Somnus’ Palace was the winner in the Paranormal category in the 2025 IndieReader Discovery Awards, where undiscovered talent meets people with the power to make a difference.
Following find an interview with author C.V. Vobh.
What is the name of the book and when was it published?
Somnus’ Palace, published in March 2025.
What’s the book’s first line?
“Proto blinked and squinted at the light.”
What’s the book about? Give us the “pitch”.
Somnus’ Palace is about a modern young man named Proto, who wakes up in the misty blue palace of the Lord of Dreams. He doesn’t know how he got there, but he’s assigned a new job—to visit sleeping people’s dreams and guide them to the right outcomes. These are just dreams, of course. But this new job of Proto’s ends up having very real and important consequences, both for the world and for his own future.
What inspired you to write the book? A particular person? An event?
Well, I’d just watched an anime series where the main character had a few potential love interests, and he ended up picking one. A lot of fans wished he’d made a different choice. And it occurred to me, “What if the show didn’t choose for you? What if it left that open? Is there some way to do that, while still giving people a happy ending? . . . What if there were a book that did that?” And here we are.
What’s the most distinctive thing about the main character? Who-real or fictional-would you say the character reminds you of?
I think Proto’s growth over the course of this book and the two others in this trilogy is what distinguishes him most.
He starts out very unimpressive and ordinary compared to his companions. The only reason he’s not totally boring is that he’s convinced Somnus’ Palace is all a dream. As a result, he lives life there like it’s a dream, without normal inhibitions and so forth.
But it turns out Proto is a protean person. He gradually picks up mannerisms, skills, wit, wisdom, etc. from those around him. The growth isn’t really perceptible from page to page. But by around the end of Book 1, you realize that awkward newb you met in Chapter 1 actually turned out pretty cool. And by Book 3, he’s become a strong contender for the World’s Most Interesting Man, or at least the World’s Most Absurd Hero.
Proto’s growth reminds me a bit of Michael Corleone—another seemingly dull young man who’s forced to face life and ends up becoming fascinating, thanks in large part to those around him. Of course, the two could hardly be more different in terms of how their personalities end up developing.
What’s the main reason someone should really read this book?
You should read this book since the way its ending is structured is like nothing you’ve seen in a fantasy novel. You’ll hopefully laugh and have a good time along the way, but the ending will be something new and memorable.
Is this the first book that you’ve written?
It’s not! My first published book is The Yawning Gap, an epic fantasy. It’s set in the same world as Somnus’ Palace, but in a very different era, and with a very different tone and style. Much more Tolkien-esque and in the vein of 1980s and 1990s fantasy books, though with a dash of the lighthearted humor of Somnus’ Palace.