The Ancient One [Hardcover]

T. A. Barron (Author)

Product Details

• Hardcover
• Publisher: Demco Media; Reprint edition (August 1994)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0606110429
• ISBN-13: 978-0606110426
• Product Dimensions: 7 x 4.5 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 8.8 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (50 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #10,971,446 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

T.A. Barron is the award-winning author of fantasy novels such as The Lost Years of Merlin epic--soon to be a major motion picture. He serves on a variety of environmental and educational boards including The Nature Conservancy and The Land and Water Fund of the Rockies, and is the founder of a national award for heroic children. Following a life-changing decision to leave a successful business career to write full-time in 1990, Barron has written seventeen books, but is happiest when on the mountain trails with his wife, Currie, and their five children.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Our class group LOVED it!, April 5, 2000

By 

Mrs J's 4-5-6 (Seattle, USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Ancient One (Mass Market Paperback)

Kate and her aunt Melanie try to save the `Lost Crater' from loggers who want to cut the ancient redwood trees. By a magic walking stick, Kate travels back in time. She makes friends and enemies on her trip. She will need a broken touchstone to control the stick that will take her back to her own time. Can Kate save the Halamis from Gashra, save the Ancient One, and make it back to our time?

Everyone in our class reading group loved the book - except for the ending. :( The authors style was imaginative and very expressive. The sentences flowed for a good `read'. We would recommend this book because it was suspenseful, interesting, and educational. It's a learning experience book for children. You always wanted to know what was going to happen next.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Very Interesting Book, October 16, 2000

By A Customer

This review is from: The Ancient One (Mass Market Paperback)

Kate is a girl who is visiting her aunt during summer vacation. While she is there she finds out what her aunt is up to: trying to save the ancient redwood trees from the loggers that are trying to cut them down. Aunt Melanie takes Kate and they both go to the lost crater which is only "lost" because it hasn't been seen since the end of the Hameli tribe (a group of Indians that lived there 500 years ago.) Aunt Melanie has been handed down a walking stick that belonged to the Hamelis' many years ago. An unforseen mistake with the walking stick sends Kate back in time (500 years). Will Kate get back to her own time? Will she survive her adventure? If you are a person that likes magic or adventure books then this is a good book for you to read. I like the Ancient One because of the adventure,action, and exciting parts in the story that made me keep reading and reading until I knew what happened. The Ancient One is probably one of my favorite books and is worthy of an award!

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Solid as a redwood, March 5, 2004

By 

E. A Solinas "ea_solinas" (MD USA) - See all my reviews
(HALL OF FAME REVIEWER)    (VINE VOICE)    (TOP 100 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Ancient One (Kate Gordon) (Mass Market Paperback)

T.A. Barron expanded his fantasy writing career after the critically acclaimed "Heartlight," with the follow-up novel "The Ancient One." His intense love of nature is melded together with modern concerns, time travel, legends and myths, and a cast of quirky supporting characters.

Kate is spending time with her Great-Aunt Melanie in the dying Oregon logging town of Blade. The people there are angry and afraid for their about-to-be-ditched jobs, and are threatening something Melanie is struggling to protect. Recently a giant volcanic crater was found to harbor a strange, "lost" land where the Halami Indians once dwelled. It's a mysterious, dangerous and beautiful place: There's a lake with a strange living island, a cursed spring that mesmerizes anyone who sees it -- and giant redwood trees that could keep the loggers employed for a year or two more.

When some of the loggers try to cut down the redwoods, Kate and Melanie set out to stop them. But when Kate takes Melanie's walking stick, she finds herself and logger's grandson Jody transported five hundred years into the past. After getting the help of a Halami girl, Kate struggles to find a way back to her own time. But to master the staff that took her back in time, she will have to battle the evil Gashra, an evil volcanic creature that threatens to destroy them all.

Showing concern for the natural world is nothing new in fantasy; it dates back to the Ents of J.R.R. Tolkien's Middle-Earth. And it's pretty clear that Barron loves nature. At times "Ancient One" borders on preaching, but always manages to veer back; even the loggers aren't evil, just desperate and misguided. His story's simplicity and lack of twists would be a downside in most books, but it fails to slow down the pace or lose reader interest. His enthusiasm is what keeps "Ancient One" moving forward and interesting, along with his unusual fantasy creations.

His lush descriptions of Oregon wildlife (both past and present) are loaded with detail, giving a you-are-there feel to it. Barron's writing is detailed all the time, and he's at his peak when he describes the natural surroundings. A comic vibe is added with the owl-like Tinnanis, especially their delicacy-addicted king (who is promised ten thousand peppermint drops by Kate). The scene where Kate confronts Gashra is rather too short, but is quite vivid nevertheless.

Kate is stronger in this outing than in "Heartlight." Here she is more in control, more sure of herself, and less dependent on others; she's a heroine that boys and girls alike can relate to. Laioni is a bit flatter, but a good sidekick. Jody and Kandeldandel are both outstanding, a hardened logger boy and a flittery Tinnani.

Nature-lovers unite under "The Ancient One." T.A. Barron's love of nature elevates what might have been an ordinary fantasy tale into a beautiful, beautiful thing. Highly recommended.