In the Circle of Time

By Margaret J. Anderson

Book Overview

The mist gathered slowly, just a faint coolness and dampness around the stones. . . Then Robert noted the silence. . . fog blanketed the ground within the circle of stones. Jennifer was just a gray shadow of herself, still digging down toward the hidden slab of rock. The coldness of the fog soaked into Robert and he suddenly wanted to push the soil back into the hole he had dug, but the cold seemed to have reached his brain and he had no more power over his thoughts.In this compelling time-slip novel, a girl and a boy from the present day are carried through the Circle of Time to the twenty-second century. There they are caught up in the struggle of a peace-loving people trying to protect their simple and humane way of life from the assaults of a barbaric mechanized society who would conquer and enslave them. Through rich layers of time and meaning, Margaret Anderson has woven an intriguing tale in which the present becomes the past and the future is now. When the book was first published in 1979, it was well ahead of its time for young adult fiction in dealing with climate change as a significant problem-a theme that has since produced a genre known as "cli-fi."

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0997611642
• ISBN13: 9780997611649
• Release Date: November 2019
• Publisher: Lychgate Press
• Length: 202 Pages
• Weight: 0.55 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.5" x 5.2" x 8.0"

Customer Reviews

A Must Read for Fans of Stonehenge and Time Travel

This tale is a must for those of you out there who have always been curious about - and fascinated by - the mystery intimated by the existence of standing stones. Jennifer, an American girl attending school in Scotland, meets up with Robert, a native Scottish boy at the Circle of Arden, a collection of standing stones much like its more famous sibling, Stonehenge. Although they are drawn to this site for very different reasons, the sudden rolling in of a thick mist one grey dawn changes their lives forever. When the mist finally disperses, they find themselves in the future, a world far more "primitive" in some respects than our own, but perhaps more advanced in terms of its values (this you'll have to judge for yourself, but the characters and the issues are well developed and you'll have a lot to think about). The very coastlines have changed and great cities have crumbled to dust. Robert is slightly more prepared for this strange world; he has heard tales in the village of the mists suddenly coming down into the valley, with people mysteriously disappearing every once in a great while. His own mother wandered in among the stones as a small child and was found many hours later, safe, but wrapped in a strange, soft grey cloth. Jennifer is quick-witted and athletic, traits that come in handy when facing the perils of this "brave new world." What must they accomplish there? How are they to return to their own time? The answer to these questions can only be found In the Circle of Time.