Strange the Dreamer

Lazlo is the protagonist of the novel. His primary goals are to discover the secrets of Weep and prove to himself that magic really does exist; on a deeper level, he is also on a quest to discover his own identity. Over the course of the novel, Lazlo discovers magic, uncovers the truth of Weep, finds love, and learns that he is the son of the god Skathis.

Lazlo’s questions about his identity inform much of the novel’s theme on Identity and Choice. One of the first things that Laini Taylor reveals about Lazlo in Chapter 1 is that he is an orphan, and that his last name (Strange) is the surname given to all children born without one of their own. Even his first name, Lazlo, was somebody else’s (5). These details on Lazlo’s name create the sense of alienation that Lazlo feels from this identity that has been arbitrarily imposed upon him by the society in which he lives. Chapters 1 and 2 also create a distinct sense of how disconnected Lazlo feels from his surroundings; even at the Great Library, where Lazlo is at least at home among his books, he is still an outcast among the scholars who perceive his preoccupation with