The novels revolve around three teens who are recruited by an agency known as 'The Agency' moments before their deaths. The Agency was set up to protect the established set of events throughout history and to fix it if it is tampered with. They operate from their field office underneath an archway of the Williamsburg Bridge in New York City in a two-day 'Time Bubble', on 10 and 11 September 2001. Each novel revolves around a major change in the historical timeline and the team must work with each other to fix it with the help of their 'support units' – cyborgs who can mimic human behaviour. Later in the series the characters move to a second base under the Holborn Viaduct in Victorian London.
Characters
The series follows five protagonists:
Liam O'Connor – The team's field agent, Liam was a steward on the Titanic in 1912, and was Irish. He was saved moments before the ship's bow snapped in half during the sinking. He was recruited because of his ability to think decisively in tough situations. Liam has a close bond with both 'Bob' support units after the first one helped him out during the team's first mission. At the end of TimeRiders: Day of the Predator Foster tells Maddy that he is actually the older version of Liam, and it is later revealed in the series that Liam is ageing faster than the other team members due to the effects of time travelling. In City of Shadows it's revealed that he is a genetically engineered unit by the base team.
Maddy Carter – The team leader, Maddy was saved moments before a terrorist attack on a commercial jet in 2010 by Foster. She was a computer game developer (game de-bugger, AI software creator, code-writer) for Microsoft, and was recruited because of her computer intellect. Maddy has formed a bond with the support unit 'Becks' after confiding in her secrets which the rest of the team cannot know yet. She was initially the only one who knew that Liam was ageing faster and that he may be Foster, however during the Gates of Rome she revealed this knowledge to the rest of the team. She is revealed to be a genetically engineered unit in City of Shadows.
Sal Vikram – Sal was recruited by Foster in 2026 Mumbai when she was saved moments before a skyscraper collapsed due to a fire. She was recruited because she was a champion in a fictional future number placement puzzle Pikodu. Because of this, she is responsible for noticing any minor changes which may have been caused by a 'shift'. Moments before she was recruited during the skyscraper collapse the last thing she remembers seeing is a teddy bear which she has seen residing in a shop close to the teams 2001 base. Towards the end of the first book she was captured by mutant humans and supposedly killed, but returned to the team when the original timeline was restored, having been away from the time bubble during the initial time wave. In the fourth book she time travels for the first time with Liam back to 1831. She is revealed to be a genetically engineered unit in City of Shadows and when she was 'captured' she was actually killed in the first book by mutants. The Sal that exists now is in fact another Sal unit. She later finds out that she was once a real person and starts to make a plan to stop Liam and Maddy changing time. Then in The Mayan Prophecy she discovers a tachyon transmitter and walks into it, which ends up killing her. She then becomes a seeker who doesn't fully remember her life from before and tries to kill the Time Riders team.
Bob – Bob was the team's first support unit who was originally described as a ‘meat robot’ which is grown from within a test tube. In TimeRiders, before Bob and Liam could return to the field office, Bob's body suffered injuries beyond repair, due to being too badly damaged by gunshot wounds from future time travelers and subsequently getting killed, therefore Liam had to remove the support unit's Artificial Intelligence (AI) from his internal memory which was eventually transferred to the field office's central computer. A second Bob was grown at the beginning of TimeRiders: The Doomsday Code and the original Bob’s AI was copied and uploaded to the new Bob's internal memory. Throughout TimeRiders, Bob begins to consider Liam as a friend, a feeling which was copied to the second Bob. Bob currently resides within the field office's computer system however, is now called 'Computer-Bob' and later develops a further understanding of human emotions without his organic brain and still belongs a very vital member of the team.
Becks – In TimeRiders: Day of the Predator, after the original Bob was no longer able to carry out field duties, another support unit had to be grown. To do this, support unit embryos had to be gathered from a drop point in San Francisco before the 1906 earthquake. After bringing the embryos back to the field office however, Sal made an error and as a result grew a female support unit instead of a male. Becks' 'consciousness' is a copy of the original Bob's AI however as the story develops, Becks adapts her own personality and although retains the data from Bob, develops an independent identity. Beck's physical body is damaged beyond repair during the climax of TimeRiders: The Eternal War and Maddy dislodges her head and brings it back to the field office in order to preserve the data on her internal storage.
The series also focuses on eight other major and minor characters, some of which are recurring:
Foster/Liam – Before Time Riders he was a genetically engineered unit who was part of the original time riders team. After an accident the original Maddy and Sal units were killed leaving Liam seriously aged. The desperate Liam contacted the base team for help only to find out the truth about his past and all the memories he had was genetically implanted. Nevertheless, Liam continued what he was supposed to do and created the new team. Changing his name to Foster and became the team's initial leader and showed them how to notice the changes in time, how to identify the change's point of origin and fix it. He reveals to the trio in TimeRiders that the team before them were killed in action. He contacts the base team after the second Sal unit was killed and a replacement unit (with a trigger memory) was sent to them later in the book. He eventually leaves the team at the end of the first novel due to his deteriorating health caused by time travelling, he leaves the time dilation field and 'syncs' with the rest of history thereby making it almost impossible for the team to find him again. In TimeRiders: Day of the Predator however, Maddy discovers where Foster is on the second day of the time dilation field. However, being out of the dilation field Foster cannot remember every meeting so every time Maddy meets him, it is his first time seeing her since leaving the team. At the end of TimeRiders: Day of the Predator Foster reveals to Maddy that he is the older version Liam. Foster's appearance is at the end of TimeRiders: The Doomsday Code. He is only mentioned in TimeRiders: The Eternal War. In TimeRiders: Gates of Rome he reveals to Maddy that there is no other team except for Waldstein and that his true age is 27. In City of Shadows he joins the team when they leave New York to escape the killer cyborgs. He dies later on in the book sacrificing himself to save Maddy and reveals he loved the older version of her.
Bob 2.0 – In TimeRiders: The Doomsday Code, the team decide to grow another male support unit in the same image as Bob. When the second Bob is grown, the team once again make a copy of the original's AI and transfer the copy to the new Bob's internal memory. Bob 2.0 and Becks are able to communicate using Near Field Communication technology whilst out in the field. Bob 2.0 retains all of the original Bob's AI including memory, however is not the same Bob and is a separate, independent support unit. In City of *Becks – In TimeRiders: Day of the Predator, after the original Bob was no longer able to carry out field duties, another support unit had to be grown. To do this, support unit embryos had to be gathered from a drop point in San Francisco before the 1906 earthquake. After bringing the embryos back to the field office however, Sal made an error and as a result grew a female support unit instead of a male. Becks' 'consciousness' is a copy of the original Bob's AI however as the story develops, Becks adapts her own personality and although retains the data from Bob, develops an independent identity. Beck's physical body is damaged beyond repair during the climax of TimeRiders: The Eternal War and Maddy dislodges her head and brings it back to the field office in order to preserve the data on her internal storage.
Becks 2.0- In the sixth book, a new younger looking Becks is born, but shortly killed by fellow female support unit Faith.
Rashim Anwar – In The Gates of Rome he is a major technician, for project exodus, in 2069 – 2070. He becomes one of the TimeRiders at the end of it, and continues to be. During his time as a TimeRider Rashim assists Maddy in technical matters regarding the displacement machinery whilst also giving foreknowledge on future events. Along with Liam, Rashim was trapped in the late 17th Century during the Fire of London. Both he and Liam later became captains of a pirate ship the Pandora before setting up their own island nation and naval fleet in order to get the attention of the rest of the team back in 19th Century London. In an alternate timeline the team discover a much older version of Rashim held captive by Emperor Caligula after taking control of his support units. Rashim leads the team to safety where they then meet and recruit the younger Rashim whilst he is left to die in peace. He then helps them set up a new field office in Holborn viaduct in Victorian London. In the last book he accompanies Maddy and Becks to 2070 to find Waldstein but he dies after catching the kosong-ni virus.
Spongebubba – He is Rashim's genetically engineered lab assistant, made to look and act like SpongeBob SquarePants. he becomes part of the team along with Rashim and serves as the teams base assistant.
Faith (Becks 3.0) – She is a unit sent by Waldstein to kill the Time Riders in book 5. She and Abel are the only survivors of the team by book 6. Later on Abel is killed and she escapes to 19th century with the help of agent Cooper. Faith soon befriends Jack the Ripper victim Mary Kelly before being captured by the team when trying to prevent the Ripper from murdering her friend and changing history. Her memory is later wiped and Beck's original consciousness is downloaded into her.
Abel – He, along with Faith and a few other units, were sent to assassinate the Time Riders in Gates of Rome. Computer Bob tricked him and Faith (after the rest of the units were killed) and sent them away to protect the team. In book6 he and Faith pursue the team to a mall where the two find and kill Foster. He is later killed by the security force.
There is also a base team (or the original base team) which is featured largely in TimeRiders: City of Shadows:
Roald Waldstein is the creator of the first time machine and the Time Riders project. Along with Frasier Griggs and Joseph Olivera, he created the Time Riders base. Then he went back to his actual time where he and the other two worked as the base team assisting the Time Riders in any way possible. When the original Time Riders created he looked at them like his own children but when the time displacement device malfunctioned killing most of the team he became paranoid. He told the only survivor of the team (Foster/ Liam) the truth about his creation and how to create a new team and implant them with false memories. When the second Sal was killed in the first book, Roald was forced to make one in his time so that the Time Riders won't feel suspicious. This causes a big argument between him and Griggs which later causes Griggs to leave the base team. It is hinted that on his first demonstration of the time machine Waldstein never went to the past to see his dead wife and son but instead to the future and witnessed Pandora. Waldstein legally created and signed a rule that no time travel should be permitted around the world after whatever he saw in his first time travel and that whoever does will be "put to sleep". When Griggs dies Olivera starts to suspect Waldstein was the reason for this (which isn't true) and tries to sabotage the project. By the end of Book 6, Waldstein is the last surviving member of the base team. He later reluctantly sends supports units to assassinate the Time Riders when they send him a message threatening to leave if they didn't know what Pandora is. He then later sends a message to the time riders team asking them to meet him. He then explains he is doing all this after being told by the "caretakers" who told him that if he could not stop the human race messing around with time they would erase them from the universe.
Frasier Griggs is first introduced in the Gates of Rome Prologue where Joseph Olivera meets him. Frasier is Waldstein's best friend and a member of the base team. He along with Joseph Olivera set up the original base. After Foster/Liam contacted the base team asking for a third Sal, he started feeling worried and didn't like Waldstein directly contacting Foster and feared what he was doing may be discovered by the police. He continues to have arguments with Waldstein which slowly put him out of Waldstein's trust circle. He warns Olivera not to trust Waldstein and that he may be planning make sure Pandora happen. Later on Frasier is killed in an accident which causes Olivera to fear Waldstein even more. Its possible that Griggs knew what Pandora is.
Joseph Olivera is an expert in genetics and is recruited by Waldstein to help him create the TimeRiders Agency in TimeRiders: The Eternal War, and then sets up the original base along with Frasier Griggs. It is later revealed that he 'created' Liam, Sal and Maddy by implanted them with false memories he created. After Liam/Foster contacting the base team he witnessed the arguments between Frasier and Waldstein, and afterwards Frasier warns him to beware of Waldstein. After Griggs is later killed by a street mob, Joseph started fearing Waldstein and implanted a trigger memory in Sal's brain to let the team figure out who they really are. Later on when Waldstein finds out about the trigger memory he confronts Joseph about it. Joseph in his panicked state falsely presumes that Walstein killed Frasier and he will do the same to him, while all Waldstein wanted to do was get the young man out of the lab to. Joseph activates a time portal and jumped through before Waldstein could stop him, but merged with some horses on the other side of the portal in the year 1831 which triggers the events of TimeRiders: The Eternal War. He inevitably dies due to the merging, and Liam and Sal having also time-jumped to the same point, witness his death.
Adam Lewis – He is a minor character featured in books 3 and 8 of the series who is, on two occasions, briefly recruited into the team. In Time Riders: The Doomsday Code, Adam is a nerdy British student from 1994 who deciphers a section of the Voynich Manuscript, the key to the Holy Grail, before being visited by Maddy and Becks seeking knowledge of how he managed to do so and what the segment stated. Finding a ticket to a gig from 2001 left by Maddy, Adam makes it his goal in life to be in New York at the time of the gig to hunt down the pair. After finding the Archway an older Adam who now works in the North Tower of the World Trade Centre is briefly recruited by the team to decode the rest of the Manifesto and assist in restoring time. After leaving Adam is killed in the 9/11 terrorist attacks. In book 8 Time Riders: The Mayan Prophecy, young Adam is once again recruited by the team to help with their latest mission. Adam is quickly accepted into the team, during which he and Maddy become close, leading to a romantic relationship between the pair. However, Adams new found love for Maddy leads to his sacrifice at the hands of a giant 'seeker' about to kill Maddy, allowing her and the team to escape choosing to die saving the one he loves.
TimeRiders
In the book the newly recruited team are thrown into the thick of it. Before they've had a chance to fully train. Paul Kramer, a brilliant physicist from the future, has plans to alter the past – to lead Nazi Germany to victory over the Allied Forces and to ensure an ordered World Reich under his rule. Liam and the team’s support unit, Bob, are sent back in time to try and stop Kramer’s plans, whilst in the present, Maddy and Sal witness New York altered by the arrival of a time wave, forming a terrifying new reality – an apocalyptic landscape of ruins and savage mutated descendants of a nuclear holocaust caused by Kramer going insane and detonating some weapon of mass destruction. At the end of the novel Liam and Bob go to Obersalzberg, and stop Kramer from altering history. A firefight ensues, in which Bob is fatally injured, and Kramer & his cohorts die after being killed by the guards stationed outside Obersalzberg. Liam retrieves the AI from inside Bob's head, and returns to 2001 with the timeline restored.
TimeRiders: Day of the Predator
While Liam and Becks are on a mission to save Edward Chan from an assassin on a school field trip to a zero point energy reactor a time window is accidentally opened to the sixty-five million years ago in the hunting ground of a deadly undiscovered species of predator, and in the process Liam, Becks and a group of college students are sucked in and are trapped there. In an attempt to survive they build a camp and attempt to send messages into the present time, while Maddy and Sal, with the help of the computer Bob try to find them and rescue them.
TimeRiders: The Doomsday Code
In 1994, Adam Lewis, a British computer hacker finds his name in the Voynich manuscript after decoding a section of it, a code which is almost one thousand years old. He locates and confronts the TimeRiders in 2001, who then travel back to Sherwood Forest in 1193 to discover the origins of the ancient message. But a strange hooded man appears interested in the same thing, and the TimeRiders, realizing that they are in a quest for the holy grail, attempt to find its key, before the hooded man does.
TimeRiders: The Eternal War
A time wave has struck that alters the entire history of the American Civil War. Abraham Lincoln has followed Liam into the present from 1831 – and now the world is in a dangerous state of limbo. If the TimeRiders can't return Lincoln to the past, the Civil War will never end. Can Maddy persuade two colonels on either side of no man's land to cease fire long enough to save the future?
TimeRiders: Gates of Rome
Project Exodus – a mission to transport 300 Americans from 2070 to 54AD to overthrow the Roman Empire – has gone catastrophically wrong. Half have arrived seventeen years earlier, during the reign of Caligula. Liam goes to investigate, but when Maddy and Sal attempt to flee a kill-squad sent to hunt down their field office, all of the TimeRiders become trapped in the Roman past. Armed with knowledge of the future, Caligula is now more powerful than ever. But with the office unmanned – and under threat – how will the TimeRiders make it back to 2001 and put history right?
TimeRiders: City of Shadows
Hunted by cyborg assassins from the future, the TimeRiders must abandon New York and go on the run. They escape to Victorian London and the streets where Jack the Ripper roams. But, before they can establish their new base, they make their most shattering discovery yet – and it will change everything...
TimeRiders: The Pirate Kings
Relocated to Victorian London, the TimeRiders joy-ride back to 1666 to witness the Great Fire of London. In the ensuing chaos, Liam and their newest recruit, Rashim, find themselves trapped between the fire and the Thames. They escape on board a river boat, only to be confronted by an unscrupulous captain with his heart set on treasures of the high seas...
TimeRiders: The Mayan Prophecy
When Maddy finally unlocks fragments of the secret that Becks has been holding on to, the TimeRiders start to piece together their true purpose. Racing through time to connect the clues, the team discover a Mayan tribe where an ancient relic provides a vital link to the past...and future. But not all the TimeRiders can cope with the discovery, and one threatens to bring them all down if they can act out their revenge...
TimeRiders: The Infinity Cage
The end is approaching for the TimeRiders. In a final effort to prevent time travel destroying history, Liam and Maddy jump forward to 2070 to confront the enigmatic Waldstein and prove once and for all if he is friend or foe. What they discover is more shocking than anyone could have imagined and soon the TimeRiders are on one final mission – back to Biblical times to save the whole of humanity...
TimeRiders: The Infinity Cage was released on November 6, 2014.
TimeRiders 10
On December 8, 2016, Alex Scarrow announced a new TimeRiders Book.
