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willrefuge's review against another edition
4.0
4.5 / 5 stars
Originally reviewed on: https://arefugefromlife.wordpress.com/
Time’s Children was one heck of an entertaining read—especially on the heels of another bit of time travel fiction—a time travel fantasy that was an interesting bit of genre-cross that I’d not experienced before. As always, Jackson’s writing is lovely; attaining a classic fantasy feel while painting a vividly colorful world full of deep and insightful characters. This is my 9th book by the author (4 as David B. Coe, 5 under the pseudonym D. B. Jackson) and I have to say, he hops around quite a bit between genres, doesn’t he?
Time’s Children begins the Islevale Cycle, a fantasy world set upon a world of sea and islands, in which certain individuals—known as Travelers—combine their natural abilities and golden, specialized devices in order to cheat the natural order. Spanners use their sextants in order to traverse great distances in but an instant. Crossers use their apertures to move through solid matter. Walkers can move back and forth through time by means of a chronofor. Of these three, Walkers are the rarest and most sought after, due to their ability to change the course of events. Each of these powers comes with a price, however. Never did learn the weakness of Spanning. Huh. Crossers that encounter metal in their passage return with horrible injuries or can suffer death. And Walkers suffer the time they travel twice (meaning, if a Walker were to travel back a year, and then return, their body would have aged two years in that time: one year to go back, another to return).
Tobias Doljan is a Walker, training at the Traveler’s Palace in the north sea. Days before his 15th birthday, he is summoned to the court of Mearlan IV, ruler of Daerjen. Leaving his home for court is a daunting task, but one Tobias is excited about. Yet in doing so he gives up much. The camaraderie of his peers, or anyone his age. An interesting friend—a Tirribin, a time demon, which preys upon humans’ years in order to live (if you’ve seen any Stargate Atlantis, they’re pretty much the wraith, except in the bodies of children). And budding love in the form of another initiate, Mara. And yet Tobias is excited for court life. More than excited, even. It’s something he’s been working his whole life for. And yet, within days of reaching Daerjen, it might all be over.
Daerjen is in the middle of a war, a war that isn’t going well. The monarch has exhausted all his options—all, but one. Something only a Walker might do. For if he can travel back, Tobias can prevent the war altogether. But there is a huge problem. Due to the very nature of Walking, the toll it inflicts on Walkers, the Traveler’s Palace limits the length of time Walkers are to travel to no more than two years. Any more, and the Walkers are told to refuse their employer, that the contract is voided, and to return home. And yet Mearlan asks anyway. He asks Tobias not to go back one or two, but fourteen years.
This establishes an interesting (if horrifying) concept. Should Tobias Walk (Spoilers: of course he does) he would essentially triple in age by the time he returns home. He’d be a 15-year old boy, stuck in the body of a 43-year old man. That’s just… ludicrous. And yet, to prevent a war, Tobias acquiesces. And yet, after his Walk back, nothing goes to plan. Mearlan is assassinated along with all his court, Tobias’s chronofor is destroyed, and Tobias is forced to flee with the last of the monarch’s kin—his infant daughter, Sofya.
The premise of this book was what first caught my attention. I mean, Tobias coming to terms with the fact that he’s doubled in age, that he’s a boy in the body of a man—is fascinating. And horrifying. Not to mention that he now must caring for an infant. Not to mention that she’s the sole heir to the throne. And that everyone in this new time is hunting for them. And that Tobias can’t return to his old (um, future) time. And it’s how he handles it that makes Time’s Children completely worth reading.
My favorite part of this book was actually his dealings with Sofya. The Sovereign’s daughter was 16 when Tobias first met her, but it’s the 2-year old princess that steals the show. Because she acts like a two-year old. She lives, she laughs, she loves—and she poops. Plus, she can’t talk. And she doesn’t understand a good many things that are happening. I figured she’d be little more than a prop in baby-form. And I was wrong. And that’s just awesome.
I did have a couple issues with Time’s Children. One was a lot later in the story, so as not to spoil anything… I’m just going to say it involved time paradoxes, and the decision of when and when not to travel back. The other, actually, is the first chapter. More specifically, what happens in it, and what doesn’t happen in the rest of the book. I hate it when a book gives us a teaser about something that will happen later on, but then doesn’t ever get to that point. Now, I assume that this scene—where someone, presumably Tobias, is back trying to prevent the war or assassination or something—will occur later in the series. Or, is supposed to. But I don’t KNOW that. And unless David B. Coe has FINISHED writing all the other Islevale books, HE can’t know that either. Sometimes, a scene like this will get edited out. Sometimes, the story will simply move in a different direction. A lot of things can happen. Too bad too; I kept expecting the point to crop up and was disappointed when I reached the end and it hadn’t.
All in all, Time’s Children is an excellent read, providing a new and unique premise then proceeding to execute it well. The characters stole the show for me; the character arcs and growth, but especially the interactions between Tobias and baby Sofya made this a book I could not put down. And while an unsatisfying conclusion held it back from being a solid 5 stars, Time’s Children is a must read—and one of the best books I’ve read so far this year.
Its sequel, Time’s Demon, comes out on May 28, 2019.
Originally reviewed on: https://arefugefromlife.wordpress.com/
Time’s Children was one heck of an entertaining read—especially on the heels of another bit of time travel fiction—a time travel fantasy that was an interesting bit of genre-cross that I’d not experienced before. As always, Jackson’s writing is lovely; attaining a classic fantasy feel while painting a vividly colorful world full of deep and insightful characters. This is my 9th book by the author (4 as David B. Coe, 5 under the pseudonym D. B. Jackson) and I have to say, he hops around quite a bit between genres, doesn’t he?
Time’s Children begins the Islevale Cycle, a fantasy world set upon a world of sea and islands, in which certain individuals—known as Travelers—combine their natural abilities and golden, specialized devices in order to cheat the natural order. Spanners use their sextants in order to traverse great distances in but an instant. Crossers use their apertures to move through solid matter. Walkers can move back and forth through time by means of a chronofor. Of these three, Walkers are the rarest and most sought after, due to their ability to change the course of events. Each of these powers comes with a price, however. Never did learn the weakness of Spanning. Huh. Crossers that encounter metal in their passage return with horrible injuries or can suffer death. And Walkers suffer the time they travel twice (meaning, if a Walker were to travel back a year, and then return, their body would have aged two years in that time: one year to go back, another to return).
Tobias Doljan is a Walker, training at the Traveler’s Palace in the north sea. Days before his 15th birthday, he is summoned to the court of Mearlan IV, ruler of Daerjen. Leaving his home for court is a daunting task, but one Tobias is excited about. Yet in doing so he gives up much. The camaraderie of his peers, or anyone his age. An interesting friend—a Tirribin, a time demon, which preys upon humans’ years in order to live (if you’ve seen any Stargate Atlantis, they’re pretty much the wraith, except in the bodies of children). And budding love in the form of another initiate, Mara. And yet Tobias is excited for court life. More than excited, even. It’s something he’s been working his whole life for. And yet, within days of reaching Daerjen, it might all be over.
Daerjen is in the middle of a war, a war that isn’t going well. The monarch has exhausted all his options—all, but one. Something only a Walker might do. For if he can travel back, Tobias can prevent the war altogether. But there is a huge problem. Due to the very nature of Walking, the toll it inflicts on Walkers, the Traveler’s Palace limits the length of time Walkers are to travel to no more than two years. Any more, and the Walkers are told to refuse their employer, that the contract is voided, and to return home. And yet Mearlan asks anyway. He asks Tobias not to go back one or two, but fourteen years.
This establishes an interesting (if horrifying) concept. Should Tobias Walk (Spoilers: of course he does) he would essentially triple in age by the time he returns home. He’d be a 15-year old boy, stuck in the body of a 43-year old man. That’s just… ludicrous. And yet, to prevent a war, Tobias acquiesces. And yet, after his Walk back, nothing goes to plan. Mearlan is assassinated along with all his court, Tobias’s chronofor is destroyed, and Tobias is forced to flee with the last of the monarch’s kin—his infant daughter, Sofya.
The premise of this book was what first caught my attention. I mean, Tobias coming to terms with the fact that he’s doubled in age, that he’s a boy in the body of a man—is fascinating. And horrifying. Not to mention that he now must caring for an infant. Not to mention that she’s the sole heir to the throne. And that everyone in this new time is hunting for them. And that Tobias can’t return to his old (um, future) time. And it’s how he handles it that makes Time’s Children completely worth reading.
My favorite part of this book was actually his dealings with Sofya. The Sovereign’s daughter was 16 when Tobias first met her, but it’s the 2-year old princess that steals the show. Because she acts like a two-year old. She lives, she laughs, she loves—and she poops. Plus, she can’t talk. And she doesn’t understand a good many things that are happening. I figured she’d be little more than a prop in baby-form. And I was wrong. And that’s just awesome.
I did have a couple issues with Time’s Children. One was a lot later in the story, so as not to spoil anything… I’m just going to say it involved time paradoxes, and the decision of when and when not to travel back. The other, actually, is the first chapter. More specifically, what happens in it, and what doesn’t happen in the rest of the book. I hate it when a book gives us a teaser about something that will happen later on, but then doesn’t ever get to that point. Now, I assume that this scene—where someone, presumably Tobias, is back trying to prevent the war or assassination or something—will occur later in the series. Or, is supposed to. But I don’t KNOW that. And unless David B. Coe has FINISHED writing all the other Islevale books, HE can’t know that either. Sometimes, a scene like this will get edited out. Sometimes, the story will simply move in a different direction. A lot of things can happen. Too bad too; I kept expecting the point to crop up and was disappointed when I reached the end and it hadn’t.
All in all, Time’s Children is an excellent read, providing a new and unique premise then proceeding to execute it well. The characters stole the show for me; the character arcs and growth, but especially the interactions between Tobias and baby Sofya made this a book I could not put down. And while an unsatisfying conclusion held it back from being a solid 5 stars, Time’s Children is a must read—and one of the best books I’ve read so far this year.
Its sequel, Time’s Demon, comes out on May 28, 2019.
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
melloplayer's review against another edition
adventurous
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
rannaluv's review against another edition
4.0
This book took me a long time to read. For some reason I had a hard time getting through to the end. I picked the book up and put it down so many times over the last month or so. But I didn't try to read any other book during that time, which usually if I'm having a hard time finishing a book I'll just go ahead and start a new one, so that says something about the story pulling me enough to keep picking up the book in hopes of getting to the last page. And it was worth the read. I liked the plot and I liked the main characters in the story. Even though it was not easy for me to get through, it was worth more than 3 stars. I will probably read the 2nd book too, and I hope it is even better than the first one.
lili90738's review against another edition
adventurous
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
5.0
Content Warnings
Moderate: Racial slurs and Torture
readerreborn's review against another edition
5.0
As an aspiring writer myself, David B. Coe / D. B. Jackson is one of my biggest inspirations. I had the pleasure of meeting him and hearing him speak about this book at JordanCon '18. When I heard he was returning to epic fantasy, I was ecstatic.
The LonTobyn Chronicles was one of the series that got me into epic fantasy (and showed me how to properly blend genres) and and the Forelands books are in my top 10 series of all time.
Time's Children did not disappoint. Jackson has a way of making stories that are both epic in scope and yet extremely down to earth and personal that I've rarely seen matched. This one is no exception. Interesting take on a magic system and thrilling throughout with realistic characters that you really feel and root for. Can't wait for the second book!
Helen Keeley deserves a nod because she did a fantastic job bringing the audio book to life.
The LonTobyn Chronicles was one of the series that got me into epic fantasy (and showed me how to properly blend genres) and and the Forelands books are in my top 10 series of all time.
Time's Children did not disappoint. Jackson has a way of making stories that are both epic in scope and yet extremely down to earth and personal that I've rarely seen matched. This one is no exception. Interesting take on a magic system and thrilling throughout with realistic characters that you really feel and root for. Can't wait for the second book!
Helen Keeley deserves a nod because she did a fantastic job bringing the audio book to life.
itabar's review against another edition
4.0
Read bits of it because the slowness of listening to it was painful during the exciting bits. Glad I did 'cause there's TORTURE (UGH UGH UGH) and reading allowed me to skip chunks of it.
ajp71088's review against another edition
5.0
Loved the world building, in particular the interesting magic with devastating consequences and the chilling demons that you learn to love. Enjoyed the various viewpoint characters and was pleasantly surprised to see one or two when their plot arcs began. The ending was not what I was expecting, but sets up nicely for a thrilling sequel.
I haven't read many time travel stories, and I certainly haven't seen much of it in fantasy. But I really enjoyed this novel and look forward to Time's Demon next year.
I haven't read many time travel stories, and I certainly haven't seen much of it in fantasy. But I really enjoyed this novel and look forward to Time's Demon next year.
scriberjack's review against another edition
5.0
As an aspiring writer myself, David B. Coe / D. B. Jackson is one of my biggest inspirations. I had the pleasure of meeting him and hearing him speak about this book at JordanCon '18. When I heard he was returning to epic fantasy, I was ecstatic.
The LonTobyn Chronicles was one of the series that got me into epic fantasy (and showed me how to properly blend genres) and and the Forelands books are in my top 10 series of all time.
Time's Children did not disappoint. Jackson has a way of making stories that are both epic in scope and yet extremely down to earth and personal that I've rarely seen matched. This one is no exception. Interesting take on a magic system and thrilling throughout with realistic characters that you really feel and root for. Can't wait for the second book!
Helen Keeley deserves a nod because she did a fantastic job bringing the audio book to life.
The LonTobyn Chronicles was one of the series that got me into epic fantasy (and showed me how to properly blend genres) and and the Forelands books are in my top 10 series of all time.
Time's Children did not disappoint. Jackson has a way of making stories that are both epic in scope and yet extremely down to earth and personal that I've rarely seen matched. This one is no exception. Interesting take on a magic system and thrilling throughout with realistic characters that you really feel and root for. Can't wait for the second book!
Helen Keeley deserves a nod because she did a fantastic job bringing the audio book to life.
woodge's review against another edition
2.0
In this fantasy world there's Spanners, Walkers, and another group I can't remember. The first have the ability to travel great distances in a moment, the second can travel backwards in time, and then return, and the third can walk through walls but no one does that in this book. Tobias is a Walker, and is tasked with going back farther than anyone has. The catch is, he'll age those years he travels, too. There's also some demons -- creatures with abilities of their own. But for such a fat book, not that much happens beyond a couple of fights, torture, and a lot of babysitting a royal baby. I stuck it out because, well, I'd got pretty far in and kept hoping it would improve. I won't be reading the concluding second part.