Not As Good As I Wanted

Infinity Ring #1:  A Mutiny in Time by James Dashner

Adolescent Time Travel/Alternate History

I really wanted to love this book.  The premise is fascinating.  But, alas, I only liked it.  Kind of.

This first book in the series was written by James Dashner, author of Maze Runner.  While I know he is a popular writer, he is not really the best choice to write a short, thrilling work.  Personally, I find him a bit boring and dry. 

Best friend Dek and Sera stumble onto the secret of time travel in Dek's basement and travel back in time to fix the current mixed up history.  While the premise is interesting, it is also confusing. I suspect many young readers will have no idea about some historical allusions and much of it will just fall flat.  Or perhaps that was a problem with my own feeble brain rather than a plotting issue, although I suspect the latter.

This book is similar to the premise of the bestseller series 39 Clues.  Each book is to be written by a different author, a passing of the literary torch.  It was such great fun in 39 clues.  I loved seeing how the author's style changed the story and characters.  This book is also a multi-platform with the book having some kind of secret code for an online game.  But, it comes nowhere close to the magic of 39 Clues and I predict will fizzle in just a few books.  I don't know if I'll hang around for it or not. Overall, I felt kind of cheated of a good story and kind of like I was trapped in some type of weird marketing scheme.