The Silver Dream

Written by Neil Gaiman and Michael Reaves

Narrated by Alexander Cendese

Sequel to New York Times bestseller INTERWORLD by award-winning writers Neil Gaiman and Michael Reaves.

Joey Harker is a hero…

After mastering the ability to walk between dimensions, Joey helped save the Altiverse from destruction.

But rival powers of magic and science are still out there, seeking to control all worlds. InterWorld’s peacekeeping mission is far from finished.

And when a stranger follows Joey back to BaseTown things get even more complicated. No one knows who she is or where she’s from and, more importantly, why she knows so much about InterWorld.

Dangerous times lie ahead…

• Language: English
• Publisher: HarperCollins
• Release date: Jun 26, 2014
• ISBN: 9780007597710

Neil Gaiman

Neil Gaiman is the New York Times bestselling and multi-award winning author and creator of many beloved books, graphic novels, short stories, film, television and theatre for all ages. He is the recipient of the Newbery and Carnegie Medals, and many Hugo, Nebula, World Fantasy, and Will Eisner Awards. Neil has adapted many of his works to television series, including Good Omens (co-written with Terry Pratchett) and The Sandman. He is a Goodwill Ambassador for the UN Refugee Agency UNHCR and Professor in the Arts at Bard College. For a lot more about his work, please visit: https://www.neilgaiman.com/

Reviews for The Silver Dream

[dulcinea14-1 · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

Meh. I didn't read the first book, which according to other reviewers might have made me give this book one-less star out of frustrated high hopes. I found it rather dull and I just didn't connect with the world. It wasn't terrible, just OK.

[shabacus · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

The first volume in this series, InterWorld, set up a fascinating concept, and one in which it would be possible to tell a very large number of fascinating stories. Sadly, none of those stories are told in The Silver Dream. Instead, the universe is expanded to introduce several new players, before we really had a chance to get to know the previous dynamics.The result is a headlong rush of a novel, which cannot seem to get is pace under control. Nowhere is this more apparent than the ending, which make The Empire Strikes Back look like a model of closure and tied-up loose ends. It's a hard stop, which will no doubt (eventually) be moderated by the inevitable sequel.I say eventually, because the first and second novels were published six years apart. I'll be interested to read the next volume when it arrives, if only to gain the resolution that this one was lacking.

[silke1098 · Rating: 1 out of 5 stars]

The book is great, but this audio track is completely messed up, which renders it impossible to listen to (all 3 volumes in the series are affected)

[a_reader_of_fictions · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Okay, so the first thing I have to say has absolutely nothing to do with the content of the book, okay? I have to say it, though. I hate when books are ascribed to the content creator over the authors. I mean, ideas are important, but the heavy lifting on this book was done by Michael and Mallory Reaves, not Neil Gaiman, but they want his name to sell the book, because, let's be honest, tons of people will not notice he didn't actually write it. I just think that's ridiculous. Rant over.As much as I respect Neil Gaiman as a person and an author, I actually liked The Silver Dream a bit more than InterWorld. The addition of Mallory seems to have made everything just a bit more lively and approachable. The Silver Dream is faster-paced and slightly less philosophical. That said, I do think it's a really solid sequel, and it doesn't feel like a completely different book, not like the series was picked up by someone completely different.The plot has plenty of action this time, with more deaths and betrayal and excitement. Joey Harker, who now wants to be taken seriously and called Joe, finds himself at the center of huge plots once again, and both InterWorld and the Altiverse are at risk. All of this comes at a pretty good time for him, though, because he was suffering some serious insecurities with the arrival of a new Walker more powerful than himself, one immediately liked by everyone, unlike him. Joey does get a little bit angsty, but that was also nice, because he showed a bit more emotional depth in this installment than in InterWorld.Another exciting edition to the series is a character that is neither evil, a multi-dimensional lifeform, or an alternate universe version of Joey Harker (sorry, dude, even I'm not going to call you Joe). Acacia pops into Joey's life and immediately makes things difficult for him, which pretty much is the sign of an awesome girl, right? There's obviously going to be a romance here eventually, but it's totally not schmoopy, and mostly just Joey being embarrassed and blushing, which is fabulous because male characters almost never blush. Take that, gender roles!Still, though I'm enjoying this series, I still would love for their to be more character development. As a reader, that's what I look for first and foremost. The world building and action here are very fun, but I'm left wanting. The other thing that's getting to me a little bit is the name of one of the big bads: Lord Dogknife. Seriously, if a bad guy of that name killed me, at least I would die laughing at his stupid name.Readers who enjoyed InterWorld will likely want to continue with this series, despite the loss of Neil Gaiman. If InterWorld was a bit slow for you, you still might want to try this one, because the Reaves made this volume a bit more lively. At this point, I'm not sure if I want to continue with this series (the ending makes it clear more is coming), but I might be ready by the time book three comes out.

[grizzly9anderson · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

I bought The Silver Dream and InterWorld as part of a set, so I was extremely disappointed to find that while Interworld is a complete story, The Silver Dream is basically 1/2 of a story that stops mid-way through. And not because it was already too long. I can only assume that the authors (not Neil Gaiman, by the way) decided to follow the trend of Hollywood making the last book of every YA series into 2 movies, and went ahead and made 2 books. Who knows, maybe that will lead to 4 movies?My frustration with the abrupt truncation of the story aside, it's not a bad YA novel, it's just not a great one either. On the copy I have Michael and Mallory Reaves have "written by" credit, while Neil Gaiman and Michael Reaves have "Story by" credit. Presumably because they did co-author the first book in the series. The only reason Neil Gaiman is first-billed as an author is to sell copies, so I hope he was well compensated. If you're looking for something from Neil Gaiman, this isn't it. If you enjoyed IntraWorld and want more, I strongly advise waiting for the rest of the story to be published. If they hadn't quit mid-way I'd probably have given it 3 stars instead of 2.(spoilers ahead)If anything The Silver Dream has even more plot holes than IntraWorld did. Joey Harker regularly muses on the fact that everyone sort-of looks the same, red hair, freckles, even with different sexes, builds, and even presumably species (cat-like, wolf like, bird like). Except when they aren't, because shortly after noting that everyone has red hair, there will be a blonde or brunette version. And then Joey Harker meets a girl who can also travel between the worlds, and who isn't a version of him. It turns out, she's part of a different organization made up entirely of versions of her. A more powerful, sort of rival organization that polices time. Somehow. An organization which has to be kept secret from the Walkers of the IntraWorld for reasons that are never explained. And despite the fact that she seems to be the daughter of a Joey, is also attracted to Joey. So some serious Oedipal issues there. The discovery of who and what Acacia is, and what her mission is, unfolds against a backdrop of failures and infiltration of the IntraWorld so banal and obvious it is hard to believe that they have ever been successful at anything. Let alone that they were ready to throw Joey out of the organization for one mistake in the first book. All while the two diametrically opposed forces of magic and technology have apparently joined forced to remake the multiverse (or maybe only the "altiverse" part containing planet Earths) into their own image (ignoring the fact that their images and mutually incompatible).

[Andrew Ferenbach · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

very cool book. a solid follow up to interworld. I can hardly wait to read the next one