Description:

Emmett’s dream is always the same. Tingling with half-forgotten memories, he stands in an unknown room surrounded by mirrors, curio cabinets, and nesting dolls. A painting, Belshazzar’s Feast, hangs on the wall, its disembodied hand numbering the King’s final days. Then comes the stranger, the serpent-wielding young woman with the glittering amber eyes. Her words are always the same. Emmett will soon save her. Then the supposed hero awakens to his unremarkable life, awaiting the next night and the same maddeningly familiar dream. Seventeen-year-old orphan Emmett Brennan remembers nothing of his past—not the boiler room in which his needle-ravaged mother gave birth to him, nor the Druids who tenderly delivered him. He can’t remember the cabal-summoned Revenant that clawed itself from shadow to hunt him, or why his mystical midwives hid him from the necromantic creature. Approaching adulthood, he is unaware of the dark forces that still search for him or the mysterious sentinels who secretly protect him, but on the eve of his eighteenth birthday that will change. The Revenants will find him. Only the young woman from his dreams can help him confront all he was once made to forget. Together, they will brave the nightmarish landscape Emmett’s waking world will soon become. ** ### Review "*The Waking Dreamer* is a unique and fresh approach to dark, contemporary fantasy, in which the author has constructed a fascinating mythology with a plausible, interesting history and tons of secrets, all set in a contemporary world. And though it may sound strange to say so, *The Waking Dreamer* is also a realistic story of growing up. Yes, it's a dark fantasy tale filled with magic, mystery, horror, and intrigue-and it's a good one of those, too-but it's also about a kid venturing out into the world..." - Court Street Literary Collective, Ltd. ### About the Author Joshua Elijah Alexander loves veering off the main road in search of abandoned mines, dense bogs, and other ghost-infested settings for future stories. He is an ardent devotee of esotery, sarcastic fringeheads, and jam. Especially jam. He currently lives in Austin, Texas, with near-term plans for lunar relocation, weather permitting. He encourages fans to connect with him online where his attention can be caught with discussion of cryptids or ginger-infused confections. Or ginger cryptids. Connect with him online @ authorJEA.com.