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3.5 AVERAGE
3.5 AVERAGE
This one drove me crazy. I loved the Artemis Fowl series, and have always thought well of Colfer because of it. And much of the "blame" here goes to the audiobook narrator. Because he did such a poor job, I was pulled out of the story constantly, which made me start picking apart plot holes. The narrator did a terrible American accent. At first, I thought he was making Chevie sound like she was from Brooklyn, but then realized he was going for some stilted Native American thing - which these days might be racist? Sometimes I couldn't tell the difference between the villain and the hero because they both sounded the same. Anyway. Awful narration. Story: why on earth would FBI agents be in England? Why would Scottish people be agents? Wouldn't this come under MI5 or 6? Or, with a big stretch, CIA? FBI aren't really the be all and end all of law enforcement around the world. It was so ludicrous. The author tried to explain the silliness of the kid in the FBI, but not the FBI'S presence in England. Blah, there was more but I am done complaining. Not recommended.
3.5/5
Source: Received an e-ARC via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.
I remember reading the first Artemis Fowl book and being blown away in particular by the first few chapters. I liked the rest of the story too but the beginning was the part I read over and over again. While I fell away from the series, I retained a fondness for Colfer and his writing. Thus I was pleased to see a new story coming out, one where I could jump feet first into a new world particularly as it teased time travel.
This novel brings together two unlikely compatriots. First is Riley, an orphan in Victorian London apprenticed to the cruel and evil magician/assassin Albert Garrick who ends up traveling to the future, our present, and intersecting with the second protagonist Chevron Savano, a young would-be FBI agent. The book spends time both in our present as well as returning to the past with Garrick chasing the pair throughout. He seems near indestructible and is a suitably terrifying villain.
For me, this book took ages to really get off the ground. I dragged my feet through the opening chapters with all their set-up but flew through the ending. Especially for a young person's novel, I think the story needs to delve into the meat earlier. Once it got going, there was some snappy dialogue and ingenious plotting but it took a long time to reach that point.
Riley and Chevron are perfectly nice characters. I loved his vulnerability, having being orphaned as a baby and with a cruel master while Chevron is an orphan, having become tough and daring on her quest to prove herself as a potential agent. They had a fun relationship trying to unravel the mystery of the time travel and attempting to keep one step ahead of the nefarious Garrick.
Overall: A fun plot that just takes a little too long to get going.
Cover: Really not a favorite for me with all the faces looking at me.
Source: Received an e-ARC via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.
I remember reading the first Artemis Fowl book and being blown away in particular by the first few chapters. I liked the rest of the story too but the beginning was the part I read over and over again. While I fell away from the series, I retained a fondness for Colfer and his writing. Thus I was pleased to see a new story coming out, one where I could jump feet first into a new world particularly as it teased time travel.
This novel brings together two unlikely compatriots. First is Riley, an orphan in Victorian London apprenticed to the cruel and evil magician/assassin Albert Garrick who ends up traveling to the future, our present, and intersecting with the second protagonist Chevron Savano, a young would-be FBI agent. The book spends time both in our present as well as returning to the past with Garrick chasing the pair throughout. He seems near indestructible and is a suitably terrifying villain.
For me, this book took ages to really get off the ground. I dragged my feet through the opening chapters with all their set-up but flew through the ending. Especially for a young person's novel, I think the story needs to delve into the meat earlier. Once it got going, there was some snappy dialogue and ingenious plotting but it took a long time to reach that point.
Riley and Chevron are perfectly nice characters. I loved his vulnerability, having being orphaned as a baby and with a cruel master while Chevron is an orphan, having become tough and daring on her quest to prove herself as a potential agent. They had a fun relationship trying to unravel the mystery of the time travel and attempting to keep one step ahead of the nefarious Garrick.
Overall: A fun plot that just takes a little too long to get going.
Cover: Really not a favorite for me with all the faces looking at me.
This book me forever to read... it was an ok story just not like by me I guess. Not enjoyable like his artemis fowl series which I missed. :( Maybe I'll reread that series one day. POOP! LOL. Well I can't say it was horrible there was a few good parts and I like the relationship between Riley and Chevie. And Riley's past was interesting but just dropped. I wonder if the next book will talk more about things left to question. :)
This is my first experience with [a:Eoin Colfer|10896|Eoin Colfer|https://d.gr-assets.com/authors/1254336426p2/10896.jpg]. This was one of the YA offerings on the Audiobook Sync website this summer. I admit, the time-travel aspect is what drew me to it. I do love time-travel stories. After reading this, I would be interested in reading more from Colfer.
I really, really enjoyed this book. I liked that we got to have several perspectives on the various events and locations. The characters were really well written. The plot was interesting and exciting. The ending left me really glad that I'm already on the waiting list for book 2 from the library! :)
I really, really enjoyed this book. I liked that we got to have several perspectives on the various events and locations. The characters were really well written. The plot was interesting and exciting. The ending left me really glad that I'm already on the waiting list for book 2 from the library! :)
There were nice moments here, ok characters, but it just couldn't hold my interest very well.
In Victorian London Riley is apprenticed to an illusionist and assassin. He is taken on his first assassination and if he does not complete this job, he will be killed himself. While his trainer, Albert Garrick, is watching the murder, Riley hesitates and the victim wakes. Unfortunately, this victim has his own magic and vanishes, taking Riley with him.
In modern London Chevron Savano has been assigned to the FBI’s Witness Anonymous Relocation Program (WARP) as a punishment for messing up an undercover assignment in Los Angeles. She believes it is just a babysitting job because nothing ever happens and the capsule they guard hasn’t been used in 30 years. Unfortunately, the capsule is activated in Victorian London and Riley and his would be victim arrive in modern London. This capsule is actually a wormhole connecting the two time periods. Shortly after this transport Chevie learns the truth of this department and is on the run from Garrick. He has also come through the wormhole, but he has been altered. He is not only an evil assassin; he possesses all of the knowledge of the scientist who tried to stop him.
With Victorian ruthlessness and modern knowledge, Garrick wants his apprentice back and the timekey from Chevie. This timekey is the only thing that can get Garrick back to Victorian London where he plans to “invent” new technology and dominate the world. The Reluctant Assassin jumps from period to period and person to person to give the reader the heart pumping feeling of a true chase. Colfer bring depth to the characters with back story and lost memories thrown in at vital moments. Although this is a series I can see novella stories sprouting up as part of these back stories and memories. Readers of Colfer’s Artemis Fowl series will not be disappointed in this new series.
In modern London Chevron Savano has been assigned to the FBI’s Witness Anonymous Relocation Program (WARP) as a punishment for messing up an undercover assignment in Los Angeles. She believes it is just a babysitting job because nothing ever happens and the capsule they guard hasn’t been used in 30 years. Unfortunately, the capsule is activated in Victorian London and Riley and his would be victim arrive in modern London. This capsule is actually a wormhole connecting the two time periods. Shortly after this transport Chevie learns the truth of this department and is on the run from Garrick. He has also come through the wormhole, but he has been altered. He is not only an evil assassin; he possesses all of the knowledge of the scientist who tried to stop him.
With Victorian ruthlessness and modern knowledge, Garrick wants his apprentice back and the timekey from Chevie. This timekey is the only thing that can get Garrick back to Victorian London where he plans to “invent” new technology and dominate the world. The Reluctant Assassin jumps from period to period and person to person to give the reader the heart pumping feeling of a true chase. Colfer bring depth to the characters with back story and lost memories thrown in at vital moments. Although this is a series I can see novella stories sprouting up as part of these back stories and memories. Readers of Colfer’s Artemis Fowl series will not be disappointed in this new series.
This is the first book in the teen fiction W.A.R.P. series written by the author of the popular Artemis Fowl books. It is a time travel story utilizing somewhat faulty machinery that creates the ultimate villain from the past. I really enjoyed the different cultural viewpoints between eras. Having an older teen girl that is a bad-ass teamed up with a younger boy with the skills of a magician that was groomed to be an assassin against his will was a great combination especially to highlight how time changes perceptions of what is considered “normal” behavior. An action packed story where youth persevere and risk it all to do what’s right versus a really powerful enemy.
The story begins when, Riley, a boy from Victorian London, who has tried several times to escape, Garrick, his master who has been grooming him to be an assassin. They’ve been hired to kill a gentlemen but Riley balks causing Garrick to force his hand. Unknowingly to them the man is from the future and his bed doubles as a hiding spot for the time travel pod, which has been triggered. Riley is whisked to the future along with the dead man.
Chevron is of Native American descent. She’s an orphan that was groomed for an American FBI covert program where they use youth to spy on other youths they think might be part of a terrorist organization. However, due to her revealing herself and her training things have to be hushed up so she is sent to London for a super secret assignment. It’s nothing exciting. Just babysitting some weird contraption under the watchful eye of Agent Orange who refuses to tell her why keeping an eye on this ancient machinery is important. That is until power goes out and a boy along with a mutated corpse, which was caused by the transportation suddenly appears. A man Agent Orange, now revealed to be named Smart, considers a father.
Turns out this pod has been used to whisk away witnesses to the past until it’s time to testify as an extreme protection program. However, the program was nixed when the creator, Smart’s father, decided to go into hiding himself in the past. They’ve been watching for returnees ever since. Unfortunately with his father’s death they need to send a cleanup team to the past. They ignore Riley’s warning that there is an extremely competent assassin named Garrick that will do anything to retrieve him even though the boy would prefer to get away from him. The team utilizing using time keys necessary to operate the machinery go back in time to make sure no future knowledge is being passed around, which would cause havoc in the future. They never return.
Meanwhile Garrick, who was a magician before becoming an assassin, is thrilled by the thought of real magic evidenced by the transportation. He’s also obsessed with getting Riley back under his thumb. When the cleanup crew shows up he murders them but Smart manages to get back in the time travel pod and triggers it. Garrick jumps in with him before he is whisked away. Due to the mechanics of the wormhole the two men are merged together and Garrick achieves the ability to manipulate his body down to the cellular level as well as gain future knowledge from his merge with Smart. He is able to make himself even look like Smart and using this ability he frames Chevron with the murder of the cleanup crew.
Chevron and Riley must somehow escape Garrick while trying to figure a way of dealing with him. A thrill ride that never stops as they go from one bad situation to another including a return to the past. They never know whom they can trust. How many of these people they meet in the past are actually from the future and how can they beat someone as powerful as Garrick?
The story begins when, Riley, a boy from Victorian London, who has tried several times to escape, Garrick, his master who has been grooming him to be an assassin. They’ve been hired to kill a gentlemen but Riley balks causing Garrick to force his hand. Unknowingly to them the man is from the future and his bed doubles as a hiding spot for the time travel pod, which has been triggered. Riley is whisked to the future along with the dead man.
Chevron is of Native American descent. She’s an orphan that was groomed for an American FBI covert program where they use youth to spy on other youths they think might be part of a terrorist organization. However, due to her revealing herself and her training things have to be hushed up so she is sent to London for a super secret assignment. It’s nothing exciting. Just babysitting some weird contraption under the watchful eye of Agent Orange who refuses to tell her why keeping an eye on this ancient machinery is important. That is until power goes out and a boy along with a mutated corpse, which was caused by the transportation suddenly appears. A man Agent Orange, now revealed to be named Smart, considers a father.
Turns out this pod has been used to whisk away witnesses to the past until it’s time to testify as an extreme protection program. However, the program was nixed when the creator, Smart’s father, decided to go into hiding himself in the past. They’ve been watching for returnees ever since. Unfortunately with his father’s death they need to send a cleanup team to the past. They ignore Riley’s warning that there is an extremely competent assassin named Garrick that will do anything to retrieve him even though the boy would prefer to get away from him. The team utilizing using time keys necessary to operate the machinery go back in time to make sure no future knowledge is being passed around, which would cause havoc in the future. They never return.
Meanwhile Garrick, who was a magician before becoming an assassin, is thrilled by the thought of real magic evidenced by the transportation. He’s also obsessed with getting Riley back under his thumb. When the cleanup crew shows up he murders them but Smart manages to get back in the time travel pod and triggers it. Garrick jumps in with him before he is whisked away. Due to the mechanics of the wormhole the two men are merged together and Garrick achieves the ability to manipulate his body down to the cellular level as well as gain future knowledge from his merge with Smart. He is able to make himself even look like Smart and using this ability he frames Chevron with the murder of the cleanup crew.
Chevron and Riley must somehow escape Garrick while trying to figure a way of dealing with him. A thrill ride that never stops as they go from one bad situation to another including a return to the past. They never know whom they can trust. How many of these people they meet in the past are actually from the future and how can they beat someone as powerful as Garrick?
It was a bit meh at the middle, but the beginning and the ending are fast paced and really interesting, I did not like the epilogue oof I just hate when the villains are winning, I get stressed lolol (unless I like the villain more).
I loved this book than I did when I read it 4 years ago it was well written and I liked all of the characters they were really interesting. I really liked the characters especially Riley and Chevie I really liked how they were written Riley seemed like what he was a 19th-century boy and Chevie was so very interesting she was well written and perfect for the modern point of view even the villain's point of view was interesting to read. I really enjoyed this story I loved the time travel part of the story as well as the evil assassin thing it was all very interesting. So overall I liked this book an will now be reading book 2 soon.