The Infinity Ring Series

Brief synopsis:
History is broken, and three kids must travel back in time to set it right!

When best friends Dak Smyth and Sera Froste stumble upon the secret of time travel -- a hand-held device known as the Infinity Ring -- they're swept up in a centuries-long secret war for the fate of mankind. Recruited by the Hystorians, a secret society that dates back to Aristotle, the kids learn that history has gone disastrously off course.

Now it's up to Dak, Sera, and teenage Hystorian-in-training Riq to travel back in time to fix the Great Breaks . . . and to save Dak's missing parents while they're at it. (Amazon)

Category: Juvenile

Why I chose this book: It's similar to the 39 Clues series, quick reads, talks about history and travel

My personal opinion (the review): Aristotle was devastated when his star pupil died what he considered to be an untimely death. Thus he theorized that there were "breaks" or events that went wrong/shouldn't have happened and that these would continue throughout history. He started a group called the Historians who would preserve history and help anyone who might come to fix the breaks. On the other side the SQ has created a group to make sure that those fixes never happen. In the present day, Dak and Sera are caught up in a world racing toward the cataclysm, or the end of the world. They found out that these breaks in history are what are causing the earth to fall apart through natural disasters. With a bit of help they set out on a journey to make it all right again. Listed below are each of the breaks they go to fix.
1. Christopher Columbus and the journey to America
2. Viking Battle in Paris won by the wrong side
3. The Underground Railroad never worked
4. Mayan codex/calendar was destroyed
5. Library with Aristotle's writings was destroyed in Mongol invasion
6. Germany WWII the Axis powers won the war
7: Alexander the Great's early death
8. The SQ turn the tide of space travel in their favor.

I wanted these books to be good and honestly they just fell short. The idea was a great one, but the writing just didn't follow. The last book in particular was awful, just end after number 7. The original 39 clues series was much better in terms of story, character development, and writing quality. It was also a nuisance that this series constantly referred to the online portion of the story that I did not play.

Warnings (language, violence, "adult" situations, death, etc.) - Graphic scenes of cataclysm and death

Movie rating equivalent: Somewhere between PG and PG-13

Protagonist description:
Dak is the history buff of the group. He is also loves to joke around.
Sera is the serious, responsible scientist of the group.
Riq is the language buff who is willing to take risks when needed.

Point of view of story: Changes between the three of main characters and it is sometimes hard to tell when the perspective has shifted.

Book length: Very short, 2 day reads each

Story flow: Each book is mostly straightforward, but I wish each mission/book had been in order from earliest to latest rather than jumping around.  

Grammar and spelling issues: None

Character connection: None

For series:

Independent or integral: Integral

If you only have time for one, read: 1-7

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