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pinggaines180's review against another edition
5.0
Excellent, quick read. The magic system was fantastically inventive, and I loved the magickal, "demon" races. Droë and Mara added a lot of interest to an already fantastic narrative focusing on Tobias. Highly recommended.
cheyannelepka's review against another edition
4.0
This book mixes time travel and fantasy seamlessly in a secondary world, and presents it in an impossible to put down package. The time travel in this book is top notch, never losing the fantasy feel, while still adding all the best time travel elements. My favourite twist is how when the walkers travel through time, they age the number of years they’ve travelled. This really ups the stakes for the characters, as they have a lot of lose by travelling so far into the past. The world-building is spot-on, and the strength of it really comes through in the alternate timeline, where the reader gets to experience the changes that occur when Tobias changes the past. Add in time demons and it’s brilliant how the time travel magic is so entwined with the world-building.
As far as characters go, I wasn’t much of a fan of Tobias, I just found him to be too much of your classic hero (not saying there’s anything wrong with that, but it just doesn’t do it for me as a reader). I did really enjoy Dröe and Mara, who I thought were really interesting characters (I’m not sure I completely buy some of Mara’s motives, but I found her to be a great character regardless).
Overall, this is a great book, and I would highly recommend it to anyone who loves fantasy and loves time travel and wants to experience both at once.
As far as characters go, I wasn’t much of a fan of Tobias, I just found him to be too much of your classic hero (not saying there’s anything wrong with that, but it just doesn’t do it for me as a reader). I did really enjoy Dröe and Mara, who I thought were really interesting characters (I’m not sure I completely buy some of Mara’s motives, but I found her to be a great character regardless).
Overall, this is a great book, and I would highly recommend it to anyone who loves fantasy and loves time travel and wants to experience both at once.
alexiacambaling's review against another edition
4.0
I received a free copy of this book in exchange for a review.
I requested Time’s Children from Angry Robot Books on NetGalley partly because of its unique and interesting premise. Basically, a fifteen-year old boy travels fourteen years back in time. Doing so had some pretty interesting consequences for our character, Tobias. Basically, every time he travels through time, he ages. So, when he was sent on a mission to try and prevent a war fourteen years before the start of a war, he arrives looking like he’s in his late twenties. So basically, he gets stuck in the past in an adult body despite having the mentality of a fifteen-year old boy. Not something anyone would be keen to experience.
First up, as usual, the worldbuilding. I really enjoyed the worldbuilding in Time’s Children. Basically, the magic users here use the aid of certain magical devices in order to access their abilities. There are those who can travel through time, those who can travel great distances, and even those who can create such devices. There are clear limitations to the usage of such devices and capabilities which I really appreciate. I think that having these clear limitations allow the world to be more believable. Of course, having people researching ways to circumvent these limitations also make for a more believable world.
In addition to that, the royal assassination that happens when he goes back also had clear implications for what happens in the future. I liked that the future basically changed drastically because of it and that we actually got to see it change. It was a very tangible way of seeing that yes, this world has consequences. What the character does is very vital and we actually see how it changes the future world that they have. How it was woven into the story through the eyes of another character was also very interesting.
As for the characters, I really liked Tobias as a protagonist. He starts off being really excited to be posted to a royal court and while he is pretty young, he also happened to be rather responsible. He understands the importance of his position and he goes along with this insane plan because he understands the implications of it. Unfortunately for him, things don’t work out as expected and he becomes stuck in the past. I really enjoyed how this was portrayed because Tobias was really forced to grow up quickly especially since he has to take care of the princess. The bits where he has to fight to keep the both of them alive and out of danger has got to be some of my favorite parts of the book. I’m really excited to see where his story goes and how he basically deals with his situation.
Mara is also another interesting character because we see her in the first few chapters and at first, she’s just a side character. Someone who Tobias might regret leaving. Then, as the change in the timeline happens, she forgets about him but senses that something is wrong so she enlists’ Droe’s- a sort of time demon- help. She does eventually figure it out but what happens while she’s discovering all of these things is also interesting. She lived an entirely different life than what we were originally shown and we did see how the world changed through her eyes. I felt like the way it happened was very natural and it flows rather well.
The plot is fairly fast-paced and I read through it in like a day or so. It’s also pretty fun and rather well-written. For me, the best part of the book is really the interesting world and the premise. The ending leaves me with some questions for what happens next and I’m really excited to see that. That said, I can definitely see myself reading the next one because I do want to see what happens next.
This review is also on The Bookworm Daydreamer
I requested Time’s Children from Angry Robot Books on NetGalley partly because of its unique and interesting premise. Basically, a fifteen-year old boy travels fourteen years back in time. Doing so had some pretty interesting consequences for our character, Tobias. Basically, every time he travels through time, he ages. So, when he was sent on a mission to try and prevent a war fourteen years before the start of a war, he arrives looking like he’s in his late twenties. So basically, he gets stuck in the past in an adult body despite having the mentality of a fifteen-year old boy. Not something anyone would be keen to experience.
First up, as usual, the worldbuilding. I really enjoyed the worldbuilding in Time’s Children. Basically, the magic users here use the aid of certain magical devices in order to access their abilities. There are those who can travel through time, those who can travel great distances, and even those who can create such devices. There are clear limitations to the usage of such devices and capabilities which I really appreciate. I think that having these clear limitations allow the world to be more believable. Of course, having people researching ways to circumvent these limitations also make for a more believable world.
In addition to that, the royal assassination that happens when he goes back also had clear implications for what happens in the future. I liked that the future basically changed drastically because of it and that we actually got to see it change. It was a very tangible way of seeing that yes, this world has consequences. What the character does is very vital and we actually see how it changes the future world that they have. How it was woven into the story through the eyes of another character was also very interesting.
As for the characters, I really liked Tobias as a protagonist. He starts off being really excited to be posted to a royal court and while he is pretty young, he also happened to be rather responsible. He understands the importance of his position and he goes along with this insane plan because he understands the implications of it. Unfortunately for him, things don’t work out as expected and he becomes stuck in the past. I really enjoyed how this was portrayed because Tobias was really forced to grow up quickly especially since he has to take care of the princess. The bits where he has to fight to keep the both of them alive and out of danger has got to be some of my favorite parts of the book. I’m really excited to see where his story goes and how he basically deals with his situation.
Mara is also another interesting character because we see her in the first few chapters and at first, she’s just a side character. Someone who Tobias might regret leaving. Then, as the change in the timeline happens, she forgets about him but senses that something is wrong so she enlists’ Droe’s- a sort of time demon- help. She does eventually figure it out but what happens while she’s discovering all of these things is also interesting. She lived an entirely different life than what we were originally shown and we did see how the world changed through her eyes. I felt like the way it happened was very natural and it flows rather well.
The plot is fairly fast-paced and I read through it in like a day or so. It’s also pretty fun and rather well-written. For me, the best part of the book is really the interesting world and the premise. The ending leaves me with some questions for what happens next and I’m really excited to see that. That said, I can definitely see myself reading the next one because I do want to see what happens next.
This review is also on The Bookworm Daydreamer
glennisleblanc's review against another edition
4.0
When the cost of time travel is actual time off your life, to travel 14 years in the past is a huge sacrifice, but to stop a war from happening seems to be worth it to a 15-year-old Walker named Tobias. The problem is that other people are very motivated to see this war happen and crush the kingdom that Tobias has gone to work for straight out of school. Tobias is now on the run with an infant princess, looking and sounding like a 29-year-old man, he is still very much a 15-year-old boy inside trying to do the right thing. An interesting world setup with not only time walkers but people that can phase through solid walls and others that can travel great distances make all tree types very useful to the various kingdoms around this world. A fun read and there are more planned in this series.
Digital review copy provided by the publisher through NetGalley
Digital review copy provided by the publisher through NetGalley
lostinagoodbook's review against another edition
4.0
Disclaimer: I received this book free from Netgalley in return for an un-biased review.
I’ve loved a good time travel story since the old days when I saw a double header of Back to the Future and Pee Wee’s Big Adventure at a drive in movie theater. Yes … I am old. (ha!) I loved the twisty-turny way it made my brain feel. What if Marty met himself? What if his parents figured out who he was. What if someone died and it eliminated his timeline? Time travel can be tricky! Time’s Children is not afraid to meet these questions head on.
Tobias is a young man with an innate ability to “time walk” with the use of a Chronofor. He is 15 years old and has been trained primarily as an assassin. He will be employed by the king of an embattled kingdom, who hopes to use Tobias’ abilities to prevent the war. Time travel in this book ages a person. For every year you walk … you age. Tobias takes a walk 14 years into the past and emerges to find himself a 15 year old mind in a 29 year old body. This creates an interesting character arc. His body is different, he’s not been slowly habituated to the slow aches and pains of growing up and older. He’s a boy in a man’s body, still idealistic and I think a little tenderhearted. However, his walk has now changed history in ways that couldn’t have been foreseen and now he is stuck. I don’t want to say more because SPOILERS.
I quite liked the book and the authors style of writing. It put me in mind of Jeff Wheeler’s books. They are easy to sink into. As a trigger warning, there is some off-focus torture in the book. I say off-focus because it is not dwelt on in grisly detail, but the effect and emotion is kept intact. I’m not sure exactly how many books are going to be in this series, but I know that there is a second book coming out relatively soon. I’m hoping I can come across it on Netgalley in the near future. I’d really like to see how this story shapes up.
Song for this book: What Time Do You Call This? by Elbow
I’ve loved a good time travel story since the old days when I saw a double header of Back to the Future and Pee Wee’s Big Adventure at a drive in movie theater. Yes … I am old. (ha!) I loved the twisty-turny way it made my brain feel. What if Marty met himself? What if his parents figured out who he was. What if someone died and it eliminated his timeline? Time travel can be tricky! Time’s Children is not afraid to meet these questions head on.
Tobias is a young man with an innate ability to “time walk” with the use of a Chronofor. He is 15 years old and has been trained primarily as an assassin. He will be employed by the king of an embattled kingdom, who hopes to use Tobias’ abilities to prevent the war. Time travel in this book ages a person. For every year you walk … you age. Tobias takes a walk 14 years into the past and emerges to find himself a 15 year old mind in a 29 year old body. This creates an interesting character arc. His body is different, he’s not been slowly habituated to the slow aches and pains of growing up and older. He’s a boy in a man’s body, still idealistic and I think a little tenderhearted. However, his walk has now changed history in ways that couldn’t have been foreseen and now he is stuck. I don’t want to say more because SPOILERS.
I quite liked the book and the authors style of writing. It put me in mind of Jeff Wheeler’s books. They are easy to sink into. As a trigger warning, there is some off-focus torture in the book. I say off-focus because it is not dwelt on in grisly detail, but the effect and emotion is kept intact. I’m not sure exactly how many books are going to be in this series, but I know that there is a second book coming out relatively soon. I’m hoping I can come across it on Netgalley in the near future. I’d really like to see how this story shapes up.
Song for this book: What Time Do You Call This? by Elbow
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