The Circle of Gold

Guillaume Prevost

Sam Faulkner is on a quest through time. His father disappeared a couple months earlier. He found out his father's secret of time travel. He starts hunting for his father, guessing he is in jail. He was put there by Vlad Tepes (the Impaler). Sam has finally returned to the present time with his father. He promises his father that he will try to go back in time and save his mother from a car crash.

Before he can do that, his friend Alicia is kidnapped. Sam is given an deadline. There is another time traveler who is trying to find the Ring of Eternity. He believes Sam can help him find it. He knows Sam has had contact with the old Egyptian priest who also traveled the timeroads. Setni had the knowledge of the Ring of Eternity as well as the Circle of Gold that helps focus time travel.

Sam has to follow certain directions and bring back the Circle of Gold and the Treatise that gives the clues to find the Ring of Eternity. Once he brings them, he will get to Alicia in the middle of a war zone during Roman days. Of course it's not that simple. Even though he learns a new skill, Sam will be lucky if he and his family are not all killed by this evil time traveler.

The Circle of Gold is the last book in Guillaume Prevost's Book of Time trilogy. It's written for older children and tweens. I have recommended the series to a number of boys and girls who have come into our used bookstore looking for stories like Rick Riordan's Olympians series. The Book of Time trilogy has a well done premise.

Sam has traveled into times in the past in the past two books. In The Circle of Gold he goes to China, Rome, Egypt, and returns to his home in Canada as well. He evens makes a trip to the future. He just has to be careful not to be in the same place as the same time he is already there - no two versions of a time traveler is allowed to exist together. When he jumps in and out of his own time, he has to learn the tricks to avoid himself.

I enjoyed The Circle of Gold and liked the end. I didn't see the bad guy's identity coming. The set up is there in the first two books; I just didn't see it. Adults may find the solutions too pat. The ending is fun, fitting, and the young reader will love it.

The Book of Time
The Gate of Days
The Circle of Gold