Review of THE INFINITY RING: DIVIDE AND CONQUER by Carrie Ryan

In the first INFINITY RING book, pre-teens Dak, Sera, and Riq are sent on an important mission to travel to "breaks" in the world's history, using the Infinity Ring, and repairing the damage done by the SQ. Dak's parents went missing in the timeline along the way, and now they must heal the breaks on their own and hope they run into Dak's parents again to rescue them. In INFINITY RING: DIVIDE AND CONQUER, the second book in the series, the three kids are thrust into the middle of a war brewing between the Vikings and the Parisians. Even worse, Dak manages to get himself separated from the other two and fighting on the side of the Vikings to survive. The break must be fixed, but they seem to only be making it worse. As the SQ's time warden closes in on them, they must find a way back together and a way to undo the damage they've caused. The future of the world depends on these three fixing history's timeline.

Each book in the INFINITY RING series is written by a different author. I worried how well the authors would be able to stay in one voice for each of the books, but as I read book 2 I felt like I was reading a book by the same author of the first book, James Dashner. DIVIDE AND CONQUER is written by Carrie Ryan. It's a middle-grade novel, but it packs some very intense situations into the plot. There's very real danger for the characters and very real emotional stakes as well. 

Dak is an interesting and somewhat frustrating character because he's always getting himself into trouble. And he never learns his lesson, which is very fitting for the age he's at. Sera's motivation to get rid of the painful remnants of her parents gives the story an added dimension of what's really at stake. The villain of the story, the organization known as SQ, is still a mystery I'm eager to learn more about as the story continues.

The INFINITY RING series is a unique approach to storytelling in bringing different authors together to each lend their hand to a chunk of the story. Carrie Ryan's contribution in the second book carried the story forward the story forward really well, and I'm eager to continue the journey with these three characters.

Review copy provided by Scholastic

Photo Credit: Scholastic