ATTENTION TIME TRAVELER!
This book is your time machine. Do not read it through from beginning to end. In a moment you will receive a mission, a special task that will take you to another time period. As you face the dangers of history, the Time Machine will often give you options of where to go or what to do.
This book also contains a Data Bank to tell you about the age you are going to visit. You can use this Data Bank to help you make your choices. Or you can take your chances without reading it. It is up to you to decide.
In this book is a Data File. It contains hints to help you if you are not sure what choice to make. The following symbol appears next to any choices for which there is a hint in the Data File.
To complete your mission as quickly as possible, you may wish to use the Data Bank and the Data File together.
There is one correct end to this Time Machine mission. You must reach it or risk being stranded in time!
THE FOUR RULES OF TIME TRAVEL
As you begin your mission, you must observe the following rules. Time Travelers who do not follow these rules risk being stranded in time.
1.
You must not kill any person or animal.
2.
You must not try to change history. Do not leave anything from the future in the past.
3.
You must not take anybody when you jump in time. Avoid disappearing in a way that scares people or makes them suspicious.
4.
You must follow instructions given to you by the Time Machine. You must choose from the options given to you by the Time Machine.
YOUR MISSION
Your mission is to go back to Japan under the shogunate, and return with the sword of the most famous samurai in history.
"The sword is the soul of the samurai."
This is a famous quote from medieval Japan, when the soldiers, known as samurai, fought their battles with swords, spears and other hand weapons. From before A.D. 900 until about 1870, the most important thing a samurai owned was his sword. No samurai was ever far from his weapon, even while asleep.
Of all the fighters in Japan, the most famous -- and the best swordsman of all -- was Miyamoto Musashi, who lived from 1584 to 1645. He traveled all over Japan for most of his life, studying different fighting techniques and fighting duels and battles.
Your mission is to find Musashi, and bring back the sword he made so famous. For you to succeed among samurai, you must act honorably. You will have to be careful. Japan is a dangerous place at this time -- any samurai who wishes may cut you in half, for no reason at all!
Copyright © 1984, 2001 by Byron Preiss Visual Publications
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Miyamoto Musashi was a well-known samurai during the 17th century. Your mission is to travel back in time to feudal Japan, learn the samurai customs, and find a way to bring back a sword Musashi has made famous. But you have to be careful; danger lurks everywhere, and you never know which samurai is after you! The Time Machine series challenges young readers to use their imagination and decision-making skills to write their own story. Options in the text allow readers to choose any path they like within the plot. Readers must draw on background information about the period to make the right choices. This makes the series a great educational device for youngsters to learn about history and all the different cultures, events, and periods that shaped it.
