FIVE STAR REVIEWS
Reviewed by Mark A Warmington for Amazon.co.uk
It took me far too long to getting around to reading this. Once I did, I devoured each chapter with intent.
I absolutely love anything inspired by mythology; there is just something deeply evocative about the tragic tales of struggle and the petulant whims of emotional gods desperate to be entertained.
Episode neatly entwines the classic with the new; taking you down your very own rabbit hole and through the corridors of time onto the battlefield of troy.
The characters are brought to life so well and the dialogue so cleverly written, that I found myself constantly annoyed and impatient when Ali would be her most stubborn self.
Just like a good Agatha Christie mystery, Episode has you guessing at every turn; as you try to figure out for yourself just what on Earth is going on.
A recommended read for anyone looking for a modern twist on an ancient tale.
Reviewed by Criss S (age 13) for Amazon.co.uk
Reviewed by Ciara (age 13) for Reader Views Kids, Barnes & Noble and Goodreads
I was pleasantly surprised how the author turned an affliction into a super hero power. “Episode,” by Tracey Morait gives the reader a glimpse at what it means to have epilepsy, but instead of writing the story about how hard this can be for someone’s day-to-day life, the author creates this world where it is a gift and not a curse.
Alisha has epilepsy, but she doesn’t let that hold her back. She is outgoing, sassy and my favorite character in the story. While on vacation with her family, because of the heat, her seizures start to come more frequently. She can’t help but feel that her vacation is going to be horrible. Until one night she notices a strange noise coming from the hotel pool. An unusual woman half bird, half human is calling her name. Alisha’s vacation is about to turn into an epic adventure, where the thing that has been holding her back all her life, gives her powers that she could never have dreamed of.
“Episode” is a fast-paced story taking the reader back to the Olympian era, where a conflict that brings about the Trojan War is beginning. When Alisha meets Travis she finds out that her seizures will open time travel portals and that she has been brought here just like him to confront Gods, Goddesses, and mythical creatures.
I think one of my favorite parts in the book was when they found a cave to escape the robots that were trying to kill them, and they noticed an enormous eye that ended up being a dragon. The story line was one turn after the other, all to save Helen from her terrible fate of marrying Menelaus, King of Sparta.
I think the author did a great job of making history a fast-paced adventure. “Episode” by Tracey Morait will surprise you from the very beginning to the ending and keep you on the edge of your seat in between. This a great story for kids in middle school and up.
Danielle Taylor for Waterstones and Goodreads
I’m into fantasy stories and ancient Greek mythology and I love the Iliad and the Odyssey. At first I thought the subject matter was a bit weird, someone with epilepsy being able to time travel, but when I got into the book I was hooked. I loved the retelling of Helen’s story and how she wanted to turn her back on being submissive and the influence of the gods in determining her life, and how Ali and Travis were brought into her story to help her escape to another world. The Trojan War is a mythical war and the author cleverly points this out by not retelling it but preventing it from happening. I would recommend this book to anyone who likes a great bit of escapism.
I have recommended the book to my daughter, who is reading the book now and also enjoying it.
MJ Haines for Amazon.co.uk and Goodreads
Now, the story. This book is so hot off the press I cannot reveal much, so spoilers to be avoided at all costs, but let’s just cover the basics to give an idea of what’s what.
A family from Liverpool are on holiday in Cyprus – mum, dad – and two daughters, who, as can often be the case, do not get on with each other. One of the girls – Alisha, called Ali by those closest to her, has epilepsy. While her parents are sympathetic, as indeed they should be, her sister Sal resents Ali for not only getting more attention than her due to her illness, often sees family time whether holidays or at home, severely disrupted through Ali’s seizures. However, while in Cyprus, Ali discovers her seizures can open time portals; sometimes she is drawn into a portal involuntarily, but as the tale develops Ali finds she has an element of control and on occasions is highly relieved to be once again shooting through time and space.
Although there are brief sojourns through time and space to the Shetland’s main town of Lerwick as well as her home town of Liverpool, with of course short spells back to the ‘here and now’ of the family holiday in Cyprus, the main setting for the tale is ancient Sparta and the court, if that’s the right word, of Princess Helen, or, Helen of Troy as we know her better. Through Ali we become witnesses to many scenes we know and love through such revered tomes as the Iliad, and many other incidents which (and only reading this book can explain why, including an amazing turn of events involving future technology) never made the history books at all. All the famed characters: Helen, Paris, Hector, Menelaus, Agamemnon and more are there, some are prominent in the tale, others not so much. The gods and goddesses are there too, as they should be; Zeus and his boys and girls, each with their own special powers, each using these for good, or for bad, and sometimes both from the same deity. And that is all I can tell you.
Although the target age seems to be broadly older kids / YA, that don’t matter a jot, all, no matter if 10 or a 110, who enjoy fast-paced, light and humorous tales, will love this.
All in all, another cracking read from Tracy Morait.
Lit Amri for Readers Favorite
Thirteen-year-old Alisha Dainton is having a sunny holiday in Cyprus with her family. Unfortunately, her epilepsy and her obnoxious 16-year-old sister Sal manage to ruin the fun. While resting in their family hotel room, Alisha encounters a strange half-woman, half-bird with see-through eyes and multi-colored hair. She claims to be Iris, Goddess of the Rainbow, the Sea and the Sky－a Messenger to the Gods. She has been chosen to help save Princess Helen. Despite her disbelief and unwillingness, Alisha finds herself traveling back in time to the ancient city of Sparta. There she meets another time traveler, a teen named Travis, whose purpose is also to aid Helen. Episode by Tracey Morait is a fantastical adventure tale of two teens fated to change history and influence the future.
Episode is a contemporary story combined with Greek as well as Norse mythology and literature. It’s a slightly odd but fascinating mixture of drama and fantasy intertwining the past, present, and future through time travel. Alisha is a teenager who has enough problems with her epilepsy and her annoying sister, so why bother going back to the ancient past to solve another person’s problem? Despite their status as divine beings, I perceived the Greek gods and goddesses in this story as undesirable forces that meddle in a young mortal’s life. That said, Alisha’s fellow time traveler Travis indirectly benefits from the task that’s forced upon him. It’s fascinating that a disorder in brain activity becomes an important catalyst for the young protagonists to take control of their fates in their dangerous mission. There are unpredictable plot twists that readers will appreciate as Tracey Morait gives a fresh perspective on the Trojan War. Overall, Morait’s Episode is a story that uses its different time settings to its advantage.
FOUR STAR REVIEWS
Reviewed by an Amazon Customer for Amazon.co.uk
I always love stories about time travel and this one didn’t disappoint.
Tracey Morait has a great imagination and intertwines the world of the ancient Greeks and their gods with the modern and future worlds with great ingenuity. Alisha, the 13 year old lead character, is a feisty, funny and likeable narrator and I enjoyed journeying back and forth through time with her. A great escape during lockdown…..if only I could find a portal…….
The Gypsy for Amazon.co.uk
Episode is the story of 13 year old Ali from Liverpool, who thought she was just going on a holiday to Cyprus with her parents and annoying older sister Sal. She wasn’t expecting much apart from disruptions because that’s what happened often. You see Ali is just a teenager who would be happy doing Facetime with friends and other normal things that teenagers do… but she has Epilepsy. Her parents understand her needs and are caring, even her big sister understands even though she is often resentful. But it is Ali who has to live with the seizures, those episodes are a part of her life.
Episode, however, is not a story about Ali coping with her epilepsy. It is about Ali embracing her condition and experiencing things most her age can only dream of. Her epilepsy is really a special power. And this gift takes her off into a world of adventure.
I love a bit of fantasy adventure now and then. Especially one which has characters I know of and have read about since I was a kid. In children’s stories, then at school and finally in greater detail as part of coursework at college.
This book has several Gods & Goddesses and their myths. And how these Gods interfere in the life of mere mortals both ancient and modern. We meet Helen, Menelaus, Paris, etc from ancient times and get embroiled in their story… they did seem to have a fair share of drama in their lives in those days didn’t they? And then the Gods decide to involve a 13 year old from Liverpool in their mischief as well! Just because they can!
And that’s where Ali’s special power comes into its own. The “Falling Sickness” allows her to travel through portals into different time periods. She meets Travis from the future. You might know him… Then of course there is Helen who Travis is trying to help and the mysterious Iris who is quite magical. It is an action packed adventure with many twists and unexpected happenings. It is a journey I am happy I was able to be part of. I am not going say any more about what Ali experiences during the episodes because readers really have to feel it themselves.
Tracey Morait has written another good story which draws upon her own experience of living with Epilepsy. It is not easy but she has embraced it as part of who she is and touches upon it in her books. I highly recommend “Epiworld” if you have not read it yet.
I have given this book 4 stars because it didn’t thrill me as much as Epiworld. And I can’t quite put my finger on it but I cannot love Ali as much as I did Gemma and Portia from the “Goalden…” stories which I have re-read recently. But I do hope there is another book coming soon?
I am not the target audience for this story but I did like it very much. I think if you are just hitting the teens then you will enjoy it.
POSITIVE REVIEWS (NON-STARRED)
Drena Irish, Ambassador, for LoveReading4Kids
Episode by Tracey Morait is a fanciful re-imagining of the story of Helen of Troy. It is also an attempt to show just what it’s like to experience an ‘episode’, that is an epileptic seizure. The story brings together some well-known characters from the world of Ancient Greece – Helen, Menelaus, Paris, Hector and, of course, the ‘meddlesome’ gods and goddesses of Mount Olympus – with Alisha, a 13-year-old from the present day and Travis from a terrifying England at the end of the 21st century. The action switches between these three time zones, which Ali and Travis are able to access by time travel through portals, which come into being at the time of their seizures, as both are epileptic. The author paints a very realistic picture of life in Ancient Greece, a life Alisha finds very distasteful when catapulted there from a family summer holiday in Cyprus, as she is dressed, smells and is expected to behave as a slave girl. Her outrage and contempt for the system, especially the treatment of women, rubs off on Helen and the story then takes on a very different twist. The terror from Travis’ time also comes into play when destructive entities access the portals and rewrite the events of the Trojan War, until the combined ingenuity of Travis and the gods (particularly Chronos, god of Time) finally set the records straight. I really enjoyed this book, it rekindled my interest in Greek mythology. It’s an exciting fusion of legend and science fiction, with the added medical theme, which, as my granddaughter is epilectic, I also found fascinating.
