I first discovered the Time Riders series a couple of years ago. A friend loaned me a copy of “Day of The Predator” back in shs and I couldn’t put it down till I was finished. It was easily way more interesting than the rice and beans stew served at dining my second day with it so I chose to read it instead. Terrible idea, because it got seized by the Grounds prefect. He told me to come get it from the Sarbah-Picot prefects room the next day. I (obviously) went with empty pockets for my retrieval mission and since I had nothing to exchange for my book, they took their payment by “balancing” me. That’s what they called smacking your chest really hard multiple times with their palms. Fun times. I left S/P and never returned until the third term of my second year because I strangely never had any business there. It’s definitely not because I was scared or anything.
A few weeks ago, when Edem asked if I’d ever read a book he described as having “this group bi that goes to the past and stops crimes before they happen”, the premise seemed vaguely familiar. A couple of awkward Google searches gave us a title and after a bit of piracy (ahoy!) we got the entire collection. True to form, I kept on postponing the day I’d finally start the series, but I’m done with the third one now and I finally remember why I was willing to brave Alcatraz* to get it back. These books are so great.
The series follows 3 kids plucked from different moments in history, each seconds from death. Because humans cannot resist weaponizing any form of technology we develop Maddy, Sal and Liam are placed in a time bubble and charged with monitoring history to make sure rogue time travelers don’t change stuff for their benefit and in the process unleash horrors unknown into our universe. This already makes for a story any sci-fi nerd would love, but what really takes it home are the diverse environments and situations the series takes you through. Just three books in and I’ve explored realities Scarrow envisioned where Germany won the Second World War, prehistoric species survived the K-T event and King Richard of England got his hands on The Holy Grail. Spoiler alert: none of these end well for humanity.
These alternate realities are brought to life by Scarrow’s stellar narration and story pacing. The consistency of the pacing’s quality is incredible taking into consideration the length of these books. I’ve tried writing fiction before so I know how hard it is to get this right and so far, he hasn’t faltered. No scene feels rushed or hastily put together and each interaction between the characters feels authentic. They each have unique quirks or patterns of speech that slip out often enough to assert their individuality, but not so often that it appears forced. There’s a running joke about how authors love to unnecessarily over-describe their scenery, but I don’t mind that about this series. The descriptions allow you to fully immerse yourself in whatever new location/time stamp the Time Riders are visiting and it allows you to understand their behavior or reactions to certain situations better.
The books are also incredibly well researched and maintain historical accuracy up until times they need to change for the story’s sake. And I am no quantum physicist, but at least the science makes sense?? To someone with a better understanding of physics, it would be obvious that the stuff he talks about are not possible, but there aren’t random sciencey mumbo jumbo thrown around to confuse the reader into blind acceptance. The author takes his time to explain how the time travel of his world works, mixing in some real world concepts to add to the richness of the story and even at certain points, dares to venture into the realm of theology
This being a novel series primarily aimed at early adolescents, I didn’t expect any Zuko-tier character development and after 3 books, I’d say they’ve matured more intellectually than character-wise. The trio are starting to understand the impact of their actions better and are able to make increasingly more rational decisions. Good for them, but true growth in this series is best personified by their support units.
Time travel is not without its dangers. There’s the journey itself and whatever unique dangers the time you’re going to may have. Outlaws, weird species of dinosaur and Nazis are a few that have been shown so far and you can hardly expect three kids to deal with those. Enter the bodyguards: Bob and Becks. They’re super human “meat robots” genetically engineered by scientists in the far future. As a result, they’re stronger, faster and heal way quicker than any normal human could. They also each have tiny supercomputers integrated seamlessly with their organic brains, which allows them store and process more information than is possible for regular folks. They’re the perfect strategic partner. (Think Captain America running J.A.R.V.I.S software, but better!)
The Time riders receive them as embryos which they then grow to adulthood. Their synthetic brains contain all the knowledge they could possibly need but as the units mature within days, their social skills are terribly lacking. They start off with all the impassiveness of a traditional computer, but their AI is always constantly studying interactions between the kids and other humans they encounter on their adventures and storing them so they can pass as regular humans more easily.
I’m very fascinated by the human psyche so listening in on their socializing process is very interesting. Their internal monologues are often battles between the logical computer generated solution that prioritizes the mission above all else and their subjective human side which is also concerned with their human teammates wellbeing. Their excitement/confusion at showing basic affection or concern and realizing that they are fond of something (or someone) is quite endearing to read. The organic part of their brains also allows them to feel emotion even though they may not fully understand them at first. Sorting it out with them is one of the best part of the books imo. They’re like my little 6 foot+ killing machine babies. 😭
Each of the books in the series are great stories on their own, but they all end on some sort of Cliffhanger to get you excited for the next one. The Doomsday Code ends with a cryptic prophecy about “The End” and I, for one, cannot wait to read what that’s all about. If it wasn’t obvious by now, I’d definitely recommend this series to anyone who enjoys reading.
Not saying I was really great at updating this blog, but I’m a bit busier now, so updates might be fewer. I did tweet that I might write something anime related earlier, but every time I attempt it, my brain says no ❤️. But that’s definitely coming next. Thanks for reading! Stay safe and I’ll see you next time.
*Alcatraz was the name of the Form 3’s cot in Sarbah Picot. You don’t pass there unless you absolutely need to.
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