Haunter of Dreams
The Chronicles of Yria series
Claudya Schmidt
AlectorFencer
Fiction, CH? Fantasy/Graphic Novel
Themes: Anthropomorphism, Avians, Creative Power, Dragons, Dreams
****
Description
Long ago, in the world of Yria, the child Yor dreamed of bright wonders... until a nightmare beast invaded his peaceful dreams.
Not available in English from Amazon; it can be purchased in hardcover, paperback, or PDF format from the creator's site
here. (Note COVID-related shipping restrictions.)
Review
In the interest of full disclosure, I downloaded this during a free promotional window.
I've long watched and admired this artist's work, full of bright colors and life and beautiful imagery; it's work like this that makes me wish
I had the talent, drive, and overall wherewithall to pursue art myself. This graphic novel has, appropriately, a dreamlike quality to its
largely wordless tale, as young Yor delights in a dream of green forests and great dragons... until a dark figure known as the Crow Eater
arrives and morphs it into a nightmare. The struggle that follows, and the vivid impressions left on his young mind, will inspire him for the
rest of his life, and inspire generations on his world long after. Here, though, is where things stumbled slightly for me, as the creator ends
the tale with a lengthy explanation about the significance of Yor's experience in the history of the larger world of Yria, wandering outside
the fourth wall into the artist's inspiration for the tale. It was interesting, but it felt like a wordy weight dropped on the tail of the
story, which could've flown free on its own. (It's also a bit hard to track frame sequence in PDF form, scrolling downward instead of turning
pages.) That aside, it's a gorgeous work of art, every page bursting with the sometimes-marvelous, sometimes-terrifying, but always amazing
wonder of dreams.