The Trolley to Yesterday

Rating:
Summary: Very Good
Review: "The Trolley to Yesturday" was very well done but once the plot starts to develop and they trapped in 1453 everything that can go wrong seems to go wrong. They are very smart characters and pass many tests but sometimes seem to lack a little common sence. I could be wrong but either way this book is still very enjoyable. Although it is not really one of those books that you can NEVER put down it still offers very much. Once again Bellairs writes another good book.

Rating:
Summary: AY CARAMBA! Professors in time!
Review: For my first comment, I must say this: Any book featuring a god of Upper and Lower Egypt is really, really cool.

When said book is by John Bellairs and features 1)Well-done historical fiction, 2)Absolutely groovy plot, 3)Unforgettable characters, and 4)Time travel using a truly funky trolley, well, the book's really extremely cool, then.

This was Bellairs' first foray into historical fiction. I don't know whether he was trying to diversify or merely experimenting with a different genre, but the book was the first cool historical fiction book I ever read. Constantinople is vividly described, and many useful tidbits of information are scattered through the book -- such as the Seven Hills of Rome -- which everyone should know in case they run into a Guardian (read the book, then you'll get the joke).

This book also supplied the hilarious quote "Now, when Justinian was king --and boy, did they have the parties then!" -Brewster . Everyone should read this book as an excercise in, er, good books. Really good ones.

Rating:
Summary: Constantinople Rocks
Review: I had never read John Bellairs books before, but stumbled upon this because the it was based on Byzantine History, which I like.

I enjoyed the book tremendously. The author manages to convey the fear and desperation of a populace about to be subjugated, while at the same time giving a rip roaring fantasy aspect to it. When reading fantasy books (and this IS a fantasy book) one has to suspend disbelief.

Leaving the fantasy aspect aside, I was impressed at the historical accuracy of the book. It also helped that there is a map of the city at the front of the book to give readers an idea of the set up of The City.

I do recommend this book, but it is really for older children.

Rating:
Summary: save your money
Review: I read this book to my children (13y to 6y) and spent most of my time editing. The children are fresh and "shut up" and other such comments as well as shovel fulls of slang are constant. There is no character development and the plot is predictable. The author does something throughout the book that is common to young writers (although he apparently is a respected author) that being to bring in ridiculous solutions to situations that arise. For example when the professor and the children are surrounded by soldiers they are suddenly given something that lets them fly, etc. There is very little of history in the book either. I'm donating my copy to the library sale.

Rating:
Summary: Another Tale From the Master of Young Adult Fiction!
Review: Johnny, Fergie, and Professor Childermass are back and it seems the cantankerous old coot has something special in his basement. A time machine! Well, actually a Time Trolley! When Johnny and Fergie notice the Professor acting strange they decide to investigate, instead of finding the Prof one step closer to insanity they find that he has an honest-to-God time machine that allows him to travel to Constantinople right before its fall to the Turks! The Professor has a hair-brained, but well intentioned scheme to alter the course of history (and save more than a few helpless souls) but alas, things do not always go according to plan.

With grand, Bellairsian style the inseparable trio come across ghosts, statue guardians, Turkish hordes, and a really cool thingamajig that allows them to fly only by uttering a few simple words. With any John Bellairs book you know you're in for a treat, and although The Trolley to Yesterday is amongst some of the master author's lighter works it never fails to entertain. So if you're a fan of the fantastic hop aboard The Trolley to Yesterday!

Rating:
Summary: Another Tale From the Master of Young Adult Fiction!
Review: Johnny, Fergie, and Professor Childermass are back and it seems the cantankerous old coot has something special in his basement. A time machine! Well, actually a Time Trolley! When Johnny and Fergie notice the Professor acting strange they decide to investigate, instead of finding the Prof one step closer to insanity they find that he has an honest-to-God time machine that allows him to travel to Constantinople right before its fall to the Turks! The Professor has a hair-brained, but well intentioned scheme to alter the course of history (and save more than a few helpless souls) but alas, things do not always go according to plan.

With grand, Bellairsian style the inseparable trio come across ghosts, statue guardians, Turkish hordes, and a really cool thingamajig that allows them to fly only by uttering a few simple words. With any John Bellairs book you know you're in for a treat, and although The Trolley to Yesterday is amongst some of the master author's lighter works it never fails to entertain. So if you're a fan of the fantastic hop aboard The Trolley to Yesterday!

Rating:
Summary: Luck always happens when they most need it
Review: The characters in this book are Frederick, Johnny and the Professor. This book begins with Johnny noticing the Professor is acting strangely, and he finds out the Professor has a trolley that can go back and forward through time. I had little enthusiasm for this book because the plot changes rapidly and much of the book 'just happens to be so', luck happens when they most need it, which stops them from using clever solutions for their problems.

Rating:
Summary: fun at times
Review: This book didn't do that much for me, but I definately do not think that it is a waste of time. Johnny's friend was annoying when he kept saying 'baby'. I know that the setting is in the 1950's but it's such a cliche. This is a fun read for 9-12 year olds.

Rating:
Summary: Back through time
Review: Time travel in fantasy is now such a cliche that it's a bit hard to write anything original about it. But John Bellairs managed. "Trolley to Yesterday" has a bunch of intriguing twists and unexpected events, and while it doesn't have as much supernatural content, it still is an enjoyable read.

Professor Childermass is acting even more oddly than usual, which is saying something. When Fergie and Johnny try to investigate his weird behavior (including sand on his carpet and talking to himself), they find the professor having a conversation with Brewster, a magical Egyptian statue. He admits his secret: Behind a bricked-up wall is a time-travelling trolley. And the boys hitch a ride when Childermass travels back in time to save the city of Constantinople from invasion.

The problem? They arrive a little too late, and the city is being overrun by Turkish soldiers. As they struggle to make their way back to the trolley and the safety of the future, they encounter the trolley's creator (who accidently got left behind during one of its previous excursions), a deranged monk, and a group of ghostly Crusaders. But then Johnny is poisoned, and the only cure means going back to Constantinople -- and back into danger.

Usually time travel books are full of cliches, and this one has a few, but you probably won't notice them. Kids who read this book may become interested in the Byzantine Empire -- while Bellairs doesn't present huge amounts of historical detail, he gives enough to be very, very interesting. (There's also a dash of Egyptian stuff too) There's adventure, humor and the odd way of getting around.

Johnny and Fergie remain the surprisingly courageous duo of previous books, the shy boy and his brasher, jokier pal. Professor Childermass is crusty, sometimes a bit irrational, but very lovable. And Brewster (a deity of Upper and Lower Egypt) really steals the show with his dry little comments. .

This book proably has one of the lowest amounts of supernatural stuff of Bellairs' books. Certainly it doesn't have much in the way of horror. But there is a great twist about halfway through, where our heroes are aided by a group of ghostly Crusaders, who are trying to make amends for sacking the city centuries before. I suppose Brewster technically counts as supernatural, and he provides a lot of the humor (such as translating a Turkish soldier's words as "Butter and eggs, and a pound of cheese!").

"Trolley To Yesterday" isn't Bellairs' best novel, but it is an intriguing and informative historical book that adults may enjoy as well, especially if they're Byzantine buffs. Good fun.

Rating:
Summary: Bellairs' most ambitious novel.
Review: Well, Johnny, Fergie, and the Prof are back at it again. Only this time their adventure lies on another continent, in another century.

This is John Bellairs at his absolute peak of creative ability. The cast of characters ranges from an amusing, tongue-in-cheek ancient Egyptian god (in the form of a floating bird statue of course), and an inventor who's harebrained schemes rival that of the professor's, to the more frightening gothic images of medieval ghosts, and talking stone heads. The locations are more exotic than ever before. And the fact that the main characters find themselves in the middle of the Ottoman Turkish siege of Constantinople, lends itself to a great deal of drama almost by default.

True, Bellairs asks the reader to suspend their disbelief a little more than ususal, (I mean, how likely is time travel in an old trolley?) but the rewards are even greater than normal.

The most different, and also the best of the John Bellairs collection.