Time's Divide

The Chronos Files, Book 3

By: Rysa Walker

Narrated by: Kate Rudd

Length: 17 hrs and 20 mins

Publisher's Summary

The Cyrists are swiftly moving into position to begin the Culling, and Kate's options are dwindling. With each jump to the past or the future, Kate may trigger a new timeline shift. Worse, the loyalties of those around her - including the allegiances of Kiernan and the Fifth Column, the shadowy group working with Kate - are increasingly unclear.

Kate will risk everything, including her life, to prevent the future her grandfather and the Cyrists have planned. But, when time runs out, it may take an even bigger sacrifice to protect the people she loves.

©2015 Rysa Walker (P)2015 Brilliance Audio, all rights reserved.

I have mixed feelings about this one.

If you’ve listened to books by Rysa Walker before, how does this one compare?
I'm sad to say I enjoyed the other two books much, much more than this one. It wasn't by any means bad. I did like it. It just...wasn't as good. There are so many time jumps in this story, a lot of them in back and forth fashion (some of them with two Kates at a time), and lots of going over plans and lots of time travel/timeline shift technicalities that it became a little overwhelming and confusing. I kept asking myself questions (as I listened) about things that didn't make sense to me, but it felt like a chore to try and understand it all. I tried to ignore that and just enjoy the book as I have done in the past with the other two books, but this time around it wasn't as easy.

Have you listened to any of Kate Rudd’s other performances before? How does this one compare?
Yes, she's the best. Love her.

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?
No. During several tension filled scenes, I was definitely glued to the car seat. But I am surprised to say that I often had to pause it for later because I would be confused or overwhelmed with action plan details and/or time jumps; it felt like my brain needed a break so I would listen to music instead.

Any additional comments?
The end of this series wasn't as satisfying as I would have liked. The final confrontation with Saul is, without giving away spoilers, not what you would expect and very anticlimactic. I guess it's a twist in the story, the way it pans out. I suppose you could say it's a clever twist, as likely no one sees it coming, but it just wasn't satisfying. There is also one other major twist in the story that didn't jive with me, although that's just my own personal opinion; it felt like a convenient twist in order for somebody to have their happy ending. That was one of the technicalities that I didn't quite understand how it was possible.

But overall, I still enjoyed the story and it was interesting to see Kate travel to the future for the first time. I also have to admit that I love the characters and I am glad most of them got a happy-ish ending. I even shed a few bittersweet tears at the end when Kate receives an old photo album of a certain someone's life.

Disappointing and rambling conclusion to an excellent series

While the premise and development of the story in the previous novels (and novella) was excellent, the overall conflict in the last book was wanting and the overall resolution a rambling and unsatisfactory experience. A relatively minor character is put into the primary antagonist role for really no good reason, and the showdown the series had been building to sidelined. Don't even get me started on the resolution of the conflict with the primary antagonist of the whole series which is anti-climactic at best. It was a fun ride up until this dud, and will spoil my ever wanting to re-listen to the whole series again, despite the outstanding performance of the reader.

The End... --- …

The grand finale of Kate’s time-travel adventures. Expect lots of double-crosses, timeline interference and a heroine bent on making things right. Does she do it? Yes…then…

I first tried this series thinking that my daughter would like—she did. I did not think I, a sophisticated Science Fiction reader, would—but I did. This is not some futuristic romance novel with a minor time-travel element. No, this is a seriously fun book exploring the possibilities of time-travel. Rysa Walker has invented a brilliant gadget to facilitate her time-traveling characters’ adventures through the centuries. She also has a good grasp of how to build a sense of conflict to drive the action and motivate the characters without losing the listener. Give the first book a try and I think you will want to follow the story until the end…and beyond.

I have been singing Kate Rudd’s praises ever since listening to her rendition of the first book in this series, Timebound. Her performance helps make this an entertaining experience.

Mixed Feelings

Would you recommend Time's Divide to your friends? Why or why not?

I would recommend the whole series but the 3rd book falls flat. I enjoyed all three books very much but I found Time's Divide to stray from the first two. I believe what leaves a bad taste in my mouth is the lack of a conclusion that is viable. The main goal was to always collect all the keys. That doesn't happen, the president is able to keep her key, Prudence keeps her key, what was the point of collecting the keys. Why is there a second Kate. I don't understand her purpose or how she even is there. I'm not sure if the author was trying to make a happy ending for Kiernan and Kate. I am hoping that there might be another book, but I do know Kiernan most likely would not be a part of it. Also I don't know what direction she would go in to continue.

What does Kate Rudd bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?

I love Kate Rudd and was engrossed from the start of the series.

Wonderful

So so so good!! Action.. Adventure... Love... Loss... Death...and New life... Had me laughing... Nervous... And crying.. But it was happy tears. . Read them all you won't be sorry

I'm not afraid to admit, I cried a little...

What other book might you compare Time's Divide to and why?

I think this book was much better than the second one, there was less nonsense sex talk, which was previously distracting. It was better than the other two because it's the end, we know what happened, that's the best part of finishing a series.

What about Kate Rudd’s performance did you like?

This book was a little harder to follow than the other ones because with all the time travel, there are sometimes more than one Kate, and our narrator wasn't able to distinguish when there was a shift in time, or Kate 1 vs. Kate 2. You can't really blame her however, because how different can her voice be if she's narrating the same person, at the same age.

Did you have an extreme reaction to this book? Did it make you laugh or cry?

I cried. I won’t say more than that it was at the very end. I cried because it made me happy. It had previously made me sad, so I think the happy tears were of relief.

Long awaited conclusion

Time’s Divide is the third book by Rysa Walker in the Chronos Files series. The Chronos Files is a very creative YA time trilogy exploring time travel and complex interacting timelines. The main protagonist Kate, a 17 year old young girl is struggling to stop her grandfather, a time traveler who created a religion on a bet as a joke, and then with his ability mess with the timeline, goes about shaping the world to suite his own purpose.

Time’s Divide brings the story to a conclusion as Kate struggles to figure out who are her allies and how she can stop her grandfather and save those she loves. As with the first two books, Rysa Walker's attention to detail is outstanding, as the story jumps back and forth in time and the characters actions influence what is happening across the timeline. Ms Walker continues with meaningful character development through the various changes. Kate Rudd's narration was outstanding. There are some surprises and I am not sure I enjoyed the the end as much as I did the first two books. Still a four star goodread and worth the credit.

Good addition tot he series overall.

Overall, I've enjoyed these books. The idea of the chronos key protecting the one wearing it from changes in the timeline was a great idea and opened up new possibilities in time travel complications and paradoxes which let this story go in different directions than other time travel novels I've read. There were some unexpected plot twists in this one I enjoyed also. I had trouble identifying with the characters at times though and seemed to be loosing concern for them. By the climax, a part of me was ready for it to be over and I feel like I binged listened just to get through it. I may also have been confused about whom the antagonist was throughout the books. I certainly didn't see some of the events coming and was both a little surprised and disappointed by some. Overall I did enjoy the story though!

A long tiring listen.

Good story stretched out much too long. Heroine is way too smart for a 17 year old girl. Excellent narrator.

mediocrity that isn't temporal.

It wasn't terrible, but it wasn't good either. I feel like the story could have ended in the last book. This book barely added anything to the story. I found myself bored with the characters and bored with the plot. the first book was definitely the most interesting.

Big fan

It's fair to say I'm a fan of this series. Cleverly written plot and dialogue without the need to fall back on violence or action for excitement. A totally original concept in the time travel genre. Hard to predict what will happen next and keeps you on the edge of your seat.

If Rysa ever chooses to pick up the Chronos story again in the future I will be a keen reader for sure. With one series to her name Rysa Walker has risen to the top of my list of favourite fiction authors.

The downsides of time travel fiction

Would you try another book written by Rysa Walker or narrated by Kate Rudd?

Written: Yes, probably, although not in the same series as having "read" all five books (including the novellas) I'm a bit fed up of the Chronos mythos

Narrated: possibly, although I feel she narrated he earlier books better. Perhaps it was just that after a while her character voices blurred into each other. The main reason for saying no would be that I am not a big fan of any of the other series that she narrates

Was Time's Divide worth the listening time?

I have to say no, which frustrates me. I got the other four audiobooks in the series for "free" as I had borrowed the whispersync with narration enabled kindle books through kindle unlimited. This was the only book I therefore paid a credit for, making it doubly disappointing that it was the worst book in the series

Any additional comments?

Time travel really does make books confusing. I think Rysa Walker pushed very hard for every change to make logical sense, but inevitably that make it really easy to get confused. In written form one can go back and check things, but in audio form, once you're lost, you're lost.

Excellent

If you enjoy time travel and paradoxes then this is s must.
I was glued to it.