TimeRiders Paperback – September 13, 2011

This is the first book in the TimeRiders series by Alex Scarrow.The central characters are three teenagers mysteriously plucked from certain death by a man who calls himself Foster, and he becomes the guardian and teacher for this new TimeRider team. Time travel is now illegal so they are in training to become Time Travel Police and have the job of ensuring that any attempted altering of history is eliminated so that events return to normal and the course of history is not altered. For instance, in this story someone attempts to alter the course of World War 2 and the team is tasked with finding the perpetrators and eliminating them, thus setting history back on its normal course.The home base for the team is New York City in a 'time bubble' that always repeats Monday and Tuesday, September 10-11, 2001. They monitor the web and city life and learn to detect any abnormal events that may indicate that history has been altered. The three team members are:Liam O'Connor - sixteen years old, from Ireland.Foster rescued him from imminent death on the Titanic in April, 1912.Madelaine Carter - eighteen years old, from Boston.Foster rescued her from imminent death in a plane crash in 2010.Saleena Vikram - thirteen years old, from Mumbai, India.Foster rescued her from imminent death in a fire in the year 2026.To give you an idea of what their life will be like, I quote what Foster said to Liam before his actual rescue:"If you come with me, Liam, there is another way. You'll live an invisible life. You'll exist as a phantom, never quite in this world of ours. Never able to make new friends, never able to find love.... You'll learn about things that...well...that can ultimately lead to madness if you let them mess with your mind. Some people choose death.""I must warn you. I'm not offering you your life, Liam. Im offering you a way out, that's all."So that is the route Scarrow follows, as when he gives us very little in depth character development. For instance, he doesn't dwell on the kids having to adjust to the radical changes in their lives, and all we ever really learn about Foster is that he is actually in his twenties but looks like an old man because frequent time travel ages and destroys the body so he is dying. Also, there is no romance or any such things thrown in. This is all pretty much action/adventure, and that will be fine for those readers who don't care to dewll much on more personal issues.This book is well written and suspenseful, so people of all ages who like this genre can enjoy it. I liked it and look forward to reading the entire series if the next books are as good as this one.

The TimeRiders is a great book that has hooked me for the rest of the series. The blurb for this book is brilliant. How can you not be intrigued by this? " Liam O’Connor should have died at sea in 1912. Maddy Carter should have died on a plane in 2010. Sal Vikram should have died in a fire in 2026.Yet moments before death, someone mysteriously appeared and said, ‘Take my hand ...’ "These three teens are saved from certain death and catapulted into a world of time travel and mystery. They become part of a secret organisation that ensures history is correct. Maddy and Sal take on the roles of the support team at their New York base, guided by their saviour and mentor, Foster. Liam is the poor guy who gets the job to travel through time to fix things, accompanied by a half-human half-techno miracle named Bob, who is the brawn of the team.The world has gone crazy and the team need to find out why, by going back in time to fix the future. Liam and Bob have plenty of obstacles to overcome as they pass through time to search for the cause of altered history. Whilst Maddy, Sal and Foster are fighting their own battles in the changed world that it has caused. Even though they are in different time frames, the whole team need to work together to fix the problem.I really enjoyed the style of the writing, I think that Scarrow has done a great job. This is an action-packed adventure that has plenty of intrigue and imagination. The plot is set across multiple time frames and works really well. I'm very keen to move onto the next book in the series .... and beyond. (I understand that the 7th book has just been released - I'd better get cracking so I can catch up).For any of my usual Middle Grade followers, here's a tip. The target audience for this book is YA and there is violence in some parts, so I wouldn't recommend it for Middle Graders.

YA science fiction fans will love TimeRiders. They will love the three young teen main characters, the AI character, Bob, and the action packed crisis and climax. Adults will probably be put off by the obvious choice of Hitler and WWII as the inciting event for the time traveling heroes. Somewhere far in the future, two men went back in time to stop Hitler thinking that would create a better future for the planet. Of course, it made things much, much worse - zombie wandering Walking Dead people kind of worse. The three teen heroes were all saved from imminent death. Liam snatched off the Titanic, Maddy from a crashing plane in 2010, and Sal from street violence in 2026 Mumbai. Mr. Foster gives them a choice and a few seconds to decide - accept their deaths or come work with his group. Each teen was chosen for a different skill at which they excel. There is a moral dilemma component to TimeRiders which will be explored in more depth in future books, I am sure. A couple of the teens question whether the goals and intentions of Mr. Foster and his group are really about preserving historical events and protecting the planet. TimeRiders, of course, is the first in a series. In this case a long series, supposedly ending at #9. Reluctant readers may find the middle third of the story too slow, but the last third is very intense and exciting. Everyone who likes TimeRiders will look forward to reading the rest of the series.

This book suits anyone from the age of 11 to 110. As a middle aged woman, I read the whole series back to back a few years ago. Earlier this week, my 11 year old got hooked on Time Riders too. She had recently finished all the Harry Potter books, and needed to fill that void. Time Riders fits the bill perfectly. They are written for the YA market, so there is no sex, only moderate violence and a tiny bit of non controversial swearing very occasionally. There is plenty of edge of the seat action , gripping story lines and all the characters are so likeable that feel like they are your own family. If you or your child liked Harry Potter, or any of the Ali Sparks books, give this series of books a try. They suit both boys and girls.The premise is simple. 3 teenagers are plucked from their previous lives seconds before they are due to die in major disasters, and recruited to work for a secret time travel agency consisting of just the 3 of them, that fixes things that have gone wrong in history due to time travel. Anything that gets changed in the past, has a ripple in our current time, and can completely change the future. They have to go back in time, figure out what changed, and change it back. I particularly liked the history aspect of these books, as you do learn about all the different time periods that they visit. The books are really well written, they are complex but make total sense, and all the questions you would have about time travel are really well addressed.

Having read all of Alex Scarrow' s books and impatiently awaiting the next "adult" novel I decided to try one of his stories which appears to be for the teenage market. I was pleasantly surprised at the depth of the story and also the characters involved. The novel and I assume this series, revolves around time travel and events from history and the effects of interfering with the past. This is a something I have been interested in for a long time and which has been explored by Dean Koontz in lightning and more recently by Steven King. I have only given 4 stars because , although it was a very well written story, it does feel a little unfinished and shorter than it should be. I think this is probably intentional and is aimed at a younger market with maybe a shorter interest span than mine, however this is just my personal feelings and I probably need to read the next few novels in the series before I am satisfied. Overall....brilliant read which I thoroughly enjoyed.

Read Alex Scarrow's other novels and been a great fan of his work for a while. Stumbled across the TimeRiders series recently and being a sci-fi, techy, gadget kind of guy, reading about a secret time travel organisation was excellent. Then I realised it was for "young adults" - "young adults? but I'm over 40! Surely not for me then?"How wrong I was. Downloaded a sample to my new Kindle, devoured the freebie and saw that it was actually quite mature reading, not gory as adults but still quite detailed, and downloaded the full book as my first ever Kindle book!Three days in and I'm nearing the end and already eyeing up the following books as a time travel fest for my upcoming holidays.YA it may be classed as but very suitable for adults as wellReal shame though that the prices for the following books are set so high for Kindle.

This was recommended by the son of a friend, and I was desperate for a holiday read, so I gave it a shot. Perhaps it wasn't the *best* option before boarding a plane (with the sinking of the Titanic, the plane crash & the building collapse), but once I got past the juxtaposition of travel, I enjoyed this book.The first in the series introduces us to,the characters and to their unique method of time travel. The author provides good character building which allowed me to really like the characters. I'm happy that I came to the series after 5 books were already out, enabling me to read 5 very quickly.I also like the Kindle price, which is reasonable for a digi-book, unlike so many others!

As a student of Writing Books for Children, I aim to read a lot and this time I thought I'd try to find a book for young adults. I found this Time Riders series by chance and I am so glad I did. I just can't put it down. I have just ordered book 3 and cannot wait to find out more about the characters and their growing relationships, while fighting past and future 'evils'. I particularly love the way Alex Scarrow manages to combine riveting plotlines with really interesting characters, mixed with a good dose of history. It's always engaging and never, never boring. I feel truly inspired.