“Indelible characters fuel this deliberately paced but wholly engaging SF story.” — Kirkus Reviews
Hunted across the solar system, a grieving teen discovers her dreams are real when they connect her to a blue alien boy and a mysterious stone that could save the future or change it forever.
A diverse, character-driven, coming-of-age YA sci-fi adventure about found family, identity, and survival, where the stakes are high and trust is never easy.
Skyward meets The Darkness Outside Us.
Grand Prize Short List, The First Horizon Award Winner & The Montaigne MedalFinalist (Eric Hoffer Book Awards) / The BookFest First Place Award YA Science Fiction / Literary Titan Silver Award / International Impact Book Award
SFWA member 2026
“THE DREAMER by Linda Patricia Cleary commences The Black Stone Cycle series with a vibrant science fiction backdrop, rapid pacing, and a likable adolescent protagonist at its core. Cleary amalgamates action and mystery with profound themes of identity and belonging, imparting emotional depth to the narrative. This is a great first book in a series and will appeal to anyone who likes space adventures with strong characters.” — Indie Reader
“The writing sets the stage for a larger saga, sweeping readers into a futuristic world with incredible detail and wonderfully diverse characters who portray queerness and neurodivergence in ways that feel neither forced nor superficial.” — Booklife Publisher’s Weekly
Prologue of The Dreamer (Book 1)
Darkness spun around her, a black fog moving at tremendous speed. Patches of light broke through the whirling mist, and vague shapes shifted around her. Flashes of color sparked across her eyes, forcing her to squint and shrink from the intensity. Her body was frozen in place, but she could still pivot her head, twisting it back and forth to find her bearings.
She felt her body’s core pull toward something that wouldn’t let her break free. Though she couldn’t move, she felt fragile, like she would break into a million pieces and shatter into nothingness. She craned her neck to focus on the openings where the light flickered through, alternating from blue to gray and then to black starry skies, all within the blink of an eye.
She inhaled deeply and spotted trees within the openings, white trees rising from the ground below her. The leaves turned from crimson to brown and then fell. The trees died; she exhaled.
Eons passed wherever she turned away from the light. Crashing waves flowed in one ear and out the other, thunderous within her. She was terrified. She looked at her hands; they felt cold. She saw they rested on something smooth and black, glowing from within. She couldn’t tell if it was liquid or stone. A pale-yellow radiance ebbed from it and flowed along her hands, up her arms, and into her being. She felt that it kept her safe, but didn’t understand why.
She was not alone. Another pair of bright blue hands rested beside hers. She lifted her head and felt like she pulled vast mountains up, erupting from the earth. Her gaze fell upon a blue face shadowed beneath a hood. Their eyes met, and he smiled, lips parting to speak.
“Ji hal…wake up, Ash.”
