Happy Saturday! Kait’s Book Recs is a new bookish feature on Kait Plus Books where I talk about books that I think you should add to your #tbr! Today I’m talking about one of my most FAVORITE series EVER that I really love with you!
I’m working hard behind the scenes to make Kait’s Book Recs a regular feature on Kait Plus Books. And yet there aren’t that many posted yet. But! today I add another one so at least there’s that.
When I first started book blogging and being a part of the online bookish community, one of the first books I bought for my kindle was Timebound by Rysa Walker. Two and a half weeks later, I had fallen in love with world of CHRONOS and read all three CHRONOS Files books, plus Time’s Echo, Time’s Mirror, and Simon Says. As much as I loved reading Kate’s story in the main books, I loved reading Pru’s story even more. As messed up as Pru is/was, I really enjoyed reading about her experiences in her own words instead of someone else’s. She’s such a complicated character, and I was so glad that we got to see more (pun unintended) of her in the CHRONOS Origins books!
I remember reading somewhere that the CHRONOS Origins books could be read on their own without having read the CHRONOS Files books first- I highly advise NOT doing this! Now, Then, and Everywhen especially would be confusing to anyone new to the CHRONOS verse, but there are also several plotlines that you miss if you haven’t read the CHRONOS Files books AND all the novellas and short stories released previous to CHRONOS Origins. The way everything is tied in is absolutely delightful (especially everything re: 2092!) and I would hate for anyone to miss the little jokes and plot threads woven into CHRONOS Origins!
Hopefully all this has inspired you to add the CHRONOS books to your #tbr! I cannot overstate how much I ADORE this series, and I hope that you all love it too! Happy reading!
Timebound by Rysa Walker Series: CHRONOS Files #1
Published on January 1, 2014 by Skyscape
Genres: Alternate History, Science Fiction, Thriller, Time Travel, YA
Pages: 374
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When Kate Pierce-Keller’s grandmother gives her a strange blue medallion and speaks of time travel, sixteen-year-old Kate assumes the old woman is delusional. But it all becomes horrifyingly real when a murder in the past destroys the foundation of Kate’s present-day life. Suddenly, that medallion is the only thing protecting Kate from blinking out of existence.
Kate learns that the 1893 killing is part of something much more sinister, and Kate’s genetic ability to time-travel makes her the only one who can stop him. Risking everything, she travels to the Chicago World’s Fair to try to prevent the killing and the chain of events that follows.
Changing the timeline comes with a personal cost, however—if Kate succeeds, the boy she loves will have no memory of her existence. And regardless of her motives, does she have the right to manipulate the fate of the entire world?
Time's Edge by Rysa Walker Series: CHRONOS Files #2
Published on October 21, 2014 by Skyscape
Genres: Alternate History, Science Fiction, Thriller, Time Travel, YA
Pages: 450
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To stop her sadistic grandfather, Saul, and his band of time travelers from rewriting history, Kate must race to retrieve the CHRONOS keys before they fall into the Cyrists' hands. If she jumps back in time and pulls the wrong key--one that might tip off the Cyrists to her strategy--her whole plan could come crashing down, jeopardizing the future of millions of innocent people. Kate's only ally is Kiernan, who also carries the time-traveling gene. But their growing bond threatens everything Kate is trying to rebuild with Trey, her boyfriend who can't remember the relationship she can't forget.
As evidence of Saul's twisted mind builds, Kate's missions become more complex, blurring the line between good and evil. Which of the people Saul plans to sacrifice in the past can she and Kiernan save without risking their ultimate goal--or their own lives?
Time's Divide by Rysa Walker Series: CHRONOS Files #3
Published on October 20, 2015 by Skyscape
Genres: Alternate History, Science Fiction, Thriller, Time Travel, YA
Pages: 543
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The Cyrists are swiftly moving into position to begin the Culling, and Kate’s options are dwindling. With each jump to the past or the future, Kate may trigger a new timeline shift. Worse, the loyalties of those around her—including the allegiances of Kiernan and the Fifth Column, the shadowy group working with Kate—are increasingly unclear.
Kate will risk everything, including her life, to prevent the future her grandfather and the Cyrists have planned. But, when time runs out, it may take an even bigger sacrifice to protect the people she loves.
Now, Then, and Everywhen by Rysa Walker Series: CHRONOS Origins #1
Also in this series: Now, Then, and Everywhen
Published on April 1, 2020 by 47North
Genres: Alternate History, New Adult, Science Fiction, Thriller, Time Travel
Pages: 528
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From the bestselling author of the Chronos series comes a page-turning novel of time travel, fast-paced action, and history-changing events.
When two time-traveling historians cross paths during one of the most tumultuous decades of the twentieth century, history goes helter-skelter. But which one broke the timeline?
In 2136 Madison Grace uncovers a key to the origins of CHRONOS, a time-travel agency with ties to her family’s mysterious past. Just as she is starting to jump through history, she returns to her timeline to find millions of lives erased—and only the people inside her house realize anything has changed.
In 2304 CHRONOS historian Tyson Reyes is assigned to observe the crucial events that played out in America’s civil rights movement. But a massive time shift occurs while he’s in 1965, and suddenly the history he sees isn’t the history he knows.
As Madi’s and Tyson’s journeys collide, they must prevent the past from being erased forever. But strange forces are at work. Are Madi and Tyson in control or merely pawns in someone else’s game?
Red, White, and the Blues by Rysa Walker Series: CHRONOS Origins #2
Also in this series: Now, Then, and Everywhen
Published on January 19, 2021 by 47North
Genres: Alternate History, New Adult, Science Fiction, Thriller, Time Travel
Pages: 574
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The United States’ past is hijacked in a time-warping adventure of future interdimensional, high-risk games by the bestselling author of the CHRONOS series.
History is turned inside out when off-world travelers challenge Tyson Reyes and Madi Grace to a real-life game of Temporal Dilemma. Three rounds from the opponents and Hitler takes Europe, Pearl Harbor never happens, a fascist cloud hangs over the postwar United States, and CHRONOS itself is erased from existence.
Now Tyson, Madi, and a team of seasoned players must make their moves—in 1930s New York. Jazz and the blues waft from Village clubs. The World’s Fair draws assassins. Madison Square Garden hosts Nazis. And the Manhattan Project never gets off the ground.
Tyson and Madi have only three days to undo the strategy that changed the tides of war and the fate of the world. A surprise survivor from CHRONOS could be their best hope for flipping the timeline. If he’s on their side. But can they risk trusting him when the past, the future, and the lives of millions hang in the balance?
Bell, Book, and Key by Rysa Walker Series: CHRONOS Origins #3
Also in this series: Now, Then, and Everywhen
Published on November 16, 2021 by 47North
Genres: Alternate History, New Adult, Science Fiction, Thriller, Time Travel
Pages: 560
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With a madman in control of the timeline, one wrong move could be the last for time travelers intent on stopping him in this mind-bending novel by the bestselling author of the CHRONOS series.
CHRONOS historians Madi, Tyson, and Katherine and their cohorts are on the enemy’s trail, fixing the mess that sociopath Saul Rand has made of history—and of the Temporal Dilemma rules. Another time shift is on the horizon, and this time, it’s one that reflects Saul’s twisted vision.
When the shift hits, it plunges the United States into a modern dark age where superstition trumps science and seventeenth-century witch hunts are no longer a thing of the past. But Saul has added a new hurdle to this insane reality: he’s hunting the Sisters of Prudence.
Clones of Katherine’s daughter, the Sisters are pawns to be sacrificed on Saul’s time chessboard—unless the team can track him down at the 1967 Monterey Pop Festival and erase him first. Saul is calling the shots, so he’s ahead of them every step of the way. With the clock ticking, this could be the endgame for CHRONOS and, if they fail, for reality itself.
Time's Vault by Rysa Walker Published on June 6, 2021 by Starry Night Books
Genres: Alternate History, Anthology, New Adult, Science Fiction, Time Travel
Pages: 698
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The complete collection of CHRONOS Files and CHRONOS Origins novellas and short stories. Includes the new short story, "Ashes and Rose," as well as never-before-published CHRONOS mission files.
Three Novellas:
Time's Echo
Time's Mirror
Simon Says: Tips for the Intrepid Time Traveler
Short Stories:
"The Gambit"
"2092"
"Splinter"
"Whack Job"
"Kate Down Under"
"Full Circle" (A CHRONOS Origins Story)
"The Circle That Whines" (A CHRONOS Origins Story)
CHRONOS Mission Files
"Ashes and Rose"
- #time travel fix it
- #How Useful is a History Book in an Alternate Universe?
- #but this time it’s not a game
- Timeless (NBC)
- Muse by Brittany Cavallaro
- American Royals by Katharine McGee
- The Hybrid Chronicles by Kat Zhang
About Rysa Walker
I grew up on a cattle ranch in the panhandle of Florida, thirty miles from the nearest bookstore, and ten miles from a library that was sorely underfunded. The librarian’s sole duties seemed to be telling me the book I wanted wasn’t in and shooing me back into the kid’s section. There were plenty of times that I would have sold my soul to get my hands on a new book, so there’s a slight possibility that the Kindle might be the result of a deal between my teenaged self and the devil. One grandmother tried to keep me supplied with books, although they were more likely to be the Louis L’Amour westerns and Barbara Cartland romances she finished reading than the science fiction and fantasy books I loved most. My other grandmother told me stories that awakened my interest in history and stirred my imagination.
I’ve held many different jobs with varying degrees of competence, including lifeguard at a waterslide (no one drowned), waitress (only a few broken dishes), actress in a melodrama theater (good reviews, except for my two left feet), web & multimedia development (I still dabble in that a bit) and, eventually, professor of history and government. If you can find a common denominator between all of those jobs, please let me know. I started writing before the waterslide gig, but only recently has it begun to pay the bills.
On occasion, I write mysteries with just a touch of paranormal under the pen name C. Rysa Walker. Author Caleb Amsel is my partner in crime for some of the Thistlewood Star Mysteries.
You’ll often (too often) find me on Facebook and Twitter. If you do, gently remind me that I really should be writing.
Have you read any of these books yet? Did you add any to your tbr? Let me know in the comments below and have a splendiferous week!
This series has been on my TBR for a long while. Maybe I will pick it up in the new year! BTW, love your holiday layout!
Yay! If you read on a kindle (or kindle app) at all, they’re almost always on sale for just a couple dollars!
Thank you so much! I love this theme too! 🙂
Happy reading!
Kait recently posted…Thankfully Reading Weekend 2021
Turns out I already own Timebound and the rest are on KU! Sounds like a good beginning to 2022!