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## About This Content
Dreams of the Dying is the first book of the Enderal trilogy, a new-canon
spin-off that takes place in the Enderal universe and explores the mercenary
years of Jespar Dal’Varek. It’s written and independently published by Nicolas
Lietzau, the Lead Writer of Enderal.

This is the heavily revised and restructured version of the 2019 web novel
Dreams of the Dying. Translations and a full audiobook voiced by Ben Britton
are in the making, but there is no release date yet.
## The Story
Years after a harrowing war experience, ex-mercenary Jespar Dal ‘Varek has
taken to drifting. It’s a lonely existence, but barring the occasional bout of
melancholia, he has found the closest thing to peace a man like him deserves.
Life is “all right.”

Or so he tells himself. Hoping to turn the page, Jespar accepts a mysterious
invitation into the beautiful but dangerous archipelago of Kilay –and
everything changes. Plagued by boiling social tensions and terrorism, the
tropical empire is edging ever closer to civil war. Kilay’s merchant king may
be the only one able to prevent this catastrophe, but he has fallen into a
preternatural coma–and it’s Jespar’s job to figure out who or what caused it.
As the investigation takes him across the archipelago and into the king’s
nightmares, unexpected events not only tie Jespar’s own life to the mystery
but also unearth inner demons he believed to be long exorcised.

Battling old trauma while fighting for his life, his sanity, and the fate of
Kilay, the line between dream and reality blurs further and further, until
only one question remains: If your mind is the enemy, where do you run?

A slow-burning, riveting blend of fantasy, mystery, and psychological
horror, Dreams of the Dying is a deep exploration of mental illness, morality,
and the dark sides of humanity.
## Reader Voices & Reviews
“A sense of pure evil suffuses Lietzau’s utterly complex high fantasy
universe, which is almost as complex and immersive as that of Tolkien. His
acute analyses of mental illness, self-doubt, and guilt combined with the
subtlety and nuance of his evocative storytelling makes it a treat for readers
weary of formulaic dark fantasy. This novel deserves a wide audience.” –
ThePrairiesBookReview

“Dreams of the Dying is a dark and wonderful epic fantasy that draws you in
from the very first page.” — San Francisco Book Review
“Masterful story-telling. World building with worlds inside of worlds. It’s a
must read and should be considered a classic in the making.” – Amanda Castro
(TheCrookedHouse), Bookstagrammer

” This book has a mix of humor, amazing details and descriptions of this
world, while also dealing with some serious moral issues that can be hard to
read about but, still, enlightening. (…) I am absolutely fascinated by this
world after reading this. Its haunting, its beautiful… I don’t know what
else to say. Amazing.” – Jesse Ruth (OracleOfMadness), Bookstagrammer

” Dreams of the Dying is at once a very dark but also incredibly beautiful,
hopeful, intelligent, and highly ambitious debut novel that pushes the limits
of what fantasy can be and serves as a testament to everything that I love
about this genre. It’s damn near criminal that Nicolas Lietzau isn’t being
talked about as one of the rising stars of sff.” – Goodreads Review

” Amazing. This is more than just another fantasy novel – it’s a deep and
thoughtful exploration of morality, determinism, mental illness and how
generally fucked up humanity can be.” – Goodreads Review

” I’m terrible at reviews, I suck at giving praise and I’m even worse at not
dropping books all the time. Yet here I am at 3AM, having blazed through this
book in a day and a half, telling whoever needs to hear that I want nothing
more than to forget it all just so I can read it AGAIN. Yes, it’s that good.”
– Goodreads Review

” Dreams of the Dying really has everything: friendships/relationships,
revenge, political intrigue, philosophy, tension, LGBT representation, et
cetera. What really struck me about the discussion of mental health family
cycles was the wanting so much to overcome them and do better but falling
short in spite of your best efforts. And I was so inspired by how Nicolas
navigated discussing mental health without making it uncomfortable. It was
raw. It was real and, as a person who has had mental health struggles, I
appreciated that so much. I loved that it was grim, but managed to remain
hopeful.” – Goodreads Review

Dreams of the Dying (Enderal Novels, Book I)