I had high hopes for this historical fiction, however I found the execution to be lacking.

The story itself seemed to struggle from an identity crisis, at times history book, at times tourism brochure, at times whimsical time travelling fiction. The different genres didn't meld seamlessly and made the story feel disjointed. The poems sometimes lacked polish and rhythm. And there was a part in the book that described a woman holding a sword and a spear and yet in the accompanying picture, she was holding two swords aloft - and that inaccuracy niggled me a little as the book is really pushing for historical accuracy.

I enjoyed the characters and their amusing antics, they had great potential. It was just the execution of it all that let the story down. Great potential and with some work, I feel could be a great historical fiction series for young readers.