Dream London (1) (The Dream World) Paperback – October 29, 2013

Tony Ballantyne's " Dream London (The Dream World Book 1) " is a tale of two halves. Well, 60/40, anyway :) . The first 60% of the book is really well done and interesting. The setting is amazing, the characters interesting and well-developed, and the plot is completely different. It's also a book that makes you think about things. Unfortunately, someplace around that 60% point, the wheels start to come off. Essentially, it's like Ballantyne's painted himself into a corner and he has to resort to hand-waving so he can finish things up. Also, there are a couple of big problems with two of his main underpinnings. First, the powers that be can, basically, re-write reality. Yet, for some reason, they resort to what amounts to slavery (and its export) to do things. Second, the prime movers for the whole thing don't have the wherewithal to have developed the technology behind everything. All of those things, together, really put the book on shaky ground. But, I did enjoy most of it and found it very interesting. So, I'm rating the book at a Very Good 4 stars out of 5.

After finishing this book the week before. People say that there is nothing as boring as litstening to other people talk about their dreams so I won't but suffice to say it was a classic dreamscape and I have this book to thank for it. Not my usual read but held my interest all the way. Well done Tony.

VERY original. Like nothing I've read in a while. Id say its more fantasy that sic fi though. And its a fairly shortish novel, which I think was a good thing for this particular concept. Im certainly going to check out more by the author.

Absolutely loved this book. Would recommend to anyone with a liking to surreal art/writing. Fascinating story-I read it in about a week, and I don't read that often. The first sentence of the book immediately captured me.

Surreal does not really go far enough to describe the setting of London in this book. I've never been there but it doesn't seem like a hindrance to the enjoyment of reading this. There are parts where your brain works to adapt to the writing just like the characters in the book are trying to adjust. Great read!

intriguing premise of a book but fails to deliver a satisfying read. The end is sudden and left me feeling.. "what? why? .. and not in a good way.Im afraid I cannot recommend it.

I'm a big fan of the author's previous works and found his latest a treat on many levels. The setting is skillfully detailed, the character development is superb and the storyline carries you forward without delay into a World where everything you hold dear is turned on its head.

Not usually my "type" of book, I stepped blindly into the world of Dream London and didn't want to leave.

The tone of this urban fantasy is set when Captain James Wedderburn wakes in a bedroom that is a slightly different shape than it was when he went to sleep (but you have to expect that in what London has become) to the sound of munching and sees two glowing salamanders eating a green beetle the size of a dinner plate on his bedroom floor. The fact that his first thought is that they would be worth quite a lot if he can move quickly enough to catch them tells you a lot about the kind of London this has become. Captain Wedderburn is a a pimp, who swaggers his way through Dream London, trying to avoid various villains, including the mysterious Daddio and his strange emissary the foul mouthed six (and three quarters) Honey Peppers, and the fate they have in store for him, involving the manatees (or, more likely mandrills) in London Zoo, the machinations of the mysterious Cartel and Miss Elizabeth Baines who rescues cats and has been told he is her one true love. Further complications involve Mr Monagan, a man-sized orange frog, ants, various prophecies and the important of brass bands. And the problem of how to stop London changing beyond all possible recognistion.I loved it.

Like many others, I suspect, I was drawn to the book by the strange concept ofa twisted London, and like the citizens themselves, constantly changing.By the time I got to page 135 of this 347 page book, I decided to quit.Whilst some interesting characters turned up now and again, the story kind of getslost in the constant small talk. The tale, promising so much, simply fails toprogress, whereupon I found myself looking for something else to do, rather than struggleon with this disappointment.A wasted chance here Mr Ballantyne.

Dream London starts out as it means to go on, with a pair of salamanders eating a giant green beetle in an inn. From there, we are transported into a London that is vastly changed from what we know and becomes more and more surreal as we are drawn further into its compelling narrative. James Wedderburn is as complex a narrator as you could wish for and you can't help but follow him deeper into the nightmare, hoping that he will find the answer, for London and for himself.

I started out loving this book - it was quirky, different, and I was interested in the characters...sadly my interest waned by about half way through, and the book really went out with a fizzle rather than a bang. I kept trying to fit the storyline with some sort of social/political commentary, but either there was none, or I was not sufficiently perceptive to spot it. It was almost as if the author changed his mind part way through the book about where the story was going.

A truly novel fantasy!The laws that apply in dreams are now being applied to London, or Dream London as it is being called. Nothing makes sense but it's normal because that's how dreams go.The changes began subtly but now seem to be unstoppable. Who is behind it all? Can the changes be reversed?Society is changing and people are becoming individuals, losing the power of teamwork and it will take more than one man to shatter this dream.