Muse of Nightmares (Strange the Dreamer #2)

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Return to the exquisite waking dreamworld of Portland author Laini Taylor’s Strange the Dreamer. In the mythical city of Weep, Sarai and Lazlo have been transformed. Can a ghost and a godspawn end a centuries-long cycle of fear and hate? Can we choose forgiveness as our justice, or will the lure of vengeance always be too strong? Recommended By Madeline S., Powells.com

Sarai, the Muse of Nightmares, is now a ghost. Lazlo has just discovered he is a blue-skinned son of the gods. Together, they must face impossible choices as chaos spreads through the city of Weep and renewed war between gods and mortals threatens to break out. A monumental sequel to Strange the Dreamer, Laini Taylor's Muse of Nightmares reminded me of Philip Pullman's world-hopping His Dark Materials trilogy. Epic in scale, full-hearted, and written in gorgeously lyrical prose, this book made me feel gloriously alive as I sped through its pages. Recommended By Mary S., Powells.com

The highly anticipated, thrilling sequel to the New York Times bestseller, Strange the Dreamer, from National Book Award finalist Laini Taylor, author of the bestselling Daughter of Smoke & Bone trilogy.

Sarai has lived and breathed nightmares since she was six years old. She believed she knew every horror, and was beyond surprise. She was wrong.

 In the wake of tragedy, neither Lazlo nor Sarai are who they were before. One a god, the other a ghost, they struggle to grasp the new boundaries of their selves as dark-minded Minya holds them hostage, intent on vengeance against Weep.

Lazlo faces an unthinkable choice--save the woman he loves, or everyone else?--while Sarai feels more helpless than ever. But is she? Sometimes, only the direst need can teach us our own depths, and Sarai, the muse of nightmares, has not yet discovered what she's capable of.

As humans and godspawn reel in the aftermath of the citadel's near fall, a new foe shatters their fragile hopes, and the mysteries of the Mesarthim are resurrected: Where did the gods come from, and why? What was done with thousands of children born in the citadel nursery? And most important of all, as forgotten doors are opened and new worlds revealed: Must heroes always slay monsters, or is it possible to save them instead?

Love and hate, revenge and redemption, destruction and salvation all clash in this gorgeous sequel to the New York Times bestseller, Strange the Dreamer.

"[Laini Taylor] has spun another mesmerizing tale with captivating twists and turns, an array of intriguing characters, strange and beautiful language, and baroque flourishes of the imagination." Horn Book

"Part adventure novel, part romance and part exercise in epic myth-building, it's gorgeously written and full of surprises." NPR

"A sequel that surpasses the original." Kirkus Reviews

Laini Taylor is the New York Times bestselling author of the Printz Honor Book Strange the Dreamer and its sequel, Muse of Nightmares. Taylor is also the author of the global sensation the Daughter of Smoke & Bone trilogy and the companion novella Night of Cake & Puppets. Taylor’s other works include the Dreamdark books: Blackbringer and Silksinger, and the National Book Award finalist Lips Touch: Three Times. She lives in Portland, Oregon, with her husband, illustrator Jim Di Bartolo, and their daughter, Clementine.