Tyler's Blog Death of Destiny

“The Dream Merchant” by L.T. Suzuki

The Dream Merchant is a fictional novel written by L.T. Suzuki. It is a fantasy following an unlikely trio as they try to break a curse that has befallen a princess. I won't say too much about the book (I don't think it's been published yet...?) but I'll give a general overview in case people are interested in checking out the book.

The book follows Princess Rose, her court jester Tag, and the village idiot Cankles as they travel across the land in search of an item to break a curse placed on the Princess by the Queen of the Tooth Fairies after Rose succeeded in capturing her one night (which she attempted in order to meet the Dream Merchant, who granted her a stone that could fulfill most of her wishes). The curse, which causes Rose to go unloved by her parents, was placed upon Rose as a result of her deed; as a result, Rose was chased out of her castle by the guards. From there, she meets up with Tag and Cankles and they try to break the curse that has found her.

I would find it difficult to categorize this book in an age range... ...although there are many younger aspects to the novel (such as appearances by the tooth fairy), there are also deaths in the novel (which I don't think are usually present in younger books...?) and some of the vocabulary used was beyond me (although, that's not saying very much...).

The plots seems to be sufficient to keep the attention of most younger fantasy readers; there is usually something going on to engage the reader. There is also a wide variety of humour in the novel. It contains humour aimed at younger audiences, and also some for slightly older audiences. Some parts of the novel had me laughing out loud for a while.

Anyhow, overall, it was an interesting novel. I would recommend it to those interested in fantasy novels, growing-up themes, or local authors.