Young Reader Reaction: The realm of magic is enticing and well highlighted in Kirov’s wacky, but charming novel. From magic shows to the origins of magic in Ancient Egypt, Kirov covers a lot of ground. The story is narrated by our unsuspecting hero, who is not afraid to voice his thoughts. Nick's reactions to his Russian heritage and towards magic are comical and entertaining. Because this is the first book in the series, it needs a strong foundation. It has a tantalizing, satisfactory ending, but the plot has a few hitches that give the reader a sense that something is awry.

First, everything is rushed. Many of the characters disappear as quickly as they pop up. Each one seizes a brief scene with Nick before being replaced by another character. Although the author incorporates the historical snippets really smoothly, the characters’ own backgrounds are regrettably missing. Last, some elements are inconsistent with other parts of the story or just seem unreasonable given that the story's setting/events parallel the real world. All in all, these are minor flaws.

I would recommend this book to upper-elementary and middle school students as yet another magic series to dive into. With the abundance of fantasy and magic series these days, Magickeepers: The Eternal Hourglass has dozens of books to contest with, but it is worth your time to read through.

Adult Reader Reaction: I couldn't put this book down. There is lots of action that moves the story forward, but the most intriguing parts come through Nick's crystal ball. Together, they create a history of magic, which may be fictional, but it is incredibly well done. In the same vein, the author has very artfully woven in the mystique of Russia from its czarist days. Nick's reaction to being immersed in the family's Russian traditions is humorous. The preview for the next book involves a scene with Edgar Allen Poe, which suggests the author will continue to weave history, culture, and literature into her books.

To read our full review, go to The Reading Tub®.

The Eternal Hourglass by Erica Kirov is the first of the Magickeepers series. Nick Rostov lives with his father in a crappy room in one of the older Las Vegas hotel. He's starting the summer off with a bad report card, and another birthday by himself.

Except this time, his grandfather appears on his thirteenth birthday with the offer of a new life, new powers, an extended family he didn't know exists and, of course, new responsibilities. He's also moving to another hotel — this one a palace and magic school in disguise, all run by his extended and apparently massive family.

How Nick reacts (or doesn't) to suddenly being thrust into a magical lifestyle is another bone of contention. Harry Potter fans seem to respond with more enthusiasm to Nick just blindly accepting his new life. Personally I have problems with the set up for both books — but here Nick, despite his crappy hotel apartment, does seem to have a good relationship with his father. I find it much harder to believe that he would just happily up and leave for such an extended period of time to go learn magic with relatives he didn't even know existed. Granted, he's still in Las Vegas, but I think he'd be motivated to find a way home.

Here magic is hidden in plain sight by making it part of the Las Vegas kitsch. It's not a separate world of wizards and witches vs. muggles. Instead, it's a world of creative camouflage. Except — and this is such an overused trope — as soon as the main character has begun to come into his or her powers, the EVIL forces come out of the woodwork. As a reader, I'm tired of this plot. Learning to handle a sudden influx of power should be dangerous enough by itself. There doesn't have to be a BIG BAD lurking around every corner; all it does is get in the way of character development and world building.

The Eternal Hourglass did not work for me. Nick was too passive a character. The inky shadows of BIG BAD, while visually interesting, were more of a distraction from potentially difficult character building opportunities or more complex world building. I wanted a better blending of Nick's personal story, the Russian family history of using magic, and Las Vegas's own checkered history. Unfortunately, none of those pieces came together, leaving me wishing I'd spent my time reading something else. ( )

Kid is a typical teenager with a strange magical extended family, kid is then kidnapped by said family on his birthday, told "oh, but it's ok because we told your father we took you and he's alright with it now even though he despises all of us", kid says "well, that's all right then, I'll just stay here and not in any way try to speak to my father and make sure he knows I'm not dead", kid pairs up with cousin to stop horrible things from happening that adults couldn't possibly take care of themselves. What? Sounds a bit far-fetched? Yeah. Not even really fun at any point, just kind of ho hum, so I skimmed the last half. ( )

La vida de Nick Rostov roza lo ridículo: su padre es conocido por ser el peor mago de Las Vegas, no ha tenido un amigo de verdad en años y sus notas no son precisamente buenas. Sin embargo, al cumplir los trece años su vida va a dar un giro radical: por primera vez va a entrar en contacto con sus parientes lejanos. Una familia que tiene el don de la magia, de la magia de Verdad, que se vio obligada a exiliarse de su Rusia de origen y que ahora se esconde a plena luz del día entre las luces de neón del Casino. Todos los miembros de la familia son magos poderosos, pero Nick es excepcional. Posee el don de la visión, la habilidad de ver el pasado. Su don es la única manera de desvelar el misterio del Reloj eterno un artefacto mágico tan poderoso que incluso puede detener el tiempo. El problema es que los enemigos de la familia no se detendrán ante nada para conseguirlo. Nick sabe que le espera la aventura de su vida, es decir, si logra sobrevivir...

Nick is an ordinary kid in Las Vegas but on his 13th day his grandfather takes him to a magic shop where a woman asks him to look into a crystal ball. Nick sees something thus confirming he has ‘the gift’. Suddenly his life changes and he goes to live with his dead mother’s relatives in a Las Vegas hotel where he eats strange food, learns Russian and regularly encounters tigers. He also learns to do magic (not stage magic like his father, but real magic) and that he is one of a long line of Magickeepers whose task is to guard magic items from the evil Shadowkeepers.
A mixture of adventure, mystery and fantasy, this book (the first in a series) is promoted as being for lovers of Harry Potter. Whilst the books are similar the characters in The Eternal Hourglass aren’t as engaging as Harry and his friends. Recommended for fantasy lovers 9 and up. ( )