Time’s Children

This secondary world fantasy kicks off a new series by Jackson (the Thieftaker Chronicles) that tests the fabric of reality with several types of time travel. Tobias, 15, is the only novitiate at the time-traveling training temple who can go backward in time, a skill called Walking. Chosen to serve the sovereigns of Daerjen, he is sent back in time with nothing but a chronofor, the device that allows him to Walk, to try to stop two wars from happening. Unfortunately, mayhem breaks loose once he arrives in the alternate universe, and Tobias’s fellow novitiate, Mara, is the only human who can tell that something is wrong—even though she doesn’t remember Tobias at all. With the help of a time-eating demon who loves Tobias, she plunges into the past to help set things to rights. This novel wields dueling timelines like knives, keeping readers spellbound while Tobias tries to keep the world from becoming unhinged. Jackson creates two fascinating worlds that coalesce seamlessly into an un-put-downable fantasy narrative and seem likely to lead to an exciting sequel. Agent: Lucienne Diver, Knight Agency. (Oct.)