Book Review: The Time Travelers

Book: The Time Travelers (The Gideon Trilogy book #1) by Linda Buckley-Archer

Cover Art by James Jean
Book Design by Lizzy Bromley

Edition: Paperback

Description:

1763

Gideon Seymour, thief and gentleman, hides from the villainous Tar Man. Suddenly the sky peels away like fabric and from the gaping hole fall two curious-looking children. Peter Schock and Kate Dyer have fallen straight from the twenty-first century, thanks to an experiment with an antigravity machine. Before Gideon and the children have a chance to gather their wits, the Tar Man takes off with the machine -- and Peter and Kate's only chance of getting home. Soon Gideon, Peter, and Kate are swept into a journey through eighteenth-century London and form a bond that, they hope, will stand strong in the face of unfathomable treachery.



Rating: 5 stars

Review:

The Time Travelers was such a good and well-written and fast-paced story which I found engaging from the beginning to the end. It's a sci-fi historical fiction that centers on two kids Peter Schock and Kate Dyer who accidentally got sent back in time. To the year 1763 to be exact. They probably wouldn't have been in this situation if things had started out differently for Peter. Because he on winter/Christmas break and was supposed to be celebrating his 12th birthday (albeit a little late) with his father. And since his father kept cancelling or delaying their special celebration, this was finally supposed to be the day. However, his father cancelled yet again this time for work which left Peter understandably upset. With his mother away working on a movie and his father not being able to take time off from work, Peter's plans now have this London city boy going for the weekend with his au pair Margrit to visit her friends' The Dyer family's farm in Derbyshire.

The Dyer family were nice and welcoming and Peter got to see a bit of farm life before he was soon on an interesting journey. Because Dr. Andrew Dyer along with his daughter Kate, their dog molly and Peter were going to Dr. Dyer's lab to check on his friend Dr. Tim Williamson's invention, an anti-gravity machine. Some freak accident caused the anti-gravity machine to send Kate and Peter somewhere they never would have expected. They were in 1763 and their arrival didn't go unnoticed by two people. The first was the Tar Man, who was complicated and calculating yet very dangerous and also the person who took the one thing Peter and Kate needed to get back to the present. And the second was Gideon, who was kind-hearted, trustworthy and smart but somehow seems to attract bad luck. With Kate and Peter being stuck in the past, they were going to need Gideon's help and more not only to survive and navigate being in 1763 but to get the anti-gravity machine back. I really liked how the author included historical figures as well as showed how life may have been during that time. As well as turned what should be a terrifying story (of two kids trapped in the past) into a thrilling adventure.

I thought the author did really well balancing the drama, suspense and humor within the story. And also a good job of not only focusing on Peter and Kate in the past but also focusing on what was happening in the present. Because since the children went missing, there was a police investigation with the detective trying to chase down leads he hoped might help find the children. While both Kate and Peter's parents were trying to grapple with the fact that their children have gone missing, Dr. Dyer was also trying to figure out what happened.

I really enjoyed reading this story and with the way it ends, it makes me wonder what's going to happen in the second book. And will it be just as interesting as the first book. Anyway, this was a good read.