The Dreamtime: A Novel

This is one of the most unique works of fiction, though largely biographical, that I have read. It incorporates the concept of dreamtime—an Aboriginal view of how the world came to be and its creation—and the Russian invasion of Ukraine in 2014, when Russia annexed the Crimean Peninsula before a more large-scale invasion. The author, who is a journalist, incorporates his experience on the frontlines filing stories for people to read in their homes while at the same time taking a multi-layered look at Ukraine and the war that is bringing it to the brink of existential existence.

The realm between reality and dreams begins to fracture more and more the further one gets through the book, which brings it to a dreamlike state of the four major characters who are involved. They include a doctor who wants to exorcise his demons by serving on the frontlines, a young girl caring for her ailing father near the frontlines, a sociopath who plays cat-and-mouse games, and a forensic expert attempting to solve a murder and save her marriage.