Timebound (The Chronos Files) Download Free (EPUB, PDF)
2013 Winner — Breakthrough Novel Award — Grand Prize and Young Adult Fiction WinnerWhen Kate Pierce-Keller’s grandmother gives her a strange blue medallion and speaks of time travel, sixteen-year-old Kate assumes the old woman is delusional. But it all becomes horrifyingly real when a murder in the past destroys the foundation of Kate’s present-day life. Suddenly, that medallion is the only thing protecting Kate from blinking out of existence.Kate learns that the 1893 killing is part of something much more sinister, and her genetic ability to time travel makes Kate the only one who can fix the future. Risking everything, she travels back in time to the Chicago World’s Fair to try to prevent the murder and the chain of events that follows.Changing the timeline comes with a personal cost—if Kate succeeds, the boy she loves will have no memory of her existence. And regardless of her motives, does Kate have the right to manipulate the fate of the entire world? Timebound was originally released as Time’s Twisted Arrow.
Series: The Chronos Files (Book 1)
Paperback: 374 pages
Publisher: Skyscape (January 1, 2014)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 1477848150
ISBN-13: 978-1477848159
Product Dimensions: 5.5 x 1 x 8.2 inches
Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars See all reviews (4,784 customer reviews)
Best Sellers Rank: #83,021 in Books (See Top 100 in Books) #42 in Books > Teens > Historical Fiction > United States > 19th Century #86 in Books > Teens > Science Fiction & Fantasy > Science Fiction > Time Travel #180 in Books > Science Fiction & Fantasy > Science Fiction > Time Travel
Blend H. G. Wells' The Time Machine with BBC's Dr. Who, add a side of Jon D. MacDonald's The Girl, The Gold Watch and Everything, season generously with Jasper Fforde's Thursday Next novels, and you have a taste for Rysa Walker's first-in-a-series work Time's Twisted Arrow: Book One of the CHRONOS Files. Part science fiction, part historical novel, part young romance, mystery and action, all fast paced and riveting, this one will keep you up past bedtime.Her ailing grandmother arrives suddenly from Europe pleading to spend time with her namesake, pulling 16-year-old Kate from her parent's shared custody into Katherine's new home in D.C. only to uncover disturbing revelations about her family - namely, that Kate has inherited a supernatural ability to move backward in time.Katherine, with help from her research assistant and general dogsbody Connor, explains two earlier episodes Kate experienced as temporal shifts rather than panic attacks, changes to the past that can - and do - alter history. And Kate's ability is the key to setting the past and the future back on track. Still unbelieving, she rushes to school to meet her Dad, only to encounter a very different reality. She finds an ally in Trey, who is drawn into an ever-shifting time line that threatens their collective existence.Mystery? Drama? Paranormal? Historical novel? Romance? Time travel, historical anomalies, politics and religion, power plays, zealots and villains, disappearing artifacts and powerful medallions combine to dish up a foundation novel that can stand on its own, yet leaves the reader hungry for more. The first bite is young adult and sci-fi, but the intricate medley of flavors appeals to broader inter-generational tastes, defying categorization. I can't wait for the movie!
I was initially interested in this book because of the fictional connection to the all-too-real Dr. H.H. Holmes, and I thought it sounded like an interesting read. Iâm way too old to be a young adult, so I was prepared to make allowances for some of the things I might find a little too âjuvenileâ, for want of a better term. I also found I would have to overcome my basic dislike for the use of the first person in fiction; I prefer the narrator-style approach because I find it provides more balanced insight into all the characters, rather than just one.What I found I couldnât get past was the constant, unrelenting exposition. The author has missed the classic âshow, donât tellâ advice. Particularly in the first 20 percent or so of the book, parts of it read like court testimony. Explain, explain, explain⦠someone asks a question, and then thereâs some further detail given on what was just said, just like at a trial. If the dialogue were especially sparkling or clever, it might be easier to tolerate, but itâs not. And still, even after all that talking, I couldnât really figure out what the basics of this world were or how things worked and why. Iâm not a fantasy or a time-travel buff, so perhaps there are substantive basics that most readers of fantasy would already âgetâ so theyâre not included here?When the characters arenât talking, theyâre moving around like chess pieces, with very little internal dialogue or âfeelingâ about what is happening to them and why. Thatâs probably a style issue to some extent; I prefer a lot of internalizing from characters since I feel thatâs the best way to get to know them, but there isnât a lot of that here. This is a once-over-lightly approach.The story itself isnât a bad idea, the characters arenât bad (if a little one-dimensional), but the novel as a whole just doesnât seem to work.
Oh the wondrous and endlessly fascinating idea that is time travel-I can't think of a better topic to base a fiction novel on, especially one that the author takes the time to write well. I've always been a complete sucker for this idea, and the infinite possibilities it presents. I've had the pleasure of reading a few novels lately that combine time travel with an impressive story line-this novel was no exception. It was a pleasure to read, albeit a confusing one at times, but I was entertained for the most part.Kate Pierce-Heller has discovered that her link to Time Travel runs blood-deep. She has inherited DNA that allows her to use a medallion to travel to secure points in time throughout history, or the future. After a (very short-lived) initial shock, she is quickly given enough proof to secure her position as the world's only remaining hope. A family member of Kates is hell-bent on twisting history in his own favour, and doesn't care if he has destroy his own blood to do it.I was a bit weary of Kate's 16/17 yr-old character. Her speech seemed a little too mature for her age, despite the fact that she mostly "stuck to her books" as opposed to doing what others typically do at her age. It was slightly unnerving, and a little unrealistic. However, she definitely grew on me as the story progressed: she wasn't whiny, or thoughtless to the point of annoyance, and I learned to appreciate the way her mind worked. As I mentioned before, she seemed to grasp the reality of the situation a little too easily, I wish she had spent a little more time in disbelief, but I suppose the situation left her no choice. This rarely happens, but the romance aspect between Kate and Treys character was refreshing and welcomed-I thought it was sweet, and made it easy for me to choose the direction I wanted the story line to head in.The technicalities, and history tidbits, in this book were a bit overwhelming, but I took it slower at these parts, making it easier to digest. Time travel can get confusing very quickly, especially if you're not paying attention to even the smallest details. The author did a good job, for the most part, of keeping the story fluid and without snags or plot holes. There was so much going on in this book. I wish that each aspect was focused on individually a little more, but I enjoyed the complexity of it. The world building was well-written, and I absolutely LOVED that she used Chicago World's Fair as one of the focal points-it's been a slight obsession of mine for a long time.I think I enjoyed the last quarter of this story the most, as I felt like it's what the majority of the book was building up to. It was nerve-wracking in one of the best ways, and I screamed out loud on more than one occasion. I am really looking forward to the future installments-I think it will include a lot more back stories for some of the characters I wish we got to hear more from. A great start to a series, I recommend this one to all time travel fans!
Timebound (The Chronos Files) Time's Echo: A CHRONOS Files Novella Timebound Top Secret Files: The Civil War: Spies, Secret Missions, and Hidden Facts from the Civil War (Top Secret Files of History) Sound (Science Files) (Science Files) Case Files Neurology, Second Edition (LANGE Case Files) I Am Number Four: The Lost Files: Rebel Allies (Lorien Legacies: The Lost Files) Case Files Psychiatry, Fifth Edition (LANGE Case Files) Case Files Emergency Medicine, Third Edition (LANGE Case Files) The Teaching Files: Interventional: Expert Consult - Online and Print, 1e (Teaching Files in Radiology) Case Files Internal Medicine, Fifth Edition (LANGE Case Files) Sand Casting Archive: bronzecasting.co.uk Files - Information for Artists & Designers (bronzecasting.co.uk Archive Files Book 1) Louise Lawler (October Files) Robert Morris (October Files) Grave Peril: The Dresden Files, Book 3 Dead Beat: The Dresden Files, Book 7 Turn Coat: The Dresden Files, Book 11 The Snowden Files: The Inside Story of the World's Most Wanted Man The Pluto Files: The Rise and Fall of America's Favorite Planet The Truth Is out There: The X-Files Series, Book 2
