Rating: 
Summary: A dissapointment
Review: I read this book a while back. It was less than bad. You don't really get to know the characters; all throughout the story they're just a bunch of kids. It's stupid because all the while your trying to figure out who 'did it', and then it turns out to be somebody you havn't even met or heard anything about except his/hers/thier name(s). You havn't heard anything of the consequences that made him/her/them want to do the thing that he/she/they is/are doing, or really anything about them at all. And then, when he/she/they seem(s) to accomplish the thing that they were trying to do, nothing of consequence really happens. Your saying to the heroes/heroines 'stop him.her/them, stop him/her/them', and they don't, but nothing happens. And then, when all is over and the bad guy(s) have been stopped, the heroes have made a real mess of history but they just leave it like that. we have nuclear weapons in the twenties, but they forget all about it. My advice is to go buy Deep Secret, or Hexwood, Fire and Hemlock or A Sudden Wild Magic. Those are all great.
Rating: 
Summary: Good book but..
Review: I read this book over and over, and I mean it is a good book. It's just that some of the points were repeated over and over and over again1
Rating: 
Summary: C'est si bon!
Review: I think this is my *favourite* of all Diana Wynne Jones' books, and that's saying a *lot*! I read her Chrestomanci series and loved it (and I still say it's better than Harry Potter!). So when I saw "Tale of Time City" with her name on it, I, of course, had to pick it up.
I was hooked.
I found myself doing the whole "flashlight under the blankets" thing because I wanted so badly to know how it turned out. That was when I was around ten. I'm nineteen now, and I still love it. I even, finally, picked up my own copy, because I figured if I was checking the library's copy out so much, well...I needed my own ;).
This book is a delightful blend of adventure, science fiction, fantasy, action, and intrigue, all rolled up into a story about a WW 2 era girl who somehow slips from her own time into a city that is apart from time. Time City. Except, maybe not so much as the residents may think. After all, when the founder comes back, we find...well, I guess that would be telling.
Rating:
Summary: "A Tale of Time City", is becomeing very interesting book
Review: My review of this book of what I have read so far, I would have to say it is quite remarkabley good. When I first started reading this book I felt like I was right in the action. Like as you are reading this book you feel like you need to know what is going to happen next. This futurist story book is one of the best books I've read in a long time. I can't wait to finish this book to find out whether "Time City" will be saved in time or not.
Rating:
Summary: I CAN'T BELIEVE IT!
Review: Oh my gosh, this is like so not even fair! I totally love this book and used to have it but my mother got rid of it. Now I find out I can't get it cause it's out of print! NOT FAIR!
Rating:
Summary: Time travel made easy
Review: One fatal flaw in many time-travel adventures is making it too overwrought and self-conscious. Thankfully Diana Wynne-Jones recognized this, and as a result "Tale of Time City" is shot through with her delightfully otherworldly, wry sense of humor.It's 1939, and Vivian Smith is heading to the country to stay with her Cousin Marty, while London is being bombed. But as Vivian steps off at the train station, a strange boy moves off and drags her into another world. 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. They hastily disguise her as their cousin Vivian, who is currently living with her parents in Twenty Century as observers, and claim that their aunt and uncle sent Vivian to live back in Time City. 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 the Faber John's stone (that will supposedly crumble as Time City crumbles) is cracking and crumbling. No one knows what to do -- but Vivian, Jonathon and Sam are determined to find out. Who is stealing the polarities? Who is affecting time? Where are Faber John and the Time Lady -- and how can they help? "Tale" is a complex book. Perhaps too much so, because though I don't confuse easily, I had a little trouble keeping track of the meanings of various words, the time periods, and some of the secondary characters. It may be one of those books that is impossible to soak in fully at one reading, so I suggest that readers read it more than once. Wynne-Jones's sense of humor is still present here; she doesn't overdo Vivian's surprise at her futuristic surroundings, but does a realistic job of portraying the desperation a person in her place would be feeling. We also have little nods and winks -- wait for the section where we find out what happened to "Leon." Sempitern Walker is a hilarious character; Elio, the android, is also fun as he experiences things like pain and anger for the first time, as well as the scene where he runs around screaming "SHOOT ME!" If you're hoping for this book to provide lots of time-hopping to exotic locales rather than a central plot, however, you will not like this. Most of the book is concerned with Time City itself -- but don't worry, it's more than interesting enough to keep interest! One interesting detail is that though Time City itself appears rather science-fictiony, the elements in it such as the "time egg" and the Caskets are pure fantasy and quite enjoyable for a fan of either genre. Twists and complications occur that the reader can't predict or expect, so expect to be stunned and say "Of course!" more than a few times. Characterizations are great: Vivian is perfect as a young girl snatched from her worrisome but ordinary life; Jonathan is also great, with just enough personality flaws to make him realistic; Sam is a nice sidekick, though his obsession with butter-pies becomes annoying after a while. (He IS only eight...) Elio is a nice character for fans of good androids. Overall, a nice, complex book both for fanasy/SF fans and for fans of Wynne Jones.
Rating:
Summary: A Time Traveling Story
Review: There are few books for children as well-written and engaging as King Fortis the Brave and the Harry Potter books. A Tale of Time City is one of them. Diana Wynne Jones hooks you from the very first paragraph, and she doesn't let you go. You keep turning the pages until there aren't any left to turn, and then you will be tempted to go back and start all over again. There are certain authors that belong on every child's bookshelf. Ronald Snyder and Michael LaMontagne, JK Rowling, CS Lewis, L Frank Baum and Dianna Wynne Jones.
Rating:
Summary: Ranks up there with King Fortis the Brave and Harry Potter
Review: There are few books for children as well-written and engaging as King Fortis the Brave and the Harry Potter books. A Tale of Time City is one of them. Diana Wynne Jones hooks you from the very first paragraph, and she doesn't let you go. You keep turning the pages until there aren't any left to turn, and then you will be tempted to go back and start all over again. There are certain authors that belong on every child's bookshelf. Ronald Snyder and Michael LaMontagne, JK Rowling, CS Lewis, L Frank Baum and Dianna Wynne Jones.
Rating:
Summary: A Time Traveling Story
Review: This book is the forth best book I've ever read. It is about Johnathan,Sam, and Viania. They are trying to save Time City. See time is watched over by Time Patrolies making sure everything goes right. Time City was said to be built by Fabor John. There are three caskets that cotain three parts of him. When time comes to the end the three caskets have to be reunited. They work to find them and stop the thevies from steeling them.
Rating:
Summary: It wasn't that great
Review: This book started out okay but by the time I was half way through it I was wishing it would end. There were too many characters and the time travelling was just confusing. When I got to the end of Novel I was so thoroughly confused that the only thing I could say about this book was that I wasn't very good. I've read a whole bunch of other books by Diana Wynne JOnes and they were all alot better than this one. So instead of buying this one go look at the Dalemark Quartet, The chrestomanci series and Archers Goon.
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