Dormia - Book Review

A few weeks ago, Jake Halpurn, author of Dormia, visited my school to talk about his book. He told us many stories about his life, and he told us about how these stories related to those that are in Dormia. I was very excited to read Mr. Halpurn's book after meeting him and was just able to get a copy of the manuscript. I really like this book.

Dormia is the story of Alfonso Perplexon, a regular kid from World's End, Minnesota. Well, Alfonso is regular in all ways except one. This one reason is that he is a "wakeful sleeper." A wakeful sleeper is someone who is a more couragous and skilled person in their sleep than they are while they are awake. Alfonso is even greater than the average wakeful sleeper. He is the "Great Sleeper." The great sleeper is the one person in the world that grows a "Dormia Bloom." The Dormian Bloom what keeps the cities of Dormia alive. It grows into a huge tree that feeds a city. Alfonso grew this plant in his sleep, and must deliver it to Somnos, the last surviving city of Dormia in the Ural Mountains. He must get it to the city before the current Dormian Tree dies, otherwise Dormia will be gone forever.

The writing is very well done, and the plot is fantastic. The action sequences are well drawn out, but not so long the book becomes a Terminator movie. There is a perfect blend of conversation and action. You feel like it could have happened because of the way it is written.

The characters also have just the right amount of depth, all except Uncle Hill. All of the characters have distinct personalities. Alfonso is cautious while awake, but when he is asleep, he is impossible to be stopped. Bilblox, a longshoreman from Russia is a super tough three hundred fifty pound block of muscle. He is the toughest person on the three person team. Uncle Hill is the only true undefined character in this book. He is the character that is the brother of Alfonso's dead father (he was swimming, while in his sleep, and lightning hit the water he was in.) Both Uncle Hill and Alfonso's father were wakeful sleepers like Alfonso, but were never as strong or as couragous in their sleep. Uncle Hill seems a bit mysterious. He seems like he hasn't been defined as much as he should have.

This book is really great. I would give it nine out of ten stars. The plot, story direction, and characters are all top of the line. This book is a children's book, though anyone can read. I'm a sleepwalker, and this book makes me question what I do when I'm asleep. I love it, and would reccommend it to anyone who wants to read a good book. You also have to be older than eleven to read this one. There is occasionally some difficult vocabulary. Make sure to pick this one up off the shelf and get it.