In your dreams

The trouble in Tom Holt's novel is just what is happening in the dreams of Paul Carpenter.

In In your Dreams, Paul discovers that he was sold to the magical firm of J. W. Wells by his parents and is curious why they would pay so much for someone rather inept at their job. His girlfriend has dumped him. So life isn't going well. To top it off people seem to think he is hero material, when really his boss's goblin mother has the hots for him and is saving his bacon.

It emerges that Paul is a key character in a war between the Fey and the human world. The Fey are using sleeping humans to cross the border between worlds. The trouble is that Paul can't remember important things from his dream and fumbles blindly through being a hero.

This is a typical humourous Holt SF novel. I really like Holt, but found this moved more slowly than others. However it might be that because Paul is in the dark, so are we. Still it was a good read. The ending is open, so there may be a sequel in the works.

This has a novel before it - The Portable Door. I hadn't read it and this read fine without it; although I would like to give it a try too.