History Keepers (1) - The Storm begins by Damian Dibben
And another book about time... The Storm begins, part one of three of The History Keepers (In German Jake Djones und die Hüter der Zeit, in French Les gardiens du temps - Mission Venise) I read it in German where it contains 347 pages. Originally published 2011. Age: 8 (if they have a lexicon) to ???? (girls and boys).
Jake Djones, son of two normal parents with a business for bathtubs and such, is kidnapped after school and brought to a mysterious secret door in a building he loved since childhood. Where he is told that his parents, in fact, have nothing to do with bathtubs, but are time travellers – and lost in time. When the ship of the “History Keepers” organisation brings him and his aunt to a mysterious island, he realises that his parents might still be alive… With the help of the good looking Nate, the even better looking Topaz, Charly and his bird he travels to the Italy of another time… and discovers an evil plot...
To be honest, this wasn't very good. At first, there are historical mistakes – the dome of Cologne for example. In the year they land it was half as big as Dibbens describes it and nobody worked there. Additionally, he could NEVER have travelled from Italy to Germany in only a couple of days. There are these minor problems called Alpes between them! Well, that's if the heroes don't try to travel around them. Which would take even more time. They don't have enough horses to do the "You work – you rest"-trick, the geographic charts were not very good, so they probably would have taken a wrong turn somewhere and there are some things like mechanical problems. They don't have something like good streets. You're likely to loose a wheel along the way, you need to stop every once in a while for food… and you don't have a McDonald's every other mile. Besides, it's cold. They probably would have had problems with keeping themselves and their horses warm and healthy.
Conclusion: This journey is on every level impossible.
Additionally, the book was boring. The story is so shallow that I asked myself if it might be a book for children, but the language is too eloquent.
And the characters weren't really breathtaking either: Apart from the parents, Rose and Topaz they are just… boring. Flat. Unrealistic, even. Why the heck did Jake not run away when he had the chance, after he was kidnapped? By two mysterious and dangerous looking guys he never saw before? Why would he stop and excuse himself because he made one of his captors trip?!
Plus: Why would someone change the world for worse – especially without gaining any profit? Mr Evil (that's not his real name, just a briefing of his character) wouldn't have gained anything from it! So. Why does he take so much trouble and resources to make all of that possible?
Not to mention the dog! I like him, but how can he be first so evil, and then, all of a sudden, so trustful after his loving master (and he did love the dog) died a very cruel death?
In brief:
I give it a star for the ideas, minus one for the mistakes, for the characters and for the style.