Dreamhunter

How it reads

Dreamhunter is fantasy (portal fantasy, specifically), and its dominant mood is adventurous. It's driven by momentum, discovery and getting into trouble. The pace is moderate — neither a page-turner nor a slow burn — so it holds up whether you read it in long sittings or short ones.

It's set in an invented world, in no single period, told in the third person across several viewpoints. Its central concerns are coming of age, friendship and power and politics. In weight it sits in the middle: substantial without being heavy going.

It opens a series. It ends on a cliffhanger, so have the next book ready. At 365 pages it's an ordinary novel's length. It's moderately known: read by plenty of people, but not a household name.