The Book of Time Trilogy by Guillaume Prevost
The Book of Time (Book One) - 213 pages; Miss Simer’s Rating: ***; Sam Faulkner’s dad has been missing for 10 days. Worried, Sam explores his dad’s bookshop looking for clues about his disappearance and he stumbles upon a large stone statue that looks completely out of place. After inadvertantly inserting a strange coin into the statue, Sam is suddenly transported back in time! His adventures take him to medieval Ireland where he faces attacking Vikings, ancient Egypt where he must protect the pharoah’s tomb, and eastern Europe during the Renaissance. All the while, Sam is desperate to find his father, who he believes is being held prisoner by the original Count Dracula. Filled with adventure and interesting historical details, this novel is sure to thrill - but beware the ending - you must read the sequel to get the full story!
The Gate of Days (Book Two) - 249 pages; Miss Simer’s Rating: ***; In this sequel to Prevost’s The Book of Time, Sam has just discovered exactly where his dad is trapped in time: with Vlad Tepes in 1462. Vlad is better known as Dracula or Vlad the Impaler. In other words, he is not a nice guy! Sam uses the stone statue to travel in time in hopes of gathering 7 coins, which will give him the power to travel to a specific time and place in history - namely to Vlad Tepes in 1462. His travels take him to Ancient Greece, Pompeii, Chicago in 1932, the Stone Age, and more. Something is seriously wrong during his travels though; someone else is one step ahead of him and is destroying stone statues everywhere to trap Sam in time! Will he find his father or will he become trapped in time too? Find out in this second book of the Book of Time trilogy!
The Circle of Gold (Book Three) - 288 pages; Miss Simer’s Rating: **1/2; In the conclusion to the Book of Time trilogy, Sam is on a mission to stop the Arkeos man and save his mother from her early death. When Sam discovers the true identity of the Arkeos man, he is shocked to learn it is someone so close to him! He also comes to terms with his true feelings for Alicia when she is kidnapped and he must head to Rome in the 1500s and China during the first empire. Sam’s quest for discovery also unveils the locations of the two Golden Circles and the Eternity Ring. With these tools, Sam will be well on his way to conquering time travel and all its impurities. This conclusion was somewhat of a disappointment because Sam works alone in this novel, without the help of his father, Alicia, or Lily.
Daniel X, the alien hunter, is back to pick off another one of the top ten aliens who threaten Earth. In the previous novel, he destroyed Number 6, and this time, he is facing Number 5, a 300-pound catfish alien. Number 5 is intent to use humans as his puppets in an intergalactic reality show. He is obsessed with the entertainment business and wants to be the leader in all space programming. To control the humans of Earth, he uses electronic messaging and attempts to rewire the brains of the people. Daniel will stop at nothing to ruin Number 5’s plans before the human race is wrecked beyond repair.
Thirteen years ago, a plane appeared unannouced out of thin air at an airport gate. When the airport attendant entered the plane, she found 36 babies and no adults. The babies were whisked off the plane by airport security and soon the airplane mysteriously vanished! Fast forward thirteen years and the babies from the plane begin getting strange letters in the mail. The first says: You are one of the missing. Jonah and his friend Chip receive the letters and begin to investigate the situation more deeply, uncovering a mystery that covers time and space! The first in this new series by Margaret Peterson Haddix is a thrill-ride from start to finish!
