Maggie Stiefvater writes with vibrancy, bringing scenes to life with crisp, impeccable detail, building layer upon layer to create exquisite scenes, words turned into art. From bland, seemingly endless farmland, to impossibly dreamed objects, not to mention the dreams themselves – decadent, dangerous, deadly – Mister Impossible is a work of art, a stunning, intricately plotted adventure. Reminiscent of Neil Gaiman’s American Gods in many ways, but distinct all the same, Stiefvater leads the reader on a journey with no end in sight, continuing where Call Down the Hawk ended: Ronan, Jordan and Bryde, three dreamers on a quest for meaning.
When they killed the Zed, it was a nice day.
It was Illinois, probably, or one of those states that start with an I. Indiana. Iowa. WIsconsin. Fields, but not the postcard kind. No picturesque barns. No aesthetically rusted farm equipment. Just stubbled field. The sky was very blue. The rubbled end-of-season wheat fields were very bright and pale. Everything was very clear. It was like an ocean vacation, without the ocean. Bisecting the landscape was a highway: very flat, very straight, gray-white with salt.
– excerpt from Maggie Stiefvater’s Mister Impossible
Flitting between a colorful cast of characters is what Stiefvater does best, and Mister Impossible is no exception. Puzzle pieces click together with each successive chapter, even as the world expands, taking the characters on road trips into new locales – seemingly abandoned landmarks, lavish Boudicca soirées, art galleries, and the homes of newfound dreamers. From Carmen Farooq-Lane to Matthew Lynch to Jordan Hennessy, what unravels is a series of questions on the nature of belonging, each and every character on the search for something more: acceptance, understanding, being.
A hero, it was an unfamiliar concept. Ronan had been the villain for so long, if he had been anything. The one in trouble, the one written up on the slip, the one being chased, the one being accused. And before that he had been the young dreamer. Secret. Forever. Now he was a hero to a family of young dreamers who would never have to feel alone.
– excerpt from Maggie Stiefvater’s Mister Impossible
There’s more than the end of the world at stake, prophesied by Visionaries employed by the Moderators, however. While the threat of unquenchable fire remains, it is more than just the byproduct of an ill-intentioned dream: the ley lines are waning, and with it, dream energy, experienced dreamers forced to battle cloying Nightwash, while the dreamed fear an unexpected, never-ending sleep, their fate undetermined in a world reliant on dream power. With dreams more dire than ever – personal, professional, physical – a quest to restore ley energy by removing corruption unfolds, proving to be much darker than the local Henrietta hauntings explored in The Raven Cycle, Ronan, Hennessy and Bryde committing acts of ecoterrorism to rid the world of the noise of modernity.
As the misguided dreamers follow an astute, dangerous mentor in Bryde, traveling from Virginia to Pennsylvania, Declan, Matthew and Jordan put down new roots in Boston, lulled in by the latent power of Sweetmetals, art made powerful dream object, capable of keeping dreamed objects alive. Determined to forge lives outside of their connection to dreams, Stiefvater delves into each character, laying bare their deepest fears and darkest desires which all boil down to this: belonging. Jordan, Declan and Matthew long for happiness and, most importantly, freedom to be themselves. To be an artist, to work in politics, to fall in love, to go to school; to do things because they want to, not because they have to. Unlocking the clue behind the artistry that is a Sweetmetal is the first step, one that will grant them the power of independence, to be separate from the lifeforce of the dreamers in their lives: Ronan and Hennessy. Even Carmen Farooq-Lane and Liliana experience the desire that comes with dreaming, questioning the brutal mission of the Moderators and their place within it, leading innocents to their untimely death because of a single dreamer’s prophesied downfall.
Golden Matthew, charming the city. Rebellious Ronan, finally grown into something useful. Cunning Declan, trafficking in art and stories. The Brothers Lynch. He liked not worrying about them all the time.
– excerpt from Maggie Stiefvater’s Mister Impossible
It is in these relationships that Stiefvater excels, crafting characters with complex, emotional arcs that expand, growing as the overarching narrative unfurls. Darkly dreaming disasters take flight alongside determined activists longing to be free of the obligations and emotions that hold them back, revealing a narrative that is exactly that: a dream. Emotions roil, artistry soars, and Stiefvater captures it all with a deft hand, asking questions as she goes about the nature of art versus artist, dream versus reality, need versus want. What makes a dream? What constitutes art? Is independence really possible in a world full of unknown magic?
Climatic shootouts and chilling highway races pair well alongside introspective painting, while memories haunt the dreamscape, terrifying and exhilarating in equal measure. From nightmares to daydreams, Stiefvater skims the surface of emotion, revealing the characters’ best and worst experiences – on love, life and everything in between. Tinged with unspeakable longing, Mister Impossible is a story about growing up, fitting in, and becoming your own person in an unforgiving world.
Humans dance as elegantly as clockwork stars move across the sky, but they do not see it because they are the stars.
– excerpt from Maggie Stiefvater’s Mister Impossible
Expertly crafted and well-paced, Mister Impossible is a force to be reckoned with, a slow burning adventure with an explosive conclusion that has the potential to reinvent the dreamscape – and Ronan Lynch – forever. Brimming with emotion and vivid dreams – real and imagined – Stiefvater offers yet another master class in fiction, haunted by the very thing that sustains it. “A dream is not the safest thing to build a life on,” and Mister Impossible does just that with heart wrenching accuracy and breathless anticipation, leaving everything up in the balance on the promise of a nice day.
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