Sunday, August 16, 2015

The Emerald Atlas by John Stephens

The Emerald Atlas (The Books of Beginning, #1)Kate, Michael, and Emma are taken into an "orphanage" by Dr. Pym, but they are the only children living there. While exploring the new home, they find a magical book. It transports the kids back in time, fifteen years back, where they find an evil countess who has imprisoned the children in a small town. The children discover humans and magic used to live together, and the wizards recorded the magic in three secret books. The first book is called Atlas, and it has made a connection with the kids. Kate is able to use the book to travel to different moments in history, but she's confused and challenged by what she sees. The countess uses Kate to get her hands on Atlas, but she'll use its power to change the history of the world.

The conflict is a classic battle of good versus evil. The author throws in a couple of twists, as the countess has a mysterious master and the children long to find their parents. The jumps in history are pretty easy to follow, although the inability to have two copies of the same object exist at the same time requires some imagination. All three children have unique personalities, but Emma and Michael stand out. Emma is a feisty little girl, always looking for a fight. Michael loves to learn, and he's infatuated with dwarfs. Of course, the book includes dwarfs, and they become important to the plot.

No comments:

Post a Comment

Comments unrelated to the books being described will be removed.