A really promising premise, but clunky overall. I was intrigued by the description, but found that the story didn't live up to my expectations. It took an extremely long time for the story to "take off", and the audiobook narrator sounds as though he's reading a non-fiction book, which killed some of the excitement for me.

Historians, Time Travel, Julius Ceasar, and oh the drama!
A group of scientists is working on a project to bring people from the past to the present.
The first one to be transported is Julius Ceasar and it's a great success.
The people who participate are not allowed to talk about it, not even with each other. Most importantly, they are not allowed to talk to Ceasar about his own future and death.
But when Cassandra starts getting more attached to him than she should, things get complicated.
Friendships are tested and secrets are revealed.
The characters are a bit flat, but the overall writing is great.
Loved the audiobook.
I want to thank Netgalley for the free copy.

Listening to this narrator was a struggle. No inflection, no emphasis, just dry reading. I couldn't beyond ten minutes, as it reminded me of sitting in a high school history class and the teacher reading the textbook.

I received an advance review copy of this audiobook via NetGalleys in exchange for an honest review.

[Content notes for this book include violence involving guns and knives, as well as discussions about war.]

A Coin for the Ferryman is an exciting novel about an adventure that starts with the task of bringing Julius Caesar to the present time to learn from him, but the experiment does not go as planned as the unexpected complexities of Caesar being in the year 1999 come to light.

I have a lot of good things to say about this book. Dealing with time travel can be a very difficult thing, but I have to say Edwards did a brilliant job of addressing its intricacies without boring the reader at all. I think everyone wanting to incorporate the element of time travel into their stories should use this book as an example of how to do it right.

The characters are well-developed and not sanitized in any way, which is especially refreshing when we see Julius Caesar who has to navigate the present day by still being, well, himself as a BC man. For the most part, everyone felt very realistic (as much as is possible with a time travel scifi adventure), with a light touch of humor in their backstories.

The novel is funny and well-written and also a bit emotional. It has the right amount of everything that a book of this nature would need. It also needs to become a movie; I'd definitely watch it in movie form, too.

My love for Rome is eternal!
If there is just 1 thing you get to name that caught you into reading historical fiction - it's Julius Caesar & Shakespeare for me. That's where it all began in the 9th grade. After reading so many books that discuss the aspects of Julius Caesar's life, the events in the sequence of before and after of what happened in the Roman Empire this by far is the most astonishing one (apart from Shakespeare himself of course)

It is the story of time itself. Of travelling 20 centuries back to abduct one of the greatest people - history has ever known for a research experiment. To have him for 4 days in the present with Latin scholars & move back to the exact time and space from where he was transported. But, even after taking meticulous precautions, things don't go the way they planned...

You move through captivating twists of events with a plot within plot buildup. What kept me pondering even after I finished up the book was the part that was it all really fiction? What is myth - to me it's only a fact with no evidence OR proof of the statement. But in this modern age, it doesn't take time to gather facts and convert fiction to reality. From the days of Galileo to the present every fact was first considered either madness OR a myth. To me, this book presented that capability.

My only turnoff point while I was reading this was that I had to wait for almost 50% of the book to really get Julius Caesar talking. After that, it was all butter flow! Loved the ending & wrap-up of the whole story. The way it challenges the written history in the face ca through you off-guard, & that's apparently what I like the most about such books.

I listened to this auto-book while also reading the eArc Netgalley has of the book. I found that this book just wasn't to my tastes, I liked the characters but found the plot lacking. I'm unsure if this is because I am haven't read many books like this one or if it was just the writing itself.

What a fun read this turned out to be! Be aware this is not high literary art here just an enjoyable if implausible ride!
It is 1999 and Andrew Danicek, Nobel Prize winning physicist, leads a team of scientists researching time travel. He has built Tessa a machine capable of transporting an object from the past into the present. Phase one is successfully completed-the transmission of an inanimate object, a coin, to the present day and returning it back to the same spot and time in the past. Phase two just ended with the successful transport of a dog round trip. Now the hard part doing the same with a human. To maintain a high ethical standard the subject must be within minutes of death in case something goes wrong. The exact time and place of subject must be known to history. Andrew decides on Julius Caesar and the story takes off. Expect a lot of action from a car chase to a romance!
I really liked that the novel doesn’t attempt to explain the science too deeply. No in-depth understanding of physics is needed here! Each team member is introduced in their own section. This leads to fully fleshed out characters and gives the reader an understanding of motivations throughout. Some may find all the detail given excessive and unnecessary but I found the side stories interesting so I enjoyed them. This novel is not just an enjoyable read there is some explorations about the ethics involved in disrupting a life, even if just moments from death. No answers are given but it does make one pause to think.
My only complaint is not regarding the book itself rather the audiobook. I really did not like the narrator. I found much of his performance was flat and monotone. This became an issue as the action began, there was no use of his voice to help build tension and a sense of urgency. I also prefer female narrators. They tend to do a better job differentiating gender. This narrator kinda sounded creepy when he was doing a female voice.
Recommended for those who want an interesting take on the SciFi-time travel genre. 3.5 stars.

I received an ARC of this book from the publisher, Imbrifex Books and NetGalley. This fact in no way influenced my review.

This is the best book I've read ALL YEAR. It was SO GOOD. I swear to god I haven't read a book this good in so long I actually cried when I finished it. I'm not at all exaggerating. This is a new favorite book of all time for me. Whether or not you were considering reading this book, just do it. It is so enjoyable and interesting and intriguing from the very start. Honestly, my only criticism is that she should have married Alexander and her not doing so makes absolutely no sense. In my head and in my future physical copy this is in fact what happens.

Lo mejor que puedo destacar de este libro es que me ha hecho reír, pero como estoy segura de que esa no era la intención original de la autora, me temo que este resultado no es ningún halago para A Coin for the Ferryman, un intento de novela con viajes en el tiempo que roza lo absurdo.


El argumento en el que se basa la novela es bastante manido, utilizar una máquina de viajes en el tiempo en este caso para extraer una figura histórica de su contexto y estudiarla a fondo para luego proceder a devolverla justo al momento en que desapareció, de forma que no se altera el continuo espacio tiempo ni hay posibilidad alguna de paradoja temporal. Si bien un libro escrito con estos fundamentos no ganaría ningún premio a la originalidad, es cierto que dependiendo de la ejecución puede dar lugar a una lectura más o menos interesante.

Me temo que Megan Edwards no lo consigue.

Partiendo de la base de que el viaje en el tiempo y su explicación apenas superan un párrafo de todo el libro, ya tenemos que empezar con un acto de fe. La metáfora que se utiliza es que el tiempo es un bloque de hielo que no se puede cambiar, que lo que ha sido seguirá siendo y ya está. Esto, viniendo de un premio Nobel cuya principal aportación al proyecto es… ser premio Nobel. No creo que a la autora le hubiera venido mal echar un vistazo a Time Travel : A History de James Gleick, aunque solo fuera por darle una pequeña pátina de plausibilidad a la novela.

Vale, A Coin for the Ferryman no va a distinguirse ni por su originalidad ni por su verosimilitud, así que tendremos que recurrir a otra cosa… ¡Rápido! ¡Los personajes! Pues nada, aquí también hemos pinchado en hueso.

El desarrollo de los personajes es rocambolesco en grado sumo. La que se puede definir como protagonista de la narración, Cassandra (menos dos puntos de originalidad por el nombre), es una joven que en su primera noche como escort en Las Vegas se topa con el millonario de turno que a lo Pretty Woman en vez de querer acostarse con ella decide becarla para que estudie clásicas, aprovechando que ella en su juventud dio clases de latín conversacional y parece que se le da bien. Os aseguro que no me estoy inventando nada, que todo esto viene en el libro. ¿Os parece poco? Las carcajadas que se escucharon en casa cuando el plan del premio Nobel por si alguien oye a Julio César hablando en latín resultó ser hacerlo pasar por un señor andorrano que habla un dialecto del catalán todavía resuenan. El millonario que beca a Cassandra resulta ser expiloto de helicópteros en Vietnam, algo que también viene muy a mano en el libro. ¿Os he comentado que en los pocos párrafos dedicados al pasado a Julio César su mujer le llama Juli cuando le va a advertir contra los idus de marzo? Mira, Juli, piénsatelo antes de ir al Senado, que tengo un mal pálpito.

El cúmulo de despropósitos y casualidades del libro se siguen amontonando conforme vas pasando las páginas, o van transcurriendo los minutos de la narración, como es mi caso porque lo escuché en audiolibro. El trabajo de Mark Ashby es encomiable, consigue no reírse con cada ocurrencia de la escritora y eso ya tiene su mérito.

Podría seguir comentando algunas cosas más del libro, pero ¿para qué hacer más sangre? Os recomiendo encarecidamente no acercarse a esta novela a menos de cinco metros. Vuestra cordura me lo agradecerá.

A group of scientists conduct a time travel experiment where Julius Caesar is transported from 44BC to 1999. Of course, all things do not go according to plan resulting in an entertaining tale of adventure, romance and drama with the magic of Las Vegas thrown in.

I stumbled on this audiobook while browsing ARCs on Netgalley and was hooked from get go. Written in an easy manner with lots of wit and humour thrown in, the book has well-developed and likable characters and an engrossing story line. An interesting meld of historical fact and fiction, adventure and sc-fi - this one has something for everybody.

Thank you Netgalley and Imbrifex books for the ARC

I received an early copy of this audiobook from Netgalley and Imbrifex books! All opinions are my own!

When a time-travel experiment brings Julius Ceasar to the present, Cassandra discovers much more than secrets of the past. In order to get Ceasar back to the past, she must find strength she never knew she had, and maybe a bit more love than she had ever expected.

I wasn't sure how I was going to feel about this book at first, but I ended up really enjoying it! It did start out a bit confusing because there were a lot of characters that I couldn't keep straight, especially in audiobook format. But after getting into it, I got really invested in the story and the characters!

I really liked the way that Ceasar was portrayed in this book. It didn't focus so much on how we perceive Ceasar, but about making him into a human being with flaws and emotions just like anyone else. The romance did feel a little forced, likely because of the short timeline that the characters are on, but I still found myself invested in it.

I also really liked that the book didn't seem to focus too much on the science. Time travel plots can often get messy and complicated, but I liked that this one kept it simple and made it understandable. It made the story more enjoyable without trying to wrap your mind around this huge scientific theory.

If you're a history buff and/or a sci-fi lover, this might just be the book for you!

There was a novel called The Rise and Fall of DODO that was about time travel, and the authors decided they needed to show all the intricacies of a realistic time travel experiment. The result was a tedius, dull, unending montage of people doing the exact same thing over and over and over again with a detailed accounting of every single failure no matter how pointless or boring. It was like being stuck in an endless loop in a video game.

This book approached the time travel experiment the same way, but it shaved off 90% of DODO's monotony to GET TO THE DAMN STORY. What a concept!

As a result, this was a fun time travel adventure. Twists, double crosses, secret agendas, all that fun stuff. I do get annoyed by books with the concept of "This is just a manuscript I found," or "This really happened but I have to call it fiction or people will think I'm crazy." It bugs me and pulls me out of the narrative faster than anything else.

Definitely worth reading if you're interested in time travel or Caesar. Thanks to Netgalley for the advance copy of the audiobook.

3 stars

In a lot of my reviews, I talk about how the blurb and/or concept of a book is so good before talking about all of the ways that the book let me down. In some ways, A Coin for the Ferryman follows that trend. However, the concept really does carry this somewhat overbloated book enough for it to warrant 3 stars from me.

I mean, it's just so creative. Time traveling Julius Caesar moments before his assassination into the present day? Are you kidding me? In the first two chapters, Edwards really builds up the suspense around this idea by giving us both Caesar's and our protagonist Cassandra's perspectives. From there, however, things do go a bit downhill. There is so much exposition for this huge cast of characters and 50% of it could honestly be cut. Because the novel is so plot-driven, we don't really need every single character's backstory for us to become invested. Honestly, the only thing that kept me going was the promise of this insane time travel plot.

Actually bringing Julius Caesar into the present day is definitely cool and I would say that it is the high point of the novel. Again, however, we have another section that flatlines a bit after a big moment. Considering how wildly the time travel is presented in the first half of the book, it read throughout the second half as a very casual event. All of the high stakes moments involved with what is supposed to be this massive double cross therefore didn't completely hit for me. The choice to completely shift the framing device at the very end of the book is also quite disconcerting and would have been more effective if it had been established as such from the beginning.

All in all, I wasn't completely let down by this book. I enjoyed having it on as I went about my day. I just felt like so much of the book was taken up by needless character information that left little room for the author to actually unearth all of the immense potential that this concept had to offer.

Thank you to NetGalley and Imbrifex Books for an ARC of this book in exchange for a fair and honest review!

I just adored this. Most time travel books are terrible, but this was just perfection. It reminds me of Connie Willis.

Review copy provided by publisher.