Dreams of Kell – Christopher Mitchell

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We last saw the Dream Mage Karalyn Holdfast as she rescued her youngest brother Corthie and the demigod Aila from Lostwell.  She had been searching for him for what felt to her, like a few months, but was what – in reality – was four years.  She had just given birth to twins when she defeated the rogue god, Agatha, and was in mourning for her husband, Lennox.  Karalyn took her aunt, Sable and Belinda, the god whose memory she had wiped with her on her mission.  Upon returning to the Star Continent, Karalyn retreated to the remote Colsbury Castle with Shella – her mothers’ oldest friend and a Flow Mage.  There, she tried to repair her relationship with her four-year-old twins, and control their inherited Dream Mage powers.  

When a new Dream Mage is able to infiltrate the minds of Karalyn’s twins, she knows that her peaceful life is over.  She has to ensure the safety of the twins, and knows only her sister, Kelsey, is able to block the powers of most Mages.  With a heavy heart, she finally discovers how to use the Sextant and travels to the City of Salve to try to coax Kelsey back to her home world.  Once the twins are safe under their aunts protection, Karalyn and Daphne Holdfast hatch a plan to find this new threat to the peace of Star Continent – but will their efforts be enough to ensure that the Holdfast family is safe from a rouge, angry Mage?  

So, that’s an over simplified synopsis of Dreams of Kell and the books that came before it, but trying to write a full, detailed summary is almost impossible in a review.  Mitchell’s books are all interconnected, the characters complex, and the plot intricate.  

To say that I enjoyed Dreams of Kell would be an understatement.  The Star Continent is one of my favourite worlds in this epic series, with a rich population of different species.  The characters are all perfectly crafted, each with their own dialects and quirks.  Meeting some of the beloved characters from the earlier books made my heart sing – especially Daphne and Shella.  

Although some may feel that the pace of Dreams of Kell is slow at times, for me it was perfect.  We got an infinitesimal peek at the life that Corthie would have wanted for himself and Aila.  Karalyn grew from the impatient, confused and angry girl she once was into someone with compassion and a desire to do the right thing.  We see Kier is just as arrogant as he was when he was younger, with just as much disregard for anyone who isn’t him.  Even Sable redeems herself in a blink and you’ll miss it appearance.  Daphne and Shella are still chain smoking and drinking gin, and refuse to grow old gracefully.  Even in the parts of the book where it seems as though there’s not much happening, you get a sense of the tension building; of the barely contained political tension running throughout.   

Mitchell has hinted that the following two books will be the final part of the Magelands Saga.  With Dreams of Kell being such an exhilarating  ride, I can’t even begin to fathom how the scheming of the Holdfasts will play out in the next instalment.   What I do know, though, is that whatever comes next for Daphne and her children, it will be exciting and full of twists and turns that not even a Vision Mage with the gift of foresight could predict.  

S. A.

Dreams of Kell will be released on Amazon on August 26^th 2022.  It will also be available to read on Kindle Unlimited. 
The previous books in the Magelands Series are also available on Kindle Unlimited.

I was lucky enough to be sent Dreams of Kell as an ARC directly from Christopher Mitchell in return for an honest review.