Tom Oakley experiences disturbing episodes of déjà-vu and believes he is going mad.

Then, he discovers that he’s a “Walker”—someone who can transport himself to other times and places. Tom dreams about other “Walkers” in moments of mortal danger: Edward Dyson killed in a battle in 1879; Mary Brown who perished in the Great Fire of London; and Charlie Hawker, a sailor who drowned on a U-boat in 1943.

Agreeing to travel back in time and rescue them, Tom has three dangerous adventures, before returning to the present day. But Tom’s troubles have only just begun. He finds that he’s drawn the attention of evil individuals who seek to bend history to their will.

Soon, Tom’s family are obliterated from existence and Tom must make a choice between saving them and saving his entire world.

11 years old Tom Oakley has been struggling with nightmares, where he’s always someone else: a sailor, a girl, a Lieutenant. The common point on them? He—or should I say them?—is always about to die. If that weren’t enough, he starts to have this weird experiences when it seems the time is going backwards. When he’s sure he’s going mad, a weird guy named Septimus shows up and tells him he’s a Walker, he can bend the time and travel through it. Any ordinary kid would say “how cool?” on this situation, but not Tom.

Septimus takes Tom to meet the Professor Neoptolemas, on the Hourglass Institute. There, the Professor offers Tom to join the Tomorrow’s Guardians, but the boy isn’t sure that’s what he wants to do for life. The Professor then asks for his help: he wants Tom to go back on time and rescue the people he’s been dreaming about. After that, if Tom still doesn’t want his new found powers, the Professor will take them away and Tom will be an ordinary boy again. Three dangerous trips later, mission accomplished! But he finds out his family doesn’t exist anymore: simple like that. Someone went back on time and his parents were killed on a fire before he was even born. That means only one thing: someone wants Tom dead. When he suggests he should go back and save his parents, the Professor tells him he can’t do it. But, wait, hasn’t Tom just rescued three people? So why can’t he rescue his parents and save himself too? There’s something odd on it, you can tell it.

Tomorrow’s Guardian is an exciting book. Fantasy used to be my favorite genre to read, but lately this spot has been taken by paranormal, so it was great to have a good fantasy story on my hands for a change. The characters are likeable and there’s a huge historical background on it, you clearly see that Richard Denning took time and care to write the historical events based on exactly what happened. This is a well written story for teens, no vampires, no angels, no dystopian future, no love-til-death drama. It’s a fun reading and time flew while I was reading it, I’m looking forward to finding out what happens next with Tom.

Author: Richard Denning
Country: United Kindgom
Language: English
Genre(s): Young Adult, Fantasy
Publisher: Mercia Books
Publication date: November 1, 2010
Pages: 368
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