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Prologue
A wild, almost fevered enthusiasm propels Sinne from cloud to cloud. Her ship tears through shreds of cloud that dance against the wind, as though they have agreed upon their own choreography.
The wind smells of things that do not yet exist: fresh bread that will be baked tomorrow, rain that still has to fall yesterday.
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Book 1 of The Night Travellers
Omaria
magical realism · literary fiction
Sinne does not steer. She suggests. Her vessel interprets.
By day, she survives the merciless life in a post-war refugee camp. By night, she enters Omaria — a world where clouds are little islands, where time is layered like memories, and where everything you feel takes tangible form. There she meets Toran: not the hardened camp commander she fears by day, but a deposed king, trapped in his own flight.
What if the place you flee to is more real than the world you leave behind?
Omaria will not be hurried. The opening chapters carry you through images: a ship sailing through clouds, a world that shifts with whatever you feel. Read them the way you dream, without needing to understand everything at once. From chapter three the story gathers pace, and Sinne discovers what time costs on Omaria.
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Paperback
from € 19.95
Two prints of the same English edition. Amazon (€ 19.95 / $ 21.99) prints it close to you on lighter cream paper, with fast, low-cost delivery worldwide. The Dutch print (€ 24.95) is the finer edition: heavier paper, printed in the Netherlands and delivered via boekenbestellen.nl — the best choice in the Netherlands and Belgium. I made this translation myself, working with AI and a human proofreader.
printed on demand · ISBN 9789083739007
Amazon — € 19.95 / $ 21.99 Dutch print — € 24.95E‑book
€ 6.99 / $ 6.99
Kindle e‑book, also in Kindle Unlimited. I made this translation myself, working with AI and a human proofreader. The artwork that goes with the story is on the book page.
Kindle · Amazon
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A free preview with the foreword, the prologue and the first chapter.
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The original Dutch edition, printed especially for you and delivered within 3–4 working days via boekenbestellen.nl.
460 pages · ISBN 9789090412986
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EPUB · ISBN 9789083739014
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Read the first five chapters online in Dutch, or listen to them on Spotify.
five chapters · in Dutch
Read the first chaptersThe English paperback is on Amazon (€ 19.95 / $ 21.99, also via amazon.co.uk, amazon.de and amazon.nl) and as a Dutch print via boekenbestellen.nl (€ 24.95). The English e‑book is on Kindle. The Dutch paperback is ordered through boekenbestellen.nl; the Dutch e‑book comes straight from me, paid with iDEAL or card.
The four art cards
the images Omaria grew out of, as cards to send
Tap a card to turn it over
Order the set of fourWhat readers say
Omaria becomes addictive very quickly — a world I kept wanting to go back to. Xandra writes a painting. But there is more… so read this skilfully written book.
Especially considering this is the author’s debut: incredibly well written. I was drawn in from the first page and could hardly put it down. A real page-turner and, as far as I’m concerned, an absolute must-read!
From the first pages I was carried into Sinne’s world. The harrowing life in the camp, and then the breathtaking passage into Omaria, the world she steps into at night. The writing is so vivid that I felt I was fleeing alongside Sinne, every single time. A gripping story with interesting themes.
From the very first page I was completely swept up in the story. The writing reads easily and keeps you curious about what will happen next. I can certainly recommend it to anyone who loves a gripping story. A book you won’t easily put down.
Xandra takes you to a world we know exists, but that we no longer easily connect with. The story gripped me, took hold of me, and I read it in one go. A kind, warm and enriching book. It fills the soul.
While I read, a film plays in my head at the same time. The writer takes you by the hand now and then, and seems to sense what is going on in your mind as you read — you hardly ever see that in a book. I’m looking forward to the sequel.
The passages about the camp are hard for me, because I don’t like reading about grief — and at the same time I find them beautifully rendered. The part about life on the clouds, in an almost perfect paradise, is something very special to read. Something to drift away in, and for a while to count as part of your own reality.
I received Omaria with so much love. Like a gift. For me it is not only a beautifully imagined story, it is a metaphor for life. For everyone’s life. For my life. The darkness of the camp and its hopelessness, and against it the light of Omaria and its unimagined possibilities.
Translated from Dutch and shared with the readers’ permission.
Make it an adventure, the way Sinne would have… Your dream world opens as soon as you allow the possibility. Until then and there — see you on Omaria!