Magic

The importance of magic is one of the key themes in "Dreams Made Flesh." In fact, magic permeates every aspect of the book, including the romances that it contains. The world that Bishop presents is indeed a different one, where the characters use magic in many daily settings. They often communicate with each other on psychic threads; these threads can be chosen by jewel, such as a black psychic thread, or by gender. In such a way, characters can communicate privately, even when there are other people in the room. This leads to another important aspect of magic, which is the concept of jewels as power. The metaphorical hierarchy of the characters' society is here made tangible, in the form of the jewels that they wear. It is through these jewels that they are able to tap into the magic, themselves.

The difficult of magic also permeates the...