The Imagination Station: Peril in the Palace

Peril in the Palace is the third book in the time-traveling adventure series The Imagination Station, part of the continuing saga of Adventures in Odyssey. Beth and Patrick travel through time to meet Kublai Khan while seeking yet another treasure to help save Mr. Whittaker's ancestor Albert from the mysterious Lord Blackthorn who has imprisoned him. They also meet Marco Polo, who saves their lives from vicious Mongol warriors.

The book is engaging, but has simplistic language. The history aspect is interesting, introducing various historical figures and facts but placed against the backdrop of modern children learning it. Beth and Patrick are very honest and courageous, and are not afraid to stand up for what they believe in.

The book is probably the least well-written, but children would still be hanging on the edge of it. With a good message and good principles, it's also a great learning tool for children!

Darien's Rise

In a new and exciting series called "Passages" by Paul McCusker, Kyle and Anna, a brother and sister travel to Marus, a fantasy land, and experience unusual adventures. Belief in God in this world takes the believer on amazing trips and expeditions. History repeats itself - with the siblings in it! They also find that they have mysterious new powers.

The theme of the story is God's call on your life, and parallels that of David and Saul.

The stories were great and faith-grounded, and there was nothing too dark in them. They help show that the Bible is the living, breathing Word of God, and that the stories of real Biblical people are never too out of date. And the Bible CAN relate to our lives, if we allow it to.

A beautiful story that is also engaging!

One must die so others may live

The Last Sacrifice by Hank Hanegraaff and Sigmund Brouwer is the second novel in the "Last Disciple" trilogy. "The Last Disciple" trilogy is a different look at Revelation, from the perspective that most of it happened in the first century during the reign of Nero and the fall of Jerusalem to the Romans.

The story follows a multitude of characters (sometimes it's hard to keep track of all of them!) but the main character is Vitas, a prominent Roman who used to be part of Nero's inner circle until his fall from grace due to the scheming of two of Nero's other members of the inner circle, the ruthless Helius and the savage Tigellinus, resulted in his being a fugitive. He escaped the arena when another man posed as him and died in his place, echoing the tagline of the book, One must die so others may live. (This can also be echoed by Christ's sacrifice on the cross, Christ died so we could live.) In this novel, Vitas is on his way to Alexandria with none other than John, Jesus' beloved disciple. Nero is up to no good torturing his people and proclaiming himself a god and persecuting Christians, with Helius leading the slaughter and encouraging Nero's insanity.

Meanwhile, Maglorius, a former gladiator and Christian, is in Jerusalem, hunting down his charges, Valeria and Quintus. Valeria is posing as a Greek boy and Quintus is living with an old blind woman in order to hide from the people who want to kill them, who killed and betrayed their father (although they believe it's Maglorius who killed him).

As the fall of Jerusalem approaches, we become more and more interested - who will escape Jerusalem, who will reach Alexandria, who will overthrow Nero (my bet is on Sporus) and the most touching question - will Vitas ever become a Christian and reunite with Sophia?

Imagination Station: Voyage with the Vikings

In the first of the Imagination Station series by Focus on the Family, we meet cousins Beth and Patrick, who end up traveling back in time to the age of the Vikings on a mysterious quest to save one of Mr. Whittaker's ancestors. The quest involves gathering different things from different time periods. They meet Erik the Red.

I'm a history buss, and I think it's interesting. The Viking time period is not a period that seems to get much attention, and I'm glad they decided to place Beth and Patrick there.

The books are simple, but seem realistic (other than the fact that time travel is impossible). Beth and Patrick wear costumes so they fit in semi-well, and they never seem to be able to change the past. They always find what they're looking for. The books also emphasize God more, although it seems to be everyone except the two children who refer to Him.

The characters are not always fleshed out, but given that it is for younger readers, that could be overlooked.

The content is interesting and gives information about a historical event often overlooked by writers and researchers.

I would say an 8 on a 10 point scale.