Customer Reviews

Drift House: The First Voyage

5 star:		(7)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I picked up this book in the store out of sheer curiosity, and ended up reading it cover to cover the same day. (I read fast!) I loved the updating of the kids sent away from parents theme and the strong characters, especially Susan. I am glad Dale Peck plans to make this a series - I look forward to the next installment.

The main story is set in the Sea of Time - a place outside of our own time boundaries. Murray, the five year old brother, is the first to travel forward in time, and comes back not only changed but with sobering news: Susan is killed in that future. Trying to figure out how to escape from the sea without losing Susan is their first problem - mermaids and pirates give them others. Family and unexpected friendships play an important part in helping them save themselves - and time itself. If you enjoy the Narnia books, give this a try!

A crooked house, a talking parrot, a temperologist (a person who literally studies time) for an uncle and even mermaids! (With very bad tempers though and an octopus disguised as a mermaid for a queen.) All of this is in this amazing book Drift House: The First Voyage by Dale Peck.

It is about a girl named Susan and her two younger brothers, Charles and Murray, escaping September eleventh by getting evacuated from their city house to live with their Uncle Farley in an old house that is called Drift House next to the Bay of Eternity which leads into the Sea of Time. Pretty good spot for a temperologist huh? Wrong-o. Here is why...

On the first day the children find that Drift House has drifted out into the Bay of Eternity and then out onto the Sea of Time. According to President Wilson (the parrot), Drift House is some kind of time vessel and next thing they know. Susan and her brothers end up having to save time itself from extinction.

If you like Dragon Rider or any other kind of fantasy or adventure book you will LOVE Drift House. Some of it is funny, but I have to warn you. It has more than four hundred pages. One of my favorite parts, (well it is not just one part, it is actually a lot of parts though out the book) is when Susan (the eldest sister) says something British like, "I daresay" Charles (the middle brother) says, "Don't say `I daresay,' it's affected."

If you think that Drift House is just about time, I daresay you are wrong. Whoops I forgot, `I daresay' is affected.

Drift House is gripping and adventure-filled, jam packed with mermaids, pirates, clever parrots and magical dumbwaiters. There is enough "action" to appeal to children of all ages, and like the previous reviewer I was so involved, I read it straight through in one sitting. But it is also wonderfully clever, and often laugh out loud funny. In the best tradition of classic children's fantasy novels (Nesbit, Eager, Lewis, etc.), Drift House is never condescending or simplistic, but instead trusts and challenges children's intelligence. Like those classic authors, Peck has created a vividly detailed imaginary world with just the right amount of "real world" connections. I can't wait for the next book!

While I was nearly ready to drop Drift House, I'm glad I stuck it out. It got turned around with some decent plot twists and made me want to read to the end to and confirm my predictions. Late in the book, I found it hard to put down.

The escape from 9/11 New York to the Uncle's place in Canada, definitely felt like The Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe, but the quest to save closing of the drain was a great deal like Rushdie, Birkbeck and Brickbeck's Haroun and the Sea of Stories. In the latter, Haroun,the unlikely hero, tries to prevent the plugging of the Sea of Stories, which would elimate the imagination of humanity while the closing of the Great Drain in Drift House would prevent birth, death or aging.

Peck fearlessly breaks one of the major taboos of time travel fiction, a character meeting himself or herself, but does so with aplomb.

Drift House is a good read, and would be an interesting pairing with Haroun and the Sea of Stories.

Dale Peck's 'Drift House: The First Voyage' was a slightly-above average book based very much on the imagination of a strange thing: time. I enjoyed the book more for the first half than the second - later on in the story things just turned a little too hectic. I enjoyed the slow, almost sleepy pace of the first half, simply because it didn't seem like another fantasy that shoved a bunch of weird, hard to pronounce names in my face. However, after the siblings go off on their own adventures, it lost my interest somewhat.

It's obvious to me that Peck must have enjoyed writing this book. While his writing style is excellent and often funny, I found some things wanting in the characters. Susan, Charles, and Murray never seemed quite real to me, which was hard to accept because they came from our own world. I did like how this book reminded me of other such works as the simalarily above-average 'Lemony Snicket' books, as well as the fantastic 'Chronicles of Narnia'.

The action was exciting sometimes; other times it was a little confusing. Also, the descriptions were done fairly well, and I enjoyed picturing the Sea of Time and the ships and islands as I went along. Also, the whole 'time' thing was a good idea, but confused me sometimes. I think the author will sort all this out in later books.

Overall, I would recommend 'Drift House' to readers who enjoyed 'Lemony Snicket', 'The Chronicles of Narnia', and 'Peter Pan', though don't expect something amazing. I was glad I read it, however, and I hope you will be too.

I wasn't very impressed with this book. It was too much of a jumble of many different things and didn't really come together well. Not only that, but the author was very intrusive, constantly taking me out of the moment by deliberately talking to to me (well, to the reader). When you're reading a book you want to get sort of lost in it, you don't want to be constantly reminded that you're reading a book, but that's precisely what this author did-- and often. I got the feeling that he thought it was cute and clever, but it practically ruined the book for me.

In addition, he didn't wrap everything up by the end. I understand that this is the first book in a series, but I just don't think he handled it well. Some things were just forgotten about along the way. That seemed careless rather than good plotting.

Also, the little bickering between the two main children, Susan and Charles, because of Susan's penchant for using British terms grew tiresome and felt very forced. Actually, I think "forced" really sums up my view of this book. Everything felt forced.

However, I do think kids will like the book. It's not the best, but it's not the worst. I know that's not exactly a ringing endorsement, but it's the best I can muster. The sequel is due out in a week (or is already out, depending on when you're reading this) and I'm not sure I'm going to bother with it. Perhaps if I don't have anything else.

Drift House is an amazing, mysterious, historical, and fantasy like book. It revolves around three children, Susan(the eldest), Charles(the middle), and Murray(the youngest) when they go visit their Uncle Farley.

They soon find themselves in the Sea of Time with mermaids, pirates, a strange parrot, and three magical keys. Now, everybody has to work together to save time itself from extinction. Can they do it? Read the book to find out!

After tragedy strikes in New York City, the Oakenfeld children --- twelve-year-old Susan, nine-year-old Charles, and five-year-old Murray --- receive news that they are going to live with their Uncle Farley in Canada for a while.

When they arrive at the Bay of Eternity, the youngsters immediately find their new home odd. The appropriately named Drift House --- which was built by a Frenchman named Pierre Marin --- resembles a ship crookedly washed ashore as if from another era. Then there are the mysterious Mrs. Applethwaite and Mr. Zenubian, who seem to meet the siblings' every need, though they never get to see them. As they begin to ask their eccentric uncle questions about the unusual house, they notice his nervousness at answering them.

When the Oakenfeld children later explore the house and meet a peculiar parrot named President Wilson, they find their new situation becoming very strange indeed. Then they awaken to find Drift House drifting out onto the Sea of Time, a magical and mysterious place where The Past, Present and Future converge. Susan, Charles and Murray --- along with Uncle Farley and the clever, talkative President Wilson --- embark on an extraordinary adventure into a world where they will discover evil mermaids, comical pirates, a wise whale, and the secrets of Time itself.

DRIFT HOUSE is the first book in a lovely, well-crafted adventure series that is sure to be another children's classic that readers of all ages will never want to see end once they've begun reading it.

--- Reviewed by Sarah Sawtelle (SdarksideG@aol.com)

We did this as a read aloud story for my young boys. Lots of adventure, unique ideas, and captivating characters kept my kids on the edge of their seats. They can't wait for the next adventure. Some challenging language and historical information makes the adults happy.

I thought this book was great. My children and I read it together. It was fun and full of excitement. It is full of intricate details of a puzzle that is completed by the end of the book. The characters are perfect for the story and no one is out of place. The work well together to find the solutions to every problem.

Three kids left an eccentric uncle who lives in an interesting house. From the moment the children arrive they know there is something amiss with the house but they just can't figure what it is until their adventure to the Sea of Time.