Review: "Whispers of a Faded Dreamer" by Celesta Thiessen

Cara Pierce is an adopted teenager with a jealous boyfriend and a mother who blatantly favors her biological child, Cara's younger brother. One day while Cara is at school, she and many others around the world see what appears to be an alien visitation as black spaceships turn up all over the earth along with incorporeal black creatures. But not everyone can see these ships and their "alien" occupants.

The appearances of the ships and creatures turn out to be projections created by Kingcade Worldcorp. These projections are part of a recruiting campaign by Kingcade Worldcorp to seek out "Dreamers" for the company. The dreamers get paid simply to sleep and dream while being monitored by the company's technicians. With Cara's father in the hospital and the medical bills piling up, Cara accepts the job offer as a way of helping her family.

Shortly after she begins working as a Dreamer, Cara receives visitations in her dreams from Jesus Christ (referred to here as "The High King"). Cara and the High King embark on adventures together, but the King also challenges her to examine herself and the way she views others around her, especially Bryce/Blaze, a classmate of hers. The High King encourages Cara to forgive those who have hurt her, including her boyfriend and her mother and to look and see the hurt behind the attitudes and behaviors of people such as Blaze in order better understand them and love them as the King Himself would. 

I love how this story employs both science fiction and fantasy scenarios in the dream sequences. In one dream, she's aboard a spaceship on a planet surrounded by blue and pink aliens, and in another she ventures out in a boat with Blaze and the High King to fight a dragon and rescue the people on an island. I also like the use of the High King to represent Christ as He visits Cara and she experiences his love and mercy while He challenges her in how she views and relates to others. 

"Whispers of a Faded Dreamer" is the first of Celesta Thiessen's books that I have read, but it will by no means be the last. I am certainly looking forward to reading more of her work. This is a great read, which I wholeheartedly recommend to any reader who loves science fiction, fantasy or inspirational/faith-based/Christian fiction.

"Whispers of a Faded Dreamer" by Celesta Thiessen can be purchased at Amazon or at Barnes & Noble.com. You can also learn more about Celesta and her writings at her own website, Celesta Thiessen.com.