This is the first Diana Wynne Jones book I ever read. My uncle Harold gave it to me one year for Christmas. It probably changed my life, though I'd be hard pressed to say exactly how.---The above is an old review. Having just heard that Diana Wynne Jones has passed away, I've come back to press myself harder to say exactly how her book changed my life. I'd like to apologize in advance for my overwrought and melodramatic language; I have a giant hangover, and am in a highly emotional state.I was just explaining something from this book to my sister a couple weeks ago. In Time City there are two kinds of ghosts: apparitions of someone who performed the same action so many times that they make a visible imprint, and then those left by someone who does something so significant that it leaves a mark in the air. I guess my reading this book as a kid could have left either kind of ghost: I returned to A Tale of Time City enough times throughout my childhood that reading it was a repetitive activity, but it's the memory of first receiving the book that's the most burned into my mind. My uncle Harold sent it to me in California from New York City, where he lived. A voracious lifelong reader whose own kid hadn't yet reached reading age, Uncle Harold was my model of literary sophistication. At Christmas and birthdays he'd send carefully selected hardcovers that were clearly serious books: children's Literature, with a cosmopolitan capital "L." Each year after A Tale of Time City brought another Diana Wynne Jones hardcover, until either I grew up, or he developed Alzheimer's at a startlingly young age -- I'm not sure which event happened first.Trying to describe the complex plot of this book is probably too tall an order considering my fragile and weak-brained, bereaved state. It begins with Vivian, a girl being sent out of London to escape the Blitz, which is occurring in 1938, instead of 1940 (I might get some details wrong, since I don't have the book with me and I haven't read it since the early nineties). Vivian winds up being kidnapped by two kids who spirit her away to Time City, a place that's built outside of regular history, and which somehow regulates the passage of time. But there's a problem: some nefarious someone (the Time Lady?) has been screwing around with the mechanisms that keep time running smoothly, and Vivian and her two new friends Sam and Jonathan (are those the kids' names, or am I remembering them wrong? Jonathan's my brother's name and Sam is Uncle Harold's son, which seems like a strange coincidence) need to stop them and save Time City and history. There's a lot of time traveling through different ages (Bronze, Iron, etc.) and cool details like the special suits and desserts of Time City. Everything ends in a huge chaotic catastrophic climactic mess that doesn't make a whole lot of sense, which is one of DWJ's special -- and to me, wonderful -- signatures.A lot of books I've read have had a great impact on me, but when I'm dead in my grave this one may have been the most important. A Tale of Time City was the first book I read that amazed me completely. It was the first work of art I experienced that seemed absolutely perfect. It took me outside of my piddling nine-year-old existence and gave me thoughts and experiences I never could have imagined on my own. It made my life so much more, and so much larger, than it ever could have been before. A Tale of Time City introduced me to (sorry, guys) the sublime capacity of literature.I was still a kid when I first read it, and didn't fully get yet that magic wasn't real. I didn't know for sure that time travel wasn't possible, that time only moved in one direction -- brutally, ruthlessly forward -- and that you couldn't ever go back later and fix anything, or change things around. I didn't understand yet that I was going to get older, and then keep getting older after that even if I felt done. I didn't know that my uncle would get sick and lose the brain I admired so much, or that my favorite writer would die before I ever got around to meeting her or sending the crazed fan letters I always meant to write. Of course, I'd figure out all that depressing stuff later on, as I'd be crushed by the tyranny of lost time, and an adult life that just keeps on passing me by. But even this horror that's reality couldn't defeat me completely; Diana Wynne Jones had revealed that there was a refuge, a respite, a place outside time. That magic was real, and time travel was possible, that I could duck outside the unmerciful lockstep of days marching me forward towards my own death.I've been going through sort of an illiterate phase recently, haven't been reading much and definitely have cooled off on reviewing. But Jones's death from lung cancer has reminded me that even at thirty-two, there are still a couple things I do believe in: not time travel or magic in a child's more literal sense, but in books' power to free their readers, and also to confer some immortality on their creators. I know it's super corny to say, but as long as people read her books, Diana Wynne Jones will remain, in some vital senses, alive. Which is, corny or not, a magic that's real.
Teaser Summary: Vivian Smith is simply on the train to the countryside, with all of the other children being evacuated from England during the WWII air raids. Vivian Smith is anxiously awaiting the arrival of her relative, when she is the victim of mistaken identity. A young time-traveling boy kidnaps her, thinking that Vivian is the cause of Time City's (a city outside of time) deterioration. Vivian then must help her new friends stop time from becoming chaotic, if she ever wants to get home to the 20th century, or see her parents again, or else become lost in time.Similar Titles/Authors: Other books by Diana Wynne Jones: Howl's Moving Castle, Chronicles of Chrestomanci I, II, & III.Review: In middle school and high school I'd read sooo many of Diana Wynne Jones' novels. Generally she writes neat Science Fiction or Fantasy stories. I have missed her originality and her wit, which she definitely brings to this novel.The story is hard to get into at first, due to the Science Fiction theme of time-travel, and some of the theories that come with that. But if you persevere, you will be rewarded. Jones weaves a fantastic story, with an original plot, and interesting twists. It is fun to watch Vivian Smith discover this Time City, and understanding its creation, and futuristic technology. The readers will enjoy the idea of Time Ghosts. I know I had fun trying to solve the mysteries that were leading to the destruction of the city and time itself. In the nature of time, the author also manages to sew up all loose ends in a believable yet surprising way.Life Application: One of the things I kept thinking about while reading this story, is whether or not I'd want to travel through time. I think it would be neat to visit different moments in history. Different generations even met each other in Time City. Would you want to travel through time, or meet your great great grandmother, or your great great granddaughter?Age Level: It is marketed towards Pre-teen ages 9-12. There is no questionable content for that age group, and older readers will enjoy this story as well.Favorite Quotes:"As everyone in Time City knows, except you apparently, " said Dr. Wilander, "it is because historical time is circular. The beginning is the end. Time used by Man goes round and round --in a small circle here in the city, in a very large one out in history" (p.142). Book Rating: This book is definitely worth reading, as is everything else by this wonderful author. If you're looking for some simple Science Fiction or Fantasy stories, and can appreciate fun wit, then this title and the rest of Diana Wynne Jones' books are definitely for you!
What do You think about A Tale Of Time City (2002)?
Time travel is every person's fantasy at one point or another... but in "A Tale of Time City," it really isn't nearly as fun as you would expect. Diana Wynne-Jones spins up an elaborate, wryly humorous scifi/fantasy where it turns out that time travel is a bit more complex than anyone expected, with plenty of memorable characters and weird time periods.It's London, 1939, and the Blitz is looming over London. Vivian Smith is leaving to stay in the country with a cousin, only to be dragged into another world by a strange boy. His name is Jonathan Lee and his younger cousin Sam is helping him. They think that she is the extremely important Time Lady, who is the only one who can wake Time City's founder, Faber John.Time City, where Jonathan and Sam live, is a futuristic civilization existing outside of time, and observing it closely. And grabbing a person from an unstable era such as "Twenty Century" is a serious offense -- both for them and for Vivian.The boys hastily disguise her as their cousin Vivian. Jonathan's family welcomes Vivian with open arms, but she still has to get used to a strange world filled with invisible furniture, androids -- and a future timeline for Earth that boggles the mind. But Time City itself is in danger. The timekeeping "polarities" are being stolen, and Faber John's stone is cracking and crumbling. The only ones who can save the City are the three children."A Tale of Time City" is a complex story -- sometimes too much, since all the time-hopping, weird eras and secondary characters get rather confusing for the reader. However, it's the GOOD kind of "complex," with constant twists and mysteries interwoven into a simple sci-fantasy story, set in a futuristic city that is anchored OUTSIDE time itself.Jones sculpts a plausible timekeeping civilization, with all sorts of weird details that Vivian has to accustom herself to (strange foods, robots, clothing, customs). She unfolds the plot gradually like a scroll, revealing surprises embedded in the surface as it rolls out, but with plenty of kooky humor and wry dialogue (the "hunt the slipper!" scene).Vivian is a likable protagonist in the classic British kids' lit mold -- a plucky preteen with plenty of guts and an iron spine, sort of like a modernized version of a C.S. Lewis heroine (and one suspects that the opening scenes were a homage to Lewis). Jonathan is a likable if sometimes bumbling kid with an earnest desire to help Time City, and Elio is a pleasant "good android" sidekick for them. Sam's obsession with pies gets a bit annoying, though.Out of Diana Wynne-Jones' colorful bibliography, "A Tale of Time City" is one of her most underrated stories -- a clever, witty sci-fantasy with plenty of twists.
—Ea Solinas
This was a great concept for a children's book, but it could have been so much better. It's only the second Diana Wynne Jones book I've read, but sadly this will be the last as I couldn't finish A Tale of Time City because it lost its pace, character motivation and depth after about page 180.About a girl called Vivian who lives in war-time Britain, but is kidnapped to a secret place called Time City, this tale is about Vivian discovering who she is, what Time City does and retrieving "polarity" caskets to save the city from destruction.Although it starts very well - and is incredibly inventive in all its time-travel tech and city landscape - unfortunately the tale becomes annoying very fast. The character Sam is pointless and is only there to eat butter-pies and Vivian's mission (to get home) seems to get lost and skewed amongst her unbelievable acceptance of her situation.If the book was 250 pages shorter it might have worked, but sadly this one didn't do it for me.
—Anthony Burt
I love stories about time travel, and I absolutely adore Diana Wynne Jones’s writing, so I suppose I was pretty much fated to enjoy A Tale of Time City. It’s wonderful! And I don’t just mean that in the sense of it’s being “great” or “amazing”–it’s full of all sorts of wonders that surprise the reader at every turn. If I could do so and return safely home, I would love to get to tour Time City myself. I’d love to meet Vivian, too. She’s the perfect balance of a credible but remarkably spunky girl. Not to mention inordinately adaptable! She would stand out more but for the fact that the whole book is just full of lively, interesting people. And, as is so typical with Jones’s books, the plot is intriguing from beginning to end. The pacing is excellent, drawing the reader along comfortably but with enough ease to enjoy the setting and the characters as you go. And there are certainly surprises at the end, but ones that just seem to fit perfectly once you encounter them, like they were inevitably but you just never realized it. I would give A Tale of Time City high recommendations, especially to those who love a good fantasy and to those who are intrigued by the idea of time itself–because it’s just fascinating, isn’t it?
—Honya
