War for the Waking World is the epic conclusion of the Dreamtreader trilogy. As a long time fan of Wayne Thomas Baston’s books, War for the Waking World and the Dreamtreaders series as a whole did not disappoint. Archer fights for his family and those he cares about. This book is full of fun twists and turns that kept me engaged from the very beginning! I loved the role that faith and friendship played in in the story; both are very important things to have in one’s life. This book also shows how important it is to face your fears and not let them control you. I will definitely be reading this series again!

I give this book 5 out of 5 stars. I absolutely loved this book; it was full of action and creativity that left me wishing I could be a Dreamtreader too!

Thank you to Thomas Nelson and Litfuse Publicity for a free copy of War for the Waking World in exchange for my honest review. No monetary compensation was received and all views expressed are my own.

An extremely interesting and unique read from start to finish. This novel follows the dream and fantasy world and the interesting divide that is between them. In this novel that divide has fallen down and now it is hard to tell reality from fantasy. It is up to the Dreamtreaders to fix the rift if they can before the world collapses into fantasy.

A well written and thought out novel. While it was the conclusion of the trilogy, I did not feel lost or confused without having read the first two novels. The plot was incredible and I love the way it built up quickly and never lost momentum. The Dreamtreaders were amazing individuals who can conquer up objects at their own will (now that would be a skill I would love!). The best part – they were all young children and teens! Talk about making it great for youth to relate to and get lost in while reading. This is a novel that people of all ages will love!

Whew!! What a wild ride! I suppose I should have read the first two books in the series so I would have known what I was getting into! It took me a little bit to understand what all was going on.

So, the dream world has entered the waking world and peoples’ imaginations are becoming reality. Terrifying! It’s up to the Dreamtreaders to reverse the rift that joined the two. Archer and his sister must battle his former best friend as she controls the evil that is taking place.

Great book. It wasn’t my usual style, but it was definitely fun. I believe it is written toward YA, but I think that anyone with a mind for fantasy would really enjoy this. I definitely recommend, but I also recommend picking up books one and two first!!

Thank you, Litfuse, for this great read!! As always, this is my honest opinion. Here’s to many more!

Wayne Thomas Batson burst onto the publishing scene ten years ago with a "Narnia-esque" novel, The Door Within, and quickly established himself as one of the top Christian Speculative authors for middle grade fiction. While I don't think this is his best work (in my opinion, that goes to his Pirate Adventures books), War for the Waking World concludes a fast paced, contemporary fantasy trilogy, ideal for reluctant readers.

The primary reason I categorize this novel as being for middle grade reluctant readers are the chapter lengths. Similar to Jennifer A. Nielsen's Ascendance trilogy, each chapter is no longer than ten pages. Much like the Ascendance trilogy and other general market novels aimed at reluctant readers, the story is tight, fast paced, and has lots of action. With the merging of our world with the Dream realm, it's not just Dreamtreaders and Lucid Walkers that can create things with their minds, but ordinary people as well. Not cognizant of this power, what some conjure up in their dreams or nightmares come to life in the real world, producing chaos akin to Mr. Stay Puft (a.k.a. the marshmallow man) from the cult classic Ghostbusters film and that of a more wicked variety.

Because of the quickened pace and shorter chapters, I felt that Batson's character development was a bit weaker compared to some of his previous work. I personally struggled to connect to characters because none of them really stood out to me. It seemed like I got to know the characters and their motivations at a basic level, receiving depth when only relevant to the plot or story. However, this could be because I am not in this novel's target group.

Despite this, Archer is a likable protagonist. He has faults and struggles like any 15-year-old boy and I loved his relationship with his siblings (I'm a sucker for older brother characters). Kaylie, his prodigious younger sister, was my favorite character - adorable, precocious, and yet with mannerisms to remind you that she's still 8-years-old. I won't discuss other characters as not to spoil, but there is enough character development for a satisfying story.

I highly suggest reading the first two novels, Dreamtreaders and Search for the Shadow Key, to fully understand what's going on --this isn't a stand alone novel! With an intriguing premise and solid world-building, young readers might enjoy this trilogy with allusions to spiritual warfare and a subtle faith-based thread/worldview.

As a tween/teen, I so enjoyed speculative fiction, but I was frequently exposed to subjects that I did not want to read, such as witchcraft, far-fetched science fiction, etc. I would have liked to have had books like this one (and this series) available to read.

This book is the third in the series, but I didn’t realize that when I began reading it. The upside is that the author explains what happened previously, and I eventually caught up. The downside is that by not reading the first two, I missed out on some great reading. I’ll go back now and read the first two, but doing so will not build the wonderful anticipation brought by reading a series in order.

Had I read the first two books, I would have appreciated the characters, plot, drama, and so on better, of course. But as it is, the characters were drawn well enough that I had a good sense of what their struggles were and where they were likely to wind up. The plot was fairly fast moving, engaging, and interesting to read. I liked that there were spiritual elements at play in the characters and plot, but the book wasn’t preachy. The main character does indeed face his pride and is humbled. Books with true, Biblical consequences are rare.

I think it was CS Lewis that said, “The world does not need more Christian literature. What it needs is more Christians writing good literature.” This book falls into that category. Truths, consequences, redemption, all without having anything shoved down anyone’s throat.

I gratefully received this book as an eARC from the author, publisher, and NetGalley in exchange for my unbiased review.