Chasing Time - The Magic Bicycle Tale - Hardcover

Hill, William

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 1890611069 ISBN 13: 9781890611064

Publisher: Otter Creek Pr Inc, 1999

Synopsis

Imagination, magic, and fantasy are all at play as Danny and Murg, the talking cat, take on Spike the bully. For teens and pre-teens!

About this title

About the Author

William Hill is a native of Indianapolis, Indiana and learned to read first through comic books, then adventure and science fiction novels. As a youth, "Bill" spent many late weekend night's watching Nightmare Theater and Science Fiction Theater.

Bill has lived in Kansas City, Nashville and Bristol, TN--setting of Dawn of the Vampire, and Texas--setting of Vampire's Kiss and TheVampire Hunters. Bill has "serious" degrees from Vanderbilt University in economics and an MBA from the University of North Texas. He thinks a good education fuels imagination and creativity.

Since realizing that writing was his best talent and a gift, Bill escaped the drudgery of the corporate world to craft his tales. Bill has been employed as an "alchemist" in South Lake Tahoe and a ski patroller at a North Lake Tahoe resort.

Although his first writing love is magic-oriented fantasy, Hill's first and second novels--Dawn of the Vampire and Vampire's Kiss--are supernatural thrillers. The Magic Bicycle , Chasing Time--The Magic Bicycle 2, and The Vampire Hunters are crafted for young adults. Bill, his new son--Brin--and his lovely and supportive wife, Kat, currently reside in Lake Tahoe. Bill intends to write imaginative fiction and fantasy until dirt is shoveled upon his coffin.

Reviews

Grade 5-7Danny Chase, owner of a bicycle that makes the Magic School Bus look like a Model T, pursues bully Spike Blocker through space and time in this bloated sequel to The Magic Bicycle (Otter Creek, 1998). The bike, given to Danny in the first book by a grateful alien, will go anywhere and become anything he can imagineso he is understandably dismayed when Spike steals a piece of it, creates a bike of his own, and sets off for the past, intending to amass a collection of significant home-run baseballs that he can auction off for the stake that will allow him to leave his brutally abusive stepfather, Ike. Creating a supporting cast that includes telepathic cats, Men (and a Woman) in Black, evil sorceress Morgan Le Fay, and several historical figures, Hill sends his teenaged protagonists barreling through past and future on a chase so protracted that even Danny (never mind readers) starts feeling a sense of dj vu. In the end, after heart-to-hearts with Plato, Shakespeare, Jeannette dArc, and Babe Ruth, plus a violent climax that Danny witnesses and then averts by changing the course of history, Spike and Danny bury the hatchet, Spike and Ike agree to seek counseling, and other conflicts are resolved with similar tidiness. Stuffed with subplots, repetitive scenes, a plethora of pithy quotations and old saws, plus revisited characters and incidents from the previous book, this genre buster is more a bulging grab bag of disparate elements than an organized story.John Peters, New York Public Library
Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.

Past Failing "SPIKE! STOP! YOU'RE MAKING A MISTAKE!" Danny yelled. The red-headed youth captained his magic Spacelander bicycle--'Kalyde II'--and two feline companions on a chase through the rainbowed time tunnel. "Spike can't hear you." From the padded book carrier atop the rear wheel, Danny's calico cat, Murg, projected her thoughts, sending them directly into Danniy's mind. "And he doesn't care. He's intent on leaving you far, far behind." "SPIKE! SPIKE! LISTEN TO ME. . . ." The piercing wail of the winds swept away Danny's words. "I guess you're right," Danny thought back. Ahead, the huge bully, Spike, also rode a magic bicycle. His monster bike appeared alive, a scuttling black insect with a blue-shelled nose like a cowcatcher. Spike put on a burst of speed, racing farther ahead on the rainbow. The time tunnel's colors continued to fade, growing worn and ragged. Larger and deeper potholes filled the pathway. Worried eyes peered from the jagged tears lining the tunnel walls. Each hole vented chilling winds that ripped at the riders. Danny's red Spacelander shuddered, shaking with every rut and bump. Kalyde II struck a chunk of fallen wall, careened airborne, then landed cockeyed. Swerving wildly and hitting more debris, the magic bicycle rattled as if ready to fly apart.

"THE TIME PASSAGE IS GETTING WORSE BY THE MINUTE!" White-knuckled, Danny held on for dear life as the bike's vibrations sapped his strength. His left foot slipped off the pedal. An untied shoelace dangled perilously, threatening to get caught in the chain. "I have a bad feeling about this." Murg's green eyes bounced as her claws dug deeper into the padded carrier. "If it's the last thing I do, we're going to get back the star metal he stole." Danny focused on the rear tire of the monster bike and visualized pulling the bikes together, wheel to wheel, steel irresistibly drawn to a magnet. Glancing over his shoulder, Spike saw him coming closer. "YOU'RE NEVER GETTING THIS BACK!" Below a protruding brow, his expression was grim, close-set eyes narrowed with determination. "SPIKE THIS IS WRONG! THE STAR METAL WON'T SOLVE YOUR PROBLEMS!" Danny yelled over the howling winds. 'WRONG, CHUMP! SOON, I'LL BE RICH! RICH AND FAMOUS!" Spike's monster bike hit a chuckhole. The strap on his backpack slipped. A baseball tumbled out, bouncing away. As Danny steered closer, drafting Spike's bike, the winds lessened. The monster bike's rear wheel suddenly met Kalyde II's front wheel. Rubber melting to rubber and spokes merging, the two tires became one, creating a strange, three-wheeled tandem. "GOT HIM! If at first you don't succeed . . . ." "Danny, we've tried this before. Think of something else." Spike suddenly whirled, swinging a baseball bat. The blow drove apart the magic bicycles. The Spacelander swerved sideways, hit a rainbow rut, then skidded out of control across the tattered time bridge, sliding toward a tear in the wall. "Look out!" Murg began. Like a giant, jagged mouth, a dark breach swallowed the magic bicycle. Kalyde II, Danny and his feline companions fell head over wheels, spinning into a bottomless darkness.

Edition details

• Publisher: Otter Creek Pr Inc
• Publication date: 1999
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 1890611069
• ISBN 13: 9781890611064
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 381