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Khanna enjoys crafting stories, particularly ones that not only entertain but can also stir up some activity in the cranial cavity. She has two published novels, The Dream Hiker and The Mind Trap, both part of a young-adult series titled The Dream Hiker. She is currently working on the final book in the series.
Reviewed by Mary DeKok Blowers for Readers' Favorite
The Dream Hiker (Volume I) by Padmaja Khanna is a young adult adventure that involves 3 students accidentally getting into each other’s dreams. Through an online journal used for their philosophy class, in which they are supposed to write each day and describe something that happened, they discover they are having the same dream as each other. Seemingly without any control over their circumstances, they are thrust into an alternate/imaginary/fantasy world, where the rules have changed and they encounter real danger. It’s up to them to complete a mission with which they have somehow been entrusted, and they learn skills that enable them to make progress along that path. Each night, they turn up in the same dream and pick up where the last night’s left off. Depending on when they each fall asleep each night, they arrive and carry on their mission, sometimes making progress and sometimes trying to fix things that went sour.
The characters were fun and well developed. It was interesting how they "met" through technology and through their dreams without meeting in person. The friction between Eddie and Selenia was entertaining and also kept some tension in the relationship. I was not sure where the plot was going at first and then it turned out the dreamers had a mission to complete which was interesting with their having to learn the new "rules" of the place they found themselves and work within those confines. You'll love how Khanna makes you suspend disbelief and makes the story seem so real. I think my nieces, as young teens, will love these books and I believe that any preteen or young teen would as well.
This book caught my attention because I am currently compiling an anthology on dreams and visions, and doing a little research into dreams as part of the preparation for writing the introduction and my own contribution to it. Dreams have always been an interest of mine, and especially lucid dreaming, which is realizing you’re dreaming and learning to control those dreams while dreaming.
