Twelve-year-old Johnny Maxwell has a knack for being in the wrong place at the wrong time. This has never been more true than when he finds him... read full description
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Feb 26, 2008
Jared
rated it: 
The third book in Terry Pratchett's Johnny Maxwell series starts out with a bang. Literally. A bomb has fallen in the midst of Johnny's city. But the bomb dropped in World War II. Johnny discovers the history of the bomb and can't stop thinking about the people affected by it. One of the people affected by it ends up in Johnny's time -- the local bag lady, who is so mentally and temporally displaced that sometimes her body follows along.
Johnny and one of his friends help the lad More...
Johnny and one of his friends help the lad More...
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Nov 15, 2010
Kmcq
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Could you imagine being able to time travel? Well Johnny Maxwell and his friends can in Terry Pratchet’s Johnny and the Bomb. I enjoyed this book and found it to be very interesting.
In the story, Johnny and his friends found Mrs. Tachyon, a local bag lady lying semiconscious in an alley. Then they called an ambulance, and took her mysterious, squeaky cart home to safeguard it. It was a mysterious collection of large black bags, and a vicious cat named guilty. Rumor also had it that More...
In the story, Johnny and his friends found Mrs. Tachyon, a local bag lady lying semiconscious in an alley. Then they called an ambulance, and took her mysterious, squeaky cart home to safeguard it. It was a mysterious collection of large black bags, and a vicious cat named guilty. Rumor also had it that More...
Jul 02, 2010
John
rated it: 
This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers.
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Jul 21, 2009
Erica
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Time travel is a tricky concept. Because time is fluid, or particulate, or static or what have you, it is very difficult to harness its nature and cram it into the solid pages of a novel. Every reader has his own pet theory on the paradoxes that time travel may or may not cause and is therefore apt to be unsatisfied if the author does not subscribe to his personal believes on the matter. Generally any attempt at a dive into the complexities of time travel leaves the author exhausted and the
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Sep 10, 2011
Natalie
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I finished reading this book in just a bit less than three days, why? Because I was completely hooked, it's just such a brilliant book I can't express how much I love it! The plot revolves around a 13yr old boy named Johnny maxwell, who, after discovering a mad old woman called mrs tachyon unconscious in an alley, starts on an epic adventure to stop his town being bombed. But wait, the blackberry blitz happened in 1941! So how on earth can he do that? Simple, he'll just use mrs tachyon's battere
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Dec 10, 2008
Sharon
rated it:
This is the first of Pratchett's "Johnny Maxwell" trilogy that I read (despite it being the third in the series). Honestly, it took me a while to get into it. I think that I would have done well to read the other two books first, although Pratchett's books generally stand alone and do not have to be read in any particular order.
This was an entertaining read about a 13-year-old boy and his friends, who discover that the local bag lady's shopping trolley is actually a time More...
This was an entertaining read about a 13-year-old boy and his friends, who discover that the local bag lady's shopping trolley is actually a time More...
Mar 07, 2010
Raj
rated it:
The last in the Johnny series, this one finds Johnny and friends time travelling to the 1941 blitz.
I enjoyed this book quite a lot. It's quite slim and I was able to read it quite quickly but there's a lot of ideas in it. And I smiled to see references to the Discworld and characters and ideas that would be re-used (with a fresh coat of paint) elsewhere.
I found Johnny himself interesting. Like Granny Weatherwax, he seems to have started off as a fairly ordinary person and More...
I enjoyed this book quite a lot. It's quite slim and I was able to read it quite quickly but there's a lot of ideas in it. And I smiled to see references to the Discworld and characters and ideas that would be re-used (with a fresh coat of paint) elsewhere.
I found Johnny himself interesting. Like Granny Weatherwax, he seems to have started off as a fairly ordinary person and More...
Jul 17, 2010
Jon
rated it:
Another interesting and funny book about Johnny, a very ordinary and slighly daft kid. The book gets a bit muddled in the whole time-travel mire, but doesn't get as hopelessly bound up and ruined like the Time-Travelers (Gideon) series. The characters are rounded out a bit more, which is interesting. The story is fast enough and simple enough to be a solid and non-committed, entertaining distraction. The semi-romantic interest is back in this one, and the ending presents a very nice, ambiguous s
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Feb 04, 2012
Jeremiah
rated it:
Entry 1-
Johnny is the main character. He is a protagonist along with Kirsty, Wobbler, Yo-less, and Bigmac.
The antagonists are most of the people in the old Blachbury.
Entry 2- The point of view is from Johnny. The setting is in the new and old Blachbury. The theme is you can do anything and be anything.
Entry 3-
Johnny and his friends travel back in time using Mrs Tachyon's cart to the day that Blackbury was bombed and they stop the bombin More...
Johnny is the main character. He is a protagonist along with Kirsty, Wobbler, Yo-less, and Bigmac.
The antagonists are most of the people in the old Blachbury.
Entry 2- The point of view is from Johnny. The setting is in the new and old Blachbury. The theme is you can do anything and be anything.
Entry 3-
Johnny and his friends travel back in time using Mrs Tachyon's cart to the day that Blackbury was bombed and they stop the bombin More...
Aug 07, 2010
Catherine
rated it:
Love the humor and the time travel. Interestingly intertwined with what we can learn (but generally don't) from history as well as from the words of wisdom of our elders and what they could learn from us too. My favorite of the trilogy and worth reading the other two in order to more fully appreciate this one. Johnny and his friends care for bag lady Mrs. Tachyon's cart while she's in the hospital and find they can use it to travel to different points in time, landing them in 1941 just before
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Jul 03, 2010
Linda
rated it:
The trousers of life have never felt so worn, or cross-legged. This is Terry's style that I love, from "Dig for Victory, as if it were some kind of turnip" thru to "Take life as it was going to come ... And if it didn't come, go and fetch it". Sneaky in reference and observant of everything the story had me chuckling, and then a little reminiscent as the kids ignorantly whinged about nobody listening to them "when I know stuff!". I wonder how many kids reading th
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Mar 03, 2011
Nikki
rated it: 
It's Terry Pratchett's doing, so of course it's fun. It plays around with the idea of time travel in a way that doesn't break my brain too much, which I can accept easily enough to drag me along for the ride. I'm told it's not the first book in the series, though, and it shows: I would probably have cared more if, well, I'd already cared.
I'm not really sure what to say about it. I was quite excited to get a Terry Pratchett book on my course, but now I've got it, I don't think I'm goi More...
I'm not really sure what to say about it. I was quite excited to get a Terry Pratchett book on my course, but now I've got it, I don't think I'm goi More...
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Jul 06, 2010
Cynthia
rated it:
Pratchett for youth! While I, admittedly, find the Johnny Maxwell trilogy somewhat depressing, it is still a fun read. And the kids will love it. This one involves Johnny and his ragtag bunch getting caught up in some time travel that throws them back to WWII. And there are all the inherent questions of how time travel would affect future events. There is much food for thought here and this would make a great summer read for parents and kids. It will foster some powerful discussion.
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Jun 02, 2011
Mike
rated it:
Good book. I think this is my favorite of the three which seems to be the general concensus. Now I just need to see the TV movie they made of it and I'll be really happy with all likelyhood. Or I could just read it again and look for clues I missed the first time around. I have to say this is a fantastic time-travel book not just a fantastic kids' book. It makes sense, it explains things to people but it's not condesending. It doesn't treat the past as a great place where everyone was happy peop
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Jan 26, 2012
Nate
rated it:
An addictive book from start to finish, I have not read any of the other Johnny Maxwell stories, and the novel is set up perfectly to introduce you to the characters without the confusion of having not previously read the other stories. The plot is fitted perfectly into a relatively compact book, though you are still able to connect with the characters. The overall story-line is compelling, and results in you feeling far from relieved when turning the final page.
Sep 11, 2011
Natalie
rated it:
This book perfectly blends humour and history into a fantastic adventure, all about a young boy and a magical time traveling trolley. Simply put, an amazing novel by one of my favourite authors ever! the reason I only gave this book a 4 stars is that it has a bit of an anticlimactic ending. But it's exciting none the less.
I love the character of Mrs Tachyon, she's a really funny and bizarre character who actually turned out to be a really important character.
I love the character of Mrs Tachyon, she's a really funny and bizarre character who actually turned out to be a really important character.
Apr 27, 2011
Aaron
rated it:
Even after I got heavily into the Discworld books, it took me some time to follow up on Terry Pratchett's other books and series, and not until now have I actually gotten around to reading the third Johnny Maxwell book. I bought the first one, but read the second one from the library, which is also where I got this one.
I wasn't really planning on staying up late to finish the book on the same day I started it, but it happened.
I wasn't really planning on staying up late to finish the book on the same day I started it, but it happened.
Aug 26, 2010
Ryan
rated it:
Time travel the Pratchett way, and, as always, quite enjoyable to read. I'm marking down a star here because, as a trilogy, this lacks cohesion, an arc, or a satisfying conclusion. The story contained herein is concluded well, but not the so-called trilogy. I wonder if he never intended there to be a trilogy, but decided not to write anymore Johnny books, so the labeled got slapped on.
Feb 05, 2011
Miguel Ángel
rated it:
Its end blew me away, what else can I say? I enjoyed every paragraph of it. This is the only Pratchett book my wife has read, which was considered "an interesting approach to introducing someone to Pratchett's books" by my best-friend Stohelit, who introduced me to Pratchett's books.
BTW, the BBC mini-series based on it was not bad at all.
BTW, the BBC mini-series based on it was not bad at all.
Jan 28, 2011
Kjerstin
rated it:
I didn't find the story as potentially gripping as I thought the author meant for it to be, but I loved the unique characters and literature. (:
I definitely wouldn't recommend it, or say it's absolutely AMAZING, but if you've got nothing else to do.....
I definitely wouldn't recommend it, or say it's absolutely AMAZING, but if you've got nothing else to do.....
Mar 10, 2011
Sandra
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Liked this a lot better than Only You Can Save Mankind. But then, I'm somehow partial to books dealing with time. Haven't read the second book in the trilogy though :/ it's annoying when this happens but at least these books can stand alone.
Feb 07, 2011
Melanie
rated it:
I liked it, but it was almost too slick. The first two in this series were clever and funny, but also a little bit different from Pratchett's Discworld series. This one felt exactly like a Discworld book, which I thought was a little bit too bad. I wonder if Pratchett ever feels trapped by Discworld...
Feb 28, 2011
Bojojoti
rated it:
This is the final book with Johnny Maxwell, and I'm sad to see him go. I think there are a number of stories that could still be told about this young character, but Pratchett has moved on and created any number of other interesting ones.
Jan 15, 2012
Sunil
rated it:
Johnny and his friends time travel to a day in 1941 when bombs destroy Paradise Street and kill nineteen people. Should they change history and save them or let the past take its course? Time travel mayhem ensues! It's basically an episode of Doctor Who where the TARDIS is a shopping cart.
Aug 08, 2008
Rachel
rated it:
THE TROUSERS OF TIME
MILLENNIUM HAND AND SHRIMP
EVIL THREE-AND-A-HALF-LEGGED CAT
And Kirsty. I love Kirsty.
And Johnny - oh my god, he's my favorite.
This one was amazing in ways far beyond the first two - sweeter, more dangerous, more at stake, several really good a-HA moments. Hit every note perfectly. And Pterry's one of those authors where he can be writing this scene that is horribly fraught with tension and the entire world is about to collapse More...
MILLENNIUM HAND AND SHRIMP
EVIL THREE-AND-A-HALF-LEGGED CAT
And Kirsty. I love Kirsty.
And Johnny - oh my god, he's my favorite.
This one was amazing in ways far beyond the first two - sweeter, more dangerous, more at stake, several really good a-HA moments. Hit every note perfectly. And Pterry's one of those authors where he can be writing this scene that is horribly fraught with tension and the entire world is about to collapse More...
Dec 09, 2008
Sarah
rated it:
I only wish there were more stars so I could give this book the rating it deserves. Thoroughly entertaining, fast-paced, amusing and overall delightful. A must-read.
Oct 08, 2011
Wastrel
rated it:
Doesn't live up to the promise of 
, but better than 
. Feels a bit tired and familiar and doesn't really make sense, but has great pace and energy to make up for it, and some good Pratchettian humour.
Fuller review here More...
, but better than . Feels a bit tired and familiar and doesn't really make sense, but has great pace and energy to make up for it, and some good Pratchettian humour.
Fuller review here More...
Mar 07, 2011
Liz
rated it:
Another book in Terry Pratchett's Johnny Maxwell trilogy. This one is most interesting, dealing with WWII and time travel. Still has good humor.
Jul 28, 2011
You've got to laugh at a book that has 4 "token" boys and pokes fun at all the cliches of kid's time travel/adventure stories. Good fun.
Jul 23, 2011
David
rated it:
The third and final book in the Johnny Maxwell trilogy, in which Terry Pratchett explores the other leg of the trousers of time
