Dreaming Death

February 22, 2016
After a daunting amount of historical/cultural background, this series launch turns out to be a straightforward psychic-thriller romance. People in the city of Noikinos all have different degrees of psychic talents. Seventeen-year-old Shironne Anjir is achingly sensitive to the world around her, and she finds herself telepathically linked to Mikael Lee, a young man whose dreams force him to share the deaths of murder victims. He is an officer in the king's intelligence service, and his visions torture him unbearably. The two are brought together by a series of murders that echo almost-forgotten ritual sacrifices by priests of a blood magic cult. As in her Golden City trilogy, Cheney is very good at sensory detail, especially blind Shironne's perceptions as she begins exploring Mikael's world. Tracking down the killers turns out to be less important than discovering how the young people can develop their bond, and that aspect of the story is nicely handled. Agent: Lucienne Diver, Knight Agency.

January 1, 2016

When Mikael Lee dreams of death, he is a menace to those around him. In the fortress where he lives, sensitives pick up the images and emotions he broadcasts, and Mikael has taken to fleeing his home when he feels a death vision approaching. Shironne Anjir, a young blind woman, is linked to Mikael when he dreams. She is a rare touch-sensitive able to pick up psychic impressions off anything she encounters, and while she has helped with army investigations before, her connections to Mikael suddenly become very important when a vicious killer is on the loose. VERDICT In this series launch, Cheney (The Golden City) has built a complicated tiered society, and the relationships among ruling Anvarrids, the Six Families, and Larossans could have been a little clearer, as the action immediately plunges the reader deep into the author's world. Fully drawn characters, especially Shironne and Mikael, make this a realm that deserves another visit, especially with a romance just set to brewing.--MM

Copyright 2016 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

February 1, 2016
In a world where emotions can be physically felt by others, Mikael struggles to control himself while broadcasting his dreams of death to the Sensitives around him. His lurid dreaming power comes with a terrible price, since he cannot prevent deaths but can merely observe their gruesome inevitability. Shironne is a touch-sensitive who not only feels Mikael's dreams on a visceral level but is able to read the thoughts of otherseven corpsesthrough the power of touch. Together, these misfit crime solvers battle superstition and deadly blood magic. Cheney creates a compelling, Vulcan-esque world of suppressed emotions, daring politics, and magical forensics. Readers will enjoy the witty banter between Shironne and Mikael as a relief from the rigid social norms of their elders. Fans of Erika Johansen will appreciate the feisty female characters and the struggles of a multicultural society trying to rebuild itself after invasion. The somber premise of dreaming others' deaths creates intrigue that lingers long after the story ends. One hopes the sequel is equally atmospheric with melancholy and murderous intent.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2016, American Library Association.)