Nazima Pathan
About Author
Discover Dream Hunters, the debut fantasy novel by Nazima Pathan, set in a richly imagined alternate India.
Nazima was born in India and raised in London, moving later to Cambridge where she lives with her husband and two children. She is a children's doctor and researcher but has always enjoyed reading and writing stories.
In a way, science when conveyed well is a tale of the why's, the how's and therefore's. But children's stories are special, important and fun, and after learning the craft of writing fiction, Nazima found a home in creating magical stories for curious children who believe in the right to dream.
Interview
Dream Hunters (Simon & Schuster Children's Books)
August 2024
In an imaginary alternate India, dream hunters can catch dreams before they disappear, and use them to make healing potions. But what if they started to hunt nightmares, instead? Nazima Pathan speaks to ReadingZone about her richly imagined fantasy adventure, Dream Hunters, and how her childhood in India helped inspire the settings and ideas for the story.
Q&A with Nazima Pathan
"The book is an adventure set across the length of India, with magic, mayhem and a murder plot."
1. Can you tell us a little about yourself? What three words would you use to describe yourself?
I am a children's author as well as being a paediatrician (children's doctor) and a researcher. I live with my family in Cambridge. I would describe myself as curious, imaginative and studious.
2. What happens in your new book, Dream Hunters?
Dream Hunters is set in an alternate India, where 12-year-old Mimi Malou is one of a band of children hunting forgotten dreams and transforming them into healing potions. When Mimi discovers a nefarious plot to poison the king with dark dreams, she must journey across India to put a stop to it. With her dream creature Lalu and best friend Rafi by her side, can she rescue the king before it's too late?
The book is an adventure set across the length of India, with magic, mayhem and a murder plot within a story about the power of friendship and social justice.
"I am fascinated by the fleeting nature of thoughts and dreams, as well as the idea
that they hold so much power over us in our sleep."
3. What inspired this story about chasing and capturing dreams?
I am fascinated by the fleeting nature of thoughts and dreams, as well as the idea that they hold so much power over us in our sleep. I thought it would be interesting to see if dreams could be captured, that if we could see them as they slip out of our minds, we could recycle the stories and messages they contain.
I enjoyed creating all the theory and mechanisms the dream hunters use including a classification system to grade the threads and a way to view the contents of dream threads.
4. Can you tell us about your two main characters, Mimi and her best friend Rafi, and each of their 'dream creatures'?
Mimi has a troubled family but comfortable life as daughter of the head librarian in the Library of Forgotten Dreams. She wants to do the right thing and help her aunt to restore the reputation of the Citadel after her parents' arrest for treason in the far away kingdom of Ratnagar.
Her dream creature is a beautiful blue hummingbird, Lalu. Loyal and insightful, Lalu helps Mimi out of some tricky situations, as does her best friend Rafi. A street orphan taken into the Citadel as a dream hunter, he is feisty, fearless and always hungry. Like his dream creature, a chiffchaff called Mithi, Rafi is a bit of a chatterbox and a true friend to Mimi.
"The rich and ancient history of India inspired the settings in Dream Hunters."
5. The book is set in a fantasy India - can you tell us a little about how well you know India, and how it helped inspire your alternate India?
I was born in India and came to the UK in early childhood, but have returned for several visits and have extensive family there. From the bustling metropolis of Mumbai to the mountainous landscapes of the North and the ornate castles and forts of Rajasthan, India is a country that engrosses the senses.
The rich and ancient history of India inspired the settings in Dream Hunters. I wanted to create an alternative history to incorporate a background to the creation of the Citadel with its culture and magic as well as how it interacted with the rest of the world.
Memories of visits to India have inspired key parts of the story. There is a town called Songadh, where my father's family came from, and behind it an old, abandoned fort, which gave me the inspiration for how the Citadel looks and its location next to a small town (called Songra in the book). The palace in Ratnagar is inspired by the castles and forts of Rajasthan, especially Jaisalmer and Udaipur; beautifully carved with rich detail.
6. Dream Hunters is your first published book for children but how long have you been writing and what has it taken to reach this point? What inspired your love of fantasy?
Dream Hunters is the second book I wrote and the first to be published. I think of the first as a learning novel, which gave me the skill training, daily practice and resilience to keep going on my writer's journey. It is a tough thing to write, edit, polish, edit, polish and so on. When you get your hands on the final copy you realise what a team effort it is to create a book - from critique partners to agents, editors, designers and illustrators.
I have always enjoyed fantasy novels - from Philip Pullman to Tolkien to CS Lewis. In recent years, books like Skandar (A.F. Steadman), the Destiny of Minou Moonshine (Gita Ralleigh), Artemis Fowl (Eoin Colfer) and pretty much every book by Katherine Rundell, Zohra Nabi, Abi Elphinstone and Michelle Harrison have really caught my attention as standout fantasy and adventure fiction for children, but I could go on. There are so many brilliant books where children work together to fix the problems the adults cannot solve.
"I tried to use the reverse portal storyline to explore the complicated nature of our world
through the eyes of a newcomer."
7. Fantasy settings are often used to explore ideas and themes in our contemporary world. Can you tell us what you wanted to explore in Dream Hunters?
I tried to use the reverse portal storyline to explore the complicated nature of our world through the eyes of a newcomer. When Mimi leaves the hidden citadel and travels to Mumbai, she finds deep poverty among the lives of the everyday working folk.
Although she is alone and powerless, she and her friends use their combined skills to sneak and bluff their way on trains and carts to get across India and into a palace, to reach a king who is about to be poisoned to death by nightmares.
The dark side of dreams is nightmares and the idea that we could use them to scare, intimidate, control or even murder represents the idea that, to some people, the value of money and power overcomes ethical objections to trading in things that can be harmful.
8. Writing fantasy allows you to bring a little magic into your story, too. What is your favourite fantastical invention in Dream Hunters?
I really like the mirror portals in the story, and how they can be used to travel the globe to find dreams wherever there is nightfall. It allows the dream hunters to work around the clock, and their destination is controlled by magical keys with different co-ordinates set into them, which get inserted into the mirror frame to lock onto different locations. The hunters can then use hooks to 'reel in' dream threads once they find a dreamer and suitable threads.
9. Do you plan to return to the world of the Dream Hunters to follow up Mimi and Rafi's adventures?
I am writing the sequel and it is due for release August 2025. It has even more peril and danger, taking Mimi and her friends into uncharted territory and presents a new form of terror crafted through nightmares and dark magic.
To get myself into the right frame of mind for writing, I like to sit in my tiny office in the early morning with a cup of coffee when the house is quiet and I don't have to talk to anyone else. It is easier to come up with ideas and words when no one expects something of me!
10. Other than writing, what are your escapes from the real world?
I try to do a little exercise each day when I get up, and I enjoy travelling. In the last year I have visited Madeira, Iceland and the United States. Hoping to get to Asia on my next trip!
... And three interesting non-book things about you?
Three interesting things? Hmmm. I have flown around the world and spent my medical school elective in Vanuatu in the South Pacific. I got a D for handwriting in year 3 and an A for it in year 6, though now I am a doctor so maybe I'd be back to a grade C at best. I love singing and at university I was one of the three little maids in a production of The Mikado.
Dream Hunters
