What are the best science fiction and fantasy stories featuring dreams? I’m writing an entry on this question for a new encyclopedia, and I’d appreciate any suggestions of authors and titles to include. I’ll surely say something about Robert Louis Stevenson, Lewis Carroll, Edgar Allen Poe, H.P. Lovecraft, Jorge Luis Borges, Ursula K. LeGuin, Philip K. Dick, Neil Gaiman, J.K. Rowling, and Graham Joyce. (Movies are covered in another entry, which is actually a relief since I’ve only got 750 words.) Who else should be on the list?
The entry is for the forthcoming Encyclopedia of Sleep and Dreams, edited by Deirdre Barrett and Patrick McNamara (Praeger Press).
Later this spring I’ll post an essay on dreams in the Harry Potter series. The movies downplay it, but in the novels dreaming plays a variety of interesting roles, particularly at crucial turning points in the story.