The Sands of Time by Michael Hoeye

Someone reviewed this book and compared it to the Redwall series. Hmmm.... besides the mice, the resemblance is thin.

I wanted to like it, but I found the beginning plodding and the mice characters unappealing. Perhaps the first book in the series, Time Stops for No Mouse, was better.

The hyper-bolic characterization of the mayor-mouse who opposed the exhibition of a picture of cats (nude and hideous!) was a bit annoying.

A mouse later commented about the purpose of the art being "to raise bold questions." That kind of strikes me as an excuse for a lack of talent or creativity. Maybe an acknowledgement of art as a reflection of the Original Creator Who made your talent possible would improve the art in this mice world not to mention our anemic age. But I digress...

Then there is dumb stuff that does not belong in a children's book: i.e. the female mouse who shows up in a transparent dress causing another character to comment that they hope she has a body suit on. blech.

Oh, yes, the actual story. This is part of a series on Hermux Tantamoq, a watch-making mouse who gets drawn into adventures. This time around, he is helping his friends track down the location of an archeological find that would reveal to the mouse world that not only did cats exist, but they had once enslaved mice! There is deceit and treachery on the part of fellow mice competing to discover the location of the treasures as well. One wants all the fame and glory, the other wants to hide the fact that his family originally uncovered this information and hid it to take credit for the discoveries they had unveiled. And this second character is willing to blow them all up with dynamite in order to hide the truth.

The good guys prevail and make the right moral choice in rescuing a vain, shallow, and self-serving character despite her flaws.

Not so bad, but not so great.

SAFETY RATING: 2 Flags