After reading the Maze Runner series, I really wanted to read more of James Dashner's writing. When I stumbled across this new series in the youth section, I decided to give it a go.
This dystopian story opens as we meet Dak and Sera, two young geniuses in a time that is dramatically different than our real world. When they discover that Dak's parents have invented a time travel device - the Infinity Ring - but have yet to make it work, Sera tinkers a bit and suddenly they have a viable device. When Dak's parents are misplaced on the maiden journey with the device, the geniuses are introduced to a revolution in the works. They become Hystorians who need to fix the "breaks" in history to try to stop the disasters in the present day.
I can't say much more about the plot without giving away a fair bit, but I do have a few opinions on this book
1) I love the story. While many of the scenes seem to resolve themselves a bit too simply - it is a book geared toward very young readers. The series I can draw the closest relation to is the Nicolas Flamel series by Michael Scott. By using actual historical events and shifting the details, it uses historical figures to plump up the story and I think it will encourage young readers with the slightest interest to investigate what really happened in actual history. This can only be a good thing in the age of Google and developing research skills.
2) Dashner's writing seems weaker in this book until close to the end. It is as though he is trying to find his voice the whole time. Toward the end, it started to feel a bit more like the writing in the later books of the Maze Runner.
3) I am sad that they have carried on the series with a variety of different authors. I actually like the premise, but hesitate to buy the next book for fear that the story will lose something when told by a different author.
This is a quick read and I don't think it is quite advanced enough to capture most adult's interest for long. BUT if you have an avid reader on your gift list, THIS would be a great series to start them on.
