The Dreaming Jewels

A desperate boy escapes his abusive home by joining a carnival and is drawn into a dark conspiracy in this tale by “a master storyteller” (Kurt Vonnegut).  Though only eight years old, little Horton “Horty” Bluett has known a lifetime of sadness. Tormented and abused by his adoptive family, he’s had enough—and with a beloved broken toy he calls “Junky” as his sole companion, the desperate little boy runs away to join a carnival. There, among the fortune tellers, fire-eaters, sideshow freaks, and assorted “strange people,” Horty hopes to find acceptance and, at long last, a real home. But disgraced doctor Pierre “Maneater” Monetre’s traveling show is no ordinary entertainment, and its performers are not what they appear to be. The Maneater has sinister plans for the world that go far beyond fleecing unsuspecting rubes and other easy marks—a dark and terrible scheme that requires unleashing the extraterrestrial power of the dreaming jewels, and the unwitting assistance of a young boy who may be far more remarkable than he’s ever imagined. The full-length debut by Theodore Sturgeon, a legendary writer who won Nebula and Hugo Awards and authored such classics as More Than Human, this journey into a circus of shadows is “an intensely written and very moving novel of love and retribution” (The Washington Star).  This ebook features an illustrated biography of Theodore Sturgeon including rare images and never-before-seen documents from the University of Kansas’s Kenneth Spencer Research Library and the author’s estate, among other sources.

Amazon.com Review

Eight-year-old Horty Bluett is mocked by his classmates and abused by his adoptive parents until the day his father severs three of his fingers. He runs away, taking only a gem-eyed doll he calls Junky, and joins a carnival. Finding acceptance at last, Horty never dreams that Junky is more than a toy, nor does he realize that a threat far greater than his cruel father inhabits the carnival and has been searching for Horty longer than he has been alive. Though less well-known than Isaac Asimov, Arthur C. Clarke, or Robert A. Heinlein, Theodore Sturgeon (1918-1985) is even more important to the development of literary and humanistic science fiction. He received the Hugo, Nebula, and International Fantasy Awards, and the World Fantasy Life Achievement Award. The Dreaming Jewels (1950) was his first novel. --Cynthia Ward

The Washington Post

“[Sturgeon is] one of the masters of modern science fiction.”

Kurt Vonnegut

“A master storyteller certain to fascinate all sorts of readers and not merely science fiction fans.”

Ray Bradbury

“I look upon Sturgeon with a secret and growing jealousy.”

From the Inside Flap

Winner of the Hugo, Nebula and World Fantasy Life Achievement Awards "One of the masters of modern science fiction."--"The Washington Post Book World Eight-year-old Horty Bluett has never known love. His adoptive parents are violent; his classmates are cruel. So he runs away from home and joins a carnival. Performing alongside the fireaters, snakemen and "little people," Horty is accepted. But he is not safe. For when he loses three fingers in an accident and they grow back, it becomes clear that Horty is not like other boys. And it is a difference some people might want to use. But his difference risks not only his own life but the lives of the outcasts who provided for him, for so many years, with a place to call home. In The Dreaming Jewels, Theodore Sturgeon renders the multiple wounds of loneliness, fear, and persecution with uncanny precision. Vividly drawn, expertly plotted, The Dreaming Jewels is a Sturgeon masterpiece. "An intensely written novel and very moving novel of love and retribution."--"Washington Star

From the Back Cover

In The Dreaming Jewels, Theodore Sturgeon, winner of the World Fantasy Life Achievement Award, renders the multiple wounds of loneliness, fear, and persecution with uncanny precision. Eight-year-old Horty Bluett has never known love. His adoptive parents are violent; his classmates are cruel. So, when his stepfather slams Horty's hand in a door, severing three fingers, Horty runs away from home taking only his beloved doll, Junky, and joins the carnival.Performing alongside the fire-eaters, snakemen, and "little people", Horty is accepted. But he is not safe. For among the freaks is a man who knows that Junky is not a normal doll and that Horty is not a normal boy -- and he knows why Horty's fingers have mysteriously grown back. Using this knowledge he will threaten not only the life of the boy, but the lives of the outcasts who provided the boy with a place to call home. Vividly drawn, expertly plotted, The Dreaming Jewels is a Sturgeon masterpiece.

About the Author

Theodore Sturgeon (1918–1985) is considered one of the godfathers of contemporary science fiction and dark fantasy. The author of numerous acclaimed short stories and novels, among them the classics More Than Human, Venus Plus X, and To Marry Medusa, Sturgeon also wrote for television and holds among his credits two episodes of the original 1960s Star Trek series, for which he created the Vulcan mating ritual and the expression “Live long and prosper.” He is also credited as the inspiration for Kurt Vonnegut’s recurring fictional character Kilgore Trout. Sturgeon is the recipient of the Hugo Award, the Nebula Award, and the International Fantasy Award. In 2000, he was posthumously honored with a World Fantasy Award for Life Achievement.

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