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Book of Dreams #1
Metropolis
What dreams may come...
Now I lay me down to sleep,
I pray the lord my soul to keep,
Until morning, when I want it back.
Troubled by night terrors? Need someone to bodyguard your dreams? Call Hypnos Inc.. Whoever said dreams can't hurt you didn't know what they were talking about.
Welcome to the Narcoscape, the place of dreams where infants are beguiled by visions and do not wake in the morning. It is the shadowy realm of the coma patient and the last stop for the drug users who come looking for the arms of Morpheus. It is the kingdom of the insane, the place where dark things prey on the mind.
If you are lost in the Narcoscape you need a dream retrieval expert like Nicodemus Smith, the ghost hunter, the slayer of night terrors who won't negotiate with the Dream Police.
Prepare to enter the dream world, a world like you've never experience before.
Now I lay me down to sleep,
I pray the lord my soul to keep,
Until morning, when I want it back.
Troubled by night terrors? Need someone to bodyguard your dreams? Call Hypnos Inc.. Whoever said dreams can't hurt you didn't know what they were talking about.
Welcome to the Narcoscape, the place of dreams where infants are beguiled by visions and do not wake in the morning. It is the shadowy realm of the coma patient and the last stop for the drug users who come looking for the arms of Morpheus. It is the kingdom of the insane, the place where dark things prey on the mind.
If you are lost in the Narcoscape you need a dream retrieval expert like Nicodemus Smith, the ghost hunter, the slayer of night terrors who won't negotiate with the Dream Police.
Prepare to enter the dream world, a world like you've never experience before.
- GenresFantasy
250 pages, Kindle Edition
First published September 30, 2010
3 people are currently reading
42 people want to read
About the author
Brian Jackson
25 books57 followersBorn in Los Angeles in the middle of the last century, Brian Jackson has always dreamed of being a writer. After decades spent working in the computer industry, Brian retired early to pursue that dream.
Available in eBook is Brian's backlist of previously published and unpublished material. Brian's books are clever, exciting, and often written with a sense of humor.
Brian lives in the California foothills with his wife, published author Melanie Jackson, Alpine, the dog, and Snowy, the cat.
Available in eBook is Brian's backlist of previously published and unpublished material. Brian's books are clever, exciting, and often written with a sense of humor.
Brian lives in the California foothills with his wife, published author Melanie Jackson, Alpine, the dog, and Snowy, the cat.
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Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews
January 18, 2018
Nicodemus Smith is a dream retrieval expert. She can enter the dreams of anyone and help them with their problems, wake them from a coma, or save them from the hazards that can be found in the Narcoscape. That's the name of our collective dreamscape.
Nic is contacted by a man who is from a group that works with dreams, but comes at it from a completely different perspective. Guys like him think Nic is a kook at worst, or a fraud at best. He needs help, but he can't turn to his own people because they would think he's crazy.
Nic agrees to help and ends up in way over her head. She's not an investigator, but she does her best to put the pieces together. She meets a cop that she eventually learns to trust.
I really enjoyed the worldbuilding. Explanations of the dreamside, and how it works, was very interesting and nicely integrated into the narrative. No big infodumps. There was a lot of action, both in the Narcoscape and the waking world.
The dangers that Nic faced were pretty cool. I was sitting on the edge of my seat wanting to know more about what was going on, and how everything linked together. There were a couple of side tracks, but they were interesting, and they didn't bore me. I was also happy with a couple of surprise twists. Once Nic figures out the bad guy, things didn't go any way that I expected.
I also like Nic. She's a loner, and unlike most books with lone wolf characters, she doesn't suddenly change into a warm and fuzzy social butterfly. She stays a loner. She lets a few people get closer because they've earned her trust, but essentially, she remains a self contained person. Some people might not like this, but Nic shaped up to be a unique character for me.
The ending didn't quite have the punch that I wanted, but it was good enough. I'll be reading the next book.
Nic is contacted by a man who is from a group that works with dreams, but comes at it from a completely different perspective. Guys like him think Nic is a kook at worst, or a fraud at best. He needs help, but he can't turn to his own people because they would think he's crazy.
Nic agrees to help and ends up in way over her head. She's not an investigator, but she does her best to put the pieces together. She meets a cop that she eventually learns to trust.
I really enjoyed the worldbuilding. Explanations of the dreamside, and how it works, was very interesting and nicely integrated into the narrative. No big infodumps. There was a lot of action, both in the Narcoscape and the waking world.
The dangers that Nic faced were pretty cool. I was sitting on the edge of my seat wanting to know more about what was going on, and how everything linked together. There were a couple of side tracks, but they were interesting, and they didn't bore me. I was also happy with a couple of surprise twists. Once Nic figures out the bad guy, things didn't go any way that I expected.
I also like Nic. She's a loner, and unlike most books with lone wolf characters, she doesn't suddenly change into a warm and fuzzy social butterfly. She stays a loner. She lets a few people get closer because they've earned her trust, but essentially, she remains a self contained person. Some people might not like this, but Nic shaped up to be a unique character for me.
The ending didn't quite have the punch that I wanted, but it was good enough. I'll be reading the next book.
April 9, 2022
An Absolutely Mind Blowing Universe.
The Jackson’s have created a fantastic new world with unique characters and laws of being and existence. Nic Smith is a strong antihero and lone wolf in this world and the alternative dreamscape. This book of dreams and nightmares is a fantastic ride to an alternate reality. The chapter beginning quotations are awesome.
The Jackson’s have created a fantastic new world with unique characters and laws of being and existence. Nic Smith is a strong antihero and lone wolf in this world and the alternative dreamscape. This book of dreams and nightmares is a fantastic ride to an alternate reality. The chapter beginning quotations are awesome.
July 18, 2011
I stumbled upon this book a week or so ago and thought that the premise sounded interesting, I didn’t read any reviews, because well, so often they contain spoilers, so I didn’t really know what to expect. It starts off really interesting, a ‘fun ride’ and then it drags, building the world, characters, etc. After a while I thought it would be an overly verbose book, but then it got really good and a bit creepy (in a good way of course). Once we were past the building of everything and understanding the concept of the dreamside and wakeside the story doesn’t really slow down. I really enjoyed the concept of “The First Book of Dreams: Metropolis”. I hadn’t seen this particular type of dark fantasy before and it worked really well. The authors did a fantastic job in creating believable worlds and it wound up being a rather impressive read.
October 4, 2010
I've never read a contemporary, urban fantasy novel quite like this. The world is unique and compelling. Now when I sleep I'm expecting to run into Nicodemus in my dreams.
Not to give much away, an expert in traversing the dreamscape encounters a plot to infiltrate the real world with nightmares from the Narcoscape. She works with a reluctant police detective, her aunt, and several powerful beings from the dreamside to confront this powerful force of evil.
Along the way we're presented with several incredible glimpses into the mind of the dreamer.
This was fast paced, fun, and exciting. I can't wait for the next book in the series (which the authors assure me will be released soon ;-).
Take a walk on the dream side, just for the thrill of it.
Not to give much away, an expert in traversing the dreamscape encounters a plot to infiltrate the real world with nightmares from the Narcoscape. She works with a reluctant police detective, her aunt, and several powerful beings from the dreamside to confront this powerful force of evil.
Along the way we're presented with several incredible glimpses into the mind of the dreamer.
This was fast paced, fun, and exciting. I can't wait for the next book in the series (which the authors assure me will be released soon ;-).
Take a walk on the dream side, just for the thrill of it.
November 23, 2015
Very interesting
Dream police? Altering the laws of physics and time? Finally an adult story that doesn't feel the need to get overly technical, cuz they've taken you to dream land.
Dream police? Altering the laws of physics and time? Finally an adult story that doesn't feel the need to get overly technical, cuz they've taken you to dream land.
April 19, 2011
Got through the first couple chapters. Not really my thing but well written.
October 21, 2012
Very clever and creative.
Read
August 26, 2013Promising premise, but the prose lacks liveliness and is intermittently infodumpy, and it's full of homonym errors. Got 76% of the way through the sample and decided against.
Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews