Aurora Award WINNER
IAP Award WINNER
The Hollow Boys - The Dream Rider Saga 1
Formats: E-Book, Paperback, Hardback
Ages: 12-15, 18+
WINNER OF THE AURORA AWARD AND JURIED IAP AWARD FOR BEST YA NOVEL.
Vanishing street kids. An ancient evil. The end of the world.
Our only hope? A hero who can't leave home.
At seventeen, Will Dreycott is a superhero…in his dreams. And in yours.
Eight years ago, Will's parents, shady dealers in ancient artifacts, disappeared on a jungle expedition. Will, the sole survivor, returned home with no memory of what happened, bringing a gift…and a curse.
The gift? Will can walk in our dreams. At night in Dream, Will hunts for criminals—and his parents. During the day, his Dream Rider comic, about a superhero no one knows is real, has made Will rich.
The curse? Severe agoraphobia. Will can't go outside. So he makes his home a skyscraper with everything he needs in life—everything but the freedom to walk the streets of his city.
Case, an orphan Will's age, survives on those streets with her younger brother, Fader. Survives because she too has a gift. She hears voices warning her of danger. And Fader? Well, he fades.
When street kids start vanishing, the Dream Rider joins the hunt. Will's search becomes personal when Case breaks into his tower to escape her own abduction. Fader isn't so lucky.
As Will and Case search for Fader and the missing kids, an unlikely romance grows between the boy with everything and the girl with nothing except the freedom Will longs for.
But as they push deeper into the mystery, they confront an ancient power feeding on these forgotten kids to restore itself. And once restored, no one in the world will be safe.
To defeat this creature, Will must do the impossible.
Go outside.
Indiana Jones meets Teen Titans in The Dream Rider Saga, a fast-paced urban fantasy trilogy from "one of Canada's most original writers of speculative fiction" (Library Journal).
"The man is Sturgeon good. Zelazny good. I don't give those up easy." —Spider Robinson, Hugo and Nebula Awards winner
"A great storyteller with a gifted and individual voice." —Charles de Lint, World Fantasy Award winner
"His stories are a treasure trove of riches that will touch your heart while making you think." —Robert J. Sawyer, Hugo and Nebula Awards winner
"Stories you can't forget, even years later." —Julie Czerneda, multi-award-winning author and editor
Reviews
"Editor's Pick: This arresting series kickoff from Smith (The Wolf at the End of the World) grips from the start as it introduces its inventive milieu, its flawed but fantastically powered hero, its playful worldbuilding, and a host of tantalizing mysteries. … That's just the start of Smith's vigorously imaginative scenario. Complicating matters is Will's agoraphobia … a fascinating flaw, worthy of Marvel comics in the 1960s, a trait the deliciously detestable villains will of course exploit. Strange, often appealing creatures (like the delightful doogles) and characters fill out Will's world, and the Hollow Boys, Maras, Emojis, and other original dangers have a perfectly calibrated creepiness—they're deadly, and scenes of action and suspense thrum with tension, but the novel's still always fun. Pacing and prose are tight despite the novel's generous length; the dialogue's crisp and engaging, and the reversals and revelations are cleverly plotted. Smith takes every advantage of his original dreamworld's possibilities, building to a satisfying ending with plenty of mystery left to explore. Takeaway: Thrilling YA fantasy."
"The Hollow Boys is inventive, engaging, and boundless fun. Teen zombies, Buddhist monks, SWAT teams, Raiders-of-the-Lost-Arc-style warehouses, corporate raiders, a (nonflying) magic carpet, and astral travel—what more could someone wish for? Smith manages to throw all these disparate elements at the story to form a truly cohesive universe in which to set his tale. The underlying—and unresolved—mystery of the missing parents works well, there are some nice character arcs and a charming YA romance subplot, and even though the epilogue makes it clear there's more to come, the ending of this episode is entirely satisfying. I enjoyed The Hollow Boys a great deal, turning pages long after I should have been abed. Smith has produced the best Canadian superhero adventure since James Alan Gardner's Dark vs. Spark novels. I trust we'll see much more of the Dream Rider Saga . . . and I can't wait for the movies."
"Smith has created a dramatic, vivid fantasy world for his characters to inhabit. … The Hollow Boys is an assured, confident novel with strong world-building, sharp dialogue and the perfect balance between action and emotional growth for its main characters. Secondary characters, notably the witch Morrigan, are equally well-rounded. … In short, this is a must-read story for YA fantasy fans."
