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The Time Travelers (The Gideon Trilogy #1)

3.73 of 5 stars 3.73 · rating details · 3,113 ratings · 497 reviews

For use in schools and libraries only. Ignored by his father and sent to Derbyshire for the weekend, twelve-year-old Peter and his new friend, Kate, are accidentally transported back in time to 1763 England where they are befriended by a reformed cutpurse.

Hardcover, 404 pages

Published September 1st 2007 by Turtleback Books (first published 2006)

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Nov 06, 2012 Jennifer Wardrip rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: trt-posted-reviews, trt-gold-star-award-winner

Reviewed by Jocelyn Pearce for TeensReadToo.com

Peter feels he has been brushed off by his father yet again--and he has been. He's been waiting for his birthday treat for months, but his father always has business meetings and is too busy to spend time with him. His mother is off working in Los Angeles, far away from Peter and his father in London. The morning Peter and his father fight about it again, Margrit, the Au Pair, takes Peter with her to visit her friends out in the country.

These frien...more Reviewed by Jocelyn Pearce for TeensReadToo.com

Peter feels he has been brushed off by his father yet again--and he has been. He's been waiting for his birthday treat for months, but his father always has business meetings and is too busy to spend time with him. His mother is off working in Los Angeles, far away from Peter and his father in London. The morning Peter and his father fight about it again, Margrit, the Au Pair, takes Peter with her to visit her friends out in the country.

These friends have a daughter, Kate, who is about Peter's age, twelve. Kate's father takes the two of them, plus Kate's dog, Molly, to the lab where he works. Kate and Peter end up chasing Molly through the halls--a small thing that ends up being very important.

One minute, they're running through the halls of the lab. The next minute, Kate and Peter, along with an antigravity machine that one of Kate's father's colleagues has been working on, have been transported back in time to a grassy hillside in 1763.

Before long, they've met two very different men of that time. The first is the Tar Man, who steals the antigravity machine, which could very well be the key to getting back to the present. The second is Gideon, an enemy of the Tar Man, who decides to help the two children from the future.

Before long, Kate and Peter are on an adventure, headed to London to recover the antigravity machine and get back to their homes and families. On their way, they will encounter highwaymen, make friends (including Gideon), and learn a lot about that time in history--the good and the bad.

Back in present-day England, Peter's parents are frantic with worry. Kate's father has figured out that the machine has something to do with their disappearance--but when ghostly images of the children appear dressed in clothing from the eighteenth-century, it becomes clear that this can't be shared with the public; who knows what destruction could result from the misuse of time travel technology?

The parallel storylines--the children's quest to get back to the present and Kate's father's struggle to bring them back--go together quite nicely. The jumping back and forth is not as confusing as it could have been, and both parts of the story are extremely well-written. The characters are realistic, the storylines interesting, the history fascinating, and, well, every aspect of this book brilliant! The cover is very unique and will draw readers right in. The story inside will not disappoint them, either! GIDEON THE CUTPURSE is the first in a trilogy, and I can't wait for the next two books! (less)

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Dec 30, 2008 Barb rated it 1 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: reading-with-idaho, series-trilogy

My review contains my opinion and is written for readers who are like me, particular in what they read, critical in their reading.

An accident with an anti-gravity machine transports Kate and Peter from the year 2007 back in time to 1763. The evil Tar Man steals the machine and their only way back home, Gideon Seymour befriends the children and promises to help them find their way back to the twenty-first century.

I thought this sounded like it would be a really wonderful adventure story but it d...more My review contains my opinion and is written for readers who are like me, particular in what they read, critical in their reading.

An accident with an anti-gravity machine transports Kate and Peter from the year 2007 back in time to 1763. The evil Tar Man steals the machine and their only way back home, Gideon Seymour befriends the children and promises to help them find their way back to the twenty-first century.

I thought this sounded like it would be a really wonderful adventure story but it didn't in anyway meet my expectations. I thought the characters lacked development, the relationships between the characters were flat, nothing was developed enough to make this an enjoyable book to read.

I thought the author missed a wonderful opportunity to contrast the luxuries and inventions we take for granted in our every day lives with the way of life in 1763. The children barely mention the difference between past and present except for noting the landscape of London and Kate talking about her heavy skirt and tight corset.

I thought the children's reaction to be transported back in time two hundred years was unrealistic or at least poorly portrayed.

The passages taken from the so called unpublished book 'The Life and Times of Gideon Seymour, Cutpurse and Gentleman' were sprinkled through the book as if they were an after thought. Weaving Dr. Johnson into the story did nothing to make it more interesting.

The suspense scenes were sometimes ruined by the lack of follow through and focus. And the writing style itself was awkward and clumsy. The style and manner of speech of one particular character was ridiculously like the characters in the past.

I love historical fiction and that is primarily what I read, I was very much looking forward to reading this with my daughter and by page eighty I was ready to be done with it. I think that this could have been a great story with lots of refinement and editing but sadly as it is I can't tell my friends they should pick it up.

Misfit would have thrown this one against the wall, I tried to several times but my daughter wouldn't let me.
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Feb 03, 2009 Miss Clark rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition Recommends it for: Anybody and everybody

Shelves: fairytale-fantasy-sci-fi-mythology, year-end-picks, adventure, anglo-phile, children-s, brambleberry-library

Absolutely brilliant! Excellent, realistic and utterly likable characters. I loved Peter and Kate. And how awesome is it that the authoress is able to tell a tale of time travel, quantum physics, parallel worlds, and the logistical quandaries that would arise thereof, without sacrificing the readers’ connection to the protagonists and their predicament? She tackles a sophisticated subject with precision and plays out its consequences in the lives of Peter Schock and Kate Dyer, as well as their f...more Absolutely brilliant! Excellent, realistic and utterly likable characters. I loved Peter and Kate. And how awesome is it that the authoress is able to tell a tale of time travel, quantum physics, parallel worlds, and the logistical quandaries that would arise thereof, without sacrificing the readers’ connection to the protagonists and their predicament? She tackles a sophisticated subject with precision and plays out its consequences in the lives of Peter Schock and Kate Dyer, as well as their families and colleagues. A brilliant new talent!

Peter Schock and Kate Dyer, 12, find themselves in 1763, even though hours earlier, when they met for the first time, they were in 21st century England. Their time travel is somehow connected to the anti-gravity machine that Kate’s father has been working on, and which ended up with them in the eighteenth century English countryside. However, as it has been stolen by a hardened criminal known as The Tar Man, they really have little choice but to trust Gideon, a stranger who offers the children his help. Gideon appears to honestly desire to help them get home, even if he is a reformed cutpurse. The adventures and dilemmas that Peter and Kate encounter and the people that they meet, both friend and foe, help both of the children to mature. In particular, Peter, who was at odds with his workaholic parents, learns how much he misses his family, even as he and Kate become friends. Has a cliff-hanger ending, so you might want to have book two on hand.

Also worth noting is the wealth of research and historical detail that was painstakingly incorporated into the tale and which gives its eighteenth century scenes an air of authenticity that is lacking in so many other tales of that time period, time traveling-related or not. A brilliant talent and well worth taking the time to investigate. Age 10 +.

(No romance. Plenty of action/ adventure.)

Why does Peter keep feeling like he recognizes something? He thinks he recognizes Gideon (p.49) and the landscape of the Dyer's farm in Darbyshire (p.8). Gideon also feels like he has met Peter before when first he saw him (p.52).

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Mar 27, 2008 Britta rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: audio, juvenile-chapter, library, fiction

I choose to summarize this book in the form of a Haiku.

NASA machine. Oops.
Here's 1763.
Peter and Kate blur.

Sure, Peter and Kate have adventures back in 1763 and nearly get killed and have to deal with bugs in their cheese and no idea how to get back to their parents in the present, but that's neither here nor there.

Honestly, the most interesting part of the book for me were the brief interludes when the author cut to the parents andn police in the present, trying to figure out where the hell the...more

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May 05, 2008 Kevin rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

As many reviews have noted, it is hard to believe this is a first novel. Buckley-Archer "a scriptwriter and journalist, began writing Gideon as a radio drama. As she read Gideon aloud to her children and they refused to let her stop for supper, she began to see its potential as a novel."

Whatever her experience she has clearly pulled it all together. The main characters are well developed, which isn't always the case in the first book of a series, and there are lots of interesting secondary chara...more As many reviews have noted, it is hard to believe this is a first novel. Buckley-Archer "a scriptwriter and journalist, began writing Gideon as a radio drama. As she read Gideon aloud to her children and they refused to let her stop for supper, she began to see its potential as a novel."

Whatever her experience she has clearly pulled it all together. The main characters are well developed, which isn't always the case in the first book of a series, and there are lots of interesting secondary characters.

Buckley-Archer's fascination with the 18th century comes through in her writing and she uses the story to compare and contrast the cultural, social, and scientific outlooks of the two times. In doing this she doesn't fall prey to the easy presentation of the past as ignorant and repressed. But at the same time she does highlight the amazing changes that have taken place over the last century. She explores that past not to point out our superiority, or theirs, but simply because it is interesting and full of drama. It is easy, however, to take for granted the life we live and it is often by visiting the past that we are reminded of how differently people have lived; and how lucky we are to have the blessings we do.

Particularly with young adult fiction, there would be a temptation to be overly didactic with this kind of story. Too obvious attempts to be "educational" could have thwarted the story. But Buckley-Archer avoids this temptation by never letting the tension get to low and by crafting believable characters and dialog. The story provides for some thought provoking ideas - particularly about time and time travel - and insights into history, but it does so as a natural part of a compelling adventure.

This may be considered young adult fiction but it is really just old fashioned storytelling: interesting premise, strong characters, suspenseful plot, captivating setting, etc. The result is that Archer-Buckley has created a popular trilogy and has a fan base that eagerly awaits the last book in the series.
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Jan 07, 2008 Jess rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Recommended to Jess by: Kitri Culbertson

Shelves: time-travel, juv

Although the start is slow, this turns into a great historical adventure story. Jack and Kate are thrown back to 1763 and encounter a fantastic cast of characters in their efforts to get back to the 21st century. They must deal with a world full of highwaymen, footpads, elaborate dress, bad food, cutpurses, treachery, horrific prisons, and hangings. Eighteenth centuries details never feel forced or didactic, but serve to make the story more vivid. Being the first in a trilogy, the conclusion is...more

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Sep 23, 2008 Julia rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: adolescent-literature

First, I have to say, the cover of this book is great! It's a hardcover book with an opening actually cut out of it with the eye looking through. My kids love to touch it!

Important note: there are two versions if the Gideon books. The British version and the American version. The first book is "Gideon the Cutpurse" (British version) and "The Time Travelers" (American version). The second book in the trilogy is "The Tar Man" (British version) and "The Time Thief" (American version). Be careful no...more

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Mar 10, 2008 William rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: science-fiction, young-adult

The Time Travelers (renamed from the less appropriate title, Gideon the Cutpurse) is a well-paced, and seemingly well-researched story that mixes a little bit of science-fiction with a lot of interesting periodical history and behavioral speculation about the mid-18th century. As the novel’s heroes Kate and Peter do their time traveling, readers are introduced to some fun etymology — defining the origin of ’straw men,’ for example — and a few enjoyable science-fiction concepts, like how the trav...more

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Mar 30, 2009 Tita rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Petualangan Kehidupan dalam Gideon the Cutpurse

Gideon menurunkan stockingnya, Peter melihat bekas luka yang menyerupai seuntai tali di betisnya. Peter menelan ludah, "Itu parah juga. Benar-benar parah. Kau lebih berani daripada aku. Aku pasti tidak akan bisa menahan sakitnya."

"Tidak, luka fisik bisa langsung disembuhkan. Luka batinlah yang membutuhkan waktu lebih lama untuk disebuhkan." (Gideon the Cutpurse, hal. 219)

Gideon the Cutpurse adalah buku remaja bergenre fiksi ilmiah. Menariknya, Lin...more

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Mar 17, 2009 Nancy rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: sci-fi

This was a fine read. I made the mistake of reading one of the reviews on GoodReads before I started the book and that reader really blasted it. I noticed that a lot of the reviews were either 5 stars or 1. It's hard for me to keep an open mind with that junk floating around. ANYWay, this IS a young adult historical (science) fiction story with some time travel. The author handled it just fine - except for a short paragraph far into the story where the characters start to discuss how things coul...more

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May 15, 2013 Robert Sanders rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

My review, being the review of the first book of the Gideon trilogy.

A mix of sci-fi and fantasy, with a mix of historical fantasy, focusing mostly on the latter two. Two children, one a care-free ginger from a farm, another an upset child with parental issues, travel through time and find their selves at the mercy of the 18th century, helped by a lovable cutpurse named Gideon.

This book is interesting throughout and will keep you attached at seemingly every turn. With humor in the form of 18th ce...more

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Feb 03, 2013 Harlecat rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

The first time I read this book (yes, I've reread it. More than once! So I put the future as my finished reading date.) I found it kinda boring, but I only had two books with me and had finished the first one (Lone Wolf by Kathryn Lasky) so this was my only option. That's why I followed through, and I'm glad I did. BY the end of the book, I was literally like "OMIGOSH! IT'S AMAZING!" And the hanging edge ending definitely helped. To me, this series is like an old friend. Who's my favorite charac...more

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Jun 14, 2011 Creativity's Corner rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: time-travel, young-adult

This review was originally posted on my blog, Creativity's Corner [creativityscorner.blogspot.com]

This one is really problematic for me (the review, not the book). I keep telling myself that this would have been a great book if only it didn't have time travel in it. Time travel is starting to get a bit overused and if it's not handled properly, it just sort of falls flat. This particular version does well with what it handles - the problem is that there are so many things it doesn't answer. For...more

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Apr 02, 2011 April Knapp rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: children-s-chapter, historical-fiction, sci-fi

Review originally posted HERE

This is a review for the entire trilogy.

The Gideon Trilogy is a well-told story that keeps you coming back for more. I had a hard time putting the books down, especially the first two. Buckley-Archer is compared to J.K Rowling. I wouldn't go THAT far, but it is a good, entertaining story.

The character development is decent. I read this trilogy after reading the amazing 100 Cupboards Trilogy which has phenomenal character development, so try as I may, it was hard to...more

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Jan 10, 2011 Ika Nindito rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Setelah membaca reviewan mbak Truly Rudiono, aku masih perlu 6 bulan sebelum memutuskan untuk mulai membaca buku pertama dari trilogy ini....Sialnya ..pas udah ngebet banget pengen baca , buku pertama "gideon The cutpurse" tak kutemukan di toko buku manapun . Sampai aku telpon hampir seluruh Toko Buku Gramedia ,tapi mereka semua gak ada stock...ke gunung Agung pun sama aja....hhhmmm jadi makin setengah mati penasaran...untungnya inget ada Toko Buku MP Point , pas telpon kesana stocknya cuma ting...more

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Dec 20, 2010 Hyrum rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

This is what I wrote for my school book report:
Peter Sholock and Kate Dyer are just ordinary kids. Then their life changes when Peter goes to Kate’s farm, and Mr.Dyer shows them his work. (He is an astrologist.) They try his assistant’s new invention, an anti gravity machine. Then their dog gets spooked and starts running, the kids run after him because he could break something. The anti gravity machine sparks and then the children find themselves in a whole different place: a green grassy mead...more

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Dec 08, 2010 Sandy rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: children

I would give this 3.5 stars - I liked it more than just "liked it" but I didn't REALLY like it. It's a fun read, but a little too juvenile for my tastes. I picked it up at the bookstore based on the review on the back, which said that if you liked Harry Potter, you'd like this series. I thought, what the heck? It was just under 400 pages, but the font was rather large and double spaced.

This book was basically about two modern British children who accidentally go back in time to 1763, and have to...more

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Oct 11, 2010 Carre rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

"It was...okay," she said cautiously. Actually, I think many of the winning points in this one were scored not by the author, but by the narrator of the **audiobook version** ([meaningful look at potential readers]) who did great--just absolutely fabulous--voices for the many and varied British characters in this story. The thing is that for a "21st-century-characters-unwittingly-time-travel-to-the-18th-century" type of book, this one was done pretty well. It's just that, well...I kept thinking,...more

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Aug 31, 2010 Keith Robinson rated it 4 of 5 stars

This is a fun time travel romp, although probably not a "light read" for some. I really liked it, and the author shines when she's writing about the 18th century; I have a feeling she didn't so much research the era so she could write her story, but came up with a time travel idea just so she could write about what she knows and loves. This is a great way to learn about how we used to live in the 1700s, and depictions of Ye Olde London (markets, pubs, prisons, etc) are superb. There's a lot more...more

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Jul 19, 2010 Rhiannon Ryder rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I won't lie, I picked up The Time Travelers, part one in the Gideon trilogy, mainly because it had awesome cover art. James Jean is such a deadly awesome artist, and I was so excited that he'd illustrated a middle school book, I just had to read it.

As a first book, The Time Travelers was a bit cumbersome. The story was a lot of fun and I was digging the characters, but I found her style was a bit stilted. It was almost as if she was attributing a 7 year olds' way of reading to her 9-13 year old...more I won't lie, I picked up The Time Travelers, part one in the Gideon trilogy, mainly because it had awesome cover art. James Jean is such a deadly awesome artist, and I was so excited that he'd illustrated a middle school book, I just had to read it.

As a first book, The Time Travelers was a bit cumbersome. The story was a lot of fun and I was digging the characters, but I found her style was a bit stilted. It was almost as if she was attributing a 7 year olds' way of reading to her 9-13 year old age category. Lets face it, Harry Potter wasn't talking down to kids and they ate it up like candy, so why should anyone else have to?

The second book, The Time Thief, was a huge improvement. She seemed to have found her stride and the book was sounding a lot less like a young children's book and a lot more like a confident middle school book. The time travel aspect was getting just the tiniest bit complicated but I liked where she was going and enjoyed the time flip from the first book.

The Time Quake, the third and final part of the series was definitely her piece de resistance. All the complicated ins and outs of the time travel were set up, so although it remained complicated, it was by no means confusing, the characters were finally and fully fleshed out in a revealing and interesting way, and the adventure was fast paced and page turning. Full confidence was given to her audience, and not only did she not dumb it down but covered almost adult level historical material, in such a way that many kids will thank her for.

Although not one of my all time top ten middle school series, I look forward to Linda Buckley-Archer's next book or series. She's definitely an author to look out for.

The Time Quake, By Linda Buckley-Archer
Published by Simon and Schuster Children's Publishing, October 2009

P.S- I have to point out that Entertainment weekly's review tag line for these books "for kids who love Harry Potter" is a bit of a stretch. It's not in anyway similar either in it's subject matter or the way the story is told. Obviously a kid who read Harry Potter (i.e 90% of children) could love this book, but I wouldn't say it's a given. And it certainly wouldn't be my number one suggestion to a parent who was looking for their kids next great read based on the fact they loved Harry Potter. So be warned!(less)

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Jul 14, 2010 Ruhama rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: juvenile

Peter and Kate have just met, and now are thrown (literally) into the past together and have to find a way home! Kate’s father and his co-worker have been working on an anti-gravity machine for NASA, but it turns out to be a time machine as well. Pete and Kate had a run-in with the machine, and have been dumped in 1763, and the first person they meet is the Tar Man, who is a cunning thief. The machine is stolen, the children meet Gideon, eventually learn what time they are in and all their adven...more

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Feb 09, 2010 K. rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: kids-tween-age

Fun little breather book after finishing Les Mis (and had to preview it before letting the kids in on it).

Nothing new about time travel books, but it was decently written and the characters were great.

Objections: 3 swear words and the character from our day mentioning to Erasmus Darwin (the grandfather of Charles) that his grandson would "discover" that we were not created! We were truly evolved from apes. She's 12, so we can forgive her not going into more detail I guess.

Author did a really...more

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Jul 29, 2009 Barb Scott rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

With an eye-catching cover, this novel is a great romp! Twelve-year-old friends Kate and Peter are sent back into time to 1763 England by an anti-gravity machine built by Kate's father. They are more or less immediately befriended buy Gideon, a stranger who also happens to be a cutpurse. The anti-gravity machine is stolen by a thief known as the Tar Man. The Tar Man uses the machine to travel to present-day London and wreak havoc.

A second story involves the efforts of the families in present day...more

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Apr 23, 2009 Kent rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

The cover actually caught my eye (you will see what I mean when you see the book) and so I bought it for the library.

Peter Schock and Kate Dyer are transported in time from the present to 1763. Gideon Seymour sees their amazing appearance out of thin air and takes them under his protective wing. At that point, they try to piece together what has happened to them. The Tar Man, a villainous henchman, has stolen their hope of returning to the present day and challenges them to meet him in London. A...more

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Sep 03, 2012 Ethan Strand rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

*Renamed 'The Time Travelers'

The level of research that went into this novel is uncommon for a story aimed at teenagers. A wonderfully entertaining journey with plenty of enlightening historical detail sprinkled throughout. The author provides insight into how important your station at birth plays into the opportunities one could expect in eighteenth century England. The concept that justice has not been equally available to all throughout history is an important one to remember.

I would have li...more

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Jul 04, 2012 Kristin Lundgren rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: time-travel, ya-sci-fi

This is the first book in a trilogy. My 18 yr old daughter picked it out for me, and I was skeptical, but was wonderfully surprised. Although the protagonists are 12 year old kids, the vocabulary and syntax is advanced. Part of the action takes place in present day England, and part in the past, in 1763 Georgian England. Peter, who's parents are always busy working, goes with his nanny to a friend of her's farm where they have lots of kids, to spend the weekend. While there he meets Kate, a tomb...more This is the first book in a trilogy. My 18 yr old daughter picked it out for me, and I was skeptical, but was wonderfully surprised. Although the protagonists are 12 year old kids, the vocabulary and syntax is advanced. Part of the action takes place in present day England, and part in the past, in 1763 Georgian England. Peter, who's parents are always busy working, goes with his nanny to a friend of her's farm where they have lots of kids, to spend the weekend. While there he meets Kate, a tomboy his age. When her Dad has to go into work at the local science lab, they ask to go with him, so that Kate can show his partner's cool new invention to Peter. Once there, Kate's dog escapes, and while running around looking for her, suddenly everything goes black, and the next thing they know is they wake up in a meadow, a little bruised, but other wise okay. The area looks familiar, but they have no idea of what happened at first. Gradually their memory returns and they recall chasing the dog, and then whoop, waking up here. Hiding in the bushes nearby, is Gideon, a cut-purse and a gentleman, who decided to see who and what the children are, and if they pose a danger. Deciding that they don't, he approaches them, and asked how they got there. Gradually the story is pasted together, and they tell him the truth. Having witnessed their arrival, he is inclined to believe them, but thinks it is in their best interest not to let others in on this secret in a time when people still believed in witches. Gideon brings them to a nearby manor house, where he is to be employed as the estate keeper, and explains that the children are from abroad, and got set upon by highwaymen, and got separated from their uncle who was traveling to London. The lady of the house takes them in, and her kids take to the new comers well, laughing at their funny clothes. Soon they are rested, fed and dressed in their new finery. Thus begins an enchanting tale of Gideon, a good man who has had misfortunes in life, the evil villainous Tar Man, who stole the device that brought them back to 1763, and the difficulties in living in 1763, and trying to find the device, escape from footpads and more highwaymen, and not end up in gaol. Written in a flowery style of that era when back in 1763, except for the kids, who still think and talk in modern terms, the book catches the flavor of the Georgian period wonderfully, the clothes, the food, the traveling, the dangers, the smells, and the cruelty. It was such a gentle story, and full of the details that I used to love when I read Georgian romances, that it brought me back to them, and made me want to drag them out after about 15 years in storage. Thanks to my daughter for this one. Well done, and I look forward to reading more of their adventures.(less)

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Jun 30, 2010 Suzanne rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: childrens

I love fantasy; I love historical fiction; I love science fiction. I did not love this book. I managed to wade through half of it, then quit to move on to something better. The writing is plodding and pedestrian; the plot is predictable; the characters are two-dimensional; the author wastes the opportunity afforded by time travel to either compare and contrast 21st and 18th century life or to provide a window into that past. The characters all speak with modern voices, with one notable and painf...more

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May 13, 2012 Aeo11 rated it 1 of 5 stars · review of another edition Recommends it for: No One

Shelves: bored-out-of-my-mind, cant-believe-this-was-published, couldn-t-finish, series

I picked this book up originally for two reasons.
1. The beautiful cover art sucks you in
2. The cover blurb that states "For kids who love Harry Potter" - Entertainment Weekly

I might not be the target audience but I do enjoy young adult reads most of the time. The back of the book tells us that Peter and Kate manage to land themselves in 1763 due to an accident with an anti-gravity machine. They now somehow need to find their way back to their own time!

This could have been wonderful but everythi...more

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Sep 03, 2010 Margaryta rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: action-adventure, chapter-books, history, time-travel, sci-fi, reality-dramatic, modern

I had picked up this book when I was in grade 5. The cover seemed interesting to me so I decided to give it a go. Less than a hundred pages in I put the book down cause I didn't understand 3/4 of what was going on.

So it was to my surprise when I went to the library and found all three books in the series. I took them out and decided to give them another try because who knows, maybe time would make all the difference.

And heck did it: the story is fast pased, exciting, and easy to get lost in. Th...more

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Aug 25, 2010 Maria rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: young-adult-fiction

For all that this book is titled “Gideon,” it is really about Peter Schock and Kate Dyer, two twelve year-old English children. Peter is the only child of two executives in the film industry who is being raised by his father after his mother, a film producer, leaves for Hollywood to complete a five-year project. Mr. Schock has promised his son a special birthday outing on a couple of different occasions, and then cancelled at the last minute because of work-related issues. Mr. Schock promises th...more For all that this book is titled “Gideon,” it is really about Peter Schock and Kate Dyer, two twelve year-old English children. Peter is the only child of two executives in the film industry who is being raised by his father after his mother, a film producer, leaves for Hollywood to complete a five-year project. Mr. Schock has promised his son a special birthday outing on a couple of different occasions, and then cancelled at the last minute because of work-related issues. Mr. Schock promises that the promised birthday outing will take place, but cancels once again, leaving Peter hurt and betrayed; first his mother leaves and then his father can’t be bothered to spend any time with him. The Schock family’s au pair, Margrit, in an effort to ease Peter’s suffering, offers to take him with her to visit the Dyer family in the country. Once he arrives he meets the Dyer family’s eldest child, Kate, and is invited to go visit the research facility where Dr. Dyer works. All might have been well, but Kate insists on taking the family dog with her; when the dog gets away from the kids they must catch the animal, but in the process come into contact with a device that malfunctions and sends the children back to 1763.

I will digress for a moment to say that I find it humorous that in so many time-travel stories the characters are able to explain their modern clothing by saying they come from a foreign country where such attire is common. Although I understand that such explanations would be acceptable in a culture where there would be no reason to doubt them, it still seems strange that the eighteenth-century characters don’t spend more time questioning nylon materials, zippers, and the rubber in tennis shoes. Several times I had to remind myself that this book was intended for the 10-13 crowd who are only beginning to develop their critical thinking skills and might not think to question the speed with which characters accept, and then ignore the clothing, the kids arrive with. But back to the review!

The children arrive in the past still connected to the machine that transported them and are quickly knocked unconscious by the impact. Unfortunately for them, they happen to land near the notorious Tar Man, a criminal and enforcer for a London crime lord. The Tar man has been in pursuit of a former employee of the crime lord he works for and, as luck would have it, the location of the machine in the present corresponds to the woodland area where the Tar Man has managed to chase his quarry down. The arrival of the strange machine, and equally strange children, however, distracts the Tar Man from his duties long enough for him to load up the machine into his cart and to attempt to steal what he can from the unconscious children. Luckily, the employee the Tar Man was hunting, Gideon Seymour, happens to be hiding in the bushes, and he spooks the horses. The Tar Man races away to catch his cart, and Gideon is able to revive the kids and to offer his help.

The rest of the book follows the children as Gideon takes them with him to his latest job as the manager of the Byng family estate, and then on to London in search of the Tar Man. This book was initially very difficult to read because of the slow pace, and I really didn’t gain any excitement or speed until half way through the story (literally…I was 200 pages in!) The author has also inserted entries from Gideon’s “diary,” written between 1790 and 1792, and these feel awkward and are placed at the end of the chapter that covers the events already described in the chapter. I found these entries to be redundant and not particularly useful in developing the story, but there are few enough of them throughout the book that they were mostly an annoyance.

If this book had a theme, I’m convinced it would be “Thou Shalt Not Steal.” Gideon’s job immediately prior to the start of the book was that of thief for his master, Lord Luxon. Whenever Lord Luxon lost too much of his wealth gambling, Gideon was dispatched to get it back. Gideon’s departure from that household is part of a plan to leave that lifestyle and live with honesty and integrity. Before he can start his new job with the Byng family, he comes into contact with Peter and Kate, and goes extreme lengths to keep them safe and provided for. When Peter discovers Gideon’s criminal past, however, he is instantly suspicious of his new friend and distrustful of his actions despite all Gideon has done for him. Although he eventually overcomes these feelings, his absolute sense of good and evil is typical of a child of that age, and disappointing to a contemporary adult reader who understands that Gideon had few choices given his circumstances and the limitations of eighteenth-century life. Although the point of the book is to tell an adventure story, this might have been an issue that the author could have addressed through the main characters rather than in background descriptions and allusions from a third-person narrative.

The story also deals with the disappearance of the children in the present and how their parents react to the events. Predictably, the Schocks feel guilty about Peter’s disappearance; Mr. Schock remembers that Peter’s last words were “I hate you,” and Mrs. Schock feels like her five-year absorption in the movie she is producing has stolen her attention from her son. The book is a little heavy-handed in its treatment of these self-absorbed parents who don’t stop to consider their child until he is suddenly gone, but I feel that many children of two-income homes have the feelings of abandonment and betrayal that Peter expresses at the beginning of the story. Kate, by contrast, comes from a family with supportive parents, and her angst is limited to the anxiety she feels at having been separated from them and the pain she knows her absence is causing.

Other reviewers have remarked that they were disappointed by the lack of descriptions of historical events, clothes, and customs. It should be noted that author Linda Buckley-Archer includes a note at the end of the book in which she explains that she was more interested in telling a story than trying to recreate a historical period; that being said, she does include a great amount of detail after Peter and Kate reach London. I was a little surprised by the lack of commentary from the children while they were in the countryside, but once they arrive in London they describe important locations, events such as hanging days, and pub life--the original “fast food” of the eighteenth century, when many city dwellers didn’t keep kitchen stoves in the home because of the risk of fires that could burn down entire neighborhoods. Kate complains quite bitterly throughout the entire book about having to wear stays (a corset) and how the combination of her undergarments and voluminous dresses restrict her ability to move, especially with any speed. Also discussed are the sanitation conditions in London (open gutters with running sewage), medical treatments that include bleeding and the laying on of hands by the king or queen, and how Newgate prison operated. There’s a great deal of history in this book, even if it isn’t always described as well as it could be.

This book is the first in the Gideon Trilogy, so I don’t want to give away the ending except to say that it is a cliffhanger. I was a little disturbed that the book does little to set up the trilogy except for its cliffhanger ending, and I am hoping that the rest of the series makes the abrupt ending of the first book seem more reasonable. Although I did not love this book, I did like it, and I wouldn’t have any problem putting it into a classroom and school library, even at the high school level. It was an enjoyable and interesting read once I mastered the tempo and rhythm of the story.
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About Linda Buckley-Archer

Linda Buckley-Archer was born in Sussex and spent much of her childhood in rural Staffordshire, before settling in London, where she now lives with her husband and two children.

Originally trained as a linguist, she lectured in French for some years before becoming a full-time novelist and scriptwriter. Linda has recently completed the final book (The Time Quake) in The Gideon Trilogy of novels fo...more

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