Sands of Time (Out of Time, #6)

by Monique Martin

[kalventure]

What I liked: Egypt! I am a sucker for Ancient Egypt and archaeology, and for some reason I really like the 1920s in general. I also like that Jack was present in this book, I find that he is a good balance.

In Sands of Time, Simon, Elizabeth and Jack are off to 1920 Egypt in search of George Mason and a missing watch. Apparently some of the Council members have turned evil and are collecting the watches for some nefarious reason... and for some other reason Simon and Elizabeth agree to help - discarding their own list of priorities. The pacing of this book overall was better and was an interesting read mostly throughout.

For me, I found it tough to care about the Shadow Council because Martin never explained to us what the actual Council does. This has been a point of contention for me while reading the series (as noted in previous reviews), and I wish we had more information about the purpose of the Council, what Simon's grandfather and other 'operatives' do for the Council, and why it all matters. I feel like I would have liked this installment of the Out of Time series more if these things had been addressed either in Book 2 where it would have made sense or at the very least in this one.

I rather enjoy the premise of the series and the characters enough - the addition of Jack Wells really improved the series in my opinion - and as always it is obvious that Martin puts a lot of effort into researching the times Simon and Elizabeth (and sometimes Jack) travel to. In that way it is the best piece of historical fiction because I feel transported to so many eras and places!

I do not think that I will continue on with the series, however. Unfortunately the way that Martin structures her books and the overall plot arch are not for me, and I at times wind up rather frustrated. For instance, while writing this review I remembered the scarab ring... The scarab ring found may be a call to the first book, the scarab ring that King Kashian procured that Sebastian also had...I literally just figured out how Vale knew about the dig site! Is there some suppository the Council keeps of mission digests, and if so is that how she knew about the tomb, ring, etc? Or was it because she was rescued by the Shadow Council from Bedlam and given this information from that bit of knowledge? Why did it take 6 books to have things kind of come together, and why is this not even remotely brought up by Martin in the book? Why do I still not have a clue about the Council when it is obviously so important? Dragging this out for six books just reminds me of TV shows that go on way past their prime, dragging out the plot to keep a good thing going.

Those that like romance with a bit of adventure and historical fiction will enjoy this series. Just because it isn't for me doesn't mean it isn't for you... and I read 6 of the books before deciding to part ways!