The Emerald Atlas, by John Stephens

Kate, Michael, and Emma are three siblings whose parents disappeared a long time ago, leading them to move from orphanage to orphanage for many years. One day though they are driven to a totally new kind of orphanage, in a sad and unusual location, and this is where the adventure begins. They discover a book which they can use to move through time, and in the process they find themselves involved in a story they wish they had nothing to do with. But their fate is nothing less than to save the world, and like any good heroes, they embrace it. They meet dwarves and monsters in the process, make friends and enemies, and discover what happened to their parents. The Emerald Atlas is a young adult fantasy book. John Stephens writes well and the reading is therefore smooth and enjoyable. The story is not very innovative; in fact, at times you find yourself thinking, 'I've read this before.' But it works. I especially liked his characterisation, in particular young Emma, who is feisty but adorable, and her brother Michael, who is fascinated by dwarves. Kate's character lacks a little depth but is okay. The villains are not bad either. The only real flaw in the book for me is that its plot is partly based on time travel, and like many other time-travel based stories, books and movies alike, it presents difficulties. A book that makes you think is a good book, but you shouldn't have to stop and ponder about what you've read for too long to understand it. This is unfortunately too often the case for time travel. This book is no different. I read it, but I'd find it hard to explain in detail what happened at which time and how it has affected the past, the present and the future. And the proof is that towards the end of the story, one of the children (who, I should add, spend the book moving through time!) feels the need to ask Dr Pym (a wizard and some kind of mentor) what really happened as far as time and time-linked changes are concerned… It says it all. To finish on this topic, I also find that time travel is an easy device to pull heroes out of trouble. For example, they are going to die, there are hundreds of monsters pursuing them, they are under water with no air etc (you get my gist) but with a change somewhere in the past, poof!, they escape the inevitable and are sound and safe. In spite of this small flaw, The Emerald Atlas is a very pleasant read. It is the first installment in a trilogy called The Books of Beginning.