Ancient Fire - Danger Boy, Episode 1

Product Review

Hitch a ride through time on the Danger Boy adventures! These rich, action-filled fantasies about a reluctant time-traveler and his unusual sidekicks will keep readers on the edge of their seats.

The year is 2019, and a secret government agency is forcing Eli’s dad to continue with his time-travel experiments, even though Eli’s mom has just disappeared in one. Now Eli has a ridiculous new code name — and a gravely important mission.

In DANGER BOY: ANCIENT FIRE, a lab accident sends Eli sprawling through the Fifth Dimension, where he hooks up with the amiable Clyne, an evolved dinosaur from an alternate Earth who just wants to finish his homework. Clyne’s timeship lands them in ancient Alexandria, Egypt, just as a great fire rages through the city and the girl scientist Thea is fleeing an angry mob who thinks she’s a witch. As if that’s not enough, in the present-day world, a deadly pox is on the loose, and bizarre things are starting to happen to the fabric of time itself.

Customer Reviews

Average Customer Review

(9 customer reviews)

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful

Danger and Daring and Just plain Fun!, October 29, 2004

Joy Bryden (Alameda CA USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Ancient Fire (Danger Boy, Episode 1) (Hardcover)

This first book in a wonderful series brings a fresh and fun look at relativity as we join 12 year old Eli in a time travel adventure sure to engross young readers, and their parents as well!

Eli travels backward through time and history via inventions of his scientist Father who is pressed to use his son thusly by ruthless people he had worked for. That his Mother is missing in space/time adds more tension and drama.

Eli endears us with his pluck and quick mind as he narrates his adventures.

Williams makes the complex plot plausible and always easy for us to willingly accept. He adds charming companions for Eli, who sometimes share in the narrative. There is a friendly and bright dinosaur from another planet, and Thea, from ancient Alexandria, who has been accused of being a witch!

This wonderful book is must reading for kids 8-13. My Grandson can't wait for more from this author--Danger Boy is a terrific series!!!

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful

The Sands of Time :-), November 30, 2011

Dee In SoCal (Los Angeles) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Ancient Fire: Danger Boy Episode 1 (Kindle Edition)

While I feel quite certain that any teen who checked out this book (literally or otherwise) would become a Danger Boy fan immediately, DB truly is not limited to that age group. It will be equally enjoyed by adults!

For example, if you're an old Twilight Zone or Isaac Asimov fan who's pondered dimensions beyond those we can see and touch, Mark London Williams' imagination will catch your fancy.

Since I'm an old Mathie from way back when, I enjoyed the contemplations on what time actually *is*. The notion of "all time" existing "all at once" is quite Mathie in its origins. The time-dimension concept goes hand in hand with the mysteries of Moebius bands and the like. Williams gave me fun puzzles to ponder.

On an even deeper level, I saw Williams' work as a way to look at a theodicy and other questions of good and evil. Even the naming of the characters (Eli, Thea) - shorthand for God - tease us into thinking about topics not usually associated with YA...Read more

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful

A great adventure book!, October 30, 2004

A Mom (Manhattan Beach, Ca) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Ancient Fire (Danger Boy, Book 1) (Paperback)

My nine year-old son rates this as his favorite book. Mark Williams does a fantastic job of discussing time travel as seen through the eyes of a boy. Eli, the "danger boy", reacts to things as a kid his age would, not as the typical adult protagonist. The idea of a dinosaur doing time travel as a part of a homework assignment was one that my son enjoyed very much.