I've known about this series for a while, but since it was only available in German so far, I didn't rec it. Now, however, it's being translated into English - amazon.us tells me that the first volume will be available in May, but I don't know if that is true for all countries. The author is Kerstin Gier, and the three books are Ruby Red (Rubinrot), Sapphire Blue (Saphirblau), Emerald Green (Smaragdgrün) - I read the last one only last week, when my library finally had it. I'd classify these as Young Adult Fantasy - they're perhaps similar in reading difficulty and maturity demands to the Twilight series, but far far less whiny, better written and with much better humour. If you're worrying about rating, I'd say it's fine for age 12 and up - there is quite some snogging, but nothing more, and quite a couple of fights, but no graphic violence. The heroine is Gwendolyn Shepherd, 16 years old and thoroughly normal girl - if you don't count the fact that occasionally, she can see ghosts. Her cousin Charlotte, however, has been groomed from birth to be a time traveller, because it has been determined that she carries the time-travelling genes of the family. Of course, it is Gwendolyn, not Charlotte, who ends up carrying the gene, as it always goes in those novels. And now Gwendolyn must learn in a couple of days what took Charlotte years to learn - language, costums, dancing court dances. And that is to say nothing of the real problems Gwendolyn is facing - what is the Count of St. Germain, a time-traveller from the 18th century, up to? Why have her cousin Lucy and her boyfriend Paul disappeared in time so many years ago? What is Gwendolyn's mother hiding? And can she trust her time-travelling companion Gideon? There is, of course, a secret society, a lot of teenage trouble, a pretty foreseeable romance, and lots of adventures in time. Gwendolyn herself narrates her story and doesn't mind showing her anger at her fate at times, which makes for a fun and quick read. Also, I found the whole time-travelling concept well-thought out and in itself logical, and there were a couple of rather unforeseeable turns. These are three thick, fast-paced volumes of time-travelling fun - ideal for a relaxing reading romp.http://www.dwiggie.com/phorum/read.php?16,66700,66700#msg-66700Sun, 26 May 2013 07:00:29 +0100 Phorum 5.2.19 http://www.dwiggie.com/phorum/read.php?16,66700,67115#msg-67115 http://www.dwiggie.com/phorum/read.php?16,66700,67115#msg-67115 Kathy JAFF LibrarySat, 19 Mar 2011 13:21:43 +0000 http://www.dwiggie.com/phorum/read.php?16,66700,66700#msg-66700 http://www.dwiggie.com/phorum/read.php?16,66700,66700#msg-66700
The author is Kerstin Gier, and the three books are Ruby Red (Rubinrot), Sapphire Blue (Saphirblau), Emerald Green (Smaragdgrün) - I read the last one only last week, when my library finally had it. I'd classify these as Young Adult Fantasy - they're perhaps similar in reading difficulty and maturity demands to the Twilight series, but far far less whiny, better written and with much better humour. If you're worrying about rating, I'd say it's fine for age 12 and up - there is quite some snogging, but nothing more, and quite a couple of fights, but no graphic violence.

The heroine is Gwendolyn Shepherd, 16 years old and thoroughly normal girl - if you don't count the fact that occasionally, she can see ghosts. Her cousin Charlotte, however, has been groomed from birth to be a time traveller, because it has been determined that she carries the time-travelling genes of the family. Of course, it is Gwendolyn, not Charlotte, who ends up carrying the gene, as it always goes in those novels.

And now Gwendolyn must learn in a couple of days what took Charlotte years to learn - language, costums, dancing court dances. And that is to say nothing of the real problems Gwendolyn is facing - what is the Count of St. Germain, a time-traveller from the 18th century, up to? Why have her cousin Lucy and her boyfriend Paul disappeared in time so many years ago? What is Gwendolyn's mother hiding? And can she trust her time-travelling companion Gideon?

There is, of course, a secret society, a lot of teenage trouble, a pretty foreseeable romance, and lots of adventures in time. Gwendolyn herself narrates her story and doesn't mind showing her anger at her fate at times, which makes for a fun and quick read. Also, I found the whole time-travelling concept well-thought out and in itself logical, and there were a couple of rather unforeseeable turns.

These are three thick, fast-paced volumes of time-travelling fun - ideal for a relaxing reading romp.]]> Mari A. JAFF LibraryThu, 10 Mar 2011 11:32:02 +0000