Dream of the Navigator

Faraway Saga, Book 1

By: Stephen Zimmer

Narrated by: Ariana Fraval

"1984 and Brave New World meets Narnia"

Cities have been replaced by technates. It is a world of soaring apartments, hundreds of stories high, where technology measures, monitors, and rations to meet the needs of the greater populace. It is a world of drones, in the air and on the ground, and advanced robotic beings who carry out much of the harder labor, security, and even pleasure assignments.

Those discontent, or who resist, are taken to rehabilitation centers, established after the embrace of the greater good doctrine.

For most, virtual realms, substances, and entertainment provide escapes, but for Haven, Cayden, Jaelynn, and Salvador, growing up in Technate Six is a restless existence.

A hunger for something more gnaws inside each of them. Discoveries await that open the gates to transcend time and space, and even new planes of existence. Nothing in their universe, or others, is impossible to explore.

What was once reality, now seems like an illusion in a deepening experience.

Begin the journey to Faraway, in Dream of the Navigator, the first book of the Faraway Saga!

©2018 Seventh Star Press (P)2019 Seventh Star Press

Suitable read during social distancing.

The book relates a great bit to current events that are happening now in the real world. The characters face circumstances of having loved ones taken from them, strict laws and punishments for those that break them, limitations/restrictions to certain items and areas and knowledge. It's a thought provoking story shedding light on outcomes that can potentially happen if we do not stay vigilant during hard times and dig deeper for greater understanding to the questions we never ask or seem be concerned about. The characters come to a point of enlightenment that the world they know, isn't what it seems to be and that they have to pick a side when the time comes between ancient primordial entities or the Guardians. One of the characters gets to taste a bit of the past and see remnants of what the world used to be like with the help of a man "The Artist." Overall, it's a neat perspective about how easily a society can lose their freedoms if they aren't careful, and the consequences are severe when the characters do not comply with higher authority if caught breaking laws or rules that are now placed within each sector. It's shows how easily we can take for granted, the little things in nature and how distracted we have let ourselves become by false realities (VR in this case).

If I could offer a bit of creative critique:
The characters could use a bit more development. There was information about each character that I felt was missing or maybe necessary for me to connect more or relate to them better. I'd like to have seen more coverage over backgrounds/backstory (who are these people and what sets them apart from the rest of the population in the sectors they are from?). It could use more descriptions/details for each character (age, and what did they look like?) and the personalities blended together ( I couldn't tell them apart very well other than when the Narrator spoke their names to indicate a perspective change, so I wasn't exactly sure who the protagonist is; because, it sorta rotates through a select few perspectives. There's is room for more action early on, I felt that a good majority of the of the book is dialog.

It's worth a listen or read, and I'm interested in learning more about the world, the characters and what is about to happen now that they have awoken to new possibilities.

dystopian dream!

Pros: great storyline with room to grow. I enjoyed the world and the technical aspect of the future that seems plausible. fantasy with realistic. the story is good and you get right into it. I am Def looking forward to the second book. I hope more character development in future books. each chapter hops back n forth with the few main characters without much ties together yet...

only cons are the author uses a particular word a noticable amount of times. im not naming the word in case it's just me that gets thrown off by that. it's like realizing your in a dream and the spell gets broken and I have to get back to the book world lol

Great Audiobook

I received a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

It is a great book. I really enjoyed the ups and downs of the story a lot. The narrator seems perfect for the story. Recommend wholeheartedly.

Decent yet hopeful

I was given a code in exchange for a review for this book. While I was interested in this book, it was a little rough to fully immerse myself into this book. The pacing was a sluggish at times and I found myself trying to visualize the story in my mind. Hopefully there’ll be others to continue to be other books to further develop the characters and the storyline. It’s not the worst book I’ve listened to but certainly not one of the better. I’d rate this book maybe 3.25 stars (out of five) as I may listen to this again to get a better grasp on the book.