Diego and the Rangers of the Vastlantic
Diego and the Rangers of the Vastlantic
Select a format:
Perma-Bound Edition ©2019--
Publisher's Hardcover ©2017--
To purchase this item, you must first login or register for a new account.
HarperCollins
Just the Series: Timeless Vol. 1   

Series and Publisher: Timeless   

Annotation: In a world where past, present, and future coexist, Diego Ribera must rescue his engineer father from an ancient Roman faction that has devised a violent plot to reverse the Collision.
 
Reviews: 7
Catalog Number: #184010
Format: Perma-Bound Edition
Publisher: HarperCollins
Copyright Date: 2019
Edition Date: 2017 Release Date: 05/28/19
Pages: 607 pages
ISBN: Publisher: 0-06-240237-4 Perma-Bound: 0-7804-5045-0
ISBN 13: Publisher: 978-0-06-240237-0 Perma-Bound: 978-0-7804-5045-5
Dewey: Fic
LCCN: 2016013199
Dimensions: 22 cm.
Language: English
Reviews:
ALA Booklist (Tue Aug 01 00:00:00 CDT 2017)

Using a narrative technique similar to Selznick's The Invention of Hugo Cabret (2007), Baltazar, a concept artist for Pixar and other studios, mixes pages of print with frequent full- or double-page painted scenes, often in brief sequences, that cinematically advance the plot. The resulting brick opens a series featuring four kids tasked with saving the world rather, their world: a "Time Collision" left Earth's surface kaleidoscopically fragmented into select eras, and every kid born post-Collision will vanish if a scheme to restore the original time line comes to fruition. Hotshot gearhead Diego Ribera works out personal frictions with his compatriots while helping to rescue his kidnapped dad, Santiago, a gifted engineer. The multicultural fledgling Rangers are outfitted with steam-powered antigravity skateboards, giant mechanical robots, and mystic powers and sent to battle prehistoric monsters and WWII-era Messerschmitts in elaborately detailed fantasy settings. Readers able to roll with the mise-en-scène's thoroughly arbitrary character will be rewarded with an uncomplicated adventure elevated by banter and always headed directly toward the next violent clash.

Kirkus Reviews

The great Time Collision ripped apart time and space and remade it: dinosaurs in the distance, spaceships in the skies, robots, and humans of all eras now inhabit this remixed world. Santiago Ribera is a Pinoy engineer whose inventions are aiding postwar stability in New Chicago, the home he shares with his wife, Siobhan, an Irish fighter pilot and war hero, and their son, Diego, whose otherworldly power begins to make itself known on his 13th birthday. Baltazar's story is a captivating adventure lavishly illustrated with beautiful full-color paintings worth lingering over. Diego is a likable kid who sometimes gets it wrong but makes it right. The women and girls avoid both one-dimensionality and overcompensatory badassery and have emotional depth—for the most part: one of two prominent black characters in the book, Paige, outruns her role as sassy best friend but not by far. None of this nuance is given to the other black main character, Ajax. Not only is he a humble but incredibly strong man over 7 feet tall, but he fought for the Union after escaping enslavement, and he's bought into the dominant American narrative that includes the misapprehension that Paige, a black girl in Chicago, is not fighting systemic racism and has the "freedom to choose a better way"—that she is not "bound to [history]." His earnest articulation of this lesson makes it very hard to overlook the use of two common black character tropes and undermines what is otherwise an exciting new series. Expert illustration and imaginative worldbuilding with unfortunate stereotyping. (Steampunk. 8-12)

Publishers Weekly (Fri Oct 06 00:00:00 CDT 2023)

In this ambitious adventure set after the catastrophic Time Collision restructured Earth into a world where dinosaurs coexist alongside steam technology and giant robots, four children team up with pirates to rescue their loved ones from marauders bent on destroying society. Thirteen-year-old Diego Ribera, his best friend Petey, streetwise Paige, and Victorian-era Lucy join a last-ditch effort to thwart the forces of the Aeturnum to preserve the only world they-ve ever known, but first they have to learn to work as a group, mastering their respective skills and uncovering the secrets of the mysterious Vanguard. This epic tale from Baltazar, a former art director for Disney and Pixar, is not only wildly imaginative and attention-grabbing, it-s downright beautiful: more than 150 full-color photorealistic art pieces bring the characters and setting to life in a manner suggestive of film storyboards. A series opener that conveys a true sense of wonder and excitement on every page, with a setting and premise that lend themselves to further exploration. Ages 8-12. Agent: Seth Fishman, Gernert Company. (Oct.)

School Library Journal (Sat Jul 01 00:00:00 CDT 2017)

Gr 5-8More than 100 eye-catching full-color illustrations showcase this fantasy's diverse cast of characters and their world of seagoing dinosaurs, horse-drawn carriages, flying skateboards, and giant robots. Thirteen-year-old Diego Ribera lives in the coastal city of New Chicago on an Earth cataclysmically transformed by the Time Collision. Continents have moved, and the Vastlantic Ocean has overtaken the eastern third of the United States. The Collision brought several periods of time together, and the resulting mixture of animals, people, and technology from many eras has created a politically unstable world. A faction from ancient Rome kidnaps the protagonist's father as part of a violent plot to reverse the Collision, and in the ensuing chaos a pirate ship picks up Diego and three companions. The rest of this sprawling novel follows the newly dubbed Rangers of the Vastlantic as they attempt to rescue the teen's father and defeat the Romans. The writing is less polished than the illustrations, and a character list would have been helpful for readers trying to keep track of the massive cast. While the racial diversity of the main characters is welcome, it's disappointing that the only black female Ranger ends up as the pirate ship's cook while others become a navigator, pilot, and ship's engineer. VERDICT The stunning artwork is the real star here. Sure to be popular with middle school fantasy readers.Beth Wright Redford, Richmond Elementary School Library, VT

Reviewing Agencies: - Find Other Reviewed Titles
ALA Booklist (Tue Aug 01 00:00:00 CDT 2017)
Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books
Kirkus Reviews
Publishers Weekly (Fri Oct 06 00:00:00 CDT 2023)
School Library Journal (Sat Jul 01 00:00:00 CDT 2017)
Wilson's Children's Catalog
Wilson's Junior High Catalog
Word Count: 83,656
Reading Level: 4.8
Interest Level: 4-7
Accelerated Reader: reading level: 4.8 / points: 12.0 / quiz: 192350 / grade: Middle Grades
Lexile: 650L
Guided Reading Level: L

For fans of Rick Riordan and Brian Selznick, author-artist Armand Baltazar introduces Timeless: Diego and the Rangers of the Vastlantic, the first in a new science fiction/fantasy series that explores a world painted new by the Time Collision. Integrating art and text, this epic and cinematic adventure features more than 150 full-color illustrations.

You’ve never seen Earth like this before: continents reshaped, oceans re-formed, cities rebuilt, and mountains sculpted anew. Dinosaurs roam the plains alongside herds of buffalo, and giant robots navigate the same waters as steam-powered ships. 

This is the world Diego Ribera was born into. The past, present, and future coexisting together. In New Chicago, Diego’s middle school hallways buzz with kids from all eras of history and from cultures all over the world. The pieces do not always fit together neatly, but this is the world he loves.

There are those, however, who do not share his affection. On his thirteenth birthday, Diego learns of a special gift he has within, a secret that is part of something much bigger—something he cannot understand. When his father, New Chicago’s top engineer, is taken by the Aeternum, Diego must rescue him and prevent this evil group from disrupting the fragile peace humanity has forged.


*Prices subject to change without notice and listed in US dollars.
Perma-Bound bindings are unconditionally guaranteed (excludes textbook rebinding).
Paperbacks are not guaranteed.
Please Note: All Digital Material Sales Final.