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The final book in the thrilling Navigator trilogy.Twice the Harsh have tried to destroy time, and twice Owen and the Resisters have banded together to stop them. In City of Time, Owen killed the Harsh king, and now the Harsh are hungry for revenge. Their massive fleet is ready to set sail on the sea of time and hunt down the wily Navigator. In this third and final adventure, the Navigator and his friends use every last ounce of bravery and endurance to fight the toughest battle ever. As Owen searches for a solution, he travels through time to meet his father and grandfather, and discovers that the mysterious Frost Child holds the key to the power of the Harsh.

354 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 1, 2009

3 people are currently reading
196 people want to read

About the author

Eoin McNamee

32 books66 followers
McNamee was awarded a Macaulay Fellowship for Irish Literature in 1990, after his 1989 novella The Last of Deeds (Raven Arts Press, Dublin), was shortlisted for the 1989 Irish Times/Aer Lingus Award for Irish Literature. The author currently lives in Ireland with his wife and two children, Owen and Kathleen.

He also writes as John Creed.

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5 stars
71 (29%)
4 stars
87 (36%)
3 stars
63 (26%)
2 stars
16 (6%)
1 star
3 (1%)
Displaying 1 - 28 of 28 reviews
Profile Image for Dayna Smith.
3,283 reviews11 followers
April 24, 2020
The third book in the Navigator series. After Owen killed the Harsh King to save the Resistors from the Harsh's attempt to destroy the world; they want revenge. As Cati, Wesley, and the rest of the Resistors ready for a siege, Owen sails off in the Wayfarer to search for a way to end the Harsh forever. But there is a traitor in their midst. An enjoyable to the conclusion of this trilogy.
Profile Image for Ramona.
1,131 reviews
February 21, 2024
Book three finishes the trilogy and left me wanting to know more! I wanted to have more background on the warehouse characters, the Raggies, pirate island, the Wayfarer live-ship, all the creatures from Rosie's home. So much could be written. Maybe a book about all that? Fast-paced, a fantasy, thriller, adventure story all in one!
Profile Image for Ryne.
375 reviews
February 10, 2012
[WARNING: Lots of spoilers ahead!]

In this conclusion to McNamee's Navigator series, the evil Harsh have decided to eliminate Owen and the Resisters once and for all--along with their entire world. As the Harsh amass their army, Owen and the Resisters must struggle to defend the still-damaged Workhouse. The book cycles between many points of view: Among others, it follows Owen, who sets off through time with Silkey to unravel a mysterious song about a Frost Child that may be the key to defeating the Harsh; Cati and Wesley, who seek to uncover a spy who is sabotaging the defense effort at the Workhouse; and Rosie, who has fled from Harsh-controlled Hadima to warn the Resisters and to support them in their fight.

Can anybody say "retcon?" In addition to problems with plot holes and series continuity (see my other reviews of this series), this novel introduces what at first appears to be a problematic love triangle. Silkey, the tough Raggie girl who first met Owen in Book 1 (and barely exchanged a few words with him) and who was retconned to have a crush on him in Book 2, now suddenly becomes his companion--and blossoming love interest--for much of the book, and readers are left to wonder what will happen when Owen reunites with Cati. But wonder no more! For in the short time Cati spends with Wesley (another Raggie) at the Workhouse, the two also fall in love, and it is revealed--or rather, retconned--that Cati and Wesley are just really good friends. McNamee is free to do with his characters as he wishes--it is his world--but all of the romance happened too quickly and too unrealistically for me; that part of the novel's conclusion felt very contrived.

The climax to the book was interesting, but certainly not thrilling. The Harsh are defeated by Owen's simple action of throwing a book (about the Harash) into the time vortex in Mary White's clock. This might seem more interesting or original, had not the protagonists taken the same clock in the climax of Book 2 and thrown a time-containing "tempod" into it. Where did this clock come from, anyway? To use the clock again at the end of Book 3 wasn't necessarily bad--it kind of reminded me of the Neverending Story in its slightly anticlimactic simplicity--but it just didn't feel very imaginative, considering that it was essentially a repeat of the ending of the book before it. Ironically, this ending is supposed to emphasize the power of imagination, but it didn't actually feel very imaginatively written.

I enjoyed this novel more than The Navigator, but ultimately liked it less than City of Time. As with previous installments in the series, I found myself scratching my head many times throughout my reading of The Frost Child, trying to figure out how I had missed so many key bits of plot information. (I didn't; McNamee just left a lot of plot holes.) I was similarly frustrated with the constant reiteration of Rosie's obvious brainwashing (how many times do I need to hear she has music ringing in her head?), something that wasn't discovered or resolved until right near the climax of the book.

Ultimately, The Frost Child was a good book, though I have read a lot of better fantasy that I would more readily recommend. Readers young and old could enjoy this book; it's probably even appropriate for middle-grade readers, though YA and adult readers will definitely get more out of it. There is more violence in this novel than in previous installments (e.g., Johnston dies with a knife to the throat), but it's nothing too scary or scarring. Try reading it and see what you think!
Profile Image for Miranda.
5 reviews
August 18, 2009
oh, my god.

This book is a must read for all kids. When I read the first book of this series I said," Wow, this is really good, I think I'm going to read the next one", and I did. Then after I read the second one I thought," hmmmm.... I'm going tot read the third one so I know what happends." And I DID!!!!! I thought that this book was sooooo good. when you read it, you really know what kind of emotion the main charactor owen is feeling right off the bat. The charactor owen was a very thought up charactor. He felt that he was something different and most chldren stayed away from him in school before he knew that he was the navigator. Also, I loved it how he was brave and kind as well. That's a chacactor all children loook up to and want to be like when they grow up. so, I think that children should read this book and I would reccomend this book to ANYONE.

-miranda :o)
6 reviews
September 2, 2013
Twice the Harsh have tried to destroy time, and twice Owen and the Resisters have banded together to stop them. In City of Time, Owen killed the Harsh king, and now the Harsh are hungry for revenge. Their massive fleet is ready to set sail on the sea of time and hunt down the wily Navigator. In this third and final adventure, the Navigator and his friends use every last ounce of bravery and endurance to fight the toughest battle ever. As Owen searches for a solution, he travels through time to meet his father and grandfather, and discovers that the mysterious Frost Child holds the key to the power of the Harsh. I would recommend this book to people who love books of fantasy warfare which in this case is between the Resisters and the Harsh.
Profile Image for Sahar Siddiqi.
73 reviews9 followers
July 21, 2011
It took a while for me to really get into the book, although that could be blamed on the fact that I read a really thick book the day I started to read this and it was really late at night and I was tired. So today, I got cracking on the book, not sure whether or not it'd be good.

Somewhere in the first 1/3 of the book, it got interesting and it kept me reading...and reading...and reading. You know, I never thought about the origins of the Harsh. But when it did address it in this book, I can say that I would've never guessed it...possibly because I never actually tried to guess it. But anyway, this book did finish off the series nicely (for a children's book anyway :P)
2 reviews
April 20, 2010
This book was excellent. It had many great qualities, and a lot of suspense. The whole story of Owen searching all of time for the past of the Frost Child before the Harsh unleash the flood of time just creates a lot of appeal, and I enjoyed reading it a lot. The information given was piecemeal, like a puzzle, so you kind of had to put all the pieces together to figure out the Frost Child's past, and the climax was really great. I think that the addition of time pirates, although a little strange, actually added a lot of interesting details to the plot. All in all, an excellent book.
Profile Image for John.
1,901 reviews59 followers
March 4, 2011
Series end, brought about by chucking a book into a grandfather clock. Talk about lazy writing! Predictable as a McMuffin, and how the author can expect readers to buy the idea that the Harsh are freezing the entire world and yet ALL the fighting and action takes place in one small town is beyond me.
4 reviews1 follower
August 18, 2015
This book is an adventure novel filled with journeys and antagonists. Basically it is about this boy named Owen and he realized that an enemy called the harsh which is this faceless frost-ghost made time go backwards so he set out a quest to defeat the harsh. He joined a group of rebels called the resisters and together they fought the harsh made a huge accomplishment.
Profile Image for Heather.
1,911 reviews44 followers
April 18, 2011
It has been more than 2 years since I read the previous book, but catching up wasn't too difficult. I enjoyed the story and thought the ending was very intriguing - it definitely came as a surprise to me.
4,104 reviews28 followers
April 14, 2009
Read for professional review
Profile Image for Happy Hedgehog.
37 reviews
January 31, 2010
It was great besides the part when Slilkie kisses Owen on the cheek and when Rosie kisses Shem ON THE LIPS
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
Profile Image for Amanda.
535 reviews
November 11, 2010
I finished this series out of curiosity. Not the best books I've ever read. I will say that the final book was the best written. I would not recommend this to a friend.
Profile Image for Tammy.
213 reviews
February 5, 2011
i picked this serious up on audiobook at the library because of the person who read it and really enjoyed them
177 reviews1 follower
July 10, 2011
I enjoyed this one the most I think. These books are good with excitement. They have things throughout instead of the whole book leading up to it at the very end. I like the way the series ended.
34 reviews1 follower
November 13, 2015
Much better then book 2. I wasn't sure about finishing the series after book two but I'm really glad I did. This book was much better and I was sorry to see it end by the time I was finished.
Profile Image for Sarah Spence.
257 reviews3 followers
February 27, 2015
13-year-old me found books 2 and 3 of this series a bit confusing. Personally, I would stick with the first book.
Profile Image for Clayton Yuen.
873 reviews3 followers
June 5, 2013
The last of a trilogy, the series was quite innovative in the storyline, kind of off kilter but interesting. You will like how it all comes together in the end . . . .
Profile Image for Mariah.
321 reviews2 followers
February 5, 2014
I can't wait to read this series to my sons.
4 reviews
May 5, 2015
It's rare for a book to move me, but this one really did. I love this series. Eoin is a creative genius.
Profile Image for Kim.
1,160 reviews
October 15, 2010
Great books. Really enjoyed the whole series.
Displaying 1 - 28 of 28 reviews

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