Review: Time Travel Extraordinaire
Rating: 4 out of 5
Date: 03 4, 2013
I would say this is a cross between the movies BIG, LOTR & Jewel of the Nile.  I would agree with others that it might be more suited for young people than adults, but it is still rather exciting and interesting if you like science fiction, fantasy or time travel stories.  I did enjoy the historical aspect of this book;  it helped having Jade be well versed on history so she could help them in different situations. Having already read book #2, I have to say this is probably the best one, in that the two main characters seem more mature at handling the different situations presented them on their quest.  I liked that the author put them in difficult situations that they had to figure a way to get out of on their own or with the abilities of their avatar.  The author did a good job of transitioning them from their normal real life to that of life inside the game. Knowing there is 5 books in the series also helped knowing they would escape any serious situation, but it was still interesting to see how the author accomplished that each time.  The company and quest seemed to be getting along together quite well until someone referred to Phoenix as "The Leader."  After that it seemed to have gone to his head and he reverted to his actual age of 14 again and the unity they had before disintegrated.  I enjoyed the "quest" of a group of people in both LOTR & The Sword of Shannara so much that it allowed me to overlook some of these glaring negatives in the story.