Kate Frost

Time Shifters: A Long Way from Home is the sequel to Time Shifters: Into the Past. In book one Maisie, Liz and Danny accidentally time shifted to mediaeval England and began their adventures. Book two starts with them safely back home but then Liz, while visiting the site of a Roman Villa, accidentally shifts herself back to Roman Britain. Maisie guesses what's happened when she sees the news about a vanished girl so she and Danny set off in pursuit. By concentrating hard on the details of a past time they can move there physically. It doesn't go according to plan.

As a grumpy old man, I so found narrator Maisie's vocabulary totally annoying and I thought she too often summarised what had just happened. Hence only three stars. However, it's clearly written and gallops along at a good pace. Young fans of Doctor Who should love it.… (more)

Okay, so I wanted to read the book that 25 out of 25 British children thought was super cool. Winner of The Wishing Shelf Book Awards, Time Shifters is, in fact, super cool. The historical bits worked as both setting and character to define the odd mix of isolation and adventure that carries the plot forward. Is it strange to say that I enjoyed the Great London Fire of 1666? Maybe let’s not say enjoyed then. How about relished? Savored? Yeah, I’m not sure any word works there. Let’s just stick with super cool.

Hopefully in the sequel we’ll get more information about the bad guys. Keeping them all vague and unnamed was my one nitpick in this otherwise wonderful book. Knowing your enemy would have heightened the tension. The usual time paradoxes endemic to time travel novels were avoided until the end and then dealt with nicely by keeping the result ambiguous. I look forward to the next installment. Hopefully this book will get more traction before then. It deserves to be read.… (more)