Review: TimeRiders

TimeRiders (TineRiders #1) by Alex Scarrow
Publication Date: January 2010
Genre: YA Science Fiction
Pages: 405

Summary

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 ...'

But Liam, Maddy and Sal aren't rescued. They are recruited by an agency that no one knows exists, with only one purpose - to fix broken history. B...moreLiam 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 ...'

But Liam, Maddy and Sal aren't rescued. They are recruited by an agency that no one knows exists, with only one purpose - to fix broken history. Because time travel is here, and there are those who would go back in time and change the past. That's why the TimeRiders exist: to protect us. To stop time travel from destroying the world...

The book was really good. I loved the plot and characters. But even a good book like this has it's flaws.

 

She noticed something in its face. Intelligence. Perhaps a long faded memory stirring behind those milky boiled-fish eyes. This thing was human, or at least it had once been human, she was sure of that.

 

In this world, in the year 2044 the first time machine was invented. The government eventually banned them for reasons that were explained, but would be hard to describe in the review. But, did that stop people from trying to invent them? Of course not. So this agency secretly made their own machines and set up teams, the TimeRiders, through out history to make sure no one would go back and changed it. Pretty much the police of time traveling.

 

So that's pretty much what the TimeRiders are. The team that are featured are stationed in 2001 New York, the Monday before and the Tuesday of 9/11. The team members are Foster, who is the team leader and trainer, Maddy, the leader-in-training and team analyst, Sal, the team observer, Liam, the operative, and Bob, the support unit. And Bob is pretty much a meat puppet with a computer brain.

 

 

You don't learn that much about any of them. There wasn't a lot of character development, which I didn't like. I wanted to know more about their lives back in their own time, especially Sal because she was from the year 2026. You see the moments before Liam and Maddy are supposed to die, but other then that you only get stuff like Sal had both her parents and Maddy was kinda a geek. Other than wanting them to be more developed, the characters were great. I liked their personalities, and they were characters i could get behind.

 

The bad guy was Paul Kramer, a scientist from 2066. He goes back in time to WWII to help the Germans to win. He does this because, in his mind, it would have been better. He is just crazy enough to try it and just sane enough to be able to do it. So, although he starts off having good intentions, he ends about blowing up a nuclear bomb.

 

The plot was great. There wasn't any point when I had no idea what was going on. Though there were a few times when I wasn't sure if they were in 1956 or 1957. The writing was pretty good, but I didn't always now who was talking.

 

 

All in all, I loved the book. I could get behind the characters. The plot was cool, and I couldn't help but wish I could time travel with them. But, who hasn't wanted to time travel at least once in their life. Anyway, I completely recommend the book and I can't wait to read the next one.