey through this world together, but will Sam be able to find his grandmother and make his way back home?
One of the things I enjoyed the most about this book is its imagination and creativity. The author, Elizabeth Klein, blended elements of different fairy tales well with the plot. Many characters from old stories that we all know and love make appearances, such as the hare from The Tortoise and the Hare, the woman who lived in a shoe, and the Stork Service. They stayed true to the stories that they came from, and their appearances did not feel forced but rather delightful.
One of the most interesting creatures native to Dreamscape is the clacker, a type of malicious metal spider that likes biting people. I found these clackers amusing and interesting to read about. Apart from that, the description in the book is very detailed and intricate, allowing readers to clearly visualize the scenes and objects. The scenery of Dreamscape is described beautifully and is definitely pleasing. Another great aspect of this story is the plot, which is immersing and paced perfectly so that it is neither rushed nor dragging. The story was filled with a wide variety of characters and settings, but it managed to maintain a strong central storyline and did not end up confusing me. I was genuinely surprised and thrilled by the plot twists and reveals in the book.
This story was a great pleasure to read, and I highly recommend it to anyone who loves a good adventure, especially middle graders to YA. It kept me engaged from beginning to end, and I will definitely go ahead and read the sequel!
One of the things I enjoyed the most about this book is its imagination and creativity. The author, Elizabeth Klein, blended elements of different fairy tales well with the plot. Many characters from old stories that we all know and love make appearances, such as the hare from The Tortoise and the Hare, the woman who lived in a shoe, and the Stork Service. They stayed true to the stories that they came from, and their appearances did not feel forced but rather delightful.
One of the most interesting creatures native to Dreamscape is the clacker, a type of malicious metal spider that likes biting people. I found these clackers amusing and interesting to read about. Apart from that, the description in the book is very detailed and intricate, allowing readers to clearly visualize the scenes and objects. The scenery of Dreamscape is described beautifully and is definitely pleasing. Another great aspect of this story is the plot, which is immersing and paced perfectly so that it is neither rushed nor dragging. The story was filled with a wide variety of characters and settings, but it managed to maintain a strong central storyline and did not end up confusing me. I was genuinely surprised and thrilled by the plot twists and reveals in the book.
This story was a great pleasure to read, and I highly recommend it to anyone who loves a good adventure, especially middle graders to YA. It kept me engaged from beginning to end, and I will definitely go ahead and read the sequel!
May 12, 2021
Looking for Altheda is a fun fantasy quest that will appeal to the upper end of middle grade readers and young adults. It does have a bit of a dark side especially towards the end which is why I wouldn’t recommend it to sensitive younger readers. Having said that, I enjoyed this story immensely. Ms Klein has a quirky sense of humour that will delight all readers familiar with fairy tales and all that their worlds portray. She has very cleverly entwined an abundance of fairy tales into one magnificent journey. When Sam is on holiday at his grandfather’s farm, lovingly referred to as ‘the Wallaby Patch,’ he soon uncovers intrigue and secrets that are unlocked by a certain green coat carefully folded inside a timber chest ornately carved with a dragon design. Our reluctant hero soon finds himself deep in the fantasy world searching for his long-lost grandmother. The unpredictable fun begins as he encounters the teddy bears picnic deep within the woods, a town of living eggs, one of whom is mourning the loss of Humpty Dumpty and a hare who is desperate to prove that the tortoise cheated. There is so much to enjoy as we follow Sam on his quest, readers will laugh and face certain fear in a mix of emotions that will keep them turning the pages in this fast-paced fantasy world adventure. There are plenty of twists and turns too, just when you think you have worked it out, the plot leads you down a different path keeping the mystery alive until you reach the inevitable exciting climax. Well done Ms Klein, for writing a unique, clever and captivating story in a fantasy world that is so well described you can imagine it is real. I give this 5 out of 5 stars, read it if you love fantasy and fairy tales, you won't be disappointed.
Want to read
September 18, 2020Who doesn't enjoy a spooky tale that involves a magical portal into another world? Well, tighten your seatbelt before you open the cover because that's what you'll get. It's certainly what happened to poor Samuel Flynn one day when his mother was called out to help a friend and his grandfather collapsed.
Here's a small excerpt of the beginning: Windows rattle and twigs scrape across the glass. My eyes snap open! I claw through dream cobwebs into a sitting position. My heart pumps so fast I think it might explode. The nightmare flies off like a black-winged crow; its harsh sound chafes at my skull. I rub my aching temple with sweaty fingertips as flashes of shadow flit through my memory, and a fever-pitch of snapping jaws...
My breath catches in my throat and I clench sweaty fistfuls of blanket at the overwhelming sense of doom. It’s almost six o’clock and dark around the edges of the curtains as I rummage through scrappy images in my mind, but no matter how hard I try, I cannot remember any clear details of what made me so fearful.
Here's the amazon link if you're brave:
https://www.amazon.com/-/e/B07ZBTVVX4
Here's a small excerpt of the beginning: Windows rattle and twigs scrape across the glass. My eyes snap open! I claw through dream cobwebs into a sitting position. My heart pumps so fast I think it might explode. The nightmare flies off like a black-winged crow; its harsh sound chafes at my skull. I rub my aching temple with sweaty fingertips as flashes of shadow flit through my memory, and a fever-pitch of snapping jaws...
My breath catches in my throat and I clench sweaty fistfuls of blanket at the overwhelming sense of doom. It’s almost six o’clock and dark around the edges of the curtains as I rummage through scrappy images in my mind, but no matter how hard I try, I cannot remember any clear details of what made me so fearful.
Here's the amazon link if you're brave:
https://www.amazon.com/-/e/B07ZBTVVX4
March 16, 2020
*I received a free copy of this book from the author via voracious readers only in exchange for an honest review*
Never before have I read a book with so many character and elements from different fables, nursery rhymes and children’s stories that felt so much like an original story. I’ve read a few before that have mixed together elements from older stories but most of them have felt more like story patchwork.
Sam sets off on a quest to rescue his long lost grandmother from another world, accessed through an old chest using a green coat. On his way he meets lots of familiar characters, some who aid his journey and some who try to end it.
All the way through it’s fast paced and set in a world that is so beautifully intricate that it’s easy to imagine yourself right alongside the characters. I would definitely recommend this book to anyone.
Never before have I read a book with so many character and elements from different fables, nursery rhymes and children’s stories that felt so much like an original story. I’ve read a few before that have mixed together elements from older stories but most of them have felt more like story patchwork.
Sam sets off on a quest to rescue his long lost grandmother from another world, accessed through an old chest using a green coat. On his way he meets lots of familiar characters, some who aid his journey and some who try to end it.
All the way through it’s fast paced and set in a world that is so beautifully intricate that it’s easy to imagine yourself right alongside the characters. I would definitely recommend this book to anyone.
February 5, 2024
Fascinating fantasy is grounded in reality but moves to childhood fairytales and nightmares. A lot of tightly woven scenes, sometimes it was hard to place the fairytale but Klein gives us hints if we get stuck. You don't have to know the folktales to follow the story, but it is helpful. :)
Certainly the adventure of a lifetime - but as there are a couple more books, I'm wondering what other adventures Sam will get into? I'm excited to find out.
Certainly the adventure of a lifetime - but as there are a couple more books, I'm wondering what other adventures Sam will get into? I'm excited to find out.
July 6, 2025
What a great introduction to a fantasy universe. The author's beautiful writing style really brings you into the world of Dreamscape. Humor, heartfelt moments, and harrowing adventure all entwine to form a wonderful story. Starting out, I knew the book would involve fairy tales and their characters, but I was pleasantly surprised to find out that it involved characters from fables and nursery rhymes as well. I even learned about a rhyme I hadn't previously known!
The characters were well-developed with interesting (and often hilarious) twists, especially Snow White, and several were incredibly unique, such as Octavian the card, and the Helping Hand. Sam Flynn is a truly lovable protagonist, caring deeply for his family and being quickly drawn into the plight of Dreamscape's peoples. I loved how he always wanted to do the right thing, no matter what it cost him, and how he'd put himself in danger to rescue his grandmother and help the inhabitants of Dreamscape. Another thing that I really appreciated about his character was that he didn't lean toward making deadly or otherwise harmful mistakes (which many YA protagonists do). Sam was definitely one of my favorite characters. Harry was another one, and if you read the book, you'll know why!
I enjoyed the adventure and plot twists in this book, and I was also glad that the villains died (many writers don't have that happen). I also loved the happy reunions and the special moments between Sam, his family, and his new friends in Dreamscape.
This book has some deaths of good characters, and some descriptions of a dead body.
The characters were well-developed with interesting (and often hilarious) twists, especially Snow White, and several were incredibly unique, such as Octavian the card, and the Helping Hand. Sam Flynn is a truly lovable protagonist, caring deeply for his family and being quickly drawn into the plight of Dreamscape's peoples. I loved how he always wanted to do the right thing, no matter what it cost him, and how he'd put himself in danger to rescue his grandmother and help the inhabitants of Dreamscape. Another thing that I really appreciated about his character was that he didn't lean toward making deadly or otherwise harmful mistakes (which many YA protagonists do). Sam was definitely one of my favorite characters. Harry was another one, and if you read the book, you'll know why!
I enjoyed the adventure and plot twists in this book, and I was also glad that the villains died (many writers don't have that happen). I also loved the happy reunions and the special moments between Sam, his family, and his new friends in Dreamscape.
This book has some deaths of good characters, and some descriptions of a dead body.
Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews