The Lucent: Waking Dream Softcover (Book 1)

Was it 2020 when I first came across Michael Bancroft's "The Lucent"? It is all a bit of a blur. I had been watching a number of ComicsGate Live shows. Up to then, it had been superheroes, superheroes, frog superheroes, and more superheroes. Don't get me wrong, I like that stuff. But I love science fiction, horror and fantasy more. A self-effacing Aussie guy came on and my ears pricked up when he was talking about lucid dreaming, secret societies, ancient mystics, and Fucking Gilgamesh! This was right up my street! It helped that the cover was the best-looking one I had seen yet.

So I backed the original softcover, and got excited that there were other people who were interested in what seemed a niche product. The host, Ethan van Sciver, seemed really excited that at last there was someone in ComicsGate that was trying to do something different. It crashed past its stretch goal, and deservedly got the iconic spot gloss feature gave the original cover the chef's kiss.

But this is the alternate softback version, and whilst I prefer the original, this particular picture is interesting. it is a variant of the penultimate page. There are no people, Ella is vertical inside lightning, and the traffic lights are at red, rather than green. And the page is squished. WHAT COULD THIS MEAN?

The general gist of the Lucent is that there are people in the world who are effectively immortal, and have been influencing the world from the shadows for aeons, some through secret societies. There are people who have super-powers, first of all in dreams, and in the waking world. Our protagonist Ella is one of these "dream warriors" who is aware of her powers, but only in her dreams, where she is being trained for an unknown purpose by a man calked Damon. She doesn't remember much about her childhood, but the man who she thinks is her grandfather has hidden designs for her. He passes something onto her, and she has a past-life / initiatory experience where finally her inner and outer lives come together. In between this main plot, we get many flashbacks to ancient Mesopotania, Christian-repression Roman Empire, and we see the main big-players in this universe.

There is no hand-holding here. Michael Bancroft gives you all the knowledge you need to get started. You need to be ready to research things you don't know to fully appreciate the background.

Or you could just enjoy the ride, and let the art do all the talking. It looks gorgeous, and every character is distinctly portrayed. There is definitely a particular bluey-green palette to the art, and this makes you think of water, even when the characters aren't using water powers. Even in book 2, this hasn't been explained, but it looks very, very cool.

Basically, everyone should be reading this book. You should be buying one for each of your children, or nieces and nephews. I am pretty sure that anyone who reads it will gain 30 IQ points, learn how to lucidly visualise in their dreams and become reality.

And if you thought Waking Dream was good, get ready for Painted Death.

Nui koʻu hauʻoli i ka honua i hana ʻia e Michael Bancroft. ʻO ka nānā ʻana i ka ulu ʻana o kāna hana kiʻi mai ka lima aʻa ginger a hiki i kēia manawa he mea leʻaleʻa ke nānā. E hoʻopaʻa mau wau no ka lōʻihi.

The Lucent Waking Dream is a story of ancient puzzles colliding with the modern world. Ella is thrust into a realm where dreams bleed into reality, she uncovers layers of secret orders and hidden powers.
Bancroft's art and storytelling weave a rich tapestry with suspense, mystery, and visual clues.

Unlike Angela Curry’s soy transmission wires, this series is not soy. Buy all three books. The books will not be eaten by mice.

A funny thing happened. I started reading The Lucent: Waking Dream thinking it was book 2 in the series (don’t ask me why). It wasn’t until a few pages in that I realized I had read the series backwards. Needless to say, it was well-written and engaging enough to keep me hooked, even though I already knew what happened next! 🤣