A good old-fashioned adventurous quest always makes for a compelling read. Although this novel by Wiersema is an adult novel in terms of some of the content, it has a Young Adult “feel” to it. This story is part domestic drama, part supernatural thriller. There are two parallel worlds and two parallel casts of characters. There are lots of twists and turns and maybe a bit of delicious predictability as well, typical of an epic quest.
Christopher Knox discovers a mysterious book which he gives to his son David. While reading the book, his son suffers a seizure and is rendered comatose. What the reader knows is that David has emerged into another world where he is given a challenging quest to recover the sunstone for the King. His father, as yet unenlightened but on a journey to discover this, enters into a quest of his own to save his son. The story gives the phrase “this book draws me right in” a very literal new meaning! (Note: when you start reading don’t be confused by the fact that the boy is Matthew and not David. All will be made clear shortly).
Wiersema is a skillful author. Another book of his which I read is called ‘Before I Wake‘. Since I read it long ago I can’t comment on it specifically, but I do remember enjoying it. In this story there is also a child in a coma, a daughter. Wiersema himself says that ‘Before I Wake‘ is a story about mothers and daughters and ‘Bedtime Story‘ is a novel about fathers and sons. However, the stories and themes are very different.
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