The Dark Side of Dreams by Marjorie Kay Noble; What The Mirrors Knew by Linda Annas Ferguson
By Julie Sara Porter
Bookworm Reviews
The Dark Side of Dreams by Marjorie Kay Noble
This review is a summary. The full review can be found on LitPick.
Marjorie Kay Noble’s The Dark Side of Dreams is an astute, insightful, and vivid look at a future of simulated reality and corporate control.
In the future where consciousness can be uploaded to a simulated afterlife called Shemathra’s Realm, Mira Patel uploads a digital copy of her grandfather Gunter Holden, protagonist of the book Babylon Dreams. She recruits her grandfather to help her fight the oppressive system controlling the real and virtual worlds. She also learns more about Gunter’s nefarious past which challenges her previous view of him.
The world that Mira lives in and Gunter saw the start of is one where gigantic corporations openly control everything and everybody from birth to beyond death. This is a sad situation that the current dictators created but Gunter also has to bear a lot of responsibility for what he openly caused and what he allowed to happen during his own climb to success.
He is made to face many of the decisions that he made, the people that he hurt, the financial gain but emotional abandonment, and the corruption that occurred when he made the first choice but others took his ideas and made them worse.
He has to make the choice to be the hero after death in simulated reality that he wasn't in life in the physical world.
What The Mirrors Knew by Linda Annas Ferguson
Linda Annas Ferguson’s What The Mirrors Knew is one of the best books of 2026 so far. It is a beautiful literary fiction novel with gorgeous prose and enchanting magical realism details.
Anna Grace O’Neil is depressed after some personal and professional losses. She decides to fill a long cherished dream to visit Ireland. While there, she encounters various strange moments that cause her to question love, loss, family, connectivity, and what home really means.
The writing is lyrical particularly with the setting and character. Ferguson captures Ireland's beauty, mythology, and history with great affection and understanding. Anna Grace is a fully developed character who is originally disconnected in her life but gains a new perspective.
This book is mostly set in the real world but there are some potentially fantastic elements which steer this book slightly into magical realism territory. Nothing is spelled out or seen as a definite physical manifestation of fantasy. Instead they are more experienced out of the corner of the eye or through speculation and guessing.
By far the biggest magical element is the presence of synchronicity and coincidence. Sometimes it stretches credibility but it also is indicative of how things fall into place when one is on the right path.
Instead of exploring a more fantastic magical supernatural plot, this book shows the magic found in everyday situations. The greatest magic that Anna Grace found in her visit to Ireland was in restoring her sense of joy and will to live.
No comments:
Post a Comment