Review: The Silver Dream

The Silver Dream
InterWorld, Book 2

Author: Michael Reaves and Mallory Reaves
Pages: 256
Publisher: HarperTeen
Publication Date: April 23, 2013
Source: YA Books Central for review

Description from Goodreads:
Sixteen-year-old Joey Harker has just saved the Altiverse—the dimension that contains all the myriad Earths—from complete destruction. After mastering the ability to walk between dimensions, Joey and his fellow InterWorld Freedom Fighters are on a mission to maintain peace between the rival powers of magic and science who seek to control all worlds.

When a stranger named Acacia somehow follows Joey back to InterWorld’s Base, things get complicated. No one knows who she is or where she’s from—or how she knows so much about InterWorld. Dangerous times lie ahead, and Joey has no one to rely on but himself and his wits—and, just maybe, the mysterious Acacia Jones.

Full of riveting interdimensional battles, epic journeys between worlds, and twists and turns along the way, this sequel to the New York Times bestselling InterWorld is a thrilling, mind-bending adventure through time and space.

Previous Book in Series:
1: InterWorld

First Sentence: "Call me Joe."

Review:

Okay, so the first thing I have to say has absolutely nothing to do with the content of the book, okay? I have to say it, though. I hate when books are ascribed to the content creator over the authors. I mean, ideas are important, but the heavy lifting on this book was done by Michael and Mallory Reaves, not Neil Gaiman, but they want his name to sell the book, because, let's be honest, tons of people will not notice he didn't actually write it. I just think that's ridiculous. Rant over.

As much as I respect Neil Gaiman as a person and an author, I actually liked The Silver Dream a bit more than InterWorld. The addition of Mallory seems to have made everything just a bit more lively and approachable. The Silver Dream is faster-paced and slightly less philosophical. That said, I do think it's a really solid sequel, and it doesn't feel like a completely different book, not like the series was picked up by someone completely different.

The plot has plenty of action this time, with more deaths and betrayal and excitement. Joey Harker, who now wants to be taken seriously and called Joe, finds himself at the center of huge plots once again, and both InterWorld and the Altiverse are at risk. All of this comes at a pretty good time for him, though, because he was suffering some serious insecurities with the arrival of a new Walker more powerful than himself, one immediately liked by everyone, unlike him. Joey does get a little bit angsty, but that was also nice, because he showed a bit more emotional depth in this installment than in InterWorld.

Another exciting edition to the series is a character that is neither evil, a multi-dimensional lifeform, or an alternate universe version of Joey Harker (sorry, dude, even I'm not going to call you Joe). Acacia pops into Joey's life and immediately makes things difficult for him, which pretty much is the sign of an awesome girl, right? There's obviously going to be a romance here eventually, but it's totally not schmoopy, and mostly just Joey being embarrassed and blushing, which is fabulous because male characters almost never blush. Take that, gender roles!

Still, though I'm enjoying this series, I still would love for their to be more character development. As a reader, that's what I look for first and foremost. The world building and action here are very fun, but I'm left wanting. The other thing that's getting to me a little bit is the name of one of the big bads: Lord Dogknife. Seriously, if a bad guy of that name killed me, at least I would die laughing at his stupid name.

Readers who enjoyed InterWorld will likely want to continue with this series, despite the loss of Neil Gaiman. If InterWorld was a bit slow for you, you still might want to try this one, because the Reaves made this volume a bit more lively. At this point, I'm not sure if I want to continue with this series (the ending makes it clear more is coming), but I might be ready by the time book three comes out.

Rating: 3/5

Favorite Quote: "I'd gotten used to the snarky comments, even given most of them back to him, but now he was actually trying to kill me, which was several light-years beyond snark any way you looked at it."