![\"A](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.dremadeoraich.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/DreamingCrystal.jpg?resize=200%2C300&ssl=1\")
Order of the Stone, Book 1\nBy Dan Williams
\n\u00a9 February 1, 2023
\nB0BHZQM8D3
\n649 pages<\/p>\n
Order of the Stone, Book 1
\nBy Dan Williams
\n\u00a9 February 1, 2023
\nB0BHZQM8D3
\n649 pages<\/p>\n
Wow. This deep, compelling, complex novel is a mashup of multiple genres: hard sci-fi, cyberpunk, post-apocalyptic, and climate fiction, with touches of paranormal, or fantasy elements that tie all the other layers together. I would even venture to say there is a hint of horror in these pages. It\u2019s by far the most multi-layered, hard-to-classify story I\u2019ve read in\u2026well, maybe ever.<\/p>\n
From the very first page, author Dan Williams throws us into the deep end of the pool with culturally based language and practices and leaves it to the reader to figure out what is going on. It took me a while, but I did eventually, with the help of a small glossary that is included at the front of the book. Even though I floundered for a bit, the story was compelling enough that I couldn\u2019t stop reading. There is an enormous mystery here, one that starts on the first page, builds throughout every scene, and isn\u2019t clearly revealed until about the 85-90% mark. I was definitely hooked.<\/p>\n
The story starts at the 10,000 BCE mark and shifts back and forth between distant past timelines and the year 2098, where the oceans are poisonous, lifeless threats to shore-bound humans clinging to the few \u201cdry\u201d areas left after water levels rise and inundate most of the land. Many of the characters live in stinking, mildewed residential dwellings, eat manufactured foods (since it\u2019s almost impossible and *very* expensive to grow fresh foods with no open space for food crops), and live with constant storms and the threat of failing sea walls. Their lives are ruled by nanotech that is not only the very structure of their buildings, foods, medicines, and everything else, but is incorporated into\/onto their bodies. The setting is dark, gritty, sometimes depressing, always compelling. But I have to say that while it would be tempting to think of this world as unrealistic and far too post-apocalyptic to be relatable, the recent environmental disasters in our own, very real world seem eerily connected to this futuristic one. I had to suppress more than one shudder as I read.<\/p>\n
While there is plenty of action in the storyline, there is also a great deal of internal dialogue and personally, I loved this aspect. Each chapter is written in a first-person narrative, and is named for the POV character, as well as the timeline\/location of the scene taking place. That helped me keep it straight, though I did have to double-check from time to time whose head I was in. Still, seeing through the characters\u2019 eyes made the story feel so close and personal it was practically an in-your-face adventure. Not all readers will like that, but I thought it was a good decision on the part of the author. It was hard not to get connected to the players in this vast drama, even when I didn\u2019t like them. Especially when I didn\u2019t like them and trust me on this\u2014not all of them are likeable, even though you can (eventually) understand why they are the way they are.<\/p>\n
As I said, there is plenty of action, and when it cranked up, it grabbed me tight; at the end of some chapters, I sometimes felt like I\u2019d been through a storm myself. Once or twice, I had to put down the book just to take a break; it was that intense. Williams holds nothing back on the crises he throws at his characters, and they hold nothing back in response. Do note, also, that there are scenes with sexuality, and some insinuation of sexual abuse and\/or manipulation, and a lot\u2014a LOT\u2014of profanity. But it made perfect sense in these settings, and didn\u2019t feel gratuitous. I also liked that, given each chapter is from a different character\u2019s POV, I saw a thing happen in one chapter from one POV, then in the next chapter, I saw it from the other character\u2019s POV. I liked that perspective, since that\u2019s how things work in real life. Two people can experience the exact same thing but interpret it in completely different ways. For me, that additional layer of complexity added to the realism of the story.<\/p>\n
There is so much more I could say about this book, but it\u2019s truly impossible to encapsulate in a review. You just have to read it to get it. I will say this: The Dreaming Crystal is book one in a series, and while many of the threads are tired up at the end, this first book ends on a bit of a cliffhanger. The very minute I finished it, I went online and tried to find the next installment in the series. I would have purchased it immediately, if I could. Unfortunately, book 2 isn\u2019t out yet, and I don\u2019t know when it will be. That part was disappointing, but I will keep my eyes open for its emergence.<\/p>\n
If you want an easy read, a book where everything is explained and understanding requires no serious thought on your part, give this book a pass. However, if you love a deep dive, an immersive, complex, darkly compelling story that makes you think, you will definitely want to read The Dreaming Crystal. Most highly recommended.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Order of the Stone, Book 1 By Dan Williams \u00a9 February 1, 2023 B0BHZQM8D3 649 pages Wow. This deep, compelling, complex novel is a mashup of multiple genres: hard sci-fi, cyberpunk, post-apocalyptic, and climate fiction, with touches of paranormal, or fantasy elements that tie all the other layers together. 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