Editorial Content for Outlaws of Time: The Legend of Sam Miracle
Contributors
Reviewer (text)
OUTLAWS OF TIME: The Legend of Sam Miracle by N.D. Wilson is a unique twist on time traveling adventures. Sam Miracle, an imaginative orphan with stiff, non-functioning arms, learns that his dreams are not dreams at all, but, in fact, past-lives he’s lived.
"N.D. Wilson spins an extraordinarily vivid tale....The writing is stunningly poetic and rich, the cast of misfit characters endearing."
With the help of his spunky friend, Glory, and the mysterious Father Tiempo, Sam embarks on a journey through time to save his kidnapped sister and defeat the Vulture, an outlaw bent on world domination and the destruction of Sam. Sam has been in battle with the Vulture for centuries. But time is not linear, it jumps and weaves and can be manipulated. So Sam may fight the Vulture once in 2016 and again in the 1800s. Each time they duel --- think Wild West-style gunfights --- Sam is killed, his arms maimed and Father Tiempo transports him to another time, another life, with only a memory that feels like a dream. And the cycle begins again. However, this time Sam must end it once and for all.
N.D. Wilson spins an extraordinarily vivid tale, creating a world of incredible magic where it’s possible for time to be personified and for a boy to have snakes for arms. The writing is stunningly poetic and rich, the cast of misfit characters endearing. The thrilling story is fast-paced with one entertaining action scene after the next.
Time travel can be challenging to write about and, therefore, difficult to explain. The best way Wilson describes how time travel works within Sam’s world is in a speech given by Father Tiempo, “Most people live in the lines, but I march in the margins. I am sent to make the edits, the notes, the corrections. You and I and all creatures are ink on the page, but I can lead you through the white space between the words, where time is thin,” (76). This is a wonderfully descriptive definition. But despite the beautifully crafted image, the mechanics of how time travel works are unclear and not fully explained. Both Sam and the reader are kept in the dark on how some of the events are possible. How the Vulture controls time differently than Father Tiempo and how Father Tiempo’s multiple deaths shorten his life are just some of the plotlines that are under-explained.
Nonetheless, OUTLAWS OF TIME has the makings of an epic series, one that will keep middle grade readers on their toes. The next installment will hopefully provide more answers, but with the same amount of heart and imagination. Sam is the perfect kind of unconventional hero, the kind that will have readers rooting for him long after the dazzling series ends.
Teaser
Sam Miracle’s life is made up of dreams, dreams where he’s a courageous, legendary hero instead of a foster kid with two bad arms that can barely move. Sometimes these dreams feel so real, they seem like forgotten memories. And sometimes they make him believe that his arms might come alive again. But Sam is about to discover that the world he knows and the world he imagines are separated by only one thing: time. And that separation is only an illusion. The laws of time can be bent and shifted by people with special magic. But not all of these “time walkers” can be trusted. One is out to protect Sam so that he can accept his greatest destiny, and another is out to kill him so that a prophecy will never be fulfilled. However, it’s an adventurous girl named Glory and two peculiar snakes who show Sam the way through the dark paths of yesterday to help him make sure there will be a tomorrow for every last person on earth.
Promo
Sam Miracle’s life is made up of dreams, dreams where he’s a courageous, legendary hero instead of a foster kid with two bad arms that can barely move. Sometimes these dreams feel so real, they seem like forgotten memories. And sometimes they make him believe that his arms might come alive again. But Sam is about to discover that the world he knows and the world he imagines are separated by only one thing: time. And that separation is only an illusion. The laws of time can be bent and shifted by people with special magic. But not all of these “time walkers” can be trusted. One is out to protect Sam so that he can accept his greatest destiny, and another is out to kill him so that a prophecy will never be fulfilled. However, it’s an adventurous girl named Glory and two peculiar snakes who show Sam the way through the dark paths of yesterday to help him make sure there will be a tomorrow for every last person on earth.
About the Book
This new fantasy-adventure series from N. D. Wilson, bestselling author of 100 CUPBOARDS, pits a misfit 12-year-old against a maniacal villain with a deadly vendetta. This one-of-a kind story is must read for fans of Brandon Mull and Soman Chainani, and the start of a thrilling tale from a masterful storyteller.
Sam Miracle’s life is made up of dreams, dreams where he’s a courageous, legendary hero instead of a foster kid with two bad arms that can barely move. Sometimes these dreams feel so real, they seem like forgotten memories. And sometimes they make him believe that his arms might come alive again.
But Sam is about to discover that the world he knows and the world he imagines are separated by only one thing: time. And that separation is only an illusion. The laws of time can be bent and shifted by people with special magic that allows them to travel through the past, present, and future. But not all of these “time walkers” can be trusted. One is out to protect Sam so that he can accept his greatest destiny, and another is out to kill him so that a prophecy will never be fulfilled. However, it’s an adventurous girl named Glory and two peculiar snakes who show Sam the way through the dark paths of yesterday to help him make sure there will be a tomorrow for every last person on earth.
