Whether dreamed or crafted, art engenders life.Creation and destruction, art and mimicry, power and disenfranchisement: The world requires balance, but the Lynch brothers, standing at the center of it all, have always tended to extremes. Although Ronan continues to be the pivot, the dreams take precedence: Jordan finds herself as a maker rather than a forger while Matthew grapples with who he is now that he understands he was dreamed. Power dynamics have shifted following the showdown between the dreamers and the Moderators. Three groups-the dreamers, the dreams, plus a rogue Moderator/Visionary team, each selfish, amoral, and deeply sympathetic in turn-circle one another, trying to change or save the world, or dreams, or themselves, or all of the above. The dreamers want open ley lines and the freedom to dream. The dreamed want to live free of their dreamers. Farooq-Lane wants to stop killing but still stop the dreamers. More meditative than the first volume, this complexly plotted wonder offers little to reorient readers but much to engage them. Stiefvater's pitch-perfect prose, detached and full of precise details, creates a tension that never lets up until the zinger of an ending that will leave fans gasping. The Lynch brothers are White; Jordan is Black, and Farooq-Lane's name cues some Middle Eastern heritage.Explosive. (Fantasy. 13-adult)

Whether dreamed or crafted, art engenders life.Creation and destruction, art and mimicry, power and disenfranchisement: The world requires balance, but the Lynch brothers, standing at the center of it all, have always tended to extremes. Although Ronan continues to be the pivot, the dreams take precedence: Jordan finds herself as a maker rather than a forger while Matthew grapples with who he is now that he understands he was dreamed. Power dynamics have shifted following the showdown between the dreamers and the Moderators. Three groups-the dreamers, the dreams, plus a rogue Moderator/Visionary team, each selfish, amoral, and deeply sympathetic in turn-circle one another, trying to change or save the world, or dreams, or themselves, or all of the above. The dreamers want open ley lines and the freedom to dream. The dreamed want to live free of their dreamers. Farooq-Lane wants to stop killing but still stop the dreamers. More meditative than the first volume, this complexly plotted wonder offers little to reorient readers but much to engage them. Stiefvater's pitch-perfect prose, detached and full of precise details, creates a tension that never lets up until the zinger of an ending that will leave fans gasping. The Lynch brothers are White; Jordan is Black, and Farooq-Lane's name cues some Middle Eastern heritage.Explosive. (Fantasy. 13-adult)

Gr 8 Up-Stiefvater, author of "The Raven Cycle" series and Call Down the Hawk , continues the "Dreamer" trilogy with this twisty, engrossing, and lyrical second volume. The Dreamers's abilities seem to be weakening as the ley lines lose power. If too much is lost, the protagonists will eventually die. Their mission is to save the world any way they can regardless of the cost to their ability to continue to dream and, even, survive. The conclusion reveals an ominous portent of worse things to come, ensuring a third book is in the works. As challenging as it will be to follow the plot's twists and turns, this sequel will mesmerize fans. VERDICT Purchase where fast-paced and intricate fantasies are popularespecially where Stiefvater's previous books fly off the shelves.Jane Henriksen Baird, formerly at Anchorage P.L., AK