Time Lions Books in Order

Time Lions is Krystal Sutherland's middle grade adventure series, written with Martin Seneviratne, and it starts from a very fun idea: what if the kids smart enough to invent time travel were also reckless enough to use it? The series mixes science fiction, history, mystery, and a lot of sibling energy. Even when the stakes get huge, the story stays playful and quick on its feet. It also has a caper feel, with big ideas balanced by jokes, close calls, and the kind of momentum that keeps pages turning.

At the center are twelve-year-old British Sri Lankan twins Pearl and Patrick Amarasinghe, who live in London and hide their genius in plain sight. Pearl is the inventor, impatient, ambitious, and always thinking three experiments ahead. Patrick is the history brain, calmer on the surface, with a gift for languages and the past. Even before time travel enters the picture, they are the sort of kids who treat rules as suggestions and research as a reason for elaborate schemes. Their push-pull dynamic does a lot of the work here. They argue, show off, misjudge things, and still move through danger as a team.

Then they break time.

The first book, Time Lions and the Chrono-Loop, kicks off when Pearl's invention sends the twins into the past and draws the attention of T.I.M.E., a secret organization that polices the timeline. That gives the series its main engine. One bad decision can ripple outward into something enormous, and the twins keep running into people who think history can be edited for the better, or at least for their own benefit. So the adventure is not just about visiting the past. It is also about learning that the past pushes back.

Just as important, the story does not treat history like a museum tour. Patrick and Pearl's Sri Lankan heritage matters to the way events unfold, especially once family stories and older legends start becoming useful in ways the twins did not expect. London gives the series its everyday base, but the wider world matters too, from ancient Egypt to Sri Lanka's Lion Rock. The series is interested in overlooked inventors and overlooked stories, not just the usual famous names. That broader lens gives the adventure a fresh feel and lets the series ask who gets remembered, who gets ignored, and what happens when a few loud versions of history crowd everything else out.

History matters here.

In tone, this is a fast, funny start to a series with real consequences. You get gadgets, secret agencies, clever twists, and a lot of momentum, but also questions about responsibility, ego, and fixing your own mistakes. The humor keeps things light without sanding off the stakes. If you like adventures where smart kids get in way over their heads and have to think, not just fight, their way out, this is a good place to begin. Start with Time Lions and the Chrono-Loop, which introduces the twins, the rules of the timeline, and the bigger mess waiting behind the curtain.