Scapemaker by Steve CypertMatthew is the son of Mr. Nicholas Namely, a local high school teacher. But unbeknownst to Matthew, his father is a dreamscaper whose classroom is connected to the dream-world. From his classroom, his students enter the halls of Scapemaker, a dream-world high school for young dreamscapers.
Following a couple of heartfelt tragic events, Matthew is compelled to investigate the unbelievable mysteries surrounding those events and is propelled into a whole new world. Matthew and his mother, Mae, are soon coerced into moving across the country for his father's strange medical needs. While attending his new school, Matthew comes to know the secrets that Daedree, an annoying girl from his former high school, has locked away. Matthew also meets Amber, a beautiful enigmatic girl who leads him to Mr. Xoner's classroom. While there, he learns the art of dreamscaping (which has been in the Namely bloodline for thousands of years).
Matthew will come to know of Nox Celare, otherwise known as The Sandman, who is after a special element called Magineum. Neck deep in skinwalkers, sandsleepers, zombies, soul feeders, ghosts, dream-world criminals known as “night terrors” and more, Matthew learns he is in over his head. Matthew must not only solve the mysteries surrounding those tragic events, but he will also have to protect the Magineum with his life and find a way to be with the one girl of his dreams. Filled with secrecy, mystery and a forbidden tangle of young love, this new life will lead Matthew to unbelievable characters with the most extraordinary abilities he could never have imagined.
Scapemaker will keep you grounded in the real world while at the same time make the fantastical world around it that much more possible and enduring. This tale of young adult paranormal fantasy will keep you guessing and wanting more. ~Goodreads
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If you are looking for a whole new universe to immerse yourself into. If you like reading from the male’s point of view, and you are O.K. with said male being a bit arrogant. And if you want to meet an entire class of high schoolers that embark on an epic albeit ill advised quest then you have got to pick up Scapemaker. In the interest of full disclosure- I didn't finish the book. I tried, and tried, and tried repeatedly for three months to push myself through it and I couldn't. It just wasn't happening. It’s not an exceptionally long book and if you have an extensive desire for entirely new and original fantasy world then you could probably finish it in a week- tops. So let me break it down for you so you can see why I stopped.
Matthew is in a constant state of confusion, yes, he has been thrust into a whole new world with new creatures, and rules, and myths but for the love of English grammar everywhere could you please articulate your confusion in some other way then, “Huh?” And when you do ask you question please pay attention to the long and extensive explanation that is likely to be given so that you don’t have to hear it at least twice. He lacks this thing called common sense. (If you've read any of my other reviews you will know how much I love this trait in a person). His motto seems to be, “Act first, think and ask questions later, and the more dangerous the situation the less you should pay attention to the warnings.” And in a world like Scapemaker there are plenty of dangerous and usually deadly situations that he can get involved in.
The good qualities in Matthew that I have seen (I was 65% done) are few but they are still there and they are still good. Matthew is passionate and loyal. He is not a coward and has good leadership abilities.
I didn’t really enjoy the writing style itself either. There was no humor that I saw and that made the story line which consisted of one problem and mystery after another too dry and serious, The book starts out with drama and action thus giving you no first hand insight on how his life usually is. There is not much story line that tells you what his life is like outside of scapemaker and so I lacked sympathy for Matthew. With the lack of regular, light, or humorous scenes it made the dramatic ones rather dull and repetitive, it was like the author was kicking Matthew while he was down and the crowd just walks away from boredom. (wow that seems kind of harsh looking back on it...)
With all that said, I wish there was a way for me to say despite all this that its a must read, but I can’t. You will have to decide for yourself, are you brave and optimistic enough to forget everything I have said to pick up this book and decide for yourself if its a bust?
Its a whole new fantasy world with a plethora of characters that (as long as you can keep them all straight) all bring something to the table. It is a seemingly impossible quest and plenty of villains are lurking in the shadows. If this sounds interesting to you I recommend you go out and get your copy. See you on the flip side ;).
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