Infinity Ring Book 1: A Mutiny in Time

Dak Smyth leads a pretty boring, he actually prefers to spend most of his time in the past, digging through history books and spouting out facts much to his parents embarrassment and his classmates delight to ridicule him. His best friend Sera Frosts however gets him... in fact, if someone to ask Dak, he would tell you that she is an even bigger nerd than he is.When Sera finds the final piece to Dak's parents secret attempt at creating a time machine called the Infinity Ring, Daks life gets a whole lot more interesting. After all, how much cooler is it to go back and experience history first hand then read about it hundreds of years later? When Dak and Sera go back in time with Dak's parents things go terribly wrong... for one thing, when they return Dak and Sera are alone, somehow Dak's parents are lost in time. And when Dak and Sera are taken away by people who want and need what the Infinity Ring can do... things go from bad to worse.Now Dak and Sera, and a Historian named Riq are on a mission to go back in time and not only fix what is called a "break" in time, but hopefully find Dak's parents along the way. First stop... Spain, 1492.... and a meeting with Christopher Columbus!Infinity Ring is a middle grade style read. In the beginning it gave me memories of Narnia, kids traveling to another world, in this case, another time. Yet Infinity Ring is going to speak to todays young teens. The book is fun and moves quickly and holds your attention. Within the book the main characters (all in their teens) solve word and picture puzzles to know what they are supposed to do. I found this highly engaging as I love puzzles and wanted to figure out the clues right along with them!While the 8-14 year old will enjoy this book, parents can be thrilled that they are getting in a little history as well. Dashner as sprinkled this story with historical facts about the places they visit. When the book is done, the front flap of the book has a secret panel that the reader is to open only after they have finished the book. I can not tell you what is behind the flap... I can tell you that it is super cool. :DAnd finally, I think what is also going to excite the readers is the online game that goes with the book(s) where you can go and work the puzzles out yourself and solve the breaks, just like the characters do in the book!Not only did I really enjoy the multi dimensions of the book, I love the fact that this will be a series of books that will be written by different authors and continue the story. The book was fairly short but I think that is a good length for the age of the reader and it will leave them wanting more.Recommended! Can't wait to read more of Dashner!

The "Infinity Ring" is a time-travel" science fiction novel written and marketed for the "Young Adult" audience. I feel confident that young teen readers who have not been exposed to "adult" time-travel novels or stop to think about some of the unpinning concepts presented in the story will enjoy the fast paced action and the endearing characters. The author, James Dasher, write with sly humor. As you would expect all adult characters are looked upon with suspect by the highly intelligent teens. The story takes a while to introduce the cast of characters and the several organizations that propel the narrative. In fact the opening part of the book is confusing in that organizations - Hystorians, SQ - and concepts - Remnants - Great Breaks - are mentioned but never defined. It would be very helpful if there were a brief appendix with short biographical sketch of the characters and some background concerning the concepts and organizations. Unfortunately there is no appendix, at least in Book 1. Perceptive readers may question the impossibility of time travel. Or, wonder about the sure risk that any "tampering" whatsoever in the past would irrevocably change the future. Even more perceptive readers may question why the intrepid teens avoided traveling to the FUTURE, where presumably all issues would have already been resolved one way or the other. Some may question why the teens did not go back in time to the point before the first use of the Infinity Ring and inform Dak's parents that they would be "lost in time' as a result of that initial experiment - so don't proceed! There are a considerable number of barefaced declaration, all critically important to the story, made with no justification or rationalization. For example the author states that the murder of Alexander the Great by the King's father-in-law is the original "Great Break" in history that initiates the whole snowball effect of future changes. Sound interesting, but inquiring minds may ask just why is this so, what makes that particular event so pivotal to the whole future of mankind. Convince me Mr. Dashner why I should believe this is so. In my oppinion the essence of a good science fiction story is based upon the author's knack in persuading the readers to suspend their disbelief, and to encourage us by explanations, however far fetched, that the version of events presented could happen. There must be a thread, however thin, of narrative credability to the underlying theme of the story. It is absent in this book. It is apparent that the editorial team at Scholastic drew up a detailed outline for a series of books to maximize sales and merchandise tie-ins. Just in case the series becomes a run away best seller all seven books will be written by different authors. That will prevent James Dashner from morphing into a J.K. Rowling with the result being escalating demands for increased author royalties. Seven books in a series written by seven different authors...interesting. I think I'll wait for the inevitable video game, movie and TV series instead of reading volumes 2 through 7.

I picked up the second volume of the series for a dollar in a bargain bin. It looked intriguing, and I have kids about the right age to be interested. I read the first chapter (I like to preread books before letting my kids read them) and realized I needed to read the first book before I could get into the second.This first volume is great. It's an exciting adventure with a decent plotline. The characters are human but noble. I like the premise. My kids are going to enjoy the books a lot. They present history in an engaging, fun, and approachable way.I also appreciate that (unlike many other books for kids this age), the kids are stepping up to do incredible things, but it's not because the adults and parents are stupid or incompetent. The kids aren't portrayed as smarter or better than the adults, they're just the right ones for the job because of the particular circumstances. I like that. I think kids are capable of amazing things and should be encouraged in that, but too many books and movies make adults stupid. This was a nice balance.

After reading all the Maze Runner novels, I assumed this would be a less satisfying read! I assumed wrong and can assure any prospective reader that contrary to popular belief, not only was I not disappointed, I can confirm that good things come in pairs! Buy it, you'll like it!

Excellent books (Series never gets boring) and the inclusion of playing as the characters online to get the next part of the story is fantastic!

Can't put it down. Great book

Very Good

short but good