The Dreaming, Vol. 1 [Paperback]

Queenie Chan (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: December 13, 2005

Identical twins Jeanie and Amber arrive at their new boarding school on the edge of the Australian bush to find it steeped in mystery.

Editorial Reviews

From Booklist

Gr. 9-12. In the first volume of a three-book manga series, identical twins Jeanie and Amber arrive at their new boarding school on the edge of the Australian bush to find it steeped in mystery. Vague rumors of students disappearing, sealed rooms, tight-lipped teachers, and a collection of disturbing paintings have the girls unnerved, and when they start experiencing the same nightmare, they really begin to worry. The subtle buildup of spooky tension culminates when one of the girls' friends goes missing, only to turn up dead. The art is traditional manga, but Chan effectively tweaks the style to create an eerie atmosphere--creepy, but not graphic or deeply scary. Readers may initially connect this to DC's Sandman graphic novels, but they'll soon find that Chan's story has a personality and direction all its own. Tina Coleman
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

Product Details

• Paperback: 192 pages
• Publisher: TokyoPop (December 13, 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1598163825
• ISBN-13: 978-1598163827
• Product Dimensions: 7.3 x 5.2 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 6.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (14 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,277,588 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Dreaming has started, August 20, 2006

By 

E. A Solinas "ea_solinas" (MD USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: The Dreaming, Vol. 1 (Paperback)

It's sort of nice to see manga artwork being embraced from places other than Japan -- in this case, Australian Queenie Chan, who loves comics, manga, and apparently creating them.

Her printed debut "The Dreaming" is a pretty solid one, although this volume is mostly buildup. Fortunately Chan has a knack for gothic beauty and eeriness, and she also has an excellent drawing style. It takes awhile for the plot to actually get moving, but it;s a suitably spooky ride.

Twins Jeanie and Amber are brought to their new school, a prestigious all-girls academy. But the moment they get there, weird things happen -- creepy pictures, nasty teachers, and their aunt tells them to never reveal that they are twins. Even worse, both girls start having bizarre dreams about Victorian girls and bleeding trees.

But things become even worse when their friend Millie vanishes from the school -- just like other girls at the school, who never came back. No one who goes out into the bushlands comes back. Now the girls venture out into the dark woods to find Millie -- but what they find is even worse than a disappearance.

Though done in the style of Japanese manga, Chan's story is actually very Australian, with that whole "lost in the bushlands" storyline. And the rest of it is archetypical ghost-story setup, coming to a haunted school and delving into all the ominous stuff. Complete with seance and creepy dreams. Nice start!

The plot is somewhat lacking, since the first volume of this series is basically building an eerie atmosphere, and planting clues to whatever the ghost story is. The clues are tantalizing, and the final act kicks the plot into gear, and will have readers slavering to find out what will happen. It's also when Chan's storytelling ability tops itself.

Chan has a great drawing style, with lots of detail and gothic flair -- isolated schools, draperies, crystal chandeliers and Victorian paintings. The one flaw is that her characters' faces are sometimes too stiff, especially when they're happy. Fortunately this improves over time, and by the middle Jeanie and Amber have loosened up facially.

And another good point is that Chan has maintained the manga stylings. No spouting tears or anything, but she has the same sort of style, as well as little details like the ghosts' wide mouths and the dark panels with white lettering. She's obviously observed other manga artwork and caught on to all the little stylistic details.

Amber and Jeanie initially seem like the typical twins-who-act-completely-different, but soon start growing as characters. Surprisingly it's carefree, chipper Jeanie who takes center stage, while her moodier sister steps back. The other girls and teachers don't have much personality yet, but the girl with the headband definitely seems to be growing one by the finale.

Australian manga get a Victorian gothic twist in "The Dreaming," Queenie Chan's first printed manga. It starts off a bit awkwardly, but has plenty of promise for Volume Two.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Very Good, September 21, 2006

By 

L. Mintah "Author of the Heart" (USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Dreaming, Vol. 1 (Paperback)

The Dreaming is a spooky horror manga about a Victorian-style private school in a remote area of Australia. Twin teenage girls who just arrived at the school soon find there is something sinister about not only the school, but the surrounding area. What is the strange history of the school and why does one of the twins visit it in her dreams?

Author Queenie Chan based the story on a famous Australian book/movie called Picnic at Hanging Rock. Hanging Rock is about a girls' school in Victorian times and the strange disappearance of three students. The movie is so well-done that most who saw it believed the fictional story to be historically true. Indeed, The Dreaming is very much like the movie, and was one of the reasons I was attracted to the book. The manga art is good, but not quite as good as the story. Chan draws backgrounds more convincingly than characters.

Can't wait for volume two, coming in November 2006!

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Brilliant-- 5+ stars, February 27, 2006

By 

Liz (USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Dreaming, Vol. 1 (Paperback)

The Dreaming is definitely one of the best mangas I've ever read. I was absorbed from beginning to end, completely immersed in the spooky atmosphere of each page. It's a very imaginative work, with a beautiful Victorian/ gothic setting in Australia. The artwork is clean and flowing, and the storyline has a tight, fast-paced, and well-developed plot (which is a pretty rare find!). It could easily be made into a plot for a movie. It was full of rising suspense as well, and the images are very haunting. (I found the picture of the two Victorian ghost ladies standing in the dorm room at the end of chapter two to be particularly creepy while reading it late at night in my own dorm room!) I highly recommend this manga not just to manga lovers, but anyone who enjoys a good suspense or ghost story!