Customer Reviews

The Dream Merchant (Works in Translation)

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Josh Cope is an ordinary boy, except for four things: he is a collector of strange and unusual objects, he can fall asleep whenever and wherever he wants, he can always remember his dreams, and he is a thief. These skills draw the attention of Gippart International, an organization that has made its fortune selling the most innovative new products for over a thousand years. After answering the simple question "How does one get into, or out of, a dream?" Josh is recruited to help Gippart explore their newest sales territory, umaya, a dream world through which Gippart hopes to unlock the secrets of time.

Umaya is described as being "the collective dream-world of all mankind, made up of the collective dreams and memories of the entire human race." Josh is sent to umaya along with his friend Baz, a drummer, and Teresa, an exceptional teller of tales. Initially, they believe they are there to sell wooden birdcalls, but come to find that Gippart is using them as guinea pigs for an experiment in time travel. After becoming trapped in umaya, the only way they will ever get home is to travel to the "end of time" and make peace between the two legendary founders of the mercantile trade.

THE DREAM MERCHANT, translated from the Dutch, is not a straightforward narrative. The book is long, and takes a winding path to its final destination. This may challenge less patient readers, but rewards those who like a detailed exploration of fantastic worlds. The story is captivating and complex, presenting an original vision cobbled from history, nightmares and imagination.

Philosophical, dream-like, and full of unexpected characters and adventures, THE DREAM MERCHANT will appeal to readers who have enjoyed Philip Pullman's His Dark Materials series, or Philip Reeve's MORTAL ENGINES. Even with a satisfying ending in place, the book asks more questions than it is able to answer, leaving readers thinking about the ideas it presents long after the adventure is finished.

--- Reviewed by Sarah A. Wood

This captivating book of Isabel Hovings, displays a whole new era of modern fairy-tale. The magic and adventure in it is beyond words and the characters and plots are well blended in the story. For a long book, every page has depicted a beautiful and interesting, intriguing story half modern-half fairytale.

Josh is an average 12 year old boy who is good at sleeping whenever he wants to too, and stealing items from other people. But when one night the phone rings, Josh gets up to get it, and is thrown into the magical-trading industry of Gippart where he is forced to venture into dream-worlds (umaya) and find the magical tembi- who live in the dawn of time.

This magical book was a captivating read and I reccomend it to all fairy-tale lovers.

i cant believe nobody has reviewed this book. this book is an epic adventure, i guarantee you wll never regret reading this book! filled with suspense, drama, and hours passing like the wind!

this book is beautiful and inspiring.

I love this book. Its original and lovely.(and i never use that word) I loved the Characters: Josh who is the main character is a dreamer and thief but thats what makes him special in this story.
Baz is a gifted drummer and thats what saves his life and his friends
and Theresa is a storyteller, they are all from different backgrounds but they work so well in this story and u come to love them.

Basically Josh gets called to work for a mysterious company called Gippart. when he gets there (in the middle of the night) he finds out that the company's objective is to travel through time or (dream time called Umaya) and sell things made in the future. The catch is that they have been trying to travel through real time and they believe that Josh can do it. the story and the characters got me from beginning to end, even the ones i didnt like. Its worth every penny!!

Lets just hope Ms. Hoving writes another one

Josh is an average 12 year old boy who is good at sleeping whenever he wants. one night the phone rings, Josh gets up to get it, and is thrown into the magical-trading industry of Gippart where he is forced to venture into dream-worlds (umaya) and find the magical tembi- who live in the dawn of time.

This magical book was a captivating read and I reccomend it to all fairy-tale lovers.

Note, I did not buy this book yet. I only picked it up and started reading it in the bookstore. I can't stop thinking about this book so I felt that a review was necessary even if I haven't read the whole thing yet.

Ok, I did not know what to expect upon reading it but as soon as I saw the title of the book, it caught my attention right away. Opening it up slowly, I peeked at the summary on the inside of the cover's flap, which basically tells you of a collector/thief 12 year old, Josh Cope, who gets hired by this company, Gippart, which runs a business between reality and dreams.

So I thought, 'Alright? Sounds interesting.'
I flipped to the first page of text and began to read. The text was a bit smaller than I imagined for such a HUGE book, but that didn't bother me as soon as I read the very first set of words. It literally brought you right to the plot at the beginning. Very short intro about Josh. It was straight to the point. And then, the way, the next part comes out which is the introduction to Gippart comes in a very mysterious way. It's so mysterious that you would want to keep on reading to find out exactly how "it's" going to happen and what Josh needs to do to get "there".

In the midst of my reading, I went back to the summary of the book and noticed the quote sitting on top of the summary. The quote instantly made me think that there was something more than what meets the eye. Was the quote a real warning or was it a trick? You'll never know until you read further....

I reached to the 15th page before returning the book to the shelf. This book is a winner as it's very fast pace. The details that the author put into the book are very vivid. Glad that it's super huge too. ^_^ Looking foward to actually buying it.

Edit: Bought it from Amazon four days ago and I just got it today. It's a very hard book to put down. :D I realized that some of the words may be splitted throughout the book but that's understandable since this is a translation (that's still in process?).

This book starts as an entertaining page turner, but it gets tedious. It is frankly too long for the subject matter. It is imaginative, sometimes novel, and the characters are well thought through, but as a children's book, I have to wonder how many of its intended audience will turn the 637th (reasonably cramped) page.

The title and thickness interested me, so I picked it up and started reading. It's not often you find such a thick book (600+ pages) in the teen section, although this has become more and more common since J.K. Rowling has made it popular to read once again. Several of my favorite authors were republished due to her books and kids wanting more fantasy . . . and I think this book would have been overlooked too if it had come out before the Goblet of Fire.

It still might be overlooked, although I sincerely hope that won't be the case, because this one deserves all the attention it gets.

Fantasy is revived here, taking a fresh new look at several different plot and story lines and bringing back to mind bits and pieces of mythology that I would never have thought to place together. An imaginative style that is not hampered by translation from Dutch to English or its length, this one is filled with interesting characters that catch one's attention and (at least for me) remain unforgettable.

From the first page, I was hooked. Not very many books begin with a twelve year old admitting quite frankly that he is a thief. By the end of the third chapter I knew I had to buy it. I paid full market price for The Dream Merchant, but I wasn't disappointed and I certainly won't be returning it.

It reminds me a bit of "The Ear the Eye and the Arm," by Nancy Farmer or Diana Wynne Jone's "Homeward Bounders" or her better known book from the Chrestomanci series "Magicians of Caprona"-- three extremely good books for which I have found nothing that compares with them for years.

Although several characters had what seemed like drastic shifts in personality to fit the later story line (Moussa, anyone?), I liked the idea of two family companies at odds with each other and the theme of reconciliation throughout the book during the long, sometimes hazardous, adventure.

A fascinating read, filled with well developed characters, far out and imaginative places combined with a thick rich plot that makes this book one of my favourites.
This book is about the child Josh Cope who is hired by Gippart Co to travel in to the land of dreams or Umayi, and sell their merchendise. Then a mystical storm passes, and he is stuck in the Umayi with his two friends and a mysterious figure from his past, he must travel to the ends of the earth and the boundry of dreams, all the while unlocking the secret of Gippart Co.