The future has been saved, but at a cost: Fort Fitzgerald has been expelled from the Oppenheimer School, and some of Fort’s friends have been lost in time. But time is the one thing Fort, Rachel, and Jia don’t have, as they’ll soon be facing one of the eternal Old Ones, the Timeless One, for the fate of the world.
If they lose, the Old Ones will return, and humanity is doomed. If they win, the Old Ones will still return, and humanity is doomed. Because the Timeless One can see every possibility, and plan for it.
How can Fort and his friends defeat a creature like that? And what does this all have to do with the real-life Merlin, from King Arthur’s days?
Listened to the Kirby Heybourne audiobook again. See my previous reviews of this series to see my praise for him and James Riley.
But oh my gosh.
This book ripped my heart out and chopped it to pieces. I love it and I hate it because [REDACTED] I TRUSTED YOU!!! I THOUGHT YOU WERE GOOD BUT THEN YOU TURNED AROUND AND [REDACTED]!!!!
I wish I could say exactly what hit me in the gut, but I'm still planning on bugging literally everyone to read this, and I don't want to give you spoilers.
Fort Fitzgerald is home for the first time in months, separated from all the new friends he’s made. He, Rachel, and Jia have one year to re-find Excalibur and train to fight the Timeless One. Meanwhile, Fort also has a baby dragon he not only has to try to hide from his guardians but also from someone who has been sent to find it.
That’s all I am going to tease for fear of spoiling something from this book or previous books. Don’t start here if you are new to the series since there will be spoilers for some of the twists from earlier books in this one. But fans of the series will enjoy it. I found the post-apocalyptic feeling I had reading the previous book wasn’t as strong in this one. The story is engaging with twists and turns, but there was more humor, with I enjoyed. The characters are as sharp as ever, although Fort spends a bit more time here away from the other series regulars. This book walks the fine line between setting up the next (and final in the series) without leaving us disappointed in this part of the saga, and it does it perfectly. There is definitely a climax to this book, but the cliffhangers will leave other fans as anxious as I am to find out what happens to Fort next.
I read this instead of book 2 thinking that it was book 2.
I gave myself major spoilers.
GO ME!
Why didn't I use the book to hit myself in the face for my stupidity?
I'm not sure, but since I got book two right beside me, I'll use it instead.
*A few book slaps on the face later*
OKAY!
My face hurts, but...
WHO CARES?!
I might do that every day...
OR, like, I could use my school books. Those are HUGE.
Or big books!
I love big books and I can not lie, that's something I can't deny!'
You can read them, and read them, and read them, and read them, and read them, and read them, and read them, and read them, and read them, and read them, and read them, and read them, and read them, and read them, and read them, and read them, and read them, and read them, and read them, and slap yourself in the face with them, and read them, and read them, and read them, and read them, and read them, and read them, and read them, and read them, and read them, and read them, and read them, and read them, and read them, and read them, and read them, and read them, and read them, and read them!
This first half of this book carefully gathered my trust with cute character interactions and a baby dragon. The second half grabbed me by the shirt and held me over a volcano, all while slowly dropping puzzle piece after piece, until the foreshadowing in the previous books fell into place. The character development in this series and in this particular book is outstanding. The honest reactions and real-world consequences are tenderly painful. I would highly reccomend this book- and this series -to anyone, even if just so I have someone to cry with.
I thought this book was better than book 3 in this series, to be honest, but that may just be me. Keeping track of time travel twists in books generally makes my head hurt, so I liked this one more in part because it plays down the time travel element (although with a title like Timeless One I was bracing for more of the time travel antics of book 3) to a more manageable level and had a more linear storyline, with a twist, of a sort, near the end. No, I won't ruin it for you.
First of all, the kids figure out how to find Merlin amidst the burnt ruins of his shack. It exists in another time, so the doorknocker gets them in. Unfortunately, Fort is told by Merlin that his magic's just not strong enough to participate in the upcoming battle, while Merlin actively trains Jia and Rachel, taking them for weeks at a time (which pass in the blink of an eye) to practice using their magic to confront the Timeless One, the Old One with Time magic.
To make matters worse, the baby dragon has hatched and imprinted on Fort. It thinks Fort is its father. Rachel turns it into an ordinary kitten, but then a fairy arrives on Fort's doorstep looking to collect -- a dragon -- on his debt to the fairy queen for getting his father back. Fort willfully chooses to interpret this as wanting the grown dragon, his friend and fellow schoolmate who ruined things in the last two books, instead of handing over the kitten. But the "kitten" grows so fast soon it's tiger-sized -- and speaking.
Merlin oh-so-casually tosses a dragon dictionary Fort's way, and perhaps isn't quite truthful about the full extent of what he's done. The dragon prompts Fort into using a magic dragon word, Learn, and the game is suddenly on.
Add to the mix Cyrus, who's back, after being flung far into the future (or another time, my head started to ache and fuzz over here!). It turns out Cyrus and Merlin are linked in a way I didn't see coming and I'm not sharing with you.
Nope, no more. Read and enjoy!
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Wow. I literally just finished this book and I'm not quite sure what to say. I have so many mixed emotions. Anticipating this review earlier, I was going to talk about how each book in this series gets better and better, and this one didn't disappoint. But now. . . Well, I suppose it still didn't disappoint. Let me just start at the beginning.
This book picks off from the cliffhanger of "The Future King". Fort has a baby dragon to raise. How exciting! I have to say that Ember's character was very endearing. She was my favorite part of the book!
Xenea also adds a great character to the cast. I feel like most of the other girls in the series have had very similar personalities, but Xenea adds a unique perspective. Though morally-gray, I couldn't help but root for her.
Overall, each book in this series has seemed to have a different feel. After the break-neck pace of "The Future King," this one takes a much more relaxed approach without nearly as much action. However, this is not a bad thing; I really appreciated getting to know Fort in a different environment. That being said, it also seemed to go by quicker than the previous novel--although, they may just be because I was so engrossed in it that I read it in a day.
I guess I can't finish this review without mentioning the end since I am still reeling from it. I don't won't to spoil anything, so all I'll say is that there's a MAJOR plot twist (well several, really). It was completely unexpected (to me). The only issue I have with the end is that (whether true or not) it feels like it's only been set up in the last book; it doesn't quite track with books one and two. Other than that, I feel some weird mixture of angry and sad and amazed that doesn't really translate to anything. I really enjoyed rest of the novel, but I'm just not sure how I feel about the end. It's the kind of ending that you really want to discuss with someone. In further reflection, I suppose a book that make me feel this strongly deserves five stars.
I didn't rate this book with stars because I'm not sure if I really liked this book, or downright hated it. Let me explain in two sections:
HATE: CYYYYYYRRRRUUUUUSSSSS NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I CAN'T BELIEVE JAMES RILEY DID THAT 😨 CYRUS WAS MY FAVORITE CHARACTER FROM THE START, AND HE WAS JUST SO GREAT! AND THEN tHiS HAPPENED!!!! AFTER I FINISHED THE BOOK, I WAS LITERALLY WHISPERING TO MYSELF "No, no, it can't be happening." BUT IT WAS!!!! WHYYYYYYYYYYYYYY!?!?!? WHY ARE AUTHORS SO CRUEL!?!??! I HAVE NEVER BEEN BETRAYED BY A FRIEND, BUT THIS HAS TO BE WHAT IT FEELS LIKE 😖 Rant aside, there were some other things. All the Time and Clairvoyance stuff gets really confusing after a while. Also, Cyrus being the younger version of Merlin/The Timeless One? Really? He was such an amazing character from the start, and there was pretty much no foreshadowing of that until this book, so it feels like the author just decided to add that on a whim. Also, Xenea was Just. So. ANNOYING! Ugh, I couldn't stand it every time I had to read about her. Lastly, the thing about Fort's father not actually being Fort's father, but actually being a faerie disguised as him? I also feel like the author didn't foreshadow that until this book. I mean really, where would the switch have been made?
LOVE: The story (after I figured out all the Time/Clairvoyance stuff) was thrilling! I was on the edge of my seat during the final battle scene, even though it wasn't against who I was expecting. Also, Ember is soooooo cute! I mean, I was just waiting for that baby dragon to show up! Lastly, any book that made me this angry (and not about how horrible or boring the story was) has definitely been written well.
Welp, it looks like I've got more under the HATE section, but I still loved this book. And hated it XD
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
I feel like the more that I've progressed through this series the less and less I like it.
Somehow Ember ended up being my favorite even though she's a dragon. Cyrus was my favorite. Notice the pass tense. WAS not IS. I will mention why later but not yet 'cause it's a major SpOiLeR.
**SpOiLeR alert! The rest of this review contains major SpOiLeRs! Continue at your own risk!**
Now that you have been thoroughly warned I will get on with my review and all of its SpOiLeRs.
Cyrus is the Old One of time magic?! What the heck?! Fort's dad is a changeling? And the faerie Queen has his real dad? Now that's just weird. I didn't have the desired reaction to those surprises 'cause I've found myself growing bored and just not caring about what happens in the story anymore.
I do plan on finishing the series though. I'm so close to finishing it that it's just not worth it to stop reading the series now.
Also, the only thing that actually got me emotional was when Fort was gonna send Ember away. I normally get super emotional when I read but with The Revenge of Magic series I just didn't get as emotional.
Okay, okay this is the last thing I PROMISE. I think I know why I got bored and stopped caring about the story. *Pause for dramatic suspense* it's because I've read so many middle-grade fantasy books that I've just grown tired of most of them (I'm sorry that wasn't as dramatic as you thought. I was just messing with you). Why, you ask? Because so many middle-grade fantasy books are pretty much the same. I'm not gonna go in to all the similarities of those kinds of books 'cause I've kept you long enough as it is. (No hate towards middle-grade fantasy writers! I've just grown tired of those kinds of books. It's just my opinion and my opinion is just one out of a bunch of other opinions that are better than mine)
I rated a ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ because it was amazing. Egg specialty the vary end when Fort revealed that The Timeless One was actually Cyrus. Like I sort of knew because I always imagined Merlin to look old. But also William, cause when they described him it was exactly like how they describe Cyrus. So when the first talked about him I thought they were brothers. But still, MAYBE, there is still one book left soooooo…..
I also just like how Fort does somethings he’s not supposed to do. I like that about him because it’s like he’s changing the whole universe, cause really he is! I also wonder were Sierra and Damian were during almost the entire book?!!?? So really that all equals to 5 stars!!!!!
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
Another solid four stars. I swear this series COMPELS me to read somehow. Despite having read this book at least twice before, it still reads like the first time (except now I know about all the plot twists). Speaking of plot twists, I distinctly remember how I felt when I read the ending of this, and dang. It hurt. The setup and payoff was wonderful, especially now that I knew what to look for when I read the series again. Once more I had no issues picking this book up, and was never bored, despite the pacing being slower than the last book (which literally took place over the course of, like, a day or something). Onto book five!
Loved Ember!! The interactions between Fort - Ember and Fort - Xenea really added a lighter quirky tone to the book that I enjoyed. The final battle scene felt a little rushed or too simple but the twists towards the end were unexpected and fantastic. Overall this book will be rated 1 star less than previous titles just because it felt like filler and slow compared to the others in the series. No major plot points were wrapped up and it left more questions than answers. One of those editions that is mostly setting up the next book in a series
Series review: Another fantastical entertaining story by James Riley. There is lots of action, some interesting characters and an unexpected ending. My biggest complaint is that I never really liked or connected to the main character. However, his weaknesses and commonality did make him more believable in some ways. No questionable content. Appropriate for all ages
I don't usually read an entire series of children's/middle grade novels like this. I read the first one for my job and then move on. But a much loved student has been loaning me these and so I kept going for his sake, and while I've liked them all, this one made me happy I did for my own. Wow! What a set up for the final novel!
Not bad. I like Ember. I want one, too bad they don't exist. Maybe someone should invent one. Not a big one but a small one. Like a finger monkey. Only a finger dragon. But maybe leave off the flame breath. That would be safer.
Bruh... Like, I stayed up until 2a finishing this one!! Also, it's a little trippy simultaneously reading two series from the same author because it makes it that much easier to spot the similarities. 😹 Doesn't make them any less awesome!
This series is really fun! I think James Riley did a great job with the twists and things I didn't see coming in this book. It was awesome. I didn't like Fort being left out because he was annoying during that part and I didn't care for the fairy girl storyline but everything else was great!
I don't think there were enough scenes that showed how close of a bond Fort had with Cyrus. It kept referencing that they were best friends but they hardly spent time together in The Revenge of Magic.
Keep me reading late into the night. Also, did not see Cyrus being an old one. That caught me way of guard. I'd recommend this book to anyone eleven years old ( which I am). Thank you James for this book series can't what to read the fifth.
3,5 Stars Once again so much time magic that just twists my head around. And I’m getting a little annoyed that everyone seems to know everything but they keep insisting on not telling Fort anything.