Dreams of the Dying (Enderal Novels, Book I)

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