Review: Muse of Nightmares by Laini Taylor

Sarai is dead. Lazlo is blue. The world has been turned upside down. Thankfully, Minya has used her strange gift to keep ahold of Sarai’s ghost, so that she and Lazlo are finally, despite the circumstances, together. Yet Minya’s gesture is steeped in ulterior motives – with Sarai as a plaything, she can control Lazlo Strange and force her way along a path of bloody retribution. Unless Minya can be stopped, Strange and Sarai can never have their happy ending, corporeal body or not.

However, Minya’s games are not the only concern the young lovers have – Strange’s discovery of his powers and reawakening of the citadel means that, as doorways are reopened, so are secrets revealed. The inhabitants of the citadel are suddenly made aware of their history, with age-old questions answered, but not the answers the godspawn anticipated. With the knowledge come greater foes and far-reaching threats which span not just the world, but worlds.

I am no doubt not alone in my slight hesitancy to read a sequel; often, they do not live up to the first book, yet Laini Taylor has surpassed my expectations and asserted herself as a force to be reckoned with. Taylor has taken a solid foundation created in Strange the Dreamer and expanded it to create an immense world that, dare I say, allows this book to outshine its predecessor. Kicking off sheer moments after the final moments of the last book, no time is wasted in welcoming the reader back to the city of Weep.

Muse of Nightmares is a superb book – the imagery exceeded my expectations, the plot was intricate and so cleverly put together, the characters evolved into mature versions of their past selves, and the lore was breath-taking and imaginative. Taylor’s talent is evident on every page of this book, and is a gift for the reader, to be cherished and marveled at. With this book, you hold the universe in your hand; don’t let it pass you by.

Muse of Nightmares by Laini Taylor is published by Hodder & Stoughton and is available in South Africa from Jonathan Ball Publishers.