Well, that was disappointing. A book about Roman history, women in the arts and science, and time travel. What isn't to love? Then I started the book. While this book has great potential, it falls victim to three major problems: pacing, sexism, and unnecessary plot points.

First, pacing. While sci-fi books often take a slower start to ensure that the reader understands the technology being utilized, the plot of this book didn't actually start until you are 40% into the book. Yes, you understand the concept and some experiments, but for other books of the same genre, we would have reached this point by maybe the 10% mark. From there it seems like someone is playing with the speed dial; speeding up, slowing down, changing channels. It is far from a cohesive timeline.

Second is sexism. For a book written by a woman, this book is surprisingly sexist. At first, I thought it was an analogy that would be moved along: the view of the male colleagues on the females, the need for a very sexy woman to interest potential gay Cesaer. But never do we go deeper than discussing "I am arm candy and brain candy." Comments are made about being happy that the new colleague has a feminine fashion sense compared to the other female who wears sensible sneakers, the events the women attend wearing designer gowns, and bosses asking if women are married before hiring. And it never goes deeper, never is corrected, just exists.

Finally, unnecessary plot points. There is plenty of meat on this book's bone. Lots you can dig your teeth into with a book discussing kidnapping a famous historic leader from his timeline to ask him some questions before returning him to die. Then you throw in subplots like antiquity ownership and an unexpected mafia visit and it gets wild. Not every book needs to be an easy walk down a well-groomed trail, but whacking my way through the weeds of this book was frustrating. This book could have benefited from a second opinion from the editing staff.

For the first time, I would honestly suggest you read a different book. It isn't worth the frustration.

Thank you NetGalley for the audio arc in exchange for my honest opinion.

You would think that something amazing like time travel, Roman emperors and sci fi would be freaking fantastic.

Sadly, thats no the case with this book. There were so many freaking plot holes I could barely understand what was going on. The idea that this author didnt even think about the thought that sending Caesar back to be killed is possibly morally messed up is baffling to me. Thats all I could think about- and it seems like such a lost opportunity to me not to explore that. I thought I was going to love this, but sadly it just fell flat.

That being said, the audio narrator was great. So theres that.

Dear A Coin for the Ferryman,
You had such an interesting concept. I loved the theory of time travel that you had in your world, and the concepts you had behind it all. Each of your characters were so unique with their life experiences and how they approached the IDES project. Cassandra was so strong and I loved her life and how she came to find Latin. While I am not always the biggest fan of action packed books, you were so well paced. The action was balanced with story and character development. I did find some of Julius Caesar's interactions and reactions to the modern world really far fetched, they also brought a sense of humor to your overall story. You reminded me of the most recent Blake Crouch books in some of the best ways.

Firstly I think I felt this way because I listened as an audiobook instead of reading, But I could not get into this. I felt confused to what was happening in the plot, this might be because I felt slightly bored from the narrator or the slowness of the story. But overall I didn't enjoy this but I had high hopes for the premise.

Taking into account my 4 years of high school Latin with a wonderful teacher, (much like Cassandra's), it should not be a surprise that I loved this book. I was prepared for it to be kind of silly or stupid, but I found it to be very believable and the story took itself very seriously, which was encouragement for me to do the same. The relationship between Cassandra and Julius Caesar (yes, it does feel weird to be writing that) happened organically and realistically. The other characters are interesting and believable, and I liked how the author brought all the different characters together at the end and tied up all the loose ends in the story. .I don't want to give anything away, but the ending although I did not anticipate it was absolutely perfect.

3 stars for me, the storyline just didn't grip me in this format. I think it was the narrator.
I wanted to like this more in all honesty, it wasn't bad per se, it just wasn't amazing for me.
Historical fiction about time jumping and bringing Julius caesar from the past to the current year.
Thanks for the chance to read it.

I almost DNF'd this audiobook, but I wanted to know if my predictions were right... and they were.

The book had ups and downs, moments where I thought "this is so my jam" and moments I just groaned because I could see what was coming a mile away. Which is just a shame, because this book had all the elements that I love: rigorous academic studies, science gone amock, historic characters in ironic settings... but other than having predictable storylines, the book was just bogged down by so. much. exposition.

You know the classic "show, don't tell" rule that goes into writing stories? This book throws that out the window. The characters not only tell you exactly how they're feeling and what's motivating them to make a specific decision, but you get a flashback to the exact moment they ingrained a specific trait into their psychology. So every time the story picked up in pace, it was interrupted by a flashback. I got so excited when a car chase started, but it was IMMEDIATELY stopped by the villain remembering when he was a kid and his grandma died. IN THE MIDDLE OF THE CHASE SCENE. And that was the last time we had the villain's perspective. Why was it there?

It was just... dull. The whole first half of the book was about building the scientific team (complete with each of their backstories as to why they landed into their field... or fell in love with their husbands... or were kind to a stranger?) and when finally the VIP arrives, we're still plagued by everyone else's POV. Everything is spelled out for us, nothing left to interpretation. And multiple times, too. I listened to the audiobook, and there would be entire half-hour chunks (even sped up) where two characters we just left talking to each and nothing happened except them sizing each other up or thinking about what they would say next, weighing the consequences, thinking about what the other character just said...

The characters... I really loved Cassandra, but I was so tired of EVERYONE constantly commenting on how beautiful and smart she is. She's obviously not a Mary Sue, but the perspective on women was... uncomfortably outdated. If the book focused only on her POV, it would have been way more interesting, I think.

The audiobook itself just felt like an odd fit: the narrator spoke incredibly slowly, to the point where I had to listen on 1.5x, for the first time ever. Also, it seemed like Cassandra was the main character, but they cast the voice mainly for Julius Caesar. It's an interesting choice, one I didn't click with.

"A Coin For a Ferryman" was a very interesting story. I found that the story started slowly but picked up fairly quickly. Based on time travel, I found it was intriguing and exciting. The narrator was good. I would recommend this to a person who enjoys a time travel type book.

Very clever plot. I like the idea of time travel but many times it doesn’t come off well in a book… too many details that it gets confusing and overwhelming or not enough that you’re asking questions. This book had none of those issues, it worked perfectly. I felt myself focusing so much on the plot and the characters that I didn’t even give much mind to the time travel “hows.” It all seemed so plausible!

The characters had interesting backgrounds/individual story lines that wove together well, they were appropriately likable and sleazy, and I found myself rooting for Cassandra, Caesar and Alex. I’ll admit my memory of history class left me with no feelings one way or another towards Julius Caesar, but now I’m interested to learn more!

Special kudos to the fun tie-in at the very beginning and end of the book.

Thank you NetGalley and Imbrifex Books for my advanced audio copy. Review has been shared to Goodreads, Amazon, and Barnes and Noble.

Thank you NetGalley and Imbrifex Books for providing a copy for review consideration. All opinions are my own.

Picture this, you are a world renowned scientist, Nobel Prize winner and have the financial means through a benevolent benefactor to assemble a team to help you bring back a famous historical person for a few days. Who would it be? Frederick Douglass, President Lincoln, Harriet Tubman, perhaps Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., President Kennedy, Adolf Hitler, Napoleon, Catherine The Great, Julius Caesar, Socrates, the list is endless. What would you ask them? What would you want to know about their lives? What would you reveal about their influence on the world, their ultimate fate and standing in the annals of history?

In A Coin for the Ferryman, the dream of doing such a thing is possible. Andrew Danicek, the Nobel Prize winner scientist has developed the technology to achieve what many would say impossible. He assembles a team consisting of scientists, a physician, a college student fluent in Latin, a professor, writer, all with unique skills or knowledge to make his dream possible, and the person to bring forth is non other than Gaius Julius Caesar.

The writing is captivating and as the story begins to develop you are drawn in even if reality is stretched. While time travel could be a reality at some point, who knows, maybe it already is and we just don’t know about it :-) as the book may imply, the author stretches it a tad bit in how Caesar reacts and adapts to being teleported from Ancient Rome to present day America with all that has transpired over millennia, his exposure to modern technology, language, the landscape in which they traverse, etc. That said, there are twists and turns and surprises along the way to keep you engaged and guessing how the story will end.

The book is narrated by Mark Ashby who does a good job at holding your attention and the book flowed under his reading. With a full cast of characters the narration needed more distinction between each person, especially that of Julius Caesar. In the end, the author’s and narrator’s work come together to provide a worthwhile audiobook listen/read.

If you are a fan of historical fiction, I recommend this as one to pick up. My rating of 4 stars is due to narration and the stretching of reality a little to far.

I loved this audiobook story A Coin for the Ferryman by Megan Edwards. In this story, a team of scientists work to develop a time machine and are able to transport Julius Caeser just moments before his death in Rome. The characters really came to life for me, and I enjoyed the banter between Cassandra and Caeser as they were getting to know each other better. I also liked the little twist at the ending which seemed to indicate maybe it really did happen and wasn't just fictional. Very fun. I want to thank the author, the publisher, and Netgalley for giving me an advance copy of this audiobook, in return for an honest review.

DNF...

The characters seemed like a broad sweeping cast, and it seemed like it was building to a big ensemble cast, however it moved so slowly and took so long to get going that I struggled to stay engaged.

It may have grown on me, had it had an earlier hook, but I just struggled to connect.

Thank you so much to NetGalley and to the publisher for the ARC in exchange for an honest review. It was my pleasure.

A Coin for the Ferryman is a story about the successful invention and use of a time machine to go back in time and extract Julius Caesar and bring him to the modern age. They planned to have him for 4 days only and return him to exactly from where/when they extracted him. They kept him for a few days as planned, but there is a kidnap from the kidnappers attempt and plans quickly change. He experiences some of real modern life outside the confines of the lab, and in VERY quick timing falls in love with one of the people running the experiment. He is successfully returned to his own time after chaos ensues, and history continues on as if nothing happened. There ARE, however, some things and some people in the present that Caesar’s visit affected.

Let’s start with what I enjoyed about this book. It was certainly an interesting premise. The thought of grabbing someone out of time and being able to ask them about their life is very exciting. I appreciate the back stories of Andrew and Cassandra. I really loved that Andrew went into studying time travel because he had a very real reason for wanting to amend the past. I also appreciated the perfectly bookended story about the Caesar’s Palace coin. It was a great intro and outro. I also liked the letter from Julian at the end. I enjoyed the tease of whether it could potentially be a true story. I also really loved hearing about Caesar’s life, I just wish there was MORE of it. I also liked that the explanation of the execution of time travel wasn’t too complex. I think if you get too bogged down in the details of impossible science it makes the story boring, and this author handled it well, I thought.

Now, to the things that left me wanting. There was far too many back stories about characters that are essentially irrelevant. It was so much detail about people we barely meet and, honestly, don’t need to know about. This extra information didn’t make them more like-able or important to the story. Background characters can and should stay background characters. I hated how Cassandra was essentially arm and eye candy in the whole plot, even though her arc included her getting an education and changing her life circumstances. She was made out to be a heroine, but what the story suggested was that she was still little more than a beautiful escort, even at the end of the book. She could have been equally as important to the story had he not been used for her charm and good looks. The circumstances the characters find themselves in are very often unrealistic, and it takes me right out of the story. One minute she doesn’t trust Caesar at all, the next she is sleeping with him? Confusing. Also, it seemed like she was going to fall for Alex ,(which honestly made more sense) and she ends up with Caesar and Eric? Again, confusing. My last critique is that why would anyone ever think that taking Caesar out of the controlled environment was even a slightly reasonable idea. The stakes were too high, and it made it very difficult to suspend disbelief. I wanted to stay in the story, but constantly found myself thinking, “This could erase existence as we know it. No one would ever allow him out of that lab.”

All in all, I found it to be an enjoyable read. Did it have its issues? Yes. But, I’m glad to have had the opportunity to read it. It also has got my imagination spinning about who I would want to bring back, and if bringing ANYONE back from history would be worth the risk.

This review is posted on Goodreads under the name Shavon Gruber Haag.

Book is very choppy and boring. I will go back and try to complete the book but I have only made it about 20% through and I can't begin to tell someone the plot.

Have you read Isaac Asimov's short story "The Ugly Boy"? It was a story about how scientists invent a machine that allows them to take a creature from the past, bring it into the present, study it, and then send it back again.
The purpose of the Ides project in this book is to travel through time, but not to randomly jump here and there and accidentally change the future. The goal is to bring a creature from the past to the present just moments before it died in its own time. The first test subject is a dog, and this almost results in the termination of the project, but the project is still driven by a very determined personality, so the first experiment is considered a success and a big step taken towards a much bigger goal.
Who is this historical figure (not from recent centuries) whose time of death is known almost to the minute? The place of whose death is known to the nearest centimeter. Whose last words are believed to be “Et tu, Brute!”.
The start of the experiment is successful, the target is found and transported to a high-tech laboratory. But from there, nothing goes as planned.
In addition to the exciting time travel experiment and the exciting events that followed, the reader also learns the background story of all the characters, the reasons why they are involved in the project and what effect it has on their lives. True, there are times when you may think that yes, I understand that this person has had a difficult childhood/problems with business/failed love relationships, but let's go back to the main story, but if these backstories were not there, the reasons for some behavior would probably not be understood.
In any case, it can be said that it is an interesting development of the old short story.

Interesting time-travel premise, although the travel was from the past to the present. The time period is mostly 1999, but the story jumps around throughout. A few anomalies took me away from the plot a bit. Settings are Los Angeles and Las Vegas.

Be prepared to suspend belief for most of the story, especially the romance. The women's appearances were emphasized—a lot—which shouldn't have mattered as much as it did. I do wish the author had concentrated more on the main characters and not gone into the detailed backstories of the supporting cast, which made the book longer than necessary. Also, the science wasn't described or explained very much, which most readers would applaud, but which might have balanced out the emphasis on the side characters.

The audio book was competently narrated by Mark Ashby. He has a rather flat tone that bothered me at first, but it grew on me.

I received an ARC copy of this audiobook from Netgalley. But all the opinions are my own.
If you enjoy time travel and historical fiction, then this would be your book. I enjoyed the book, but it did have its issues. Just a quick synopsis, Julius Caesar is brought to the present (1999) via time travel and Cassandra must help get Caesar to their own time period.
You are probably thinking that crossing time travel and Julius Caesar is an odd combination. It is an odd combination, but the author makes it work. A quick warning though, at the beginning a lot of information is thrown at you.
The characters are interesting, complex, and I found my self-invested into their stories. It gave a fresh perspective on how history depicts Caesar. Thankfully it does not focus on science too much. Personally, my strengths are not in science.
Now some of my critiques, the romance felt forced and not natural. I felt the narrator did not bring a lot of depth to the story. It felt as if he was reading a report instead of a book. I wish he gave life to the characters. I did have to laugh when he tried to do female voices. It sounded odd and creepy.
I would recommend reading the book instead of listening to the audiobook. It was not the best book I have ever read. It was a fun ready and scratched my itch for adventure.

A Coin for the Ferryman is a time travel book that deals with scientists going back in time, knowing full well they cannot change anything or else they change the course of history as we know it. It was an interesting premise, like many time travel books because they deal with making millisecond decisions in hopes of not altering the course of history forever.

The book features a lot of my favourite historical stories and moments, which made this extremely interesting to listen to. The audiobook for this story definitely made it feel more real and life like, which was especially helpful to the plot of this story. It is a longer listen and features quite a few details that were redundant or perhaps not needed, but overall, this was a great book that did time-travel justice!

Thank you NetGalley and MacMilllian audio for the ARC of this book!

First off, thank you netgalley for providing me an audiobook copy if this book! ☺️

Now onto rating, giving this a 3.5/5. Recommendation to sci-fi fans that look for that small thrill of Roman classicism.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~ in detail ~~~~~~~~~~~~
What to say, what to say... Well, I'm torn over this book. On the one hand, the narration is amazing and adds so much more feel to the book which isn't a given, at all! The writing was also good and the usage of Latin phrases was intriguing and well done, and showed a good research of source material. Especially the FMC was an interesting character and the take on time travel was intriguing.

But, the morality of the whole books blurb is questionable, especially since real-life science doesn't exactly work that way. The side characters especially were either plain flat or described in too much, unnecessary detail for the plot to make sense to mention, and seemed more like a "wordcount-stretch" which is sad because there was a lot of potential!

But, overall, the story was very intriguing and the implied source-material research impressing. It is a quite adventurous and thrilling read which I do recommend, but don't expect a masterpiece. Though, I am curious what this author will write in the future.

This was well-written and engaging. I did feel that the first half of the book spent a little too much time on character development and flashbacks, but it was still interesting.

I think the author did a wonderful job of capturing Caesar's personality. I can imagine him stoic, observant, and formulating strategies. I liked the parallel between Julius Caesar as a captive of the pirates (historical event) and as a "captive" guest in the future.

Overall, this was a cute book for anyone who likes Caesar. Although it is based on the premise of time travel, it doesn't feel like a fantasy novel.