Review: The Time Rescuers

The Time Rescuers by Alan Crosby
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This is an interesting mixture of YA and the spiritual/cosmic genre. Although the author states that he's a Christian, it isn't as explicitly Christian as one might expect from that; there are some points made more or less in passing about modern materialism and lack of belief in a spiritual dimension, and about modern (lack of) morality, but the cosmic setup is not classical Christian cosmology.

It's a YA adventure, with three kids brought from different times and places to take part, on humanity's behalf, in the fight against spiritual invaders with ill intent. While they agreed to do so, they weren't exactly volunteers, and one of them (the New Zealander) quite understandably doesn't completely trust their recruiter. They only have the recruiter's word, for some time, that his side is the right one, though the villains prove their villainy soon enough.

I felt that the kids were the weakest part of the story. Usually, with an ensemble cast, there's something that each one can do that nobody else in the cast can do, and that another randomly selected person couldn't do as easily, and I didn't feel that either of those things was true here. In fact, for a long time, the kids' contribution wasn't looking as if it would be particularly significant; and in the end they seemed more catspaws than heroes, though each of them did step up at various times (and make mistakes at various other times, driven by their emotions). There was some character growth and some growth as a team.

I did enjoy part of the story being set in New Zealand, and appreciated that the kids were motivated by concern for their parents. Overall, I liked it, but I didn't love it, and wouldn't go out of my way to seek out a sequel.

View all my reviews