Time's Edge (The Chronos Files, 2)

This second entry in a smart YA sf series is as fast-paced and engrossing as the first. I had not read the series when offered the opportunity to review this book, but the series sounded right up my alley, so I picked it up first to get the full experience. It was well worth it. The books are intelligent, grounded in history, but strongly character-driven. Kate is a very believable girl thrown into extraordinary circumstances and doing her best to rise to be the hero she needs to be, while juggling some very real personal needs.

The stakes in this series are high - Kate not only faces real (and frequently quite grim) physical danger, but also the constant threat of losing everyone and everything she knows. There's a lot of action in these books, but they're also written to engage emotionally and intellectually, with scenes effortlessly woven in from pivotal moments in history and some thought-provoking questions about the nature of power and those who seek it. There's a carefully balanced romantic triangle as Kate is drawn to two very different young men who both have been hit hard by the time-changes impacting her life.

This is an excellent series, and I intend to follow it eagerly going forward.

I like the premise of Rysa Walker's series, The Chronos Files, but then I like time travel stories. Yet while the premise is something I like in the series that of, Kate needing to retrieve the Chronos keys before her psycho grandfather messes all sorts of things up by reworking history, and the problems/changes that come from tampering with history, the story in "Time's Edge", which is book 2, was a bit of a mess.

It isn't that I don't like fast paced writing, because I do like good, quick paced stories, but it felt like I reading a horse race. Kate skipped here, then there, and here's Kieran, then Trey, then here, then there, then back to Kieran, then back to Trey.

Again, I like the story itself and I will continue reading the series, but at least for this book, it was just a bit too fast paced for me.

This book was thoroughly disappointing. The first book was very good and carefully written. This book is lazily written and needs major edits. I hope the author considers releasing an edited, 2nd edition for this book--call it an alternative timeline. A few of the more distracting problems:

* SPOILERS *

1. The premise of the book is to collect CHRONOS keys, and we've already established that these are immune to changes in the timeline. However, a change in the protagonist's timeline forces her to re-collect these again. The core of the book is flawed.

2. This book is written as 2-3 novellas tied together with a lazy cliff hanger ending in the last 10 pages. The cliffhangers are contrived and clearly a ploy to entice the reader to get the 3rd book. The end is only lightly cogent with the rest of the story.

3. The events in many of the plot points are artificially dramatic when simple solutions exist, particularly when the protagonist can time travel.

4. This dialog can be painful at times.

5. The book should not have been written in the present tense. I believe this was the author's attempt to have the reader follow the protagonist through her timeline. However, it reads like a teenager's first novel.

In all, I would say that this book has about a third of its pages in good, redeemable content. I hope the author continues to write good, well thought-out and edited books in the future.

Both my 13-year old daughter and I LOVED the first book in this series. It ended with a huge cliffhanger – so when I saw book 2 was out – I had to get it right away. (And read it as fast as possible so I could pass it to my daughter.)

Reading it quickly wasn’t a problem - I enjoyed “Time’s Edge” almost as much as the first book. Second books in great series play a very tough role. The novelty of the first book has worn off and expectations are probably higher. With a book about time travel – there is also some catchup to play on the reader’s part – remembering what has happened in the past AND in the future. That being said, when I read the following paragraph near the beginning, I knew I was all the way in again:

"I rinse away the shampoo , and a small leaf that must have been caught in my hair slides down my leg toward the drain. It's red, dappled with gold, and I realize that I must have carried it back from Dealey Plaza." Kate (like so many other time travelers) ventured back to Dallas in November of 1963 – and this sentence just reminded me all over again what I love about these “What If?” type books. There are so many possibilities – so many chances to imagine alternate realities.

Kate has so much on her shoulders in this book. She knows what the future holds if she is unable to accomplish her mission and prevent the deaths of half of the world’s population. As a character, she balances that incredible knowledge and responsibility well – while also worrying about whether her boyfriend, Trey, will be able to love her again despite the fact that he doesn’t remember even meeting her.

At times the book is a bit of a brain twister as Kate travels to multiple times/places – and some places multiple times. Keeping track of who did what in which timeline can be tough – but after a while – it’s easier to just put that aside and just flow along with the action in the book. Rysa Walker does a good job of keeping things on track – and of balancing the elements of teen romance/time travel/social commentary.

This is just a very enjoyable book – one that both my daughter and I were very excited to read. The last 50 pages or so kept me up late last night – and sure enough – there’s another cliff hanger to end the book – making me that much more anxious for more!

Time's Edge is a satisfactory sequel to Timebound. Both were quick, fun reads and left me wanting to know what happens next. I wasn't as enthusiastic about this novel as the last one, though. I feel rather undecided about this book.

Let's start with the good. I am normally not a fan of time travel because I feel it's too easy for it to give authors a crutch when they write the story into a corner. I was pleasantly surprised by Timebound and by Time's Edge too in this regard. Rysa Walker does a good job of using time travel to drive the plot instead of falling back on it as a fix-all. The plot itself grows nicely complex in this novel, and, thankfully for my brain, it also manages not to stray too much into convoluted territory. The action really ramps up toward the end of the book, and the conclusion (a dreaded cliff-hanger, of course) will leave readers wanting more. I like the research Walker has put into her writing. History comes alive through her words and this is where the book truly shines.

I just wish that same care and attention was given to writing the characters. Time's Edge is just shy of feeling too long, and I think the feeling of slowness I had in some parts was due to unexciting language. The characters in this series are not boring, but sometimes they feel boring because the dialogue is either unnecessary or plain, and there is more telling than showing. If Walker described Kate's thoughts and interactions in as much detail as she did rural towns in early 20th century Georgia, and used non-pedestrian language for other characters words and actions, I think the difference would be remarkable.

Oh, and the love triangle feels forced. It felt natural in Timebound, but Kate's interactions with both Kiernan and Trey are awkward in this book, and not because of memory loss.

In any case, I am looking forward to the next book to see where this story goes.

Time's Edge (The Chronos Files book2)by Rysa Walker

This is book two to a really engrossing story of time travel. With a protagonist who is two timing her boyfriends because of a paradox in time lines. In truth she is trying to be faithful to Trey (from her timeline), but to do that she has to put off a lover from another timeline, Kiernan. Kate remembers Trey, but Trey has to be reacquainted with her; and while Kiernan remembers Kate, all too well, she recalls him but not in the way he wishes.

The first book began these paradoxes and it also was the beginning of the end, of the futures time travel program. Now there are agents from the future scattered across time who can't return home and Kate must rush to find each of them and try to retrieve their time keys before Saul and his followers, in the Cyrists, get their hands on them.

Once again we're taken on a clever journey through time. Rysa Walker has done a lot of research to get her history right, where it needs to be, so she can bend it to her will when the time comes. Remember we're already dealing with a paradox and there are more to come. Kate is on a fast track course to become a key figure in time travel; but choices she makes about the people she saves along the way may start to alter things too much.

When trying to preserve history in a time travel novel there is a lot of juggling around to make sure the right people might be in the right place at the right time to make it all work and that is where Rysa's strength is.

This is a clever romance mixed with time travel and an alternate history that have all mixed together to form a fine tuned piece of thought provoking entertainment.

Good for fans of SFF and Historical Fiction and Alternate Universes. There is never a dull moment with Kate and her family.

J.L. Dobias.

I loved [[ASIN:B00CQC9O16 Timebound (The Chronos Files Book 1)]] & couldn't wait to get my hands on Time's Edge. Unfortunately Time's Edge didn't have the same feel of danger, mystery & excitement that Timebound did. This book feels & behaves like a middle book. Whatever you do, do not read this book if you haven't read the first book. Even though the author touches on events from the first book, you will be utterly confused. The jumping around of timelines is confusing enough, add in not reading the first book & you will really be lost!

The relationship between Kate & Kiernan and Kate & Trey are surprisingly realistic given their complex nature. It is clear that Kate cares deeply about them both. Her feelings for Trey are practically a mirror image of Kiernans feelings for Kate. With the fate of the world resting on her very young shoulders, Kate has grown quickly in a short amount of time. She is more comfortable with her ability to time travel & learning about herself as she grows. Her grandmother's illness continues to worsen forcing Kate to take on even more responsibilities as well as teaching her to learn to be less judgmental. On top of all of this is the constant looming worry about not being able to succeed in stopping her grandfather from unleashing all of his twisted plans.

My biggest peeve with this book is the ending or lack thereof. The book just stops is a better way to put it. A good book should always have a beginning, middle, & end. This book barely has a beginning (hence you must read the first book) & has no end. So be warned. I almost knocked off another star but I really do enjoy the series; just not the greed of authors these days.

I found this to be an enjoyable read, with a few caveats. The plot was exciting, and the characters likable enough that I actually cared about them. Even though the book was 450 pages, it still moved pretty quickly - I didn't find myself getting bored. I love time travel books, and this book had a lot of interesting time travel mechanics, which definitely added some interesting twists to the plot.

Now for the not so good. The plot relied heavily on the plot of the first book, which I read a while back (and honestly didn't remember much of). Therefore, a lot of things were a bit confusing until I managed to piece together the plot of the first book. By the end, there were still a few things that didn't entirely make sense. It would be nice if the author had either provided a synopsis at the beginning, or had provided a bit more detail on the events in the first book when referencing them. You might want to read this right after the first book.

Also, the time travel mechanic is kind of off in places. I never quite got the sense of urgency when the main characters have the ability to jump to whatever time and place they want. For example, the main character is barely sleeping when she could just jump to an arbitrary time, get 8 hours of sleep, and then travel back to where she came from. I can suspend my disbelief a bit due the the inherent paradoxes with any kind of time travel, but some things don't quite work out.

There was also a pretty stereotypical divide between good and evil (characters are either GOOD or BAD). Although there was some foreshadowing that things might not be as they seem, and a bit of a plot twist at the end that bore that out, those moments were few and far between. Mostly, Saul and Pru were terribly evil and Kate and friends were the good guys. I guess that YA books are typically a bit more straightforward than classical science fiction, but I thought that there were some opportunities to do cool things that were missed out on.

Overall, a good read, and I'll most likely read the next one, but not the best book I've read this year.

Pros: The series as a whole is so far well thought out and interesting. The author handles the time travel dilemas well, and provides some nice spins on time travel without loosing the reader in too many incomprehensible loops. Overall, and entertaining read.

Cons: This is not a novel, it is half a novel. Book 1 is a full story in and of itself, even though it leaves plenty of threads unresolved for the series as a whole. This one resolves nothing, just hands the reader a "to be continued" mid action.

My recommendation to anyone looking to read this series is to wait until the series is done, and then (depending on reviews for book 3) read them all at once.

Although a mature adult, I sometimes read and review Sci-Fi books in the YA genre. I read the first book, Timebound, and found it interesting, well-developed main characters but a bit over-the-top with the situations the 17-year-old Kate finds herself in.

This book to me was even less cohesive and spent way too much time on Kate's angst over changes caused by her grandfather Saul's followers to the timeline and to people she loves. While some of that is, of course, understandable, it just seems to me -- without giving away any spoilers -- that more time was spent on her emotional issues and interactions than on the actual issues/events of the Chronos world that the author developed. How could things over all be fixed and billions of lives saved?

I wouldn't read Book 3 even for free.