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Shadows of the Past #17
The Shadow of the Great Fire
The seventeenth book in the Shadows of the Past
In 1666, as London recovers from a deadly plague, the old medieval city with its narrow streets has become a tinderbox. After a long, hot summer, a small spark is all it takes for the whole place to go up in flames - but is this a simple accident or a deliberate act of sabotage? Towards the end of August, only days before the Great Fire will break out, three time-travelling children and their talking cat land on the doorstep of one of the most famous figures of the 17 th century. Can they discover why they've been sent there before it's too late? Time is running out...
In 1666, as London recovers from a deadly plague, the old medieval city with its narrow streets has become a tinderbox. After a long, hot summer, a small spark is all it takes for the whole place to go up in flames - but is this a simple accident or a deliberate act of sabotage? Towards the end of August, only days before the Great Fire will break out, three time-travelling children and their talking cat land on the doorstep of one of the most famous figures of the 17 th century. Can they discover why they've been sent there before it's too late? Time is running out...
326 pages, Paperback
Published September 5, 2020
About the author
Wendy Leighton-Porter
24 books469 followersFacebook:www.facebook.com/pages/Wendy-Leighton...
After spending 20 years as a teacher of French, Latin and Classical studies, Wendy's career took a new direction when she turned her hand to writing Middle Grade fiction.
"The Shadow of Atlantis" is the first in a series of time-travel adventures, featuring 3 children and a remarkable feline hero, Maximus Lancelot. She has recently completed the 18th book, "The Shadow of the Sifting Sands".
As she takes her young readers on a magical mystery tour through the past, she's hoping that her love of history, myth and legend will rub off on them too.
After spending 20 years as a teacher of French, Latin and Classical studies, Wendy's career took a new direction when she turned her hand to writing Middle Grade fiction.
"The Shadow of Atlantis" is the first in a series of time-travel adventures, featuring 3 children and a remarkable feline hero, Maximus Lancelot. She has recently completed the 18th book, "The Shadow of the Sifting Sands".
As she takes her young readers on a magical mystery tour through the past, she's hoping that her love of history, myth and legend will rub off on them too.
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Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
September 21, 2021
Uncle Richard was taking his niece and nephew, Jemima and Joe Lancelot, along with their friend Charlie and his mum Ellen to see The Monument. Charlie told the twins that this was not just any monument, it was The Monument to the Great Fire of London. The fire was supposed to have started during the night in the bread ovens belonging to a local baker, Thomas Farriner. There were a lot of rumors surrounding how the fire started, but no one knew for sure what exactly happened. The Monument is 202 m in height and took six years to complete. The day after the visit, using their special key, the children opened their father’s ancient book that was a portal into the past and, at once, whispering voices filtered from the pages. Max the Tonkinese cat was already nervous. The children were not sure where they would be taken this time but, going by their previous trips, they knew it would be adventurous and dangerous. As Jemima recited the lines of the poem from the 17th chapter of the book, a light breeze brought a faint whiff of smoke. Max was sure this was the work of the Guardians of Time who were sending them on a mission, to the time of the Great Fire.
'The Shadow of the Great Fire’ (Shadows from the Past Book 17) by Wendy Leighton-Porter takes the three children and their cat back in time to the Great Fire of London in 1666. Like the other stories in the series, this book is also a great combination of fact and fiction and give glimpses of history when they meet the likes of Isaac Newton, the scientist, King Charles (whom Max had already met during his solo adventure), architects Christopher Wren and Robert Hooke, and Samuel Pepys, the diarist. Wendy's narration is descriptive and detailed and she brings The Great Fire of London and the devastating plague alive for her young readers. A new dimension is added to the overall plot of the series when we are introduced to the Pyxichron, a mysterious and magical object with time-travelling powers, that is in the possession of the twins’ missing parents who are lost somewhere in the past. I would recommend this entire series to be kept in school libraries as it is a good way for middle-grade readers to learn historical facts without getting bored, and gives them the feeling of living during those periods.
'The Shadow of the Great Fire’ (Shadows from the Past Book 17) by Wendy Leighton-Porter takes the three children and their cat back in time to the Great Fire of London in 1666. Like the other stories in the series, this book is also a great combination of fact and fiction and give glimpses of history when they meet the likes of Isaac Newton, the scientist, King Charles (whom Max had already met during his solo adventure), architects Christopher Wren and Robert Hooke, and Samuel Pepys, the diarist. Wendy's narration is descriptive and detailed and she brings The Great Fire of London and the devastating plague alive for her young readers. A new dimension is added to the overall plot of the series when we are introduced to the Pyxichron, a mysterious and magical object with time-travelling powers, that is in the possession of the twins’ missing parents who are lost somewhere in the past. I would recommend this entire series to be kept in school libraries as it is a good way for middle-grade readers to learn historical facts without getting bored, and gives them the feeling of living during those periods.
July 22, 2020
Ms. Leighton-Porter has once again brought a pivotal moment of English history to life through the continuing adventures of twins Joe and Jemima Lancelot, their good friend Charlie, and Max the Tonkinese cat. This time the children and Max meet the famous diarist Samuel Pepys, scientist Isaac Newton, and King Charles II (though the kids don't know Max is already acquainted with His Majesty, from an earlier solo adventure). They also come within a whisker (sorry, Max!) of catching up to the twins' parents ...
August 30, 2020
Love this series
This book makes the great fire of London come alive as the children.are sent into the past together with max, where they meet Samuel pepys
This book makes the great fire of London come alive as the children.are sent into the past together with max, where they meet Samuel pepys
March 9, 2022
This book was entered in The Wishing Shelf Book Awards. This is what our readers thought:
Title: THE SHADOW OF THE GREAT FIRE
Author: Wendy Leighton-Porter
Star Rating: 4 Stars
Number of Readers: 16
Stats
Editing: 8/10
Writing Style: 7/10
Content: 7/10
Cover: 1/5
Of the 16 young readers:
12 would read another book by this author.
3 thought the cover was good or excellent.
16 felt it was easy to follow.
12 would recommend this book to another reader to try.
Of all the readers, 8 felt the author’s strongest skill was ‘plotting a story’.
Of all the readers, 3 felt the author’s strongest skill was ‘developing the characters’.
Of all the readers, 5 felt the author’s strongest skill was ‘writing style’.
11 felt the pacing was good or excellent.
12 thought the author understood the readership and what they wanted.
Readers’ Comments
“I think this is a good book for getting to know a little history and meeting famous characters from history. I always enjoy time-travelling books, so I enjoyed this too.” Boy, aged 9
“I like how the author described the fire. I thought she really brought it to life so I almost felt hot reading it!” Girl, age 10
“The three children were fun to get to know and it was interesting how they were travelling through time and meeting so many cool people and having such an exciting adventure. I thought it was a bit slow to get going and I like the second half of the book the most. I think this author is pretty talented and I'd read another book by her.” Boy, aged 10
“A book of this nature is wonderful to have in a school library as it can introduce children to many aspects of history whilst at the same time gripping them with an exciting adventure. Although the children in my class thought the cover was poor and the title hard to read, they liked the story and would happily read another.” Primary school teacher, age 55
“This book is funny in parts which I liked. I was happy that there was lots of talking as I always enjoy that the most in a book. We looked at the fire of London in school and also the plague, so I knew a little bit about it. I think it's good when authors try to bring history alive.” Girl, aged 11
“I loved Max the cat but I thought the first chapter was too slow.” Boy, aged 9
To Sum It Up:
‘An exciting read for 9 to 12 year olds set during the fire of London in 1666.’ The Wishing Shelf Book Awards
Title: THE SHADOW OF THE GREAT FIRE
Author: Wendy Leighton-Porter
Star Rating: 4 Stars
Number of Readers: 16
Stats
Editing: 8/10
Writing Style: 7/10
Content: 7/10
Cover: 1/5
Of the 16 young readers:
12 would read another book by this author.
3 thought the cover was good or excellent.
16 felt it was easy to follow.
12 would recommend this book to another reader to try.
Of all the readers, 8 felt the author’s strongest skill was ‘plotting a story’.
Of all the readers, 3 felt the author’s strongest skill was ‘developing the characters’.
Of all the readers, 5 felt the author’s strongest skill was ‘writing style’.
11 felt the pacing was good or excellent.
12 thought the author understood the readership and what they wanted.
Readers’ Comments
“I think this is a good book for getting to know a little history and meeting famous characters from history. I always enjoy time-travelling books, so I enjoyed this too.” Boy, aged 9
“I like how the author described the fire. I thought she really brought it to life so I almost felt hot reading it!” Girl, age 10
“The three children were fun to get to know and it was interesting how they were travelling through time and meeting so many cool people and having such an exciting adventure. I thought it was a bit slow to get going and I like the second half of the book the most. I think this author is pretty talented and I'd read another book by her.” Boy, aged 10
“A book of this nature is wonderful to have in a school library as it can introduce children to many aspects of history whilst at the same time gripping them with an exciting adventure. Although the children in my class thought the cover was poor and the title hard to read, they liked the story and would happily read another.” Primary school teacher, age 55
“This book is funny in parts which I liked. I was happy that there was lots of talking as I always enjoy that the most in a book. We looked at the fire of London in school and also the plague, so I knew a little bit about it. I think it's good when authors try to bring history alive.” Girl, aged 11
“I loved Max the cat but I thought the first chapter was too slow.” Boy, aged 9
To Sum It Up:
‘An exciting read for 9 to 12 year olds set during the fire of London in 1666.’ The Wishing Shelf Book Awards
June 23, 2022
As usual, Wendy Leighton-Porter brings history alive in the best possible way, as Jemima, Joe and Charlie take the time-travelling journey to the past. They are a bit slow on the uptake once again, but soon find themselves rescued by a kindly lady. She instals them in her house, and fabricates a story of them being her long-lost cousin’s children, in need of her care.
Charlie is well-prepared for this journey, having smuggled modern maps through the portal to help him find his way. I wonder how much this influenced Christopher Wren’s plans for the future? The author takes a few liberties with which famous people are in London at the same time, having arguments and debates in London’s coffee houses, but it’s all for good reason.
And for the first time, we cross the path of the children’s lost parents, and discover (although I think we’d guessed) why they can’t get back to their own time.
I was really looking forward to this book, and I wasn’t disappointed. The time, the event, and the sights and sounds of London of 1666 are brilliantly created and used by Leighton-Porter in Shadow of the Great Fire. And Max plays an essential role, once more. Even if he is a bit of a wuss otherwise!
Charlie is well-prepared for this journey, having smuggled modern maps through the portal to help him find his way. I wonder how much this influenced Christopher Wren’s plans for the future? The author takes a few liberties with which famous people are in London at the same time, having arguments and debates in London’s coffee houses, but it’s all for good reason.
And for the first time, we cross the path of the children’s lost parents, and discover (although I think we’d guessed) why they can’t get back to their own time.
I was really looking forward to this book, and I wasn’t disappointed. The time, the event, and the sights and sounds of London of 1666 are brilliantly created and used by Leighton-Porter in Shadow of the Great Fire. And Max plays an essential role, once more. Even if he is a bit of a wuss otherwise!
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews