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
scribejack'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.
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.
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.
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.
bookwormdaydreamer's review
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