Book info

• Title TimeRiders
• Author Alex Scarrow
• Year 2010
• Genre Science Fiction

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 2029. 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...

Thoughts

I thought this would be just up my street due to its time-travelling nature, and whilst I knew it was aimed at the young adult market, that has never stopped me before. I very much enjoyed Harry Potter and that was aimed at children.

I did very much enjoy the concept and the story, and there were only a few bits that grated. Choosing Hitler seems like quite an obvious subject for time travel, which isn’t bad, but is perhaps overused. Having said that, if it gets people interested in history, then it’s probably a good thing. Some of the next books in the series also feature well known periods, and it’s probably a good way to get people involved in the story.

Naturally, the writing was a little simpler than I’m used to, and it didn’t have quite the flow that Harry Potter does. I think Liam’s expressions were overdone to try and prove he was Irish, when I would have believed it without the stereotype.

Aside from that, I liked the characters, and I liked the story. I didn’t love it, like I thought I might, but I’ll probably read the next one and see how it progresses.

Rating: 4 / 5