What a promising new series, based on this fantastically fun installment! I loved this combination of time travel sci-fi and alternate history. Great for YA reads but will honestly be an enjoyable ride for readers of all ages.

I enjoyed this book!
It was a fun read and the main protagonist was a likeable, relatable character. As a medievalist & researcher of medieval texts, I enjoyed this author's take on medieval history and the way that he brought some of the characters and historical events to life for his reader.
I can see lots of potential for future sequels in terms of character arcs and events as the protagonist (Dan) grows up and continues to develop his skills at time jumping and setting historical characters and events back on their proper paths. This series is going to be a fun romp throughout history. I'm looking forward to the author's next instalment of this newly unfolding series.

Sixteen year old Daniel Renfrew finds himself thrust back in time to 1066, the age of the last Saxon King. He discovers he is descended from a long line of time jumpers and must fix the glitch in history in order to return home. As a novice to the world of time travel, Dan must rely on fellow jumper Sam’s help, his own wits and fighting skills and his own knowledge of history to survive this perilous time. While fighting in some epic historical battles and attempting to correct the glitches, Dan must also evade other malevolent time jumpers who are out to stop him. Can Dan fix history, survive and make it back home?

I thoroughly enjoyed this book! It is well written, historically accurate, and had me turning page after page to find out how Dan would solve and survive the numerous challenges and life threatening situations thrown his way. It very well portrays how a 16 year old boy thrown back in time might think and feel. I highly recommend it!

A sweet and simple time-travel, historical fictional story which doesn’t go into the technicalities of the history or the science side of the time jump, but is still enjoyable and interesting enough to keep you glued to the end.

Dan, a sixteen-year-old homeschooled boy witnesses a brutal attack on his father by a mysterious man. While trying to save his father, the latter shoves a rod like thing in his hands and requests him to recite his childhood bedtime rhyme. Confused and clueless, Dan do as he is told and ta-da, he is transported in time to Anglo Saxon England in the year 1066. As he befriends another time jumper, he comes to know why he was heavily taught ancient history by his father and trained in war combat. His father belongs to a line of time jumpers (a role passed on from father to son) who go back in time and fix glitches in the time stream. Dan needs to figure out these glitches while save himself from his father’s attacker and make it back to his time.

What I liked: Obviously the theme, interesting concept and a fast paced story.
What I disliked: The execution was too simple. I expected a rich history packed plot but that wasn’t the case.It barely had any action despite the story enveloping two major battles. Also, the writing was quite bland and simple. Having said that, I’m still intrigued enough to read the next book in the series.

Thanks to Imbrifex Books and Netgalley for the ARC in exchange for my honest review.
Publication Date: March 7th, 2023.
3.25/5🌟(rounding down).

Thanks to NetGalley, Imbrifex Books, and Andrew Varga for an e-ARC in exchange for my honest review.

.The Last Saxon King is an interesting time-jumping novel that follows the story of Dan, a teenage boy from the present, who finds himself in the year 1066 AD. One moment he's in his living room seeing his dad being furiously attacked and the next moment, Dan is transported to a different Where and a somewhat confusing When. He seems to have landed by a river in the middle of nowhere! Dan lands in the middle ages, teams up with another time-traveler (plenty of them throughout the ages), and sets off on a quest to save the timeline, but more importantly the world.

Now while this was a fast and engaging read, I couldn't help but find myself disliking Dan's naivety in relation to his situation. I could excuse it for most of the book, but after basically suffering a witch trial, he really should have realized he needed to get with the times. Still, this was a fun time, and I look forward to the next installment. Both the time traveling and historical fiction appeals to that tiny part of my brain that enjoys the chaos called the Butterfly Effect.

3 stars out of 5.

An intriguing and immersive story. Strong characters & plot. I enjoyed the pace. The historical aspects are well thought out. Overall an incredibly strong story!

An excellent book I thoroughly recommend. Well researched and a good historical novel that keeps you riveted at every turn of the page.I look forward to the second book due in September 2023 in this time travel saga.

I don’t know where to begin! My love of history and wishing I could travel back in time came together in this brilliant YA novel! I loved the characters, the time, the events and the detail that went into it being historically accurate for the events that happened in a period of history that isn’t generally written about. I liked the love story that was woven throughout the book, it was slow to start but it blossomed beautifully. The character learned about friendship, loyalty, courage and the beauty of history.

There are only a few things that I didn’t like:
1. Some of the page formatting was off and it made it challenging to read
2. The battle scenes - I could have done without so much of the descriptions of what happened while fighting especially with the implements of war and their potential, it seemed a bit much for a YA book in my opinion.


Thank you to NetGalley, the author and the publisher for an advance copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

The Last Saxon King (Book One, A Jump in Time Novel) - Andrew Varga



I was given a copy of this book by the publisher in order to provide an honest review.

Andrew Varga is an historian as well as an author. This is his first novel, the beginning of a YA Historical series.



Dan is your typical 16-year-old, that is if you ignore the fact that he is home schooled by his history professor father. So, Dan spends his days learning about history and memorising the names and reigns of long forgotten kings, whilst learning hand to hand combat and sword craft.

When Dean isn’t home, he spends his days wandering around the local mall, with being home schooled it didn’t provide a lot of options for making friends with other kids his age, life was boring and lonely for Dan.

Then one fateful day Dan discovered what he thought he know about his Dad, about his life, about everything, was all a lie. Dan was plunged into a world from another time, quite literally 1066 in England. Now Dan is alone in a strange land and time with no idea how to get back to his Dad.

Dan felt absolutely lost and alone just wanting to go home. But Dan found he wasn’t quite alone he discovered someone else from his time, here in 1055 with him. Sam, a beautiful girl about the same age as Dan but at the same time, so much older and wiser than he was.

Sam helped Dan learn all about the society of time jumpers that his father belonged to. Their burden – fixing glitches in time that occurred, stopping them from altering the course of history. Making sure history played out on the course that it was meant to take.

But most importantly the key to getting home - was figuring out the time glitch and fixing it, then Dan would be able to go home. But as always, this was easier said than done. Dan and Sam both worked together, it was hard enough figuring out the time glitch and how to fix it, whilst trying to survive the lift of a peasant in medieval England, shield walls and the odd battle. It was both a dangerous and exciting time.



“The Last Saxon King” is a riveting and engrossing read centered around a novel concept. Dan and Sam have been written in such a way by the author that will make them relatable to the reader – 16 is an awkward age but couple that with a time travelling father, well that is something new and captivating. I love the time period that the author picked, for me personally it's such an interesting time, and sad as it was the end of a people, a proud and fierce people – Vikings. I found this book such a marvelous and exciting read – I'm hoping for good things from the next instalment.

Thank you NetGalley for a free ARC in exchange for my honest opinion. Even though this is a YA book, I was attracted to the topic of time travel. This was a fun novel. A big plus to the story is historical facts of 1060 and the fictional fact. I also enjoyed Dan's transformation as he begins to understand why his father was teaching him about Medieval warfare and life. Additionally, it was fun to imagine yourself in Dan's situation as he navigated life in Medieval times! I am definitely looking forward to the next book!

this was FUN!

Originally I did not realize it was supposed to be a YA novel - so at first I was a bit reluctant as it felt a bit too youthful for me, and I am not used to reading from POV of regular modern-day teenage boys. I feel like this novel would be perfect for boys 10-16 years old - and I am not that.
However, the novel is fast-paced and it quickly sucked me in.

Overall it was a very fun read. It's not the most complex of novels - it doesn't answer the questions to "why?" or "how?" or goes too deep into the "messing with the historical timeline" stuff, but it was enjoyable and hard to put down.
The place where it didn't work for me was Dan being a 16yo boy - I don't feel very comfortable reading male gaze pointed at female characters (or "character" as this book had only one).

The Last Saxon King is a tale about a teen-aged boy who travels in time to medieval England to "fix" glitches in time. This is a solid , well-paced story line with well-researched historical events. The book provides a chapter from the upcoming sequel, which I am already looking forward to. Readers young and old will enjoy following Dan as he "jumps" through time to become an unlikely hero.

The Last Saxon King pulled me in right from the beginning. I liked the main characters and the secondary characters. The action and adventure were exciting. The book had elements of science fiction, horror, and fantasy. Except for the time travel, the historic events were pretty accurate. Umm, maybe time travel exists which would make the book seriously accurate. The author has a section following the story that explains the end of the Viking era and the events leading to the Battle of Hastings. As a history buff, I enjoyed this.

The Last Saxon King is set up to have a sequel. I only ask two things. More female characters. The main female character is fantastic but she's the only one! Surely, even in medieval battles, there were camp followers. The other thing is I want to know how Dan kept the time-traveling rod in the waistband of his trousers throughout the battles. What kept it from falling out? Medieval pants didn't exactly have elastic waistbands.

I can suspend my disbelief to believe in time travel, but it's hard for me to believe the time travel device never fell out of Dan's pants while he's slaughtering Normans.

Thanks to Netgalley and Imbrifex books for allowing me to read and review an eARC of The Last Saxon King. I look forward to the sequel, The Celtic Deception.

Let me start this review by stating that I bloody love time travel books.

But, I did not like this one.
I felt as though the writing really let this down. The premise was sound but I felt as though it were written by a 14 year old for his English class.

The Last Saxon King is the first installment of the Jump In Time series, it starts slow but the pace grows and it becomes unputdownable.
I'm an history geek, but I ignore most of the Saxons battles so I was really engrossed in the story and I've finished it in a few hours.

Daniel Renfrew is a bored home-schooled teen until he find out he is a time traveler, and his life changes radically.
During his first unexpected jump in time he finds himself in 1066, he doesn't know anything about time travelling but fortunately he meets Sam that will help him. Will this couple of teens save the World from a catastrophic history glitch?

I adored to see Dan personal growth. He was shielded by his father all his life, so at the beginning he is unprepared and he can't deal with the difficulties but with the passing of the chapters he understands what he can do, his true abilities, he takes his responsibilities and he becomes a hero.

I've seen there are more books in the series and I can't wait to read what happens next.
This is the right book for a young reader, perfect for the adventures lovers.

The subtitle for this book is "a jump in time novel" and it does jump in time, back to 1066. Dan has been home schooled by his single father, a history professor. He has been taught to fight with medieval weapons and how to camp without matches or a tent. So when he returns home to find his father being attached and is sent off to another time he is somewhat prepared. Note, I said somewhat prepared. This is a well crafted tale which will appeal to both YAs and adults.
This is a review of an ARC provided by NetGalley.

Where’s the next book? As soon as I finished this I had to look for the adventure but it’s not out for a year. Oh I can’t wait. The story goes that some people, usually men but an occasional girl slips through to go back in time to solve a bump in history. But these time travellers aren’t all so goody two shoes. Some want to change history to serve their own ends and our heroes need to be vigilant, brave and very clever. I loved this entanglement with the King Harold and William the Conqueror and the ultimate Battle of Hastings. Bring on the next adventure!

I'm not normally a fan of time slip/time jump novels, but the setting for this one really drew me in so I gave it a shot. I'm so glad I did! This was fantastic novel from Andrew Varga, where the time jump actually serves a purpose and seems to have some consequences. I also appreciate the MC being a male, I normally avoid time jump novels as it all devolves into "woman sucked back in time, timeless romance" and that it just not my cup of tea, so this was a welcome change.

This book is well paced and engaging, I really enjoyed the way Varga set the atmosphere through out, it really evoked what I imagine 1066 England would have been like.

I really enjoyed this book but I will say that it felt a little long - specially for the target audience. There came a point where I felt it was dragging just a little bit, but that is truly my only negative. It felt well researched (knowing nothing of the subject, I can't speak to this), I learned a lot and it was a fun and unique story. It jumps into action quickly so it allows you to be engaged. Thanks NetGalley!

This is not just another time travel book. It's one where Dan and Sam have to make a difference, have to right a wrong, or be stuck back in time for the rest of their lives. Andrew Varga does an excellent job of describing this harrowing time in history (CE 1066 in England) using names and towns as they would have been back in that time. The reader will get caught up in the action, worry that Dan may not make it, and celebrate when he does. The events in the book are based on actual records from that time, which the author shares at the end of the book. I dread having to wait so long for the next book, and wonder where in time Dan and Sam will find themselves.