The Obsidian Compass
- by Liesl Shurtliff
- Novel
- Fantasy
- Children
- Definite Time Travel
- English
- The Obsidian Compass by Liesl Shurtliff (Katherine Tegen Books, October 2019).
Three siblings work together to stop the evil time-traveling captain from gaining a powerful item that would turn him immortal while at the same time trying to save their friend, but time is running out, ironically.
—Derek Smith
'Oh, I could never get used to those kinds of twisty time things in my head. I like clear straight lines.'
'Tell me about it,' said Chuck. 'Time travel is a real mindbender, am I right?'
Tags
(7)
- Time Periods
- Ancient History (3000 BC to AD 476: Bronze/Iron Ages): The Hudsons travel to 3021 B.C.
- Circa AD 1700 to 1799: Mrs. Hudson origianlly comes from Morroco, 1700's. Morroco was also the scene of the climax of the book.
- Circa AD 1800 to 1899: The Hudsons travel to the World's Columbian Exposition.
- Circa AD 2000 to 2099: The story's original timeline is in the year 2019.
- Timeline Models
- Causal Loop: Mateo invents a time compass to combat Captain Vincent, but only invents it to fight him. We learn latter that the Captain has the compass that Mateo invented, but if Mateo invented the compass to stop another compass, where did the first one come from? Ergo, causal loop.
- Single Consistent Timeline: The Hudsons are able to travel back in time and do things to the past, yet all of the major historical events stay the same, not matter what the characters try.
- Themes
- Caution! Do Not Destroy Spacetime Continuum!: Going back in time to meet your past self has dire consequences. For instance, Mrs. Hudson tries to go back in time to save her parents, only to realize that by traveling back in time, she is the reason they died.
Variants
(1)
- The Obsidian Compass by Liesl Shurtliff (Katherine Tegen Books, October 2019).