So much magic and adventure! Was great from start to finish. I loved the main character and all of his courage and bravery. Having never read a time travel book, this book has opened my eyes to a completely new genre. I was intrigued throughout the whole book and am very excited for the second installment of this story. I loved all of the historical information that was provided to it's readers throughout the entirety of this book. Thank you for the advanced copy to this book. I will definitely reccomend this book.

Interesting time travel novel. I like that it is a teenage boy and the story is pretty good. I am excited for the next installment.

The Last Saxon King keeps you on the edge of your seat from beginning to end! Homeschooler Dan Renfrew is not only shocked by the lethal combat taking place in his home, he’s then unknowingly flung into the year 1066 by a time-jumping device and a bedtime rhyme. Dan has to navigate medieval England and find a fissure in time without the 21st century conveniences that he may take for granted. He does, however, possess an obsessive knowledge of history and historical fighting skills taught by his father.

Dan encounters a variety of interesting and well developed characters. The plot is familiar, but unique as well. The ending leaves the reader craving more adventures.

YA is not my usual genre. However, the historical accuracy and time travel were very appealing. Those aspects will interest a wide variety of readers. They will be rewarded with this amazing tale of Dan’s journey through time.

This novel was absolutely amazing! I LOVE the concept that it is a jump in time story, but with actual historical events. All of these were so detailed that I learned quite alot about that time in history, as our focus in lessons never really touched English history.
Also, I felt so immersed in it. Yes, at the beginning I did have some doubts about it, but once I started, I got pulled in and couldnt let the story go. I still cant and I am so sad that the next book will be out in nearly a year.
I am so freaking excited to see where the story will go, and hopefully some questions will also be answered (I am sure they will, the series is far from over).
Andrew Varga and his team did such a wonderful job with this and I can only recommend others to read this exciting jump in time novel!

The Last Saxon King was a surprising joy to read. The first chapter had me slightly annoyed with the awkward and prone to more whining than necessary, 16 year old narrator, Dan. Dan had been homeschooled his entire life by his father with the main educational emphasis on history, and medieval history at that. He was made to memorize seemingly boring dates of battles and long dead Anglo-Saxon kings. Dan showed little in the way of social skills and far too often pointed out his inability to talk to girls. When we meet him he is wondering the local mall as his dad had company coming and had sent his son away for the afternoon. The first chapter was spent on this boy lamenting about his lack of a social circle and social skills. Why would he need to know long ago battles and who won and lost them? Why in the world would he ever need to know how to carry a medieval sword into battle or make arrows as a man from the year 1060 would make? Why did he need to be schooled in what a medieval peasant or warrior would wear? Obviously, a decent amount of foreshadowing, though often a bit too much. I was fearful that I was walking into a typical and silly YA novel that would speed through a clean plot and even cleaner ending. Thankfully, I was mistaken.

When Dan finally decides he’s going to make his way home in hopes that the company his father had would finally be a woman, his fate is quickly changed. No woman was found at the house. Instead, Dan heard loud voices and the clang of metal. A sword fight? In his living room? His father was arguing with someone, another man. When he finally entered the home he found his father and an unknown man arguing and fighting. Dan did not know who the other man was. While he attempted to stop the other man by throwing a clay vase at him, the assailant was too quick. His father ended up taking a spear to his body. Suddenly his father throws a rod at him and tells him to say a bedtime rhyme he had been taught over and over. Torn between saving his father, being killed by the assailant himself, or reciting the nonsensical rhyme, he chose the rhyme as his father used what seemed to be his last bit of energy to tell him again to say the bedtime rhyme.

Dan said the rhyme and found himself transported to a forest. Without giving more away, Dan enters a world he’d read about far past in the history of the world. While here Dan will meet several friends, and several foes. His life will be in danger multiple times and he will have to make many difficult choices. Will he ever return home? Is his father alive? Can he set history right?

The Last Saxon King blends historical facts with fictional elements. It is a novel of courage and hard choices. I found myself researching historical facts about this time period and I learned so much. The author went to great lengths to provide historical facts and blend them to make a compelling fictional read. It is part history, part adventure. While it is a YA novel, I found myself addicted to the story and I cannot wait to read the next six books in the installment. Read this book. All lovers of historical fantasy will fall in love with this wonderfully written novel.

If you enjoy time travel stories, fantasy, or history and historical fiction, this book is for you. The first novel by Andrew Varga in his A Jump In Time Series will keep you engaged.

Dan Renfrew is a 16yo living a relatively mundane and sheltered life until he comes home and walks into a life and death situation. His only escape transports him back to Anglo-Saxon England in the fall of 1066 AD. Dan has to quickly learn to survive in a more fast paced and dangerous environment and culture. He learns he is a time traveler with the burden to fix a glitch in order to stabilize history and return to his comfortable existence. While making numerous mistakes, his new friend Sam has to save him multiple times and teach him survival skills. But eventually Dan becomes a hero you want to root for. The action waxes and wanes as Dan and Sam are inserted in historical Anglo-Saxon battles at Stamford Bridge and Hastings.

The highlight of this story is the mix of historical accuracy with an entertaining time travel connection. The history is well researched and accurate while aligning with an entertaining storyline. The action and plot twists will keep you on your toes and sustain your interest. There are also several interesting characters, especially Sam who in some ways is the most compelling "star of the show".
As the book is designed for young adult readers, Dan is a good character for teenagers and young adults to watch develop. The emotional and physical struggles he faces, and the visible growth the character makes throughout the story, will be compelling for readers in this age group.
Two opportunities that I hope to see develop more completely in future books of this series are a more complete juxtaposition and comparison of the period Dan experienced the first 16 years of his life compared to where he travels, and development of additional characters. Although Sam and Dan developed and became more interesting throughout the story, there were some missed opportunities to develop other characters.

As a whole this was a well contrived and interesting story. Personally, as a fan of history and historical fiction, the development of this story was accurate, entertaining, and held my attention from start to finish. I wholeheartedly recommend this book.

This is a fast paced, action filled story about a sixteen year old modern day boy that, to his surprise, finds himself in 1066 England amidst wars between the Anglo-Saxons and Vikings. There are a lot of great battle scenes. This is a YA novel, but I did feel like some of this story, especially the beginning, felt more like a middle school level book, but a lot of the content is definitely YA, not middle school. So that was a bit of an odd mix for me. I loved the history aspect of the novel, and appreciate the history notes the author included at the end of the book.

Thank you NetGalley and Imbrifex Books for this digital arc in exchange for my honest review which is not affiliated with any brand.

From the subtile itself "Jump in Time" you can tell right away there's time travelling in the story.

Dan living in the present time, suddenly got transported back in 1066 with a purpose- to change History. The theme is almost close to real accounts of what happened in Europe, the Vikings, the Anglo Saxons and the conquering the nation.

I enjoyed the story which carries a quest to mystery and a little humour to add into the mix of adventure between Dan and Sam.

This is the first book from the series and the second will be coming out next year.

Thank you Netgalley & Imbrifex Books for the ARC.


3.8/5 stars

I think that this is a great book for youth. For adults maybe not that impressive but I spent a nice time and really enjoyed the story.

The main character, Dan, can be a inspiration for young people. He's very smart, has a kind heart, loves his Dad and found his courage.

The idea for time jumper isn't new but I like the plot. It was nice to see how young boy was trying to not only survive in Saxon England but also trying to fix the history. Thankfully he was prepared by his Dad who taught him how to fight and survive in the forest.

I definitely recommend this book to young boys and girls who like adventures.

This was a fun book for me! Daniel, 16 year old boy, travels back in time to 1066 AD. Of course he’s completely unprepared, but he’s a very smart kid and quickly learns the ropes of eleventh century living. He also learns that the very fact he was able to jump back in time is because something has happened to change the past causing catastrophic impact on the present. You see, Daniel comes from a long family line of time jumpers, who are committed to protecting the present. Until that catastrophic change is fixed, Daniel cannot return to the present. From there it’s a wild, exciting adventure, with a little teen angst and a lot of humor.

I was very impressed with the author’s attention to historic detail. I’ve sometimes wondered what it was like to live in a different era and Mr. Varga did an outstanding job of illustrating what life in the eleventh century might have been like. There is a lot of information about how commoners and soldiers traveled, waged war, and built relationships and hierarchies within the system, but it is always presented in a fun and interesting manner. There were even parts that made me laugh out loud.

This is a solid YA book, most characters are not very deeply developed, but there are moments of soul searching, moral dilemmas, and romance (nothing racy).

On the whole, The Last Saxon King worth reading. I think both kids and adults will enjoy it.

The description of the book mentioned Saxons and time travel so that was what intrigued me. This is the first book that I ran across that dealt with this era. It started a bit slowly but the portion dealing with the time travel in the Saxon Era was very good. It picked up as it went on in terms of interest and character development. The ending seemed a bit off but the epilogue and sneak preview of the second book in the series helped to resolve some issues.

I love historical fiction as a whole, and even as an adult often enjoy YA historical fiction. I'm also a homeschooling mom, and am always looking for novels that will interest my kids in history. This book grabbed me from the start, and I am so excited to use it in our LA/History curriculum. The device of dropping Dan into different historical settings is genius, an engaging way of teaching history, The entire thing was just so fun, but also engaging on an emotional level (I teared up near the end!). Highly recommended not just to teens but to adults who love alternate history.

Poor Dan. One morning he's your average American teenager living with his dad and hanging out at the mall and that evening he's flung through time, dropped right into Middle Age England with absolutely no clue as to why and how he got there.

We follow along as Dan sleeps on the cold, hard ground, eats the blandest of mutton, attempts to convince small townsfolk he's not an enemy, becomes a warrior's squire and, oh yeah, fighting the Norman's; all the while attempting to return home. No big deal.

The Last Saxon King is an awesome debut by Varga for YA readers. Perfectly balanced between mystery, action and conversation, I never felt bored or rushed. As an adult, I appreciated the personal growth of the main character as he finds himself in situations that require honesty and staying true to yourself, hard work, overcoming fears, responsibility and the like.

For the teen and pre-teen readers there is plenty of action, sword fights, deception and a bit of G/PG rated romance. There is an occasional, logically placed swear word but nothing extreme that would stop me from letting pre-teens read it.

I was a bit sad when I read the final page knowing I'm going to have to wait for the next installment. I'm not sure if I can wait a year...I need to know what happens!

After a tragic event, 16-year-old Dan finds himself transported to England, in the year 1066. The year of a big battle, Vikings, Anglo-Saxons, and English kings. Obviously, he is totally perplexed and unequipped for this era. Luckily, he has some education in history. Can he survive? And can he survive alone?
He soon finds out that he comes from a family of time jumpers, throughout history, his family has had a great part to play in the shaping of the world, and he was trained to inherit that role.

The book is an enjoyable journey to different times, and yet human nature is the same as today. Dan, as a teenager with his doubts, fear, and a whole pleiad of emotions. And the others with their bravery, cunning plots, and politics. Vivid descriptions and atmosphere, action and adventure. And of course love.

A great read for all young history enthusiasts.

This book was so fun. It was fast paced and the lead characters were definitely characters. I was sad at how the beginning took place but realized it was needed to get you to the point where the story took place, I enjoyed the fact they Sam's position as a female was correct in history and how it would effect their job. The side stories of friends were amazing the the teamwork was awesome. I really hate Victor he is an %$^&*#@. I am so looking forward to the next book. It feels like it is going to be a long wait.

Review copy (eARC) provided via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

It is (I believe) the debut YA novel from the author's "A Jump in Time" series...in fact, there's a preview for book #2 in the back.

The main character, Dan, is a home-schooled teenager who encounters his father struggling with a stranger at his home, and is thrust into a time-travelling adventure. Dan is in the year 1066 in England, and must "fix" history in order to get back home and figure out what happened and why.

I enjoyed this novel, and it flows well/is a quick read. The main reasons I did not give it a higher rating:

1) The ending was somewhat disappointing. It's not bad, but rather not satisfying. It made the whole first book feel more like a set-up for book #2 and not stand as well on its own.

2) Some of the descriptions, in particular with respect to Dan and his main love interest, were stylistically written in a somewhat juvenile fashion, even for a YA novel.

In summary, I enjoyed the novel, and would like to read book #2. I'm particularly impressed by the amount of effort put into the historical setting. I look forward to seeing what happens next.

The Last Saxon King is a riveting story. Although aimed at the YA genre, I have a feeling many an adult will love the premise of the story and the characters.

Well researched and beautifully written, you can practically sense the sights, sounds and smells of 11th century England.

A unique take on the momentous events of 1066, the reader finds themselves egging the characters on. This is edge-of-the-seat time travelling historical fiction. I loved it and cannot wait for the next book in the series.

Having a teenager of my own who has a deep love of history, I know he would love to be in Dan's shoes, living the adventure of the battles of Stamford Bridge and Hastings.

Andrew Varga brings history to life!

4.5 rounded down. YAs might rate this a 5 star book.
I really liked this YA historical fantasy novel. You do not need to be a YA to enjoy this book. However, for those who are used to grittier historical fantasy with modern curse words, sex scenes, and graphic violence; this book may fall short.
The characters were well-developed, and both were teens. The book is obviously aimed at teens, because the plot involves teens saving the time line. It's a little corny, but also fun to read. The shades of teen romance brought back memories of awkwardness, thus realistically presented.
The author inserted plenty of real, well-researched history. He successfully created atmosphere that drew me right into Anglo-Saxon England. Battle scenes were exciting without being drawn out or overly graphic. The story was interesting and intriguing from the first page. I wanted to continue reading and flew through this one quickly, all the while hoping it is the first in a series.
The ending was a bit of a disappointment; a silly romantic meeting between the 2 main characters. YAs might like it more than I did. The ending was far from conclusive, thus leaving room for a second installment. Lo and behold, a sampler from book 2 was included at the end of the ARC I received. I will definitely read the next in this series.
This book would make a great movie; or, better yet, a streaming series.
Thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for an ARC of this novel in exchange for an unbiased review.

Synopsis:
At sixteen, Daniel Renfrew’s life just got interesting. Being homeschooled by his dad has its perks (like being able to wander around the mall for an entire afternoon), but those perks are offset by boring history classes, medieval combat training, and lessons in conversational Latin. When Dan comes home to find his dad in a sword fight with a strange man in their living room one afternoon, those lessons come in handy as he’s catapulted back through time to an English forest in 1066 CE. Dan will have to use his knowledge of English history, his physical training, and his wits to not only keep history on its set course but to survive in a difficult world with the *teeny tiny* problem of outrunning a hostile group of time jumpers who want him dead at the same time. Dan may be a fairly normal teen, but the fate of all he holds dear depends on his ability to safeguard the timeline.

Target Audience:
This book would be perfect for 10-14 year olds. It gives off Percy Jackson vibes with a slightly awkward but relatable protagonist, a single parent hiding a family secret, light snark sprinkled throughout, and a quest to save the world. The chapters are quick and snappy with ample recap of information learned along the way through conversations between characters and Dan’s internal monologues. The character dynamics are straightforward and easy to follow. Some of the battle scenes might be too detailed for sensitive readers, but they’re not egregiously gory. They’re a realistic portrayal of the horrors of medieval warfare.

Thoughts:
This book is a fun debut novel with more books on the docket. The author paints a vivid world that’s easy to get lost in. Dan’s interactions with Anglo-Saxon peasants at work and his experiences helping clean up a battlefield once the fighting is finished shine a light on the mundane aspects of medieval life that are rarely used for literary fodder. You can practically smell the roasting rabbit as the men carouse the night before the battle. The area where this book could use a little bolstering would be the interplay between the “present” and “past” storylines. They seem disconnected from each other even though the present hangs on what happens in the past. A major emotional plot point that takes place in the present seems to have little lasting emotional effect once Dan is transported back in time apart from a few passing remarks. The disconnect does not take away from the action and adventure in 1066 CE, but his quest and subsequent character development might be enhanced by more connection between his experiences at different points in the historical timeline. Overall, this book is a great read for upper elementary to junior high readers. This is a book I wish I had been able to read as a lonely history nerd during my tween years. I’ll be waiting in anticipation for book 2.

With the derth of primary sources on life in the middle ages, Varga's The Last Saxon King provides a good feel for life during this era. Enough detail to allow the reader to feel she/he is there. Beyond that, it is a rollicking tale that is a fun and fast read, keeping the reader engaged from start to finish. I wish there had been a little more resolution of the conflicts at the end rather than feeling set up for the obviously coming sequel. But glad I got to read this.