Bridge of Dreams
Ephemera, No 3
Anne Bishop

Roc
March 2012 / ISBN: 978-0451463814
Fantasy
Amazon

Reviewed by Jan Fields

Ephemera is a living world that responds to the heart wishes of everyone who lives there -- both light and dark wishes. This has made Ephemera a fragmented place where parts of the world exist only for those whose personal light or darkness resonate with it. Those who are most in tune with Ephemera struggle to keep the world in balance. This struggle has required incredible sacrifice from the characters by the opening of this third book.

Lee (who builds bridges between pieces of Ephemera) is attacked by evil magicians and ends up in the city of Vision -- a city his friends and family don't even know exist. In Vision, Shamen are trying to help the city find its own balance, but the landscape is darkening quickly and the Shamen are not certain why. Lee is part of the answer for the city of Vision, but they are part of the answer for Lee as well.

This complex world of Ephemera is a fascinating place and unlike anything I've seen before in fantasy. The sometimes playful responses of Ephemera to the dreams and wishes of its people are easy to underestimate, until darker sides emerge to terrifying effect. Although the books ends with few of the conflicts truly resolved, we do come to know a fascinating new race of people, we see huge changes in Lee and in the Shaman who befriends him. And we have some fun along the trip. If you've read none of the other books in this world (as I hadn't), you do have a few confused moments but not many.

Anne Bishop manages to slip new readers in almost seamlessly without excessive recapping of what came before. It's not a fast-paced book, but the ideas and the richly textured world are tremendously compelling. It will leave you thinking about Ephemera long after you close the book.