School of Light

THE GOOD:
Well written and easy to read, School of Light is the perfect book for anyone wanting to just sit back and enjoy. The story flows smoothly and the characters are actually quite appealing despite how little we see of them.

THE BAD:
The book is somewhat adolescent in nature, which is understandable given that this is a coming of age story from the viewpoint of a fourteen (or fifteen?) year old girl. If you're looking for a deep and involving plot, then prepare to be disappointed.

Oh, and there are enough puns in this book to [almost] give Piers Anthony's Xanth series a run for its money.

SUMMARY:
The second book in the Dreamland series, School of Light does well as a standalone story. One doesn't have to have read the first book to be able to appreciate this one — in fact, as of this writing, I haven't read the first book either. But that fact never hampered my understanding or enjoyment of the story.

As fantasy books go, School of Light is ideal for light reading. It's a fun, easy read, perfect for passing the time for anyone wanting to just sit back and relax. The book contains no complex plots, no grand quests. It is, at its core, a coming of age story, one which I'm sure many people can relate to.

The protagonist of our story is Juele, a small town girl who suddenly finds herself enrolled in the prestigious School of Light, where only the very best illusionists in the Dreamland study and perfect their art. Young — her age was not mentioned, but I get the impression she's around fifteen — and painfully naive, Juele wants very badly to fit in in her new world. Torn between wanting to please the popular senior students (the clique, as she calls them) and striving for her own individuality, Juele finds life in the School to be very different from what she's known. I confess that there were times when I felt exasperated by her naivete — what self-respecting person would be willing to put up with insults and constant abuse just to be in good terms with the "in" crowd? — but I enjoyed seeing her come into her own. It was satisfying, in a way, watching her come to realize her own self-worth. It is a lesson we all can learn.

The dynamics of society within the School of Light is sharply reminiscent of many modern scholastic institutions. Almost any school around the world has their own popular group of students — usually good looking and much admired, often cruel and sarcastic to anyone not in their group. Anyone worth their salt usually steers clear of that sort — I know I did. But, everyone wants to be like and, for a teen, that means to be popular. It's a delicate balance between peer pressure and the desire for individuality for a teenager. Remove the magic, and the School of Light could be just any other highschool. It is, in a sense, a reflection of reality.

The world of Dreamland itself, is a new and fascinating concept; I applaud the author for creating such a unique setting for her story. As it's name suggests, the Dreamland is a world of dreams and, like dreams, the land and even the people in it are mutable, transient things. While having a world where nothing is constant may sound confusing, surprisingly it works. Ms. Nye has a talent of making even the surreal sound like everyday, commonplace events. The magic system used in the book is just as easy to understand. There are two types of magic: influence and illusion. Influence is the manipulation of real matter — real dreamstuff, as it's called here — and is the reason nothing ever stays the same in the Dreamland. Illusion, which is the predominant magic in the book, is the manipulation of non-physical things like light and shadow to create, well, illusions.

Overall, the book is, as I've said before, a fun and easy read. It's not serious fantasy, but it's appealing enough for passing the time with. The only complaint I have — although it's not a complaint, not really — is that the book didn't expound some more on the Idealists. I find them to be some of the most fascinating characters in the book, and I'd frankly like to know more about them. However, they're not the focus of the story, so that omission is okay with me. Maybe in another book, who knows?