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Cathedral of Time
Ghostly sightings of a legendary murderer.
The discovery of a hidden stash from a bank
robbery.
The disappearance of a well-known TV
personality, and
the most prominent family in town
entangled in all of it.
Makayla Brown’s ideal life is about to be
blown to smithereens. She’ll need to race
across space and time, plunging herself into
another world in hopes of saving her own.
When Makayla disappears off the face of the
Earth, the dedication of her two best friends,
Tanner and Andrew, will be tested as they
attempt to follow her trail through a
dangerous new world and encounter beasts
and beings the likes of which they’ve never
seen.
Will they reach Makayla in time to rescue her
from certain death and bring her safely home,
or will they be doomed to spend eternity in
their new world, sealed by the rule of the
fates?
The discovery of a hidden stash from a bank
robbery.
The disappearance of a well-known TV
personality, and
the most prominent family in town
entangled in all of it.
Makayla Brown’s ideal life is about to be
blown to smithereens. She’ll need to race
across space and time, plunging herself into
another world in hopes of saving her own.
When Makayla disappears off the face of the
Earth, the dedication of her two best friends,
Tanner and Andrew, will be tested as they
attempt to follow her trail through a
dangerous new world and encounter beasts
and beings the likes of which they’ve never
seen.
Will they reach Makayla in time to rescue her
from certain death and bring her safely home,
or will they be doomed to spend eternity in
their new world, sealed by the rule of the
fates?
409 pages, Paperback
First published September 21, 2017
1 person is currently reading
37 people want to read
About the author
Stephen Austin Thorpe
4 books12 followersSTEPHEN AUSTIN THORPE strives to inspire kids that they can accomplish whatever they set their minds to. Mr. Thorpe set his own goal many years ago to be a renaissance man. As a Sterling Scholar artist in high school he began to develop his great love for the artists of the Renaissance and their wide range of skills and abilities. While serving as a missionary in Rome, Italy as a 19 year-old, that love only grew. After returning from missionary service, Mr. Thorpe headed for college.
Doing things differently than the crowd, like he usually does, Stephen made a profit going to college. When the school paper (where he worked as the political cartoonist) couldn’t give him a second scholarship to go along with his academic scholarship, they gave him the money instead. His first published cartoon won an award from the Rocky Mountain College Press Association. To make additional money on the side, he worked at a retail store during the week selling computers and electronics and started a business filming wedding videos on weekends.
His next venture was a retail business that reflected his love for cartoons. Named the Comic Section, the store sold Disney, Warner Bros., Far Side, Garfield, The Simpsons, Bloom County, etc. merchandise during what he considers the golden age of cartoons. He took that retail experience and went to work for the Pro Image (licensed sports merchandise) at their franchise corporate headquarters. After a few years he took what he learned and became one of the founders of Pretzelmaker, a fast food pretzel business located in malls throughout the world. Two years later, the business was sold with 150 franchises sold and 50 stores open. It was around this time that Mr. Thorpe was offered a publishing deal for a religious cartoon book he had been working on. The deal wasn’t very lucrative, so to take a stand for starving artists everywhere he turned it down, though his wife continues to say that he should have just done it.
He helped develop A Little Bit of Buffalo which sold Buffalo, NY style food and then made a major career shift by founding a software training business in 1997. In 2003 he began consulting large organizations like American Express, Capital One, GEICO, Union Pacific, SC Johnson, and others where he develops multimedia-rich educational games, videos, and other learning interactions. On the side he returned to his love of art, history, and writing. He founded Creating History, Inc. to make history more fun and engaging. He continued his development of 3D models of Ancient Rome and began to write the storyline for a video game that included mythology, fantasy, and history. When he realized his draft of the storyline was 33,000 words, he checked how many words the Harry Potter books were and realized he was a third of the way to a complete book. He spent the next few years writing, massaging, sending off to editors, re-writing, etc. until The World of Agartha book one was finished. He continues to work on the video game and write books. There are five books planned for The World of Agartha series.
Doing things differently than the crowd, like he usually does, Stephen made a profit going to college. When the school paper (where he worked as the political cartoonist) couldn’t give him a second scholarship to go along with his academic scholarship, they gave him the money instead. His first published cartoon won an award from the Rocky Mountain College Press Association. To make additional money on the side, he worked at a retail store during the week selling computers and electronics and started a business filming wedding videos on weekends.
His next venture was a retail business that reflected his love for cartoons. Named the Comic Section, the store sold Disney, Warner Bros., Far Side, Garfield, The Simpsons, Bloom County, etc. merchandise during what he considers the golden age of cartoons. He took that retail experience and went to work for the Pro Image (licensed sports merchandise) at their franchise corporate headquarters. After a few years he took what he learned and became one of the founders of Pretzelmaker, a fast food pretzel business located in malls throughout the world. Two years later, the business was sold with 150 franchises sold and 50 stores open. It was around this time that Mr. Thorpe was offered a publishing deal for a religious cartoon book he had been working on. The deal wasn’t very lucrative, so to take a stand for starving artists everywhere he turned it down, though his wife continues to say that he should have just done it.
He helped develop A Little Bit of Buffalo which sold Buffalo, NY style food and then made a major career shift by founding a software training business in 1997. In 2003 he began consulting large organizations like American Express, Capital One, GEICO, Union Pacific, SC Johnson, and others where he develops multimedia-rich educational games, videos, and other learning interactions. On the side he returned to his love of art, history, and writing. He founded Creating History, Inc. to make history more fun and engaging. He continued his development of 3D models of Ancient Rome and began to write the storyline for a video game that included mythology, fantasy, and history. When he realized his draft of the storyline was 33,000 words, he checked how many words the Harry Potter books were and realized he was a third of the way to a complete book. He spent the next few years writing, massaging, sending off to editors, re-writing, etc. until The World of Agartha book one was finished. He continues to work on the video game and write books. There are five books planned for The World of Agartha series.
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Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews
November 8, 2017
Great young adult fiction fantasy and historical fiction book. Adults and youth will enjoy it. Looking forward to the rest of the books in the series!
December 16, 2022
It had been a minute since I had read a middle-grade book. When I read them, I usually do because I am checking the content for my 9-year-old daughter. So, when the email came from the author asking me to read and review this book, I did hesitate. But, what ultimately made me choose to review Cathedral of Time was that this book used Augmented Reality as part of the plotline. I had only read one other book that used this and was curious to see how it would go with the book. I am glad that I did. The book was a good read, and the augmented reality was fantastic!!
The author provided me with an app that went with the book. The app is Xperience Books. It is free and can be used with iPhones and Android phones. You need to register with the app, which takes about 5 minutes. But once you are registered, you can scan the QR codes supplied at the end of each chapter. I did a few chapters (with the QR codes) and found the content quite good. There was AR (I brought one up with a bear. It stood on my dining room table….lol), voice clips from the different characters, filters (the one I tried was Tanner’s baseball hat), links to the cave mentioned in the book (it is real) and links to book merch. This app was a plus and made my reading experience more fun.
There are some triggers in the Cathedral of Time. They are the death of a sibling, divorce, verbal and maybe emotional abuse of a child, and depression. The author does spend some time on all of these (mainly because they happen to one child), and he writes about them respectfully. If you are triggered by these or feel that your child will be, I suggest not reading this book.
Cathedral of Time is a medium-paced book that takes place in quite a few places. I loved the pacing of this book. It was just fast enough for me to enjoy the action scenes but also slow enough for me to process everything. I loved the locations where this book took place. It took place in Kentucky (past and present). But, as soon as the kids found the portal, the book shifted location to a different world that led them to Mount Olympus, the River Styx, and Ancient Rome.
The three main characters were well-written. They acted like tweens, and I loved it. Any book where the kids act their age instead of years older immediately gets bonus brownie points.
Makayla—I loved her. She was resourceful and determined to solve the mystery of her ancestor. But, simultaneously, she was embarrassed by what he did. I did feel bad when her huge secret got out. I didn’t think that Tanner or Andrew ratted on her. Something else must have happened. I did get irritated with her when she set off by herself. She was mad and decided she would be the only one to solve the mystery of her ancestor. And that did come back to bite her in the butt, big time.
Tanner—My heart broke for him. This poor child endured more than anyone should at his age. The guilt over his sister dying ate at him, as did how his father treated him. Everything manifested in him trying to be the best at everything just so his father would say something nice. I wanted to cry during his chapters. His self-esteem and self-worth weren’t there. But the author did something in the middle of his and Andrew’s storyline that made me smile. He made Tanner realize his self-worth.
Andrew—I didn’t know a lot about him. He was a bit of an enigma. All I knew was that he was uber-rich, intelligent, and a very loyal friend to Makayla and Tanner. Other than that, nada. I hope that more is revealed about him in the next book because I feel there is more to him than what is shown.
There were a ton of notable secondary characters. The author included regular made-up characters (Mick’s mom and dad, the sheriff, and Tanner’s mom). He also included, which I loved, figures from mythology and history. Jupiter, Hades, Persephone, Demeter, and Nero appear in the book. The secondary characters made this book much more fleshed out and three-dimensional.
Cathedral of Time was a mishmash of genres, so I can’t just pin it down to one. It fits into the genres of middle grade, fiction, history, and fantasy. There is also a Christian angle to the book. The author gave an excellent overview of Christianity and how it survived in Ancient Rome without being too preachy.
The storyline with Mick and her journey to prove her ancestor’s innocence was engaging. I felt awful that Mick felt her father was up to something shady. But, in her defense, he was acting shady. Then when she found out about who she was related to, it was almost too much for her. I felt she was reckless when she set off alone in Agartha. But the adventures she had and the advice she was given were priceless. There were a couple of twists in her storyline that I saw coming. But it didn’t take away from my enjoyment of seeing where she went and who she met.
The storyline with Tanner and Andrew was just as good as Mick’s. They were on a rescue mission and determined to get to Mick no matter what. They did go about getting to Mount Olympus differently than Mick did. They traveled down the River Styx, met Persephone, traversed a bottomless pit, and beat Hades to reach Ancient Rome. I disagreed with them messing with history, though. Or what happened when they tried to get Mick out of prison. I will say that Nero was pretty scary (he might be too frightening for younger readers). The twist at the end of their storyline was pretty good.
The end of the Cathedral of Time was interesting. I wasn’t exactly thrilled with what Mick’s mother said about Tanner and Andrew. The author did wrap up a couple of the storylines but left the main ones wide open. I also am interested in what happens in the next book.
I recommend Cathedral of Time to anyone over 10 (with a parent) or 12 (without a parent). There is mild violence, very mild language, and the triggers I mentioned above.
I want to thank the author, Stephen Austin Thorpe, for allowing me to read and review this free book. All opinions stated in this review are mine.
The author provided me with an app that went with the book. The app is Xperience Books. It is free and can be used with iPhones and Android phones. You need to register with the app, which takes about 5 minutes. But once you are registered, you can scan the QR codes supplied at the end of each chapter. I did a few chapters (with the QR codes) and found the content quite good. There was AR (I brought one up with a bear. It stood on my dining room table….lol), voice clips from the different characters, filters (the one I tried was Tanner’s baseball hat), links to the cave mentioned in the book (it is real) and links to book merch. This app was a plus and made my reading experience more fun.
There are some triggers in the Cathedral of Time. They are the death of a sibling, divorce, verbal and maybe emotional abuse of a child, and depression. The author does spend some time on all of these (mainly because they happen to one child), and he writes about them respectfully. If you are triggered by these or feel that your child will be, I suggest not reading this book.
Cathedral of Time is a medium-paced book that takes place in quite a few places. I loved the pacing of this book. It was just fast enough for me to enjoy the action scenes but also slow enough for me to process everything. I loved the locations where this book took place. It took place in Kentucky (past and present). But, as soon as the kids found the portal, the book shifted location to a different world that led them to Mount Olympus, the River Styx, and Ancient Rome.
The three main characters were well-written. They acted like tweens, and I loved it. Any book where the kids act their age instead of years older immediately gets bonus brownie points.
Makayla—I loved her. She was resourceful and determined to solve the mystery of her ancestor. But, simultaneously, she was embarrassed by what he did. I did feel bad when her huge secret got out. I didn’t think that Tanner or Andrew ratted on her. Something else must have happened. I did get irritated with her when she set off by herself. She was mad and decided she would be the only one to solve the mystery of her ancestor. And that did come back to bite her in the butt, big time.
Tanner—My heart broke for him. This poor child endured more than anyone should at his age. The guilt over his sister dying ate at him, as did how his father treated him. Everything manifested in him trying to be the best at everything just so his father would say something nice. I wanted to cry during his chapters. His self-esteem and self-worth weren’t there. But the author did something in the middle of his and Andrew’s storyline that made me smile. He made Tanner realize his self-worth.
Andrew—I didn’t know a lot about him. He was a bit of an enigma. All I knew was that he was uber-rich, intelligent, and a very loyal friend to Makayla and Tanner. Other than that, nada. I hope that more is revealed about him in the next book because I feel there is more to him than what is shown.
There were a ton of notable secondary characters. The author included regular made-up characters (Mick’s mom and dad, the sheriff, and Tanner’s mom). He also included, which I loved, figures from mythology and history. Jupiter, Hades, Persephone, Demeter, and Nero appear in the book. The secondary characters made this book much more fleshed out and three-dimensional.
Cathedral of Time was a mishmash of genres, so I can’t just pin it down to one. It fits into the genres of middle grade, fiction, history, and fantasy. There is also a Christian angle to the book. The author gave an excellent overview of Christianity and how it survived in Ancient Rome without being too preachy.
The storyline with Mick and her journey to prove her ancestor’s innocence was engaging. I felt awful that Mick felt her father was up to something shady. But, in her defense, he was acting shady. Then when she found out about who she was related to, it was almost too much for her. I felt she was reckless when she set off alone in Agartha. But the adventures she had and the advice she was given were priceless. There were a couple of twists in her storyline that I saw coming. But it didn’t take away from my enjoyment of seeing where she went and who she met.
The storyline with Tanner and Andrew was just as good as Mick’s. They were on a rescue mission and determined to get to Mick no matter what. They did go about getting to Mount Olympus differently than Mick did. They traveled down the River Styx, met Persephone, traversed a bottomless pit, and beat Hades to reach Ancient Rome. I disagreed with them messing with history, though. Or what happened when they tried to get Mick out of prison. I will say that Nero was pretty scary (he might be too frightening for younger readers). The twist at the end of their storyline was pretty good.
The end of the Cathedral of Time was interesting. I wasn’t exactly thrilled with what Mick’s mother said about Tanner and Andrew. The author did wrap up a couple of the storylines but left the main ones wide open. I also am interested in what happens in the next book.
I recommend Cathedral of Time to anyone over 10 (with a parent) or 12 (without a parent). There is mild violence, very mild language, and the triggers I mentioned above.
I want to thank the author, Stephen Austin Thorpe, for allowing me to read and review this free book. All opinions stated in this review are mine.
July 22, 2023
I had a really hard time following this book. It was kind of all over the place. The QR codes are an interesting idea for reluctant readers though.
I had a detailed review and GoodReads crashed while I was writing it. 😭 will attempt to rewrite.
To begin, I struggled with this book because there were flash backs, and time wasn’t clear on how long things were happening. So sometimes it seemed like it indicated weeks had gone by and other times maybe only a a few days? It was very confusing.
When I tried to describe the book to someone else, it was very complicated and a turn off because I couldn’t find a way to adequately describe what was going on. There’s modern day, then Greek mythology, then Ancient Rome… It was just everywhere.
Then there’s the QR codes. I had a hard time getting them to work at all to begin with, and then it was frustrating getting them to work well or consistently.
I didn’t realize at first you needed to have a a specific app. Then when I did get the app it bc wouldn’t read any of them. I figured out I needed to reformat my Kindle book to get it to work. Then it takes a long time for the scanner to register the code. And sometimes it’ll close out the app instead of going back to the selection screen.
All that being said, the idea is cool for reluctant readers like my 10 year old. Cumbersome for mom who just wants to read, but for a kid who needs that reward, cool concept.
Over all I’ve given the book 3 stars.
The pacing and flashback following, trouble with the app and ultimately the confusion I was left with as the insinuation that the Greek mythology gods and goddesses were real along with the distinct undercurrent of it being a Christian book, made it hard to give more than 3 stars. The ending was confusing for me. I did like some of the twists though.
Maybe these “problems” would be more overlooked by the intended audience. So if you’ve got a reluctant reader, I’d say it’s worth a shot.
I had a detailed review and GoodReads crashed while I was writing it. 😭 will attempt to rewrite.
To begin, I struggled with this book because there were flash backs, and time wasn’t clear on how long things were happening. So sometimes it seemed like it indicated weeks had gone by and other times maybe only a a few days? It was very confusing.
When I tried to describe the book to someone else, it was very complicated and a turn off because I couldn’t find a way to adequately describe what was going on. There’s modern day, then Greek mythology, then Ancient Rome… It was just everywhere.
Then there’s the QR codes. I had a hard time getting them to work at all to begin with, and then it was frustrating getting them to work well or consistently.
I didn’t realize at first you needed to have a a specific app. Then when I did get the app it bc wouldn’t read any of them. I figured out I needed to reformat my Kindle book to get it to work. Then it takes a long time for the scanner to register the code. And sometimes it’ll close out the app instead of going back to the selection screen.
All that being said, the idea is cool for reluctant readers like my 10 year old. Cumbersome for mom who just wants to read, but for a kid who needs that reward, cool concept.
Over all I’ve given the book 3 stars.
The pacing and flashback following, trouble with the app and ultimately the confusion I was left with as the insinuation that the Greek mythology gods and goddesses were real along with the distinct undercurrent of it being a Christian book, made it hard to give more than 3 stars. The ending was confusing for me. I did like some of the twists though.
Maybe these “problems” would be more overlooked by the intended audience. So if you’ve got a reluctant reader, I’d say it’s worth a shot.
July 19, 2023
Great YA book! Wonderful characters, terrific storyline, and I can’t wait to read the second book!
July 18, 2023
Overall, I enjoyed this book. The story is interesting, with some intriguing plot points, an unexpected twist, and, very close to the end, a moment of oh-my-goodness-no-he-didn't (got a laugh out of that bit, honestly). And as a mom of three, part of me was analyzing whether my kids would like it. The verdict- yes, no, & maybe.
The story follows three friends, Mick (Makayla), Tanner, and Andrew. I'm guessing age 14/15, since they're in middle school. Starting with a school project, Mick soon spirals into an unrecognizable version of herself due to what she learns. After some family drama, Mick decides she has to be the one to solve the town's longstanding mystery, choosing not to confide in her close friends. One thing leads to another, and Tanner & Andrew decide they've got to rescue her, leading them into their own adventures.
While some answers are found, there are still quite a few that are left unresolved. (Hopefully they are answered in the next books.)
I appreciated the take on Greek Mythology, & the historical fiction was fairly well done. I'm not a history buff, and I don't know all the facts of some of the events that were worked into the book. But, it was a reasonable and believable interpretation, considering what writings we have are from nearly a hundred years after the facts.
A couple of things to keep in mind if you're going to pick this one up:
- It's long. At something over 400 pages, it's longer than I have any hope of my 11yr old reading (that's the maybe, and for that reason).
- The book is written very intelligently. The tone of the book is mature, but not 'old', and while I caught myself thinking, "wait, would kids talk/think/act like that", when I stopped to consider it, I realize my 14yr old actually does.
- The characters are Christian. That's not a bad thing, and honestly, they're from a small town in the South, one almost expects it. As another reviewer mentioned, there are a couple mentions of a bible. A very specific family heirloom. There is also one (just one) day that they go to church. However, there is no preaching, no lecturing, no praying (well, actually, there sort of is, if you consider speaking to Greek god/desses as prayer), no scripture. Nothing that should offend any non-Christians (at least, it didn't offend me).
- It is a perfectly clean read. The characters never swear, not even the adults. There is a single kiss on the cheek, and at mid-teens, it's really very mild.
On a related note, I loved that there were no glaring grammatical or spelling mistakes, the tense never changed, and there were no unexpected POV changes.
All that to say, it's worth a read. I'm looking forward to reading the next books.
The story follows three friends, Mick (Makayla), Tanner, and Andrew. I'm guessing age 14/15, since they're in middle school. Starting with a school project, Mick soon spirals into an unrecognizable version of herself due to what she learns. After some family drama, Mick decides she has to be the one to solve the town's longstanding mystery, choosing not to confide in her close friends. One thing leads to another, and Tanner & Andrew decide they've got to rescue her, leading them into their own adventures.
While some answers are found, there are still quite a few that are left unresolved. (Hopefully they are answered in the next books.)
I appreciated the take on Greek Mythology, & the historical fiction was fairly well done. I'm not a history buff, and I don't know all the facts of some of the events that were worked into the book. But, it was a reasonable and believable interpretation, considering what writings we have are from nearly a hundred years after the facts.
A couple of things to keep in mind if you're going to pick this one up:
- It's long. At something over 400 pages, it's longer than I have any hope of my 11yr old reading (that's the maybe, and for that reason).
- The book is written very intelligently. The tone of the book is mature, but not 'old', and while I caught myself thinking, "wait, would kids talk/think/act like that", when I stopped to consider it, I realize my 14yr old actually does.
- The characters are Christian. That's not a bad thing, and honestly, they're from a small town in the South, one almost expects it. As another reviewer mentioned, there are a couple mentions of a bible. A very specific family heirloom. There is also one (just one) day that they go to church. However, there is no preaching, no lecturing, no praying (well, actually, there sort of is, if you consider speaking to Greek god/desses as prayer), no scripture. Nothing that should offend any non-Christians (at least, it didn't offend me).
- It is a perfectly clean read. The characters never swear, not even the adults. There is a single kiss on the cheek, and at mid-teens, it's really very mild.
On a related note, I loved that there were no glaring grammatical or spelling mistakes, the tense never changed, and there were no unexpected POV changes.
All that to say, it's worth a read. I'm looking forward to reading the next books.
January 18, 2024
I would definitely recommend this book, but there are a couple things that annoy me.
Number One - The storyline is hard to follow. There are several viewpoints and they often feel disconnected from each other, especially since at one point the POVs are at different times.
Number Two - They kind of skip over the Inner Earth part. As a mythology nerd, it annoys me that Thorpe creates this entire world based on Greek and Roman myths, and then the bulk of the story is focused on ancient Rome, a place they could never have gone if not for Inner Earth. There is no explanation for many aspects, such as why the gods' enemies are so intent on capturing Surfacers. I hope there will be more focus on Inner Earth and less on Rome in the sequel.
So to sum up, this book is good, but if you're a perfectionist like me, prepare to be annoyed.
Number One - The storyline is hard to follow. There are several viewpoints and they often feel disconnected from each other, especially since at one point the POVs are at different times.
Number Two - They kind of skip over the Inner Earth part. As a mythology nerd, it annoys me that Thorpe creates this entire world based on Greek and Roman myths, and then the bulk of the story is focused on ancient Rome, a place they could never have gone if not for Inner Earth. There is no explanation for many aspects, such as why the gods' enemies are so intent on capturing Surfacers. I hope there will be more focus on Inner Earth and less on Rome in the sequel.
So to sum up, this book is good, but if you're a perfectionist like me, prepare to be annoyed.
Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews