Before I get to the story a note on the book itself. There are several reviews elsewhere complaining about the print quality over the course of the 12 book time wars series. People are saying that the print is smudged, and the pages are marked. Actually they are not marked. In order to create these new versions someone has sacrificed their original paperback editions. Those books have been stripped and scanned. The marks on the pages, incidentally book one is unaffected, are the outlines of those original pages. Some of the books must have aged more than others hence the more observable outlines. The original books are between 30-37 years old now so it's hardly surprising they are showing their age. Right, back to the book itself. The Pimpernel Plot was originally published in 1984. I missed the time wars series on publication being from the UK where American books had a limited availability. I came late to the series and unfortunately only managed to get 8 of the 12 books. Of those 12 books I was missing books 2 and 8 and unfortunately books 11 and 12. So after reading the eight books and enjoying them they sat on my shelves for many years before I decided to get rid of them. They were incomplete and unlikely to be reprinted. But I always had a soft spot for them so when I checked on the books last year (2021) I was very pleased to see they were available again and snapped them all up. It's been around 25-30 years since I read the ones I had so I decided to read them all again. Book three continues on from events in book two. Again this is a great story. Set around the French Revolution and the Scarlet Pimpernel tales this is a fun read. The characters are very good, the history well researched and the science believable enough to make it work. The plot is good with a clever premise. The weaving of real life history, science fiction and the pimpernel (based here on baroness orzy's books) works well. There is action but also so good character material as well. The writing is very good. The lead characters are very nicely drawn as are the historical characters. A very enjoyable read.