The Reluctant Assassin

by Eoin Colfer

Release: April 2013
Format: Novel
Genre: Science Fiction
Audience: Young Adults
Content: Definite Time Travel
Original Language: English

When fourteen-year-old Victorian waif Riley shows up in the 21st century on seventeen-year-old FBI Agent Chevie Savano’s watch, the two of them pair up and head back to the late 19th century to escape Riley’s evil pursuer.

Although the book involves wormholes and scientists, it’s really a quantum fantasy, wherein an ordinary fantasy has the word “quantum” scattered throughout in key places, typically before the word magic, magician, or wormhole. Nevertheless, we’ve listed it as science fiction to match its publicity material.

— Michael Main

He discovered that Einstein’s quantum theory was essentially correct and that he could stabilize a traversable wormhole through space-time using exotic matter with negative energy density.

DEBUT

The Reluctant Assassin (Puffin, April 2013).

VARIANTS

2 English variants

TRANSLATIONS

Danish translation:
[ex=bare]Drengen, der ikke ville være morder | The boy who would not be a killer[/ex] (Alvilda, August 2015).
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . written by Eoin Colfer
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . translated by Ole Steen Hansen
Dutch translation:
[ex=bare]De onwillige moordenaar | The reluctant assassin[/ex] (Van Goor, 2014).
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . written by Eoin Colfer
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . translated by Mireille Vroege
Finnish translation:
[ex=bare]Salamurhaajan oppipoika | The assassin’s apprentice[/ex] (WSOY, August 2013).
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . written by Eoin Colfer
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . translated by Jaakko Kankaanpää
French translation:
[ex=bare]L’assassin malgré lui | The assassin in spite of himself[/ex] (Gallimard Jeunesse, January 2014).
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . written by Eoin Colfer
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . translated by Jean-François Ménard
German translation:
[ex=bare]Der Quantenzauberer | The quantum wizard[/ex] (Loewe, February 2014).
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . written by Eoin Colfer
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . translated by Claudia Feldmann
Italian translation:
[ex=bare]L’assassino che veniva dal passato | The assassin from the past[/ex] (Mondadori, March 2014).
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . written by Eoin Colfer
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . translated by Anna Carbone
Polish translation:
[ex=bare]Niechętny zabójca | reluctant killer[/ex] (WAB, late 2013).
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . written by Eoin Colfer
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . translated by Marcin Mortka
Portuguese translation:
[ex=bare]O Assassino Relutante | The reluctant assassin[/ex] (Galera Record, 2014).
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . written by Eoin Colfer
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . translated by Ivanir Calado
Russian translation:
[ex=bare]Uchenky ubiytsy | Assassin’s apprentice | Uchenky ubiytsy[/ex] (Эксмо :: Eskmo, February 2017).
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . written by Eoin Colfer as by Йон Колфер
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . translated by А. Васильева
Slovak translation:
[ex=bare]Nesmelý zabijak | The hesitant assassin[/ex] (Vydavateľstvo Slovart, November 2014).
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . written by Eoin Colfer
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . translated by Dominika Weinstock

10 translations

TAGS(SPOILERS!)

Time Periods

Time Travel Methods

Time Rifts: A “quantum wormhole.”

Themes

Anachronistic Music, Dance, and Other Creations: “Another Brick in Yonder Wall,” Gotham City, and 007, among others.
Chases through Time: Garrick chases Riley and Chevie.
Time Travel Sickness, Injuries, and Mixed-Up Body Parts: “And neither of us is a monkey!”

Real-World Tags

Victorian England

Groupings

W.A.R.P. (story series)

TIME TRAVEL ITINERARY (SPOILERS!)

From Bedford Square, Bloomsbury, London, 1898 ⋙ to Bedford Square, Bloomsbury, London, 2018. Note: Riley, soon followed by Garrick.
From Half Moon Street, Soho, London, 2018 ⋙ to Half Moon Street, Soho, London, 1898. Note: Riley and Chevie, soon followed by Garrick.
From Bayley Street, near Bedford Square, London, 1898 ⋙ to Bayley Street, near Bedford Square, London, 2018. Note: Chevie on her own.

W.A.R.P. #1

The Reluctant Assassin

by Eoin Colfer

DEBUT