Assassin's Creed #1: Last Descendants by Matthew Kirby

My name is Owen, and my life has gotten very weird. A man named Monroe says I'm a descendant of two groups who've been battling to control mankind for thousands of years, the Templars and the Brotherhood. He has a machine that allows me, along with others, to travel back in time to the minds of our ancestors. He says our small group is unique, because our ancestors' pasts have intersected around three prongs of the Trident, the Pieces of Eden. Monroe has sent us back to Civil War times in hopes of finding the location of one of the blades that will be critical in the North winning the conflict. My ancestor is an Assassin named Varius, and his mission is to retrieve the artifact from the Aztec Club. However, my friend Javier's relative is a Templar whose mission is to stop me. The future of mankind hinges on which ancestor is successful.

This book presented an interesting take on the time travel paradox of changing past events that might affect the future. The boys and girls were mostly observers in the minds of characters from the past and weren't supposed to change their behaviors. The kids would be kicked out of the simulation if they caused their ancestors to act out of character, since those actions might change the future. The competing Brotherhood and Templars were both working for the betterment of mankind, although their philosophies were very different. One believed in free will with guidance, while the other believed in more control. The book never prescribed which group was good or bad, and the characters became confused about this question. It made me wonder which group the kids should be helping and added to the suspense of the plot. In a way, each group was good and bad. The characters could experience the thoughts and feelings of their ancestors, and this ability created additional conflict for them. How could the black character remain silent, while a white character was insulting and abusing them? How could another character sit quietly, while his ancestor enjoyed the hunting and killing of others? The book didn't contain as much killing as I imagined, although it is a major factor in the plot. Overall, I enjoyed it and plan on reading the sequel.