Dream Maker: A Mystical Tale [Paperback]

Everyone is looking for spiritual fulfillment these days. In a society filled with fast cars, disposable friendships and the harsh realities of the world around us, spirituality seems to have become an answer for many questions. More and more people are seeking answers in a world where we are surrounded with questions.

Novels with spiritual messages have gone in and out of fad for years. Most notably is "The Celestine Prophecy" which taught its readers nine lessons to help with viewing the world around them. However, "Dream Maker: A Mystical Tale" is no "Celestine Prophecy". It's so much more than that.

When Martin takes an old man named Percy to the hospital, he has no idea how his life is going to change. A journalist tired of his work and worried about his failing marriage with a wife that he can no longer talk to, Martin is a man on the edge. A man with questions. He is tired of life and has no idea how to make his right again. He is hollow inside. All that changes when he meets Mojo, Percy's friend.

There is something about Mojo that strikes Martin; something of an otherness that he can't quite put his finger on. Perhaps it is the bright shine of the man's eyes, as if he has seen things that Martin has not. Something in Mojo strikes a chord in Martin and one evening, he begins to dream.

In his dream, he travels back to Britain, during the fall of the Roman Empire. There, he meets Maria Lerna, a mystic and a teacher of spirit and, one could say, the fragile nature of the human spirit. Soon, Martin begins to realize that he is being shown, that he is living, his past life. He also begins to see the reason for his depression and, through the help of Maria, begins to learn how to reshape his life.

He soon becomes involved in a kingdom's fight for survival. In Isca, he learns more about himself than he realized was possible. He begins to find the strength that he felt was dead inside him and begins to fall in love with Maria. But, if they do not survive the destruction around them, it may all be for naught.

Woven into the story are lessons on mediation and spirituality that, as you become engrossed in "Dream Maker", begin to change Martin and begin to change the reader. After years in the business world, Fedan decided to follow a quiet life of contemplation and learn more about the questions we all seek: Who am I? Why am I here? Is there a God? The result of these pursuits is "Dream Maker: A Mystical Tale" and what a tale it is.

Fedan has managed to write a novel that is mesmerizing; part love story, part historical novel, part spiritual text, "Dream Maker" is one hell of a read. It is historically accurate, without the feel of an historical novel. Instead, it reads like an adult fairy tale of sorts that never fails to charm and entrance.

After reading "Dream Maker" I've been taking a look at the world around me with different eyes, a different sense of being. I for one am thankful for it. You will be too if you pick up this engrossing, magical book.

This book is one of a growing number in a relatively new genre that I call the "New Age historical novel." Unlike the usual historical novel, this genre also includes such esoteric elements as ESP, spiritual healing, astral travel, reincarnation, etc.

As the story opens in the 21st century, Martin's life is in crisis. Business deals are falling through, his marriage is on the rocks, and he is deeply depressed. Through a series of "concidental" events, he meets a Hawaiian kahuna, who teaches him how to meditate and get in touch with a past life in fifth-century Brittania. The kahuna tells Martin to remain detached and simply observe the events, without getting involved in this past world. Presumably, this was so he would not change history, but it made the early part of the book rather boring, because all he did was watch events and then go back to the kahuna for a lecture on what it all meant. Fortunately, as the story progress, Martin finds that he cannot simply stand by and do nothing. He becomes an active part of the timeline, and the plot gets more interesting.

Whether or not he changes history is unclear, but he does grow personally from the experience. We do not learn until the end of the book which of the past-life characters has reincarnated as Martin in this life -- and was I surprised!

I found this to be a good read, although I strongly disagree with the New Age "you create your own reality" philosophy. I actually groaned when the kahuna told Martin that he had "manifested" the thugs on the beach because of his own energy or whatever. Sorry, folks, I just don't buy it. At that point, I decided that the only way for me to relate to this book without getting annoyed with the philosophy was to see it as a sort of "alternate universe" science fiction. I could then allow myself to enter its worldview for the duration, even if it was alien to my own way of thinking. Viewed in that light, it was an interesting tale.

I'm a King Arthur's fan, and also a fair student of history.
I was impressed by Dream Maker's accurate historical content and interesting facts and thesis I'd never heard before; It's obvious that Ambrosious is King Arthur, the year, circumstances and geography is all there; The legendary elements are enticing...the sword in the stone, Maria Lerna's magic (Marli= Merlin) put it in believable context.... a word of mystical powers.
What's unique is the Roman setting but it makes sense since the Romans had hust left after 400 years.
Also now I see King Arthur as a sort of savior, a mythical figure whose role is far more critical than I thought.
If anything the novel is too short; Grigor Fedan seems to know his history; I wish he had gone deeper into it.
Frankly I am not much of a fan of the new agey things like reincarnation, meditation, astral travel.