8,376
edits
Changes
From TheBookbag
Jump to navigationJump to searchThe History Keepers: The Storm Begins by Damian Dibben (view source)
Revision as of 12:15, 3 July 2011
, 12:15, 3 July 2011no edit summary
Scary, huh? But this is exactly what happens to Jake Djones (silent D, dears). Believing his parents have gone to a bathroom convention, he's carrying on as usual until they get home. But then he's abducted on his way home from school and taken to a secret base hidden beneath the Monument in London. Jake discovers that his parents have kept a secret from him: they are secret agents working for the History Keepers, working to prevent evil villains from tampering with history itself, and they have gone missing in sixteenth century Venice. Before the day is out, Jake finds himself en route to France in 1820, to rendezvous with the other agents in the organisation, and begin a mission to rescue his parents...
This is an utterly rambunctious read, full of swashbuckling adventure and peopled with vivid, if rather one-dimensional, characters. The goodies are very good and the baddies are very bad. The action sweeps along and moves effortlessly from present-day London through eighteenth century France to sixteenth century Venice. Dibben doesn't waste any time at all and it's easy to keep reading for hours without realising. There's a deal of humour, too. Agent Nathan Wilder iss is my favourite: originally from the American South during the Civil War, he's a real dandy, obsessing over his clothes and his hair and his manicure, but always ready for a good fight. The whole thing has great heart and highspiritedness.
Everything is very visual and it's not surprising that the film rights for this planned trilogy have already been sold. I can see it - and look forward to it - on the big screen. However, I will say that the various implications of time travel aren't really considered in anything other than a superficial way. Don't expect metaphysics. And the actual function of the History Keepers is all a bit vague. They are the goodies and they stop the baddies ruining history. But quite how they go about it isn't at all clear until this first instalment is almost over. This is a book for fans of adventure stories, not those who like mindbending science. But for adrenalin junkies, it's just great.
