Invictus is a fun ride through time while giving all the feels. It reads like a mash-up of Firefly and Doctor Who with a hint of Fringe thrown in. This story of thieving, falling in love, and saving the world is full of humor and heart.

Invictus
by Ryan Graudin
Dear Ryan Graudin, this book needs to be released in paperback. Wow, a great concept, and love the mystery at the core of the book. A great book for young adult readers. Invictus comes from the science fiction theory and ideas of time travel. A young time observer has betrayed the rules of her organization, because of unexpectedly finding love in the past. Her resulting child makes the world change, the universe change, the multiverse change. The book shows the need for people to have support, personal and loving to over come things that challenge us. Most of all love, which is why things need to have exceptions, and love trumps all. You are drawn into the character of Faraway from his birth, until his personal sacrifice. His connections to his friends and family are not only a great support system but shows how love and self-sacrifice are the keys to life. Love the speed and depth of this book. I will be recommending this book to my local Middle school Library.

Summary: Farway, Far, McCarthy was born outside of time.  His mother was a time traveller from the future who fell in love with a man from the past and Far was born while she was on a mission.  Far has grown up with the goal of following in his mother's footsteps.  But when Far's plans are derailed he finds himself the captain of a group of time traveling thieves that go into the past to "recover" lost historical artifacts.  However, when on a mission to the past the crew meets a mysterious girl who is also a time travel and she and the crew they must team up to protect the future.

Review: I had a very mixed reaction to this book.  First, I have to state I was a fan of Graudin's "All That Glows" series so I had high expectations for this book and they were kind of met.  Graudin has a skill that many authors lack and that is that she is really good at creating characters that you want to read about.  All of the members of Invictus crew are just so likable and their personal interactions were just so entertaining.  I wanted to know what happened to them and I wanted to keep reading about their romantic entanglements.  However, I just couldn't get into their actual mission.  The parts of the book where they were traveling through time trying to save the world never really grabbed my attention.  However, the story is fast paced and will likely appeal to many science fiction fans.

I'm not usually a fan of time travel synopsis, but this one was exceptionally unique. I really enjoyed all the characters, especially level-headed Priya. Thank you NetGalley for sharing this arc with me. This was a creative take on time travel, getting more in-depth as the story progresses. Would love to see some short stories, know more of Far's mother.

Loved, loved, loved Invictus! This is for any fan of sci-fi, romance, or for anyone just looking for a good book. I haven't read them yet, but Invictus makes me want to pick up all of Graudin's other books. One of my picks for 2017 and one of my new favorites.

Invictus has a very good start. Opening with a time-traveler named Empra who fell in love with a gladiator and a baby born outside of time.
Farway (Far) is Empra's son. He's always wanted to explore history but his dreams are crushed when he unexpectedly fails his time-traveling exam. When Far is approached with an offer to captain a ship as part of a black market operation to steal valuable relics from the past..he accepts. Given the opportunity to hand pick his own crew, Far recruits Imogen (his cousin), Gram and Priya. Everything is going well for them until a mission that involves stealing an important book from the Titanic is compromised by another time-traveler named Eliot who gets to it first. She's very mysterious and always seems to be one step ahead of him so naturally Far doesn't trust her when she demands to join his crew. Under the circumstances, he has no choice but to accept.

Now, Invictus is about 450 pages long - which is great, I'm all for long books! - but at times felt like it was too lengthy. The writing is excellent and I love that it alternates between the members of the crew so we are able to see things from everyone's perspective as opposed to just Far's. I have to admit though, I found myself looking forward to some characters more than others. And Saffron - Imogen's red panda - was an adorable little addition to the crew!

If you're a fan of time-travel, I'm fairly certain you'll enjoy this. It's got a little bit of everything. Time-travel, romance, action, likeable characters who work amazingly well as a group, and a few things that will definitely remind you of Doctor Who ;)

This is my first-time reading a book by this author, and with the premise it has, I was really expecting to love this book. Doctor Who meets Firefly kind of book.

But honestly, for me, this book was just okay. The characters weren't that interesting. The plot itself felt kind of boring as well. There was a severe lack of heist...ing. We see them do maybe two missions. There's a lot more telling, rather than showing, of how skilled they are supposed to be at their job stealing items from history to sell on the black market.

I am really picky about the sci-fi I read, it's not my favorite genre, so for me to really stick to and with a Sci-fi book it has to be really special and grab me early on. This book had a great opening chapter, but everything after that was just kind of average.

The biggest flaw with this book is the characters, they are all forgettable. I had to look at the synopsis to remember the MC's name. That is one of the things I judge a book on, and what I think should carry a book. Since there are no visuals, the book has to rely on well written and developed characters, and for me, this book just did not have that. The premise was interesting, but with out good characters to drive the plot that part of the book felt boring as well.

When I saw this one Netgalley I was immediately intrigued by it. I am inexplicably drawn to books about time travel. The allure of being able to wrong past mistakes and take in a part of history that we would never experience otherwise has always been something I've been fascinated by. Add in a small dose of sci fi and characters that you can't help but be drawn to and Invictus surprised me in the best ways possible.

Truly from the alluring prologue this story captured my attention and refused to let go. Instead, one chapter turned into two and before I knew it I was reading late into the night and unable to fall asleep until my eyes grew so heavy I had no choice but to put it down and even then I resisted the Sandman's charm with superhuman strength I didn't even know I possessed.

This series was so much fun. From the characters to the whole time travel aspect to the sci fi appeal of what the future could be like if we're not careful to the mystery of Faraway and Eliot themselves, it was so addicting and so very hard to put down. I was enthralled with the it all and once again I find myself being blown away by a story that not only took me by surprised but made me excited about this genre again.

I am a huge fan of sci-fiction and I love space opera. Add in the fact that it is young adult and I was very excited to start reading Invictus. So I was a little surprised and disappointed when I couldn’t get into the book until about midway through. I know that it is because I felt that the book crept until about midway. It was after Eliot revealed everything that I felt the book picked up steam and I actually got into reading it.

I thought the plot of the book was good. Time travel has been discovered and is being used. People can go back in time to sight see. Then there are the people who go back in time to record the events live for the people in the future to study. This is where Farway’s story starts. His mother, Empra, is a Recorder and she has done the unthinkable. She has fallen in love with a gladiator named Gaius and has gotten pregnant. After witnessing a fight in which Gaius dies, Empra goes into labor. She delivers Farway on her ship in a place called the Grid. Which is outside of time. So, a great start to the book. It fell flat and I had a very hard time keeping my attention on it until Eliot dropped a bombshell on Farway and his crew. Then the book picked up steam and I couldn’t put it down until it ended.

I do think that Invictus was a great space opera. It fills in that genre very well. The time travel was written wonderfully and I thought that it was a very different take on that. I thought the usage of camaflouged ships was great. But I didn’t care for the YA part of it.

Farway got on my nerves from page one but I liked him. I thought that he was very immature. That part of him grated on my nerves. I did think that he was a good captain and he did put his crew first. He also had good instincts about people. I mean, he was right about Eliot. But in the end, he was willing to do whatever he could to save his mother and his world.

Eliot had some brass ones, let me tell you. She stole the book that Farway trying to find on the Titanic. She then used it as a bargaining chip to get aboard the Invictus. I was surprised as Farway and his crew about not only who Eliot was by why she was there.

Surprisingly, for a YA book, there is sex. Farway and Priya have sex a few times. The book doesn’t get into details but you definitely know what they were doing. The romance between Priya and Farway was sweet and very heartfelt. I had tears in my eyes during the scene where Priya…..well, you need to read the book.

The end of the book was very heartfelt and I got a little emotional during it. Not going to say anything but I did like how the storylines were resolved.

3 stars

My Summary of Invictus:

Invictus didn’t hold my attention as it should have. The first half of the book seemed to drag and only picked up speed after a crucial scene in the middle of the book. I did think that it was wonderfully written with rich dialogue between the characters. I am disappointed that I just didn’t like it as much as I should have.

Will I reread: Maybe

Will I recommend to family and friends: Yes

Age range: Older Teen

Why: Mild violence and sexual situations. Nothing graphic but you know that the two characters are having sex

I would like to thank Ryan Graudin, Little, Brown Books for Young Readers and NetGalley for allowing me to read Invictus

Any and all opinions expressed in this review of Invictus are mine and mine alone

**I chose to leave this review after reading an advance reader copy**

Farway Gaius McCarthy has a bit of reputation because he was born outside of time. His mother (from the 2300's) recorded history and fell in love with a Roman gladiator in 95 AD, which of course is forbidden. Facts are fudged so Farway's parentage doesn't come into question. His dream is to travel through history like his mother, who never returned from one of her assignments. Farway's whole world comes crashing down when he fails his final exam and is forever barred from his dream. A less savory man offers him a job to illicitly travel through time to obtain lost artifacts, but it all goes wrong when the girl who sabotaged his test holds one of those artifacts hostage to join their crew. Who is she and what does she want?

I really enjoyed the first half of the book. I love the idea of a world where time travel exists and it's an actual job to go back in time, blend in, and record key events for both historical record and public enjoyment. Even on illicit trips to the past, it's important to have a good engineer to do all the calculations and a good historian who will know what fashion, materials, and language would be commonplace for the time. I wish we could have seen a little more what a typical day in that world would have been, but more time is spent in other times.

Farway and his crew really drew me into the story. While Farway is a bit conceited and annoying, his romances with Priya is adorable and keeps him grounded. Priya is the medic onboard. Her steadfast nature balances out the more flighty and wild people on the crew and I liked her best. I do find it a little annoying that they are already in love when they start so we don't get to see how it developed. Another unspoken romance blossoms between carefree, colorful Imogen and by the numbers Gram. To round out the crew, they have a red panda generally being adorable and getting into mischief. The crew dynamic is balanced and they are really more family than friends.

The second half of the book revealed the mysterious girl's identity and introduced a whole disparate concept to the story that I didn't enjoy as much as everything else. The story was exciting and the characters grew and changed, but that concept just didn't really mesh with everything else for me. I rode out the story and generally enjoyed it, but I probably wouldn't read another book if it were a series. I would definitely read more from the author, but maybe not a science fiction based book.

I couldn't get The Guardians of the Galaxy out of my head the entire time I read this. Which is an unfair comparison since this motley crew in Invictus actually were Time-Hoppers, retained to steal irreplaceable goods from throughout history. The world building was phenomenal, although I struggled with the cerebral sci-fi explanations in which the detailed mechanics of how time travelling worked, or didn't work was lost on me. Many times the author's lengthy prose did not complement well with such a scientific, multiple dimensional sci-fi world.

There is a lot happening in this book. Historical Fiction, fantasy, time-travelling, romance, science-fiction. The first few pages are gripping! A pregnant time traveller in Ancient Rome! I thought... 'Now this is different.' Eventually the cast grew. Many points of view were established. As the story unfolded, I quickly discovered unlike Guardians of The Galaxy not every character was witty or interesting. Don't get me wrong, I understood their rolls (The Engineer, The Historian, The Physician). I just failed to connect with their banter as well I probably should have. I found myself frustrated when the points of view changed feeling unsatisfied that the story failed to move forward in sacrifice of knowing Imogene's hair color, Gram's Tetris score, or Priya's childhood. Farway, the main character was the star, and details about the others unrelated to him seemed redundant, perhaps even distracting when there was so much to cover.

I enjoyed the plot twist and reveals. When it is all said and done, I was curious for answers the entire book. Most were nice surprises. Many I found a bit confusing and far-reaching. Certainly ambitious. What a imaginative YA read for fans of many different genres. 3.5 stars.

So, I went into this book with fairly low expectations. Not because it’s Ryan Graudin (I love Graudin’s books!) but because I just don’t tend to fall in love with time travel stories. I’m going to be perfectly blunt and say that I find Dr Who a complete snoozefest, so, I wasn’t really sure whether the odds were stacked against this book before I’d even read it. Nevertheless, it was Graudin, the cover was shiny, it had gladiators, so I decided to give it a try.

I am so glad that I did.

So, without further ado, here’s a little precis of why I enjoyed this book so much.

-I haven’t fallen for a motley crew of characters so completely since ‘Six of Crows’. They’re present and multi faceted and all with their foibles. The interpersonal relations between them are engaging and real. We’re talking a bunch of teenagers who spend 50% of their time piloting a cramped time machine throughout the universe. Yes, the time travelling is fun, but so is their banter and how they deal with the fact they’re living double lives, so wildly inexplicable to anyone other than eachother.

-Without giving too much away, I really enjoyed Graudin’s use of theories of time and the universe.

-The threat levels in this book are through the roof. Honestly, as much as this book is fun and bubbly and adorable, the ‘enemy’ that our heroes face is absolutely terrifying. I had to sit and read it in one sitting because I was too tense to put it down!

-It’s light hearted but emotional…so emotional. I was actually quite surprised with how much the story made me feel. I was expecting a light hearted sci fi caper, and we got that but also with a side of real emotional clout.

-RED PANDAS.

-Established romance. I didn’t realise how much I like to see characters already in relationships until I started this book. You get to see the cute, fluffy stuff without any of the awkwardness.

-The worldbuilding was really cool. I loved the concept of recorders and the entertainment value of their work, but I also really liked the unexpectedness of having Rome as the centre of time travel rather than somewhere like New York, which, frankly, would have been a whole lot less interesting. It was really easy to imagine a new high tech city being built around and through the historical ruins and monuments of Italy. It also felt more like a global city for it, with people congregating from all around the world to work in the time travel industry. It’s not an American-centric future, but somewhere where you’re just as likely to get some proper Chai as an espresso.

-There is a lot of chai and gelato in this book, I was honestly developing cravings.

In the interest of writing a balanced review, I tried to think whether there was anything that I didn’t particularly like about this book. I really struggled. I suppose what I will say is that if you’re looking for some kind of grimdark hard sci fi time travel then it might not be for you. It’s as much about personal relationships between the crew as it is the time travel element. I really like that, but it might not be for everyone.

So, in short, an awesome book that got me through a direly dull weekend on-call. If I had to describe it in only a handful of words, I’d say it was effervescent, colourful and emotionally draining. If you like fast paced, quirky adventure stories then it’s definitely one you should check out.

Many thanks to Little, Brown Books for Young Readers for a copy in return for an honest review!

Far is a boy who shouldn't exist. Born outside of time from a romance between his time-traveling mother and a Roman gladiator, he has wanted more than anything to travel history. But when his final test is corrupted, Far is thrown out of the Academy and is approached by a black market merchant with an offer he can't refuse. A year later, Far and his crew of time-traveling thieves are about to pull off their great heist yet: stealing a book just before the Titantic slips into the ocean. Things don't go according to plan, as a mysterious girl steals the book and demands to be part of their crew. Eliot is hiding something, but Far and his friends don't know just how much...

Actual rating: 3.5 stars

Oh lawd, this book. It was so hashing painful, right up until the 70% mark. Then it got pretty damn good.

Time travel books frustrate me, particularly when the travelers come from the future. I mean, of all the amazing periods in history to explore, why oh WHY do these people from the future go to the 1990s-2000s???! THERE IS NOTHING GOOD FROM THIS PERIOD. Trust me. And the fascination with the music of the 1980s and 1990s...there has been 250+ years of music since then! Surely we've had something noteworthy since then. And better games. [Don't even get me started on the ridiculous decision of heading off to Vegas (Vegas) to party and get CRUNK after being blackmailed by a mysterious girl who could end your career and now wants to join your crew for some reason. Stranger Danger much?

I am being too harsh, I know. I was just so excited for this book, particularly after the amazing Wolf for Wolf duology and the premise of this sounded amaze-balls. However. The book more or less absolves itself of the sins of its first 69% with the last bits. The last bits are pretty neat.

I received this ARC from NetGalley for an honest review.

Writing about time travel is extremely tricky, but I think this book does a good job. I wasn’t blown away, but I rarely am by anything so definitely read this and be your own judge.

Pros: First off, I actually didn’t have a problem with any of the characters. I have read a lot of books that, while the characters aren’t problematic, they’re pretty insufferable and I just want them to shut up most of the time. And while there was very little that was intriguing about the characters in this book, I didn’t find myself hating any of them. Their personalities are different, but fit well together. They are selfless, courageous, diverse, and genuine.

Another thing I really enjoyed was the use of Latin throughout the book. With the title being Invictus, it was obvious there was going to be some Latin strewn about. Being an English major and having taking Latin for a year and a half, I love coming across it in literature to see how much I actually remember (hint: not that much).

As I said before, time travel is hard to write about so I’m not usually a fan, but I was surprised by how well this book turned out. I’m not gonna lie - there are a few instances where things start to get confusing based on alternate timelines and universes, etc., but that’s to be expected. It’s one of the few times I’ve seen time travelers going so far back in time, Ancient Rome to be exact. While a lot of books will start in the present and jump to the future, this book does the opposite, but doesn’t make the future (their present) so unbelievable like most stories are known to do. Besides time travel, the future (their present) in Invictus isn’t so much different. There is slightly advanced technology, but it’s nothing that we probably won’t see in a few years anyway.

Cons: There aren’t many so I’ll try to keep it brief. The conflict (known as the Fade) was a little hard to wrap my head around, which is unfortunate because it makes up most of the plot of the book. The detail that brings the Fade into existence seems pretty minor in the scheme of things but is supposed to be pretty major. And I just couldn’t see such a catastrophic thing coming from something so small. (I’m sorry if this sounds vague; I’m trying to keep it spoiler free.)

While there is a lot of action, most of the story was pretty average. I rarely found myself excited to pick up the book and finish it.

I would say that if you’re a fan of time travel and history and science fiction, then this is a definite must read. There’s some romance in there too. Don’t let my not being blown away by it deter you from reading what is probably a really great book to most people.

A fun and original ride. Great for binge-watchers of Roswell, Firefly, Doctor Who, Stargate, etc. and for young readers who like a fast-paced sci-fi read. Wish it were a series instead of a one-off!

This was such a fun, original read. I wish it weren't a stand-alone. Recommended for sci-fi fans, adventure fans, and those who miss Firefly.

*Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for providing an e-galley in exchange for an honest review.

Time travel is tricky. This is true of all books, but especially in the YA space. Invictus is a great example of this, where the premise itself of a time travel romance that could, in theory, unravel the very essence of time, just does not work. Not at all. The setup of everything works well, but the wheels come off extremely quickly.

The story follows Far, a person who should not, by any real logic, exist. Born to a gladiator, flying about in the future, he runs into a woman during a visit to the <i>Titanic</i> and it sets in motion a series of events that eventually put this timeline in danger.

Feel like you’ve read this before? If you’re versed in time travel at all, you absolutely have, and you’ve read it better. In the YA space, we have better stories like this too - <i>The Ship From Everywhere</i> is a key recent one, but even the countless multidimensional tales that are out there scratch that itch better than this does. I can’t really recommend this to anyone beyond those really, <i>really</i> looking for a YA take and have exhausted what’s already there. It just loses the plot so quickly that it’s not worth the time.

Take the crew of Cowboy Bebop, add in a dash of roguishness from Firefly, toss in a ship that could otherwise be a big blue phone box, and make your pilot River Song, and you've got this tremendous book. The crew of the Invictus are time thieves--they steal things from time that would never be found missing. But when time starts to collapse, they are responsible for fixing it. But what if fixing it means destroying themselves? I am a time travel fanatic, and I've loved every single book Ryan Graudin has written, so I was all in on reading this. I am so glad I did. It's twisty and turny and paradox-filled and whimsical and heart-wrenching and it's just lovely. What an adventure!!

Invictus isn’t your typical time traveling book. With twists and turns that you will never see coming, this book will invade your day.

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I have a really complicated relationship with the Sci-FI genre. I love it, but it is bit hard for me to read. It is very difficult for me to remember all of the events, thanks to my short span memory. This made me a bit skeptical on wether I was going to end up enjoying the book or not.

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At certain points, I felt like the events happening didn’t make sense. However, the way the author integrated the characters’ back stories, love interests, and unique characteristics helped me get more invested in the story.

The only thing that really annoyed me is a single description that was repeated more than once in the book. It is the Lock and Key system. This system is outdated and no longer used. Some people wouldn’t bat an eye at this, but having a medicinal major made me have a WTF moment.

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I am not going into major details because I feel like anything I say would be a spoiler.

Dive in headfirst, and enjoy the madness!

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Reasons to read this book:

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+Interesting and well built cast of characters
+ A Time travel story
+An all you can eat buffet of Twists and Turns

I received and eARC of this book in exchange with an honest review.

The blurb does such a good job of covering the basics, there isn't much left to say. Imagine a world where time travel is not only possible, but taken for granted. Students can attend the academy and train to be a Recorder (the one who goes out and actually gets video of history), an Historian (who helps prep the Recorder and works on wardrobe design, etc.), or an Engineer (who can run the ship and all the gadgets). And the rest of the populace watches the recordings and mimics the historical wardrobes when they get the chance. After going to work for a black marketeer as the only way to have access to time travel, Far and his crew plunder history for artifacts. One mission it might be a pirate's cutlass, another it might be a rare bottle of wine - but always things that are already considered lost, or not easily missed in their own time.

So, partly it's a good heist tale with high speed chases, split-second timing, and cover stories firmly in place. Then there's the time travel, paradox, alternate universe side of things. And the mystery - where does the enigmatic Eliot come from before they meet her on the Titanic? How is she able to teleport and travel through time without a ship? What is she planning? Friendship, trust, family, loss, redemption, all sorts of themes also work their way into the fabric of the story as a whole. By the time we reach the climax, we feel as if we have lived for hundreds of year with these characters and that the fate of the universe truly does rest with them.

Highly recommended for fans who enjoy historical fiction with a sci-fi twist.