1. This book was a slight disappointment.  When I found out it was about time travel, I thought it would be as good as the Timerider series I had read.  I was wrong.  The characters were pretty much average apart from Fenton who was sadistic but it wasn't shown a lot.  The dialogue was also average and I was almost tempted to stop reading.  It wasn't all bad though.  It had an interesting quirk in the "point of divergence" and it gave a nice description of some parts of 1860 China.  It also alerts readers that if we don't do something, our consequences of our daily lives may cause a catastrophic disaster.

6/10.

 

2. This is a really exciting, adventurous and engaging book, full of interesting facts made fun, as you travel with Jack and Angus through time. This book is so well-written, reading it is experiencing their adventures and peril. This is one of those amazing books that you just can't put down. I really enjoyed reading this book, and I would not hesitate to recommend it.

I thought the best character was definitely Angus, because he is always so logical and sensible, it is almost comical. Angus is always leading Jack in the right direction, and helping him make the right decisions. However, seeing as Jack is the main character, we - as readers - don't get to spend much time with Angus, the action is always on Jack and I would have preferred it if we had known what was going on with Angus, as much as Jack.

My favourite setting was probably the future Firth of Forth, because it is so dismal, and cold, so well-described. It made you wonder how it got that way, and what had happened in the thirty years they had travelled forward. My second favourite was Beijing, because it is so realistic and such a cheerful, caring city.

This book made me want to find out more about the Taiping Rebellion, and this book has every little detail accurate, in my opinion, and I think the history is very realistic. It was almost as if O'Brien had travelled back with Jack and Angus, and seen all they saw, went through their adventures.

Unfortunately this book is the last in the series, however I will definitely try to read the previous three books in the series, and Find out more about History!

Reviewed by Emily

 

3. I really enjoyed reading this book as it was adventurous. I couldn't wait to find out what's going to happen next. In this book Jack's father disappears so he and his best friend Angus track his father. But when both of them travel back in to 1860 they get themselves into danger, as they own an object that the government wants.

I would recommend this book to children ages 9 - 13 but not too people who don't like adventure or historical genres, as you don't know what's going to happen next. I would rate this book 9 out of 10, as I found the story a little bit confusing sometime. I also think that there was a little bit of history in this book as it was based on the Taiping rebellion in the 19^th century.

Reviewed by Sharukaa

 

4. The day of rebellion was a great book full of mystery, romance, fantasy and adventure. There was enough detail and description that even though I never learned about the Rebellion I felt like that a could feel what the victims of the rebellion felt Reading this book a felt that I had learned a lot, history that I didn't know about. However I didn't feel this book was for me as it had time-travelling and I am not good with that kind of stuff although that is my opinion. I also felt I couldn't catch the story on but that is probably because I haven't read the rest of the books in the series.

Reviewed by Sruthy

 

5. This book is set in many times, because it is a time travelling book. The main character (Jack) is the son of a time traveller - part of the VIGIL.  The time travelling machine is called The Taurus.

When Jack gets a few notes from his Father, he is led (with his best friend Angus) to Tantallion Castle. However, when they arrive there, his Father has travelled back in time because a man was following him. The boys follow and when they find themselves in 1860 China (Taiping Rebellion), they are extremely surprised....

Because 1860 China has electricity....

What does this mean for the future?

Read to find out....

Overall this book is reasonable. The language use is a bit babyish. However it is a very intriguing book. I would give it to 10 - 11 year olds.

Reviewed by Lauren