The Named

I was really excited about this book...it got such a high rating and seemed like such a fantastic premise. Maybe that's why it seemed to fall short.

Ethan is a Guardian of Time; he travels to the past in order to keep evil denizens from the Order of Chaos from changing it, thus affecting the future. Of course Ethan's only a teenager, but he's already very good at what he does. So the Guard decides to test him by giving him the willful Isabel as his new apprentice. But Isabel's initiation brings a whole host of problems to the surface, most of them revolving around an ancient prophecy.

It sounds so wonderful, and so much could have been done with such a concept. Which is why it comes so close to painful to watch the story enacted quite a show more bit below its potential.

In fact, I think my irritation with this novel stems from the wasted potential. It was enjoyable on some levels, but all I could think was how much better it could have been. Ethan and Isabel have all the seeds of great characters, as do others they interact with; Ethan's wise and ever-youthful mentor Arkarian probably comes closest to being a truly relatable person. But again, they never come to life; they remain flat and stiffly-written, shifting between easy teenage narration and speech too stilted to ever really come out of a mouth. I think this is partly due to the first person narration, something that most authors are either good at...or aren't. Curley unfortunately is not. The emotions are also only vaguely felt.

The story itself also grazes shallowly along the surface of its awesome premise. Plot bumps detract from the realism; it's too obvious how the author hand-waves the various parts of the Guard with magic, illusions, or mysterious powers. It's also a tad misleading; I was expecting the bulk of the story to involve the time traveling missions, but by the end more focus is put on old feuds with evil Chaos denizens then on anything historical. And the few missions sprinkled in do little to actually expose the reader to the time period, barreling through the process and tossing in some random historical figures like King Richard II and Abigail Adams.

The premise saves the story, giving it some decent moments and a pretty good climax and conclusion. I'm not sure I'll be reading the rest of the trilogy right away; it didn't reel me in as I'd hoped it would. show less

Very enjoyable - reminded me a bit of A Wrinkle in Time. Nice balance of action and development of interesting characters.

Ethan is Named, someone who has the ability to travel between times and help a group ensure that the present continues as it should. There's another group determined to allow chaos to reign. It's a fairly common trope in time-travel stories and it's not badly handled here. However it's not the best of it's type either, that won't stop me looking to read the next story.

I liked Ethan and his optimism and I would like to know what's going on with the two groups involved in messing with time. There a fair amount of stuff flagged for the future and there's a promise that not everyone is as innocent as they might look.

I read the Guardians of Time triology in one go. I loved them: well-written, exciting and the short chapters invite you to read just one chapter extra...The story follows a group of youngsters, who are 'chosen' ('named' because of their special talents, who are able to travel back in time, trying to prevent from changes to be made by the goddess of chaos and disorder. They guard our current time.

I got this from the library when I was about 11 or 12, and took it on holiday with me. I remember devouring it and wanting to go home from my holiday, purely so I could read the next one. I still love the series now, and re-read them every so often. They're a quick and easy read, and the story is gripping. If you're a fan of history, the books are especially appealing. I also liked that one of the main characters shared my name ;)

A very enjoyable and gripping story with what seems to be a fairly novel slant on the idea of time travel.

Apart from the prologue, it's written as a first person narrative with two separate narrators (two of the main protagonists), and is told in the present tense throughout. At first I found that style to be a bit distracting but I soon got used to it and found it to work very well.

I'm now looking forward to reading the two sequels.

When Ethan was only 4 he witnessed the brutal murder of his sister at the hands of a monster. Shortly after this he was shown his destiny as one of the Named, a guardian of time, charged with the task of controlling chaos and ensuring the correct continuation of the time line. At the age of 16, Ethan has already lived countless adventures, tutored and mentored by the 600 year old Arkarian. Now things are about to change, Ethan has been charged with an apprentice of his own, Isabel the younger sister of his former best friend. Soon it is apparent that the time is drawing near for a final showdown between the Guardians of Time and the Order of Chaos. Will Ethan, Isabel and the rest of The Named be strong enough to overcome the ultimate show more evil?

I first read this story about one year ago. It was such an exciting adventure I poured through the book as fast as I could just to get to the end and find out what would happen next. Now that I've had a chance to re-read the story I found it even more interesting the second time around. Thankfully this time I was able to read at a more patient pace and was able to soak up more of the details. This is a wonderful, orginal tale of time travel, fantasy, friendship and family. I would highly recommend this story, but make sure you have access to the second book, The Dark, because as good as it is, it will leave you wanting more. show less