When I was little, I knew that books were magical. I could put my grubby hands on a book, and be whisked away to Narnia, or Hogwarts, or the Magic Faraway Tree.

These books found further life in my daydreams. They'd stay with me at school, at lunch time, on the car ride home. I lived these stories, and I loved these stories.

But that was when I was little, and whilst my love of books has never waned, it's been a very long time since I've been left awestruck by the magic in a book. A very long time since I've felt the magic leak through the pages, sweep me up, and not let go.

Until this book.

Strange the Dreamer is a little piece of magic.

A love-letter to fairytales and daydreams and dreamers and long-forgotten myths, Strange is neither cloyingly sentimental, nor childish, nor does it take itself too seriously.

It tells the story of a lost city, and dead gods, and a librarian that loves to dream.

In Lazlo Strange we have a a protagonist who is endlessly likeable, being both an underdog and a librarian. We get to see a fairy story through the eyes of one who loves stories, and then we marvel, wide-eyed, just as he does, at his sheer dumb luck to find himself inside of one.

 I have always had a special place in my heart for characters (and people!) that don't quite fit in with those around them. People that are earnest and good, yet lonely, and ridiculed, and hoping for things to get better. This book has that in spades, with warm descriptions of friendship, and honest tenderness, and blossoming love.

The setting is far from standard fantasy fare; drawing inspiration and reference to a generous mix of Eastern and Western mythologies and tales, as well as creating an elegant magic and lore which is of its own world alone.

Finally, the prose itself is a tantalizing dance between modern young adult narrative and an intricate weaving of a tapestry, rich in its depth and crystalline in its imagery. The result is somehow both stunningly literary and intensely readable. (I finished it in less than a week)

Huge in its scope, romantic in its essence, and beautiful in its telling, I feel like this was a book written by someone that just loves to love stories.

And, as I'm also someone that loves to love stories, I couldn't help but fall in love with it.

5 iced coffees.