Timewalker

by Justin Stanchfield

While rumors fly in town about extraterrestrial happenings, Sean agrees to help a strange girl being pursued by the Paradise Project, an organization determined to discover and destroy the genetic source of her power to teleport through time.

Genres: Time Travel

320 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2008

Reviews

[K.J. Chapman · Rating 3 out of 5]

I picked up this book from the sci-fi section in my library, but it would be more at home in the young adult section. Young teens would appreciate this book and relate to the young characters. The beginning is a little slow, but there is a definite Stranger Things vibe: teen brothers harbouring a strange girl with powers who appeared from nowhere.

Many questions arise throughout the narrative, and are all answered as you move forward. Some are predictable, some not so. I enjoyed learning more about Hamilton and his intentions, or rather the intentions of his ‘bosses’.

Some relationships felt a little forced to me. Sean admits to ‘falling’ after knowing Kyr for a few days. Seeing her in his nightmares isn’t quite the makings of love. However, the switch up in Kyr’s affections, and the relationship between the boys and their father, was well developed and believable. It held weight where everything else was spiralling into the unknown.

I’d recommend this to teen readers who enjoy all things science fiction.

[Glen Stripling · Rating 3 out of 5]

Justin Stachfield's sci-fi novel TIMEWALKER is a delight to read because it is a story with an Old West spin. Its setting in one of the western states reminds me of days when I camped out in Wyoming living the cowboy life.

Being a story for young readers, TIMEWALKER is the story of Sean Burton and his older brother Patrick, "Trick" Burton, who along with their small group of friends in their rural community, experience adventures that feature some of the common mysteries of the modern world, (UFO lights, crop circles, etc.). But we are not bombarded with details of the scientific theories the book touches on, since Mr. Stanchfield realizes that the matter on how credible the science really is, would not be of much interest to a young reader.

The story opens with Trick spotting a huge light in the sky one night, while out with a friend. And then a day later, he and Sean find a dead cow on their family property. From local law enforcement, they discover other livestock owners have similar problems.

Then we are introduced to Jered Hamilton, a rogue businessman, who along with his assistant, Lois Avery, run a company that seems to be ruthless and powerful enough AND wealthy enough to be behind the mysterious nocturnal events that are increasingly becoming a menace to this community. But we are not told a whole lot on why these characters are such angry and bitter people.

Then Sean has a number of strange experiences that had troubled him earlier in life. Through various episodes, he has experiences that could be described as dreams, visions, sleepwalking and even thoughts someone is using dreams to contact him. Since these things are unique to themselves, Stanchfield has little to compare them to. So unfortunately, his attempts to describe them, along with Sean's constant thoughts of worry over his sanity, make a few pages of muddy reading. And the reader has to be a bit patient to stay interested.

It is not until after we meet the character Kyr that we get a picture of what is going on. Kyr is a girl from the future who informs Sean and Trick that beings from her time want to get rid of her. We soon discover Hamilton is being used as a puppet by the strange beings for their agenda and they are urging him to capture or kill Kyr. So Sean and Trick agree to protect Kyr and thwart Hamilton.

Throughout all this, a number of subplots develop. We see a lot of near physical conflict between Trick and his father, Aaron Burton. The elder Burton is upset over his wife's strange departure years earlier, and often takes out his anger on his elder son. I find this interesting, not just because this is a common problem in dysfunctional families in harsh country life, but also because Stanchfield ties part of this problem into the main plot.

Also, Sean struggles with an affection he develops for Kyr, though it turns out to be an affection that is one-sided, as she in turn gets similar feelings for Trick. This seems no more than a minor problem but it does not help the situatiion when their lives are in danger.

I liked the novel and I was pleased it had a bit of a suprise ending. And I think it has many true to life characters young people can relate to.

[Wiktoria · Rating 5 out of 5]

I think that the story of Sean, Trick and Kyr is truly capturing and amazing to read. It makes you feel like you're included in the story, like you're there with the characters. Throughout the story you get in close contact and connection with the characters and are willing to help. One of the best books I read, absolutely fantastic.

[Edina (azi_citim) · Rating 4 out of 5]

Definitely not what I expected when I started reading the book. The first chapters were not that interesting (boring is too harsh of a word to use), but strarting with the middle (give or take) of the book it becomes really catchy, some scenes keeping you on the edge of your seat!

[Seton Catholic Central High · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book is mainly about how did the main character Sean Burton and Patrick or Trick Burton solve the mysteries. This book is a scientific stories. Sean has various trouble in his early life and sometimes he has different visions, sometime he does sleepwalking and sometimes he has dreams that someone is trying to contact him through it. Then they met Kyr, who is also a main character of this book. She asked Sean and Patrick to help her because she's from future and someone is after her then they started to investigate this mystery and make themselves into dangers. To be honest, the plot of the book is the only thing I like, the plot is a really good idea however sometimes the author make the story really rush, it makes me feel like the author wants to end the book as fast as he can. Also some paragraphs are pointless. Overall, this is a fine book.

[Carol L. Caldwell · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was a very enjoyable read. The plot moved swiftly. There was none of the usual predictability of a boy meets girl, they fall in love, and go off into the sunset. There is the element of aliens, but the story is still grounded in a family dealing with their own struggles. Stanchfield writes well and sprinkles the story with imaginative descriptions, like "when the nightmre owned his sleeping mind." His characters display a range of emotions and the reader can see maturity develop in the two main characters, brothers Trick and Sean.
I'm looking forward to reading more from this author.

[Tricia · Rating 3 out of 5]

2.5 stars. Read this to the 10yo, who kept falling asleep as I read. Partially that's because we were staying up later than normal part of the time, but also because the story does drag at times. The plot has science fiction, alien visitation, crop circles, evil villians, time travel, teleportation(?), and so on - not typical fare for either one of us. But we cared about the characters, and the storyline, so we finished it.

[Carolyn Whiting · Rating 4 out of 5]

Loved it. Small town boys stumble into sci-fy. Justin Stanchfield writes with amazing rich language. "Space Cowboy" is another amazing book by JS. Unfortunately not on my 11 year old son's school's "AR BookFinder" so was not counted for school.

[Laurie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Wanted to love this book and went in with anticipation. Sadly did not keep me entranced. Great idea and plot.

[Melissa · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a good sci-fi book! I thought it was a little misleading but still was an exciting read.

[Addie Hodgkins ( Rather be Reading) · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book had me on the edge of my seat/bed the whole time! My mom got it for me for christmas and I loved it!!