The Iron Empire

Infinity Ring #7

by James Dashner

Scholastic's next multi-platform mega-event comes to a thrilling conclusion with the last installment of the Infinity Ring series!

Genres: Fantasy, Science Fiction, Historical Fiction, Adventure, Middle Grade, Time Travel, Fiction

192 pages, Hardcover

First published January 28, 2014

About the author

James is the author of THE MAZE RUNNER trilogy and THE 13TH REALITY series. He also published a series (beginning with A DOOR IN THE WOODS) with a small publisher several years ago. He lives and writes in the Rocky Mountains.

Reviews

[M · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent series! This book may not necessarily be a five-star in and of itself, but I really enjoyed the entire series. I'm sad to see it end. It is a very clever way to interest middle grade readers in history using the mash-up between historical brakes and science fiction. Well done!

[Sybyl · Rating 4 out of 5]

✨4.5 stars✨

[Cas ♛ · Rating 5 out of 5]

Magic. Again James Dashner has created a beautiful tale to continue the infinity ring series. Dak, Riq, and Sera come face to face with Tilda, the red lady of the SQ. They meet Abraham Lincoln, Aristotle, and Alexander the great. But then comes the interesting- Dak's parents! Amazing, James Dashner has great ideas that he expresses well, and he makes the characters come alive in a special way, making them seem to have more of a personality. Never forget the fantastic James Dashner.

[Shaeley Santiago · Rating 3 out of 5]

Dak, Rig, and Sera go back to where it started, with Aristotle, to fix the Prime Break. Of course, it won't be easy, but they are determined to complete their quest.

[Kryssy · Rating 3 out of 5]

**3.5**

The first half was fun! Aristotle helping them since hems a scientist and can learn about the ring! But then the war aspect and i got bored. We’re starting to wrap things up and are given the last few stops to follow along

- Abe Lincoln in the theater
- Want Aristotle about something he hasn’t invented yet
- Someone wants to kill dak and sera
- Find aristotle and hope he believes them
- Someone named alexander (close to aristotle) has been murdered. Is this something new? Is it the one lady messing things up??
- Aristotle is BROKEN. Will this prevent him from making whatever he made?
- Go back to fix what was broken
- Dak tries to save Alexander. Alexander tries to kill dak
- Olympias is friends with tilda and was warned about dak and sera
- Tilda goes back and forth in time which can be dangerous
- Got the eternity ring and destroyed it
- War on horseback?
- Alexander had been poisoned. Sera prevented it
- Everything was fixed so anomalies (dak’s parents) are being sent back
- Riq is staying. New name. Become best friends with Alexander
- Ilsa’s decendent made an infinity ring and came to get tilda

[Kim Dennis · Rating 4 out of 5]

This one was pretty good for the most part. I was pretty annoyed at the beginning, though. If you are going to talk about "corrected history" at least make sure you get the new facts right. Dashner had the date wrong for the Lincoln assassination -- something that should have been pretty easy to get right. (Also, Lincoln got to the theater late, which also would have made a difference in the story.) I did TRY not to let that bother me too much, but I am a history teacher...

Towards the ending, I also had to remind myself that I'm not exactly the target audience. There were a couple of scenes that felt unnecessarily dramatic, but I think they were things kids would enjoy.

Overall, I have enjoyed the series. This was a pretty complete ending except the epilogue. I'm wondering how the last book will wrap up without taking it the series on a whole new adventure.

[Hannah Russell · Rating 3 out of 5]

I love James Dashner's writing style. That saved this one. And they at least attempted to resolve the second big issue with this series: what is the SQ"s motivation?

However, I don't believe that a world without Alexander the Great would also have Abraham Lincoln. This series sees historical events as far too independent. But...meh.

[Teresa Marine · Rating 4 out of 5]

I loved going to Greece - to meet Alexander the Great! To imagine how the world could have been different is well as the fixes that could be made. The present/future/past in the hands of 11 year olds...hum...it is interesting.

[TheOdd1sOut · Rating 5 out of 5]

The end to all the time traveling.

[Hamza · Rating 4 out of 5]

I loved the whole storyline! It's a good book overall

[Claire Mummert · Rating 5 out of 5]

This one was the fastest pace of all. Full of excitement and intrigue!

[Robert · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good book. I was a little disappointed that it wasn't the end because I thought it would have ended nicely.

[Justin · Rating 5 out of 5]

That epilogue tho

Otherwise it was pretty good! Pacing was great

[Savvas · Rating 4 out of 5]

this was filled with andentures and mysteries

[hannah ✧.* ☽｡⋆𖦹 · Rating 4 out of 5]

as always the ending is spectacular. i really enjoyed this book! wasn’t sure if it would be super good as it is starting to become the end of the series. one more :’(

[Vicki · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fun and different series!! I’m enjoying and going right on to the next!

[Tim · Rating 4 out of 5]

"I'll never forget what we did."
"Save the world?" Dak asked.
"Yep, save the world. And I'm glad it was with you."

We have reached the end - seemingly, anyway, but more about that later on. In this book, Dak, Sera and Riq tackle the Prime Break, the very first one, and they travel back to Ancient Greece to meet Aristotle and Alexander the Great.

Now, don't get me wrong, that's pretty cool, but somehow you would expect just a bit more. There's only so much you can do in 190 pages, of course, but even then it looks like Dashner and the team at Scholastic could have made the stakes a bit higher at times. It never reaches its full strength, or at least that's how it feels after six books full of time travel. You could do more with it, but that's not really visible in The Iron Empire and feels like a missed opportunity.

The characters, however, have grown a lot over the course of the series, and it's nice to see how they've come together as well.

Originally, Infinity Ring was supposed to comprise seven books, but for some reason they decided to add an extra eighth one. It's... weird - I'll talk about that in my review on Book 8 - but I just want to say here that it's clear they could've easily dropped the book. It's only here, in Book 7, really, that they set the pieces just so that a few final questions and openings remain. If they'd dropped those, the series would have ended completely here - and honestly, you should just stop reading after Book 7 too...

7.5/10

[Natalie · Rating 3 out of 5]

I should start by saying that I haven't read any of the other books in this series. I read through the blurbs for previous books and settled in to try this one out.

The concept is cool. Three kids must travel back in time and fix historical "Breaks" - times where history was purposely sent askew. The breaks are causing the world to shatter, so the Hystorians sent Daq, Rik and Sera back to fix it.

In this particular installment, the team is going back to where it all started - the Prime Break. They must save Alexander the Great. To do so, they're going to need the help of Aristotle.

I like books that make history exciting, because, let's be real, History is freaking awesome! Unfortunately, textbooks tend to kill history and make it deadly dull.

In this case, students get an adventure while "accidentally" learning about history. Win win!

Scholastic is publishing this series in the model of their 39 Clues (Vespers Rising) series. They ask different authors to write each installment. I can't compare this book to any other in the series, but James Dashner did an alright job. The story flowed and the teens acted like teens.

Fun book for kids.

[Jenn · Rating 4 out of 5]

Had it not been for the very end of this book which unnecessarily extended a series that was already given a fulfilling conclusion I would have rated this book a five stars. But the ending was one of those where if felt less like there was more story to tell and more like a publisher unwilling to let go of a cash cow series. The thing is extending a series that's already fulfilled its story arc is what ruins a series in my personal opinion.

Setting that aside, prior to the last bit, this book was by far the best yet in the series. What makes it so, in my opinion, is how different it is from the other books in the series. The three travelers journey to a time before the Historians were created, before anyone knows about the breaks. Not only that the SQ from their future is there actively fighting to stop them from fixing what needs to be fixed. The book allows glimpses into characters besides Dak, Sera and Riq which is something new and it brings to life all the treachery of the time period which I really enjoyed. I loved how it discarded all the childish snarking between the three and established them as friends willing to do anything for each other.

On top of all that the action was intense and the plot keeps the reader on the edge of their seats from beginning to end. Highly recommended.

[Kimberly Souder · Rating 3 out of 5]

The story was better on this one, and I felt like the series would have been better if Dashner wrote more of them. I still had a number of problems with the plot - mostly dealing with problems related to time travel and things like that. I'm not sure many middle school kids would catch these, but they would have (and did) bother me. First, when they meet up with Tilda early in the book, nothing really happens after they defeat her, which doesn't make sense. She also never explained why/how she was trying to fix the cataclysm. This also ties into them never answering why the remnants were getting worse part-way through the series. The timing on Dak's parents returning to the present (based on their explanation) doesn't make sense and should have happened before Dak reached them in the battle. Also, they couldn't have seen themselves warping back when they were leaving Aristotle's place because the second warp hadn't happened in their timeline yet - the should only be able to see that happen on the second warp, not the first one. Otherwise, if they can see themselves warp back in before they warp out, it means that them warping back in was pre-fixed and they aren't actually changing anything.

[Dylan S · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book was amazing! This is a must-read for readers that love action and history. You should read all the other books first, though. But over all, it was one of my favorite book series.

[Paula · Rating 3 out of 5]

The seventh book in the “Infinity Ring” series goes back to the beginning: the Prime Break. Dak, Sera, and Riq travel back to the time of Aristotle and seek his help on their mission. They must save the life of Alexander the Great. If they don’t, his death will break time and plunge the world into upheaval. With Aristotle’s help, they manage to defeat Tilda and save young Alexander. The ending leaves the door open for further adventures. The banter among the main characters is suited to middle school readers and the action and brevity of the book should keep even reluctant readers engaged. Some of the time travel elements defy logic and might turn off older readers. The book is worthwhile as an adventure story and readers will learn history in spite of themselves. Order if you have fans of this series or the “39 Clues” series.

[Noor · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book is about three young historians, Sera, Dak and Riq. They had a mission in 336 B.C. in Corinth, Greece, and Aristotle doesn’t even know about the secret historian society that he had to create. But all 3 of these young travelers have three weeks to inform Aristotle of their mission and then to prevent the Prime Break, stopping the assassination of King Phillip and his son, Alexander the Third, at the hands of the bodyguard Pausanias. So using the Infinity Ring, the Historians and Aristotle travel back in time for about three days to protect Alexander from the assassin, knowing that his death would unravel history and make reality unbalanced for the future. Dak realized that such a change in the present would make history deranged.

[Yapha · Rating 4 out of 5]

In what was supposed to be the final book in the Infinity Ring series, Rik, Daq, and Sera have traveled back in time to meet Aristotle and try to fix the Prime Break before it happens by saving the life of Alexander the Great. Surprised by their old enemy Tilda and her Eternity Ring, the three friends must regroup and figure out a different way to fix the Break. Recommended for fans of the series. You must read the other books first. Grades 4 & up.

[April · Rating 3 out of 5]

Sera, Dak, and Riq are in Aristotle's time to correct the Great Break. They must keep Alexander the Great from dying before he becomes great.
As the book was ending at first it looked like the series might be coming to a close for which I was thrilled...then the last couple pages showed that the series will continue with just a new set of problems.

[Mary · Rating 4 out of 5]

Each new adventure in this series just adds to the fun. Now that I've figured out you need to play the games to enhance the experience I am enjoying these even more.

The best part for me is even though each book of the series is written by a different author, the personalities of the main characters hold true in all the books.

Very fun read. Can't wait for the next book!

[Lisa Brown · Rating 3 out of 5]

The kids have one last break to fix in the fabric of time - the original great break where Alexander the Great was murdered. If they can enlist the help of Aristotle, the original Historian, they may just do it, putting everything back in order and preventing the cataclysm.

Another fun and quick read - great for kids, especially upper elementary.

[Karsyn · Rating 3 out of 5]

One of the top 3 of the series. A good story and a good series conclusion..... except there is another book? Hmmm.... I may just keep with this one as the ending because it seemed to end pretty well for me. Is this series going to be like 39 Clues where it never ever ends? Definitely gonna wait a while before reading the next, if I do at all.

[Jamie · Rating 3 out of 5]

I really don't know if you count these couple lines as spoilers, so just don't look if you want to be safe. That said:


Aaaugh, they had to do it! Fine, whatever. I'll probably read that, too. Ug.

Aside from that, it was pretty good, slightly convoluted/confusing. A good ENDING. Anyway.

[Katie (hiding in the pages) · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is another great story in this middle-grade, time-travel, adventure series. I love the way Sera, Riq, and Dak go up against the villain, Tilda, and meet some of their ancient heroes. I love this author's writing style and the way he brings the characters to life, both good and bad. My kids and I are really enjoying reading this series aloud.