The Dreamer

"Children of Light, listen well, for this is a tale of caution..."

The Tale of the Mad Dreamer is a well-worn story among the Alvar. The Dreamers deal in premonition and memories of lost eras - their minds connected to the Entity that is the source of all power. The gift - or curse - of Dreaming chooses children at random, taken from their families to train to control their strange powers.

Lucky for Theren, and his best friend Valyn, they have been spared such a fate. Popular and powerful, Theren's future looks bright; poised to be selected by the Hunters at the Choosing, before he will embark his first Brotherwalk - the annual pilgrimage of men to find a lover and prove their mettle in the sprawling forests of Alvaren.

But after one strange night, Theren and Valyn find their futures forever altered - secrets and mysteries setting them on a path that will have them questioning their very reality. Fate threatens to pull them apart, and face an uncertain future alone.

For sometimes, it seems, Dreams don't follow the rules.

The Dreamer is a standalone book

Age recommendation: for mature readers 18+

Genre: High Fantasy

Jean Swan is a fantasy and speculative fiction author from the south-east of Australia.

Influenced by the book-lovers in her family, she and her little brother were inspired by authors such as Emily Rodda, Sara Douglass, Tamora Pierce, and Kate Forsyth to create fantastical adventure games to play in the garden – complete with multiple character arcs.

Jean has always loved character-driven books, as they reflect the complex highs and lows of humanity. Her full-time work as a clinical psychologist means she sees all the colours of people’s lives, and the incredible resilience of the human spirit.

This is why Jean loves speculative fiction. Alternate worlds offer solace, a place to escape when we need it. But we also find ourselves in these places; in characters we love (or love to hate), and in reckoning with the full scope of what it is to be human. Even amidst cataclysmic events, of gods and magic, and all that is epic about the genre, these are just stories about people.