On the front cover, it describes the book's genre as fantasy. This series is science fiction fantasy because it has a theme of time travel. The characters travel between worlds in need of help and use mind powers to save them.
However, In Pendragon: The Never War there is no travel between foreign worlds and they stay on Earth the whole book. The book probably shouldn't be called a science fiction book because they don't travel through time; they travel to the different worlds. But there is the use of futuristic technology. The story considers First, Second, and Third Earth different worlds.
The setting of the story took place in the cities of New York and New Jersey in three different time zones. The first time zone was 2016 (or second Earth), during that time Bobby didn't do much because he had to watch out for police looking for him. His family “disappeared” when he became a traveler because history didn't need to know that undercover people saved their lives. Then where Bobby spent most of the time was in 1937 (or First Earth), that is when Bobby, Spader, and Gunny went to chase St. Dane (the bad guy). 1937 is also when the Hindenburg burned.
Lastly, 5010 (or Third Earth), where Gunny and Bobby went to use the futuristic technology to predict what would happen if the Hindenburg didn't go down in flames. The traveler from Third Earth, Patrick, meets them and they get a ride with him.
Spader, the traveler from Cloral, was one of the main characters in the story. Spader is the assistant of Bobby and he helps Bobby stop St. Dane. Spader has dark long hair that is very thick. He also has eyes that are the shape of an almond. He is kind of big and built up because he lives on a world called Cloral which happens to be filled with water so he swims everywhere.
Gunny is the traveler from First Earth. He is almost 6 foot 4 and always wears suits. He is African American and has black hair. He is a captain for the Manhattan Tower Hotel and helps Bobby and Spader with their work. He is from 1937 so he doesn't know what a TV or a Cell Phone is.
Bobby is the main character for the whole series. Since this is the third book the description for him is not too great, the cover is the only thing I can look at. Bobby is 14 and kind of short for his age at about 4 and ½ feet. He has blue eyes and short black hair. He is the traveler from Second Earth and he has two close friends that read his journals and follow his adventures.
The plot summary of the story starts with Bobby and Spader fluming (fast way of travel) to First Earth where their arrival party is 2 gangsters with a Thompson (a type of automatic rifle). Well the gangsters fired and 40 bullets sprayed everywhere with Bobby and Spader in harms way, the bullets just missing their heads. Later on in the story after meeting Gunny, Bobby and Spader do some work for a gang leader, Max Rose.
Trying to not get killed, they ended up in a burning building with a pack of gangsters waiting outside. They got out unnoticed by the gang until Gunny drives in and picks them up. After this incident Gunny and Bobby go to Third Earth and use the technology to find out that they need to blow up the Hindenburg.
In the end of the story the conflicts are strong. The external problem or problem involving other people, is that if the Hindenburg doesn't blow up, Max Rose will get money and will pay the Nazis to drop an Atom Bomb on all the major cities to take over the world. The internal problem or problem involving one person, is that Bobby will have to kill 36 people to save the Earth. Spader and Bobby are confused about what to do and if it is the right thing to do.
The climax is the best part of the story. In Third Earth Bobby finds out that Max Rose, the gang leader getting the money, dies at the intersection that was coming up and they were in his car. Bobby swerves out the car and still gets in an accident. Bobby and Spader are the only uninjured ones and Spader gets on a motorcycle and rides on. Bobby takes a car and chases him. When Bobby gets there he finds Spader on top of the guy launching the fire rocket (that's how the Hindenburg is blown up).
Bobby is about to kick over the rocket when Gunny grabs him back and they watch the Hindenburg burn and the people die. That is one sad resolution. It ends with people dying!?! Gunny had to take Bobby and Spader to Third Earth again to reassure them that what they did was right.
Bobby goes back to his home on Second Earth and takes a break. He had to be under cover because the cops were looking for him. So in the end, who won? Bobby stopped the destruction of three worlds, but they were so close to failure.
Through out the story they thought they were doing the right thing but were they? 36 deaths vs. the destruction of the three worlds. They eluded gangsters, left a burning building, and destroyed the Hindenburg causing 36 deaths.
