Lovereading4kids Reader reviews of Gladiator Clash by Chris Blake Part of the 'Time Hunters' Series

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1 Lovereading4kids Reader reviews of Gladiator Clash by Chris Blake Part of the 'Time Hunters' Series Below are the complete reviews, written by Lovereading4kids members. Alex Crisp, age 8 If you like Horrible Histories and stories, you will love this book. It is full of amazing facts about Ancient Rome, woven into an exciting story about an English boy and an Ancient Egyptian queen. The story starts with Tom Sullivan walking through the museum where his father works, after it has closed. An accident releases the spirit of Isis and her cat Cleopatra, and the three of them set off on a journey through time to find the amulets that will let her go to the afterlife. Each book in this series is set in a different period of history which you learn all about as the characters search for the amulets. In this story they have to defeat the most famous gladiator in Ancient Rome, Hilarus. Their adventures are sometimes funny and sometimes scary. There are fascinating descriptions of the various gladiators that they fight with, their different weapons and fighting styles. The fights themselves are very dramatic. I really liked the training session when they had 2 swords tied together like scissors and had to attack scarecrows. I will definitely recommend this book to my friends and I am looking forward to the rest of the series. Stephanie Chaplin, age 8 The book is about Isis (the mummy princess) looking for six amulet s so that she can cross over to the afterlife. Isis favourite colour is green and the sixth amulet was green so Isis hid it behind her arm from the Lord of the Underworld.

2 Firstly my favourite character was Tom, because he is strong, funny and he has a good imagination. Secondly my favourite part was when they found the first amulet. They had quite an adventure hunting for the amulet. It was quite dangerous but exciting at the same time. I loved the entire book and I think boys and girls who love adventure and a book you can t put down will love this series. Sam Harper, age 9 When Tom smashes into a statue of Isis in the museum where his dad works, he releases an Egyptian princess and her cat, Cleo, which were imprisoned within it. She's been trapped there and prevented from entering the Afterlife because she did not give Anubis, the god of the Underworld, the six amulets needed to gain entry. Now that she has been freed she must find the amulets which have been hidden in the most dangerous periods of time and Tom decides to help her. Their adventure takes them to Ancient Rome where they must solve a riddle and learn to fight as gladiators in order to get the first amulet back from the shield of Hilarus, an unbeaten gladiator. Anubis uses a whirlwind to transport them through time and follows them, taunting them in their quest. In this first book in the series their mission is successful but will they be able to retrieve the other five amulets? I can't wait to read the next book to find out. This is an exciting adventure with a brilliant plot. I loved all of the extra info sections at the back of the book and I learnt loads of really cool facts did you know that doctors in Ancient Rome used to taste their patients poo to find out what was wrong with them? A superb read I loved it! Jennifer Towler, age 7 Not my favourite book because it was a little boring. I liked it when Tom found Isis and Cleo and when they beat Hilarus in the Roman times - but it was a bit long and drawn out. I would like the pirate and Egyptian ones particularly but I will try all of them, as I'm interested in what happens to Isis and Cleo eventually. Hannah Minton Gladiator Clash is about a boy called Tom and an Egyptian princess called Isis, both 10 years old. They go back in time to the age of the gladiators and have to fight the biggest Gladiator to get the amulet in order to send Isis back to the afterlife. I like Gladiator Clash because it goes into history and I like

3 learning about history. I also like the language used liked the shining shimmering amber amulet. There is such a lot of that sort of lovely description in the book. I can t wait until I read the next book in the series, it not just for boys! I could hardly put the book down. If you try it I hope you enjoy it as much as I did. Emma Baird, age 10 This is a great book if you want to learn about ancient Egyptians or ancient Romans, but don t like non-fiction books. It s full of facts but it s a really exciting book too. Gladiator Clash is about an ancient Egyptian princess who angers the god Anubis and as a result gets trapped in a coffin and put in a museum. Then Tom, the museum owner s son, smashes it open. Gladiator Clash is an action packed book; it s full of exiting moments and scary adventures. My favourite character is the bossy princess Isis because she is really funny and cheeky. She makes me feel really sorry for Tom because he is stuck with her. I really enjoyed this book although I found it quite an easy read. I would say that it is about the same level as Beast Quest and My Secret Unicorn. Alex Jacobi, age 9, Tockington Manor School Tom is a normal kid whose dad works at a museum. It was a normal day for Tom when a mummy case fell over and an Egyptian princess came out of it! Tom knew it wouldn t be a normal day from then on as he travelled back in time. Later on Tom and his princess fight a Roman gladiator to get an amulet which will bring them back to the 21st Century. Time Hunters is a great book. The adventures are all very good. The words are easy to read and also very descriptive. Boys and girls would both enjoy reading it. It is aimed at boys and girls aged 7+. The way the author wrote the book makes the characters come alive. I would love to read the rest of the series and you might like to as well. Angus Duncan, age 9, Tockington Manor School If you like Beast Quest then you will like Time Hunters as it is action adventure story. Tom, the hero (aged 9), is a modern day boy who meets a girl called Isis who falls out of an ancient Egyptian sarcophagus in his father s museum. They are transported back in time to ancient Rome by Anubis (an Egyptian god). Tom and Isis have to find 6 amulets so Isis can get to the

4 afterlife. There is lots of action and sword fighting. It is well written and has lots of description. Every boy aged 7-11 will love this book. Nathaniel Toal, age 10, St Bonaventure s Catholic Primary School, Bristol An Egyptian princess, Isis, is sent to the Afterlife, after falling off a pyramid. But when she is told to offer 6 amulets to the Egyptian god Anubis, she hides one. Anubis becomes angry and encases her in a statue. 5,000 years later, a boy called Tom accidently smashes the statue and releases princess Isis and her cat, Cleo. Now they are sent to Ancient Rome and will have to battle the most fearsome gladiator to retrieve the first amulet. Likes: the information at the back of the book told me lots about gladiators in Ancient Rome. I also liked the illustrations. Dislikes: I would have liked the book to have been a bit longer. Favourite part/characters: I like Cleo the cat because she is really kind but fearsome. My favourite part was when Cleo scared all the lions and alligators. Rating out of 5: I would give this book 5 out of 5 because it has lots of detail and facts people might not know. Tom Fernandes, age 10 The book I am reviewing is called Gladiator Clash, from the series Time Hunters. The author of the book is called Chris Blake. It was set five thousand years ago, in Rome where the gladiators fight. Isis needs to find amulets to go to the underworld. It is an adventure and magic story. Tom was a boy who loved history. He had a green top, which blended in with his blond hair. Tom was nine years old and loved fighting with swords. His favourite move was the helicopter. Tom s friendly at all times. Isis had six amulets. She hid one because she really liked it. So the God of the underworld hid all of them in the harshest bits of the world, and threw Isis in a ragged soggy wooden coffin. To be free, her coffin had to be broken, and she had to get all the amulets back. In Time Hunters, I would give the book five out of five. Firstly, Tom and I have the same name! I also find it really exciting. My favourite bit was when Tom had to fight the gladiator. Secondly, I really like Toms adventure in the story. Though I would not like to be like him, because I don t want to have the risk of dying. I admire Tom and like what he does, and I would recommend this

5 book to anyone, especially for children aged six to ten years old who like adventures. Aaryan Sheth, age 10 I enjoyed this book immensely mainly because I found it easy to understand and yet still unpredictable. I also liked the fact that it is set in a historical background enabling you to learn about the past without even realizing it. Despite the fact that the book is quite short, it still includes a great deal of description that really brings the whole story to life while the authors knowledge of history keeps the interest alive. The point I would make to possibly improve the book even more would be to make the changes through the different periods of time a little less sudden. Although I have enjoyed this book it may not appeal to those who do not share my interest in history but even so I would strongly recommend it. As I have enjoyed this book so much, I look forward to the next few in the series. Thomas Newman, age 7 This story follows Tom and a girl called Isis - who comes from from Ancient Egypt! - on an adventure into Ancient Rome. There they fight in the Colosseum as gladiators against the most powerful soldier to try and get one of the six amulets that will set Isis free. It's a good book and I recommend it for people who like the Beast Quest stories, because it is an exciting adventure. Anna-Claire Katherine Lux, age 9 Brief Synopsis: Time Hunters is a series of six books about Princess Isis, her cat Cleo and a boy named Tom travelling through time to some of the most dangerous places known to man. Their mission is to recover six lost amulets so that Princess Isis and her cat Cleo can enter the afterlife, but with Anubis, the God of the after life, appearing along the way the mission is becoming harder and more challenging. The first book, Gladiator Clash, is when Isis, Cleo and Tom travel to Ancient Rome at the time of a great hero named Hilarus. They end up in an arena, and whilst Cleo frightens off the alligators and lions, Tom and Isis have the dangerous task of trying to defeat Hilarus and find the first amulet

6 Likes - I like lots about this book! When Isis and Tom take the trials to be one of the five to fight Hilarus, when Princess Isis picks Tom up onto her horse, saving him after he had lost his two swords, when Tom smashed into Princess Isis statue in the museum and when Anubis appears for the final time in the book, and then disappears, he leaves a burn on Tom s brand new carpet!... His mum will NOT be happy. Overall, I like the exciting story line and would recommend it highly. Dislikes - I think more detailed description of some parts of the story would have helped me to see a clearer picture as I read. More illustrations might have helped this as they really helped bring the story to life. Favorite parts/characters - I have already mentioned some of my favorite parts of the story, and there are many more great parts. I really like all three of the main characters; Cleo because she is really fierce and brave, Isis because she shows no fear of anything and can ride amazingly on a horse while shooting a bow and arrow and finally Tom as he loves history and is also daring and brave considering how he ended up going on the quest! Rating - Definitely a four and a half star book! Alexander Bisland This is an adventure book set mostly in Rome about an Egyptian girl called Isis, her cat Cleo and an ordinary boy called Tom. It all started when Isis wanted to get into the Afterlife but hid an amulet from Anubis (the God of the Underworld) so Anubis gave her a punishment and she had to find all 6 amulets. In this book, Tom helps her find the first amulet and ends up fighting undefeatable Romans! My favourite character was Hilarus the gladiator because he was the bravest in the fight. My favourite part was the fight against Hilarus that Tom and Isis fought in. In the training they wore chains but in the fights they didn t! In the fight for the amulet it was 5 against 1 and Tom and Isis were 2 of the 5. I would like to read the other books in this series because this was one interesting, so I think the others will be interesting to. I would recommend this to girls and boys aged 7+. I give this book 5 stars. Jake Norton age 9, St Paul s CE Primary School Time travel is a great subject for a story as it leaves lots of potential for exciting adventures in different time periods. In the book the main character, Tom, is a boy who is fascinated by history. After accidentally breaking an ancient statue at a museum, he is introduced to time travelling companions, Isis and her cat Cleo. Isis had been trapped inside the statue for thousands of years by a spell and now she is free, she sets out with help from

7 Tom to track down six super rare amulets. The hunt for the first amulet takes them to ancient Rome and the world of the gladiators.