Cover of A Multitude of Dreams by Mara Rutherford. A red haired white girl stands in front of a clock with a raven on her shoulder that has clawed her bloody.

About the Book

Title: A Multitude of Dreams
Published: 2023

Cover Story: The Raven
Drinking  Buddy: The Cask of Amontillado
MPAA Rating: PG-13 (cannibalism, a completely unnecessary sex scene)
Talky Talk: The Tell-Tale Heart
Bonus Factors: Edgar Allan Poe, Plagues
Bromance Status: William Wilson

Cover Story: The Raven

Kind of a pointlessly sexy painting of Seraphina, with a raven that wasn’t really in the story. Seraphina is supposed to have a scar on her jawline, but it could be on the other side. On the other hand, that is a damn well-painted picture.

The Deal:

When the hideous Mori Roja plague struck the kingdom, King Stuart sealed all the nobles into his fortress-like castle to wait out the plague. His beloved daughter Imogen’s 20th birthday is approaching, and he’s determined to throw a wild masquerade to celebrate. But all is not well. The king is slowly going mad, the castle is almost completely out of food, and people are secretly escaping from quarantine. Also, Imogen isn’t really the princess. She’s actually Seraphina, a random Jewish girl the king’s other daughters pressed into service to replace the real princess who died of the plague.

On the other end of the kingdom, Nico Motto, once a well-respected, wealthy young man with dreams of becoming a doctor, now works as a servant for Lord Crane. The plague has petered out and Crane sends Nico to see if there are any survivors in the castle. Nico is only too happy to oblige, as he fears that Crane might have taken a woman and, um…eaten her.

When Nico finds the body of a prince who was headed to the castle before being killed by bandits, he decides to impersonate the dead royal to gain entrance. A fake prince and a fake princess…

Drinking  Buddy: The Cask of Amontillado

Two pints of beer cheersing

Nico goes from being upper middle class, to poverty, to fake rich. Seraphina goes from being poor to being fake rich. Nico has to hide the fact that Lord Crane has developed a taste for the most forbidden of foods. Seraphina has to pretend that the king has not gone off into la la land. All this deception and intrigue and guys who are somehow still alive with a sword through their chest. I can get behind this.

MPAA Rating: PG-13 (cannibalism, a completely unnecessary sex scene)

Some plague survivors, like Nico, have a naturally immunity. Others, like Seraphina, managed to avoid contamination. And others didn’t survive and died. Only they didn’t stay dead. They came back. Hungry. So hungry. And nothing short of decapitation will sate their desires. Looks like the castle may be the site of a desperate last stand.

Also, Nico and Seraphina have an adorable, blushing flirtation as they slowly get to know the other’s secrets. Could this daring med student find happiness with this Jewish, er, princess? And then the author blows everything with a gratuitous sex scene in the penultimate chapter.

Talky Talk: The Tell-Tale Heart

The author stated she wanted to retell a Poe story with Jewish representation. But since Seraphina is pretending to be someone else, we only barely touch on her previous life. She’ll occasionally mention her rabbi or studying the Talmud, but this was so infrequent that I felt like I was being reminded. Also, this book takes place in a complete fantasy world. Seraphina talks about how Jews were blamed for causing the plague by poisoning the wells, just like they were in our medieval times. But there are also matches, guns, and a doctor talking about sterilizing a wound, which strikes of a more modern era. Since this story is set in a totally imaginary world, including a real religion felt shoehorned in. It was like hearing Merry and Pippin talking about attending the Methodist Church.

Bonus Factor: Edgar Allan Poe

Photo of Edgar Allan Poe

This is the author’s take on that staple of freshman English, The Masque of the Red Death. The king who just thinks that he can hide away from the plague in his castle, complete with the creepy clock and the colorful rooms. Rutherford’s version is a tad more realistic. What happens when the supplies run out? Do the servants really want to be locked away? Are they all just going to stay there forever?

That’s Poe for you. Two hundred years, and we’re still discovering new angles.

Bonus Factor: Plagues

Human skull

Up until a few years ago, a lot of us considered plagues something that happened in the olden days. I’m not sure if the author intended a COVID parable, but with the rich people waiting out the disease while the poor starved, with others refusing to quarantine and infecting everyone, I couldn’t help draw a parallel.

Bromance Status: William Wilson

I’m not sure you’re the book I’d want to be buried alive with, but I hope to see more from this author in the future.

Literary Matchmaking

His Hideous Heart

His Hideous Heart is an anthology of more modern takes on Poe’s stories.

Open Mic Night at Westminster Cemetery

Open Mic Night at Westminster Cemetery by Mary Amato features Poe’s ghost as a character.

The Initial Insult (The Initial Insult #1)

Mindy McGinnis’s The Initial Insult also has new interpretations of Poe’s works.

FCC Full Disclosure: I received a free copy of the book from the publisher, but no money or FREEDOM FROM THAT HIDEOUS EYE!

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Brian wrote his first YA novel when he was down and out in Mexico. He now lives in Missouri with his wonderful wife and daughter. He divides his time between writing and working as a school librarian. Brian still misses the preachy YA books of the eighties.