Book Title: Time’s Children
Series: The Islevale Cycle (#1)
Author: D.B. Jackson
Goodreads Link: Click here
Release Date: 10/2/18
Star Rating: 
– An unexpected treat!
Disclaimer: I received this book free from Netgalley in exchange for an honest 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
!! This sounds incredible! I definitely would have requested this on NetGalley if I had found it… I will certainly be keeping an eye out for these books in the future. You don’t mention any characters other than Tobias or the King. Would you say this is more of a plot-driven, rather than character-driven, novel?
I’d say plot driven. The focus is divided between Tobias and one of his schoolmates a young woman named Mara.
Hey how are things going with your blog? I saw your IT troubles are never ending. Have you gotten it resolved yet?
I FINALLY think things are resolved! *knock on wood* I have poured hundreds on hours into IT work this year on my blog. I cannot imagine more things going wrong.
But, here’s hoping the don’t. There were some incorrect settings in the background, which was a shame. But I reposted all my lost posts. I lost all my comments… but I don’t mind all that much. It’s the interactions with my friends which count, not the documentation.
Thanks for asking!
I’m very glad to hear it!