Adventures in time continue in this third and final installment of the Time Thriller Trilogy. The town of Fawlt Line sits on a time fault, a portal into other times or dimensions that is responsible for odd disappearances and appearances. In previous volumes, Elizabeth Forde time-warped into another time, where she was treated as either crazy or suffering from amnesia, and King Arthur arrived in Fawlt Line unexpectedly. Now, 16-year-old Elizabeth has taken a volunteer job at the local retirement center, where she befriends elderly Frieda Schultz. When Mrs. Schultz dies suddenly and residents of the center begin disappearing, Elizabeth again finds herself in the midst of mysterious happenings and ultimately uncovers a plot by a man from another time to bilk retirement-center residents out of their valuables. The strongest of the three books in the series, this has a more philosophical core, beyond overt religious messages, and can stand alone, though those who have read the previous titles will have a greater understanding of the characters, the town and the various stories of time travel. (Fantasy. 10-14)
Pub Date: May 1, 2009
ISBN: 978-0-310-71438-5
Page Count: 208
Publisher: Zondervan
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 15, 2009
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Evocations of Narnia are not enough to salvage this fantasy, which struggles with thin character development.
A portal fantasy survivor story from an established devotional writer.
Fourteen-year-old Eva’s maternal grandmother lives on a grand estate in England; Eva and her academic parents live in New Haven, Connecticut. When she and Mum finally visit Carrick Hall, Eva is alternately resentful at what she’s missed and overjoyed to connect with sometimes aloof Grandmother. Alongside questions of Eva’s family history, the summer is permeated by a greater mystery surrounding the work of fictional children’s fantasy writer A.H.W. Clifton, who wrote a Narnialike series that Eva adores. As it happens, Grandmother was one of several children who entered and ruled Ternival, the world of Clifton’s books; the others perished in 1952, and Grandmother hasn’t recovered. The Narnia influences are strong—Eva’s grandmother is the Susan figure who’s repudiated both magic and God—and the ensuing trauma has created rifts that echo through her relationships with her daughter and granddaughter. An early narrative implication that Eva will visit Ternival to set things right barely materializes in this series opener; meanwhile, the religious parable overwhelms the magic elements as the story winds on. The serviceable plot is weakened by shallow characterization. Little backstory appears other than that which immediately concerns the plot, and Eva tends to respond emotionally as the story requires—resentful when her seething silence is required, immediately trusting toward characters readers need to trust. Major characters are cued white.
Evocations of Narnia are not enough to salvage this fantasy, which struggles with thin character development. (author’s note, map, author Q&A) (Religious fantasy. 12-14)Pub Date: Jan. 30, 2024
ISBN: 9780593194454
Page Count: 384
Publisher: WaterBrook
Review Posted Online: Oct. 21, 2023
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 15, 2023
Hickman explores the question of how deeply personal beliefs should be subordinated in the name of fitting into a religious community, in a tightly woven coming-of-age story based on an 1910 incident involving a group of Shakers near Lebanon, Ohio. After the death of his wife, Susannah's father desperately seeks stability and security. He joins a small band of Shakers whose emphasis on communal values rather than the bond between parent and child dismays Susannah. While living under the constant surveillance of the irascible Sister Olive Gatewood, Susannah befriends Mary, a small child whose mother has left the Believers, as they are called, and is now desperate to get her daughter back. Faced with the momentous choice of whether to embrace her freedom when it is offered or to remain as Mary's protector, Susannah makes a decision that affects the rest of her life. A worthy successor to Hickman's Jericho (1994), this is a thoughtful look at a piece of religious history and is a good choice for readers interested in the Shakers. (Fiction. 10-14)
Pub Date: Oct. 1, 1998
ISBN: 0-688-14854-9
Page Count: 140
Publisher: Greenwillow Books
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 1, 1998
BOOK REVIEW
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