I love a good archeological tale, and this one is no exception. Rabbit Ward is a chrono-archeologist, a time traveling archeologist. He goes back to Constantinople to search for a lost menorah. He had previously sought it out, and a colleague was lost in time. I liked the no-nonsense, yet descriptive style of writing. Themes of grief and redemption were found in the novel. A solid, though sometimes confusing novel.

This has kind of a YA adventure feel to it. That's not a bad thing. It's all golly-gee-whiz with a fast enough pace that you almost miss some of the plot holes. I do expect that some of those could be filled in the next book. This isn't really my style, but I can see a whole audience of people that love it and can't wait for the next one. I wish them a happy series!

What if Indiana Jones had the ability to travel through time? I have no doubt that was the elevator pitch for Andrew Ludington’s debut novel Splinter Effect. And honestly if that doesn’t get your attention I don’t know what will. Rabbit Ward is a time traveling archeologists. And over the years he’s earned a reputation for being one of the best. Now that doesn’t mean he’s always successful, and now he’s getting a second chance to partly make up for his most disastrous mission where he not only didn’t retrieve the object he was after but he lost his young assistant as well. Of course when it comes to time travel things are never easy. Not only does he have to ensure he doesn’t mess with time enough to cause a splinter effect, but it turns out he’s not the only one in the past gunning for the ancient holy relic. Not only do I enjoy a good Indiana Jone-is archeological adventure, but I’m a sucker for a good time travel adventure. So this book was right up my alley. This is one heck of an impressive debut. Ludington does a fantastic job of bringing the past to life, making you feel as if you are in the ancient city of Constantinople. A fascinating storyline, good action, and interesting characters made this one an absolute delight to read. And as I also had the opportunity to listen to the audio version as well, narrated by the talented Roger Wayne, it was a pleasure to listen to as well. I hope this is only the first of many adventures to come. I’d like to thank St. Martin's Press | Minotaur Books, and NetGalley for the opportunity to read and review an eARC of Splinter Effect, and Macmillan Audio for allowing me to listen to and review an advance copy of the audio version as well.

https://www.amazon.com/review/R39Q9X16YTUI11/ref=pe_123899240_1043597390_SRTC0204BT_cm_rv_eml_rv0_rv

Though well written and detailed, boasting a clever premise, “Splinter Effect” weighs more heavily on the side of historical elements than it does on the side of time travel. Since it was the time travel aspect which drew me in initially, I found many parts of this story sluggish and, dare I say, a bit boring. It is for this reason that I struggled to finish this book—not because it isn’t well executed, but because this story just isn’t the right fit for me. However, I’m sure it will appeal to many others who like this particular mix of history and sci-fi.

Thanks to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press | Minotaur Books for a DRC of this in exchange for an honest review.

3.25 out of 5 stars

Rabbit is a chronoarchaeologist - he goes back in time to ascertain where items of historical significance were last seen/buried, then they can be dug up in his own time. His white whale is the Menorah of the Second Temple, a candelabra made of pure gold that disappeared in Constantinople around 535 CE.

He's already gone back once, and lost his benefactors' son, Aaron in the process. He's been on other trips, but lately he seems to be being followed by a strange woman from his time who always seems to know where, and when, he is. Although people still want the menorah to be found, both archaeologists and private collectors alive, the Adam-Cortez Act was created to stop multiple trips to the same time-space to avoid dangerous existential consequences.

But pushed to locate it once more, Rabbit travels back to a time after he intially lost it, and finds that he is not the only one from his time period there. In a desperate attempt to finally get the menorah discovered in his own time, he makes decisions that are out of his comfort zone. But in addition to the limited time he has before he must get back to his decay point, he is trying not to splinter the timeline - something drastic that alters what is known in his own history can create another timeline, and even if he buries the menorah himself, it won't be there in his timeline.

The book was hot and cold for me. I would get to places where I couldn't stop reading, and places where I didn't want to go on. But it was a fascinating story, and I loved the idea of sending back historians, although that's a thread that was barely mentioned, not explored, in this book. The theory of a decay point with a timeframe was also fascinating, and the implementation of an Act that governed time travel made it more realistic for me.

I feel that there were some things that were left unanswered, and the enemies-to-friends-almost-lovers? thread was more distracting than helpful, but it was not part of the reason I had a hard time with this book. I think certain sectios were less of my preference than any issue with the writing.

All in all, worth the read and fascinating.

TL;DR

Splinter Effect by Andrew Ludington is an excellent time travel adventure. Highly recommended.

Disclaimer: The publisher provided a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. Any and all opinions that follow are mine alone.

Review: Splinter Effect by Andrew Ludington

One sub-genre of science fiction novels that always intrigue me is time-traveling academics. People who travel to the past to witness, record, or investigate history. Though I’m not a historian, it would be cool to see the pyramids being built or the Parthenon in its original glory. But time travel is fraught with perils and rings to jump through to avoid paradoxes. So, when a good time traveling academic novel comes my way, I approach with caution. Splinter Effect by Andrew Ludington caught my attention and kept it.

Rabbit Ward is a time-traveling archaeologist who seeks out ‘lost’ artifacts. If an important piece of history goes missing, like say the menorah of the second temple, Rabbit Ward is sent back to retrieve them. As long as Rabbit doesn’t alter history, i.e. recover a non-lost artifact or, say, destroy the Parthenon, then he won’t create a splinter effect. (More on this later.) For Rabbit, the menorah represents a failure. He’s attempted to retrieve it once already but failed at the cost of his protege’s life. After being robbed in the past by another time traveler, Rabbit is considered a risky bet, but information regarding the whereabouts of the lost menorah have Rabbit itching to try to right the biggest wrong in his past. First, he has to secure funding for his trip, and that is turning out to be a tall order. But eventually he makes the trip back to ancient Constantinople, posing as a spice trader from Rome. On the path, he meets up with a soldier from Constantinople who accompanies him to the city, which prepares for the return of the victorious Belisarius. But more than ancient dangers await Rabbit. Other time travelers are also in the city looking for the menorah, and an advisor to the emperor Justinian takes interest in Rabbit.

Splinter Effect by Andrew Ludington is a third person, time travel adventure novel. The sales pitch says “Indiana Jones meets Outlander.” I’m unfamiliar with Outlander, but the Indiana Jones comparison is close. This book moves at a good pace; there’s plenty of action; and readers get to know Rabbit a little bit. The history and scenery are the real treat, and Ludington has created a wonderful stage for his characters. With the focus being on action and setting, there’s not as much character depth as I normally like. Overall, there’s something special here. This is an adventure worth taking.

Time Travel

Time travel stories make me very wary because often they’re not done well. (For example, Lost) The possibility of paradox is only part of it; what matters to me is the stakes. And if time travel is possible, how the writer raises the stakes matter. Because if you can travel back in time and undo your mistakes, then nothing matters, right? Ludington has worked this out through the use of multiple universes, a.k.a. a multi-verse.

In effect, time travelers cannot change events that have already happened in their universe, but if by traveling back to the past, they alter events with enough importance, a new universe ‘splinters’ off in a new direction from that point. Thus, the universe that the traveler came from remains unaffected with the results of the change traveling down a different branch of the universe.

At the same time, Ludington has set the rules up such that small changes can be made, i.e. an archaeologist going back in time, befriending a soldier, without altering enough of the universe to create a splinter. It’s like a stream. Through in a pebble and you’ll see some ripples, but the water continues to flow in the same direction. Through in a boulder, and the water will have to find a new path.

So, what does this mean in terms of stakes? Well, if Rabbit wants to remain in ‘his’ universe, then he must be careful in the past. Large changes could cause a splinter trapping him in an alternate universe and potentially trapping him in time. This is a neat idea, and it makes the consequences of Rabbit’s actions have real weight. His decisions could affect more than he realizes and result in a splinter effect. Ludington put thought into the mechanics of time travel in such a way that it maintains story tension and drives the narrative forward. It’s really well done.

Setting

“How will Rabbit retrieve the menorah without altering history” is the question driving this story. It’s what kept me coming back, but the overall setting that Ludington created was what I enjoyed most. It wasn’t a detailed description of every nook and cranny; no, it was enough detail to situate the story in a setting that felt different because of the culture but familiar because of the human nature imbued in the background. For example:

Situated ouside the Byzantine walls, in view of the Hagia Sophia church, the Chalkoprateia neighborhood was commonly thought of as the Jewish quarter in sixth-century Constantinople. Chalk means bronze in Greek and the neighborhood was known, not surprisingly, for its copper- and bronze-smithing shops and the Jewish artisans who worked in them. (pg. 135)

Above the tops of tall grape arbors that lined the road, he could see the dark shape of a building with a dome and a cross rising above the crops. He knew that monasteries were dotted through the outer city and the monks often made wine. (pg. 98)

Little backgrounds of neighborhoods or quick descriptions situate the reader in the larger city of ancient Constantinople. These details suffuse the text. Are they historically accurate? I don’t know, but they feel like they are. That gives the setting a bit of wonder that time travel novels need.

Conclusion

Andrew Ludington’s Splinter Effect is an excellent debut adventure novel. It mixes action, history, and intrigue well. The book races along towards an unexpected ending that left me wanting more. Hopefully, this is just the start of Rabbit’s adventures. Splinter Effect is highly recommended.

I really wanted to love this book. And up to a point I kinda did. I loved the concept of a time travelling archaeologist who gets sponsored to go back and re-discover precious artefacts, squirrelling them away so they can be rediscovered in modern times. Kinda like Jodi Taylor's St Mary's does to keep their coffers full on occasion. Rabbit Ward is one such person, although when we first meet him, he is still suffering the fallout from a previous outing which went spectacularly wrong.
But he is about to get a second chance at snagging the artefact he was after then. Will he succeed this time or fail again...?
I said I wanted to love this book. And I did plough through it, ever hopeful. But by the time I got to the end I was kinda wishing I had given up as, for me, it was one of those books where the destination wasn't quite worth the slog of the journey.
Maybe I was comparing it too much with the Chronicles of St Mary's, which is one of my all time favourite series. Maybe it was the sheer weight of all the history I had to plough through which tbh didn't really interest me and wasn't really delivered in a way that made it any less dry to me. Maybe it was Rabbit I didn't really get on with as I found him to be a little sulky poor me. It could be that it was, at times, a wee bit over descriptive and that was a tad on the distracting side on occasion.
Or maybe it just wasn't really the book for me. Which is OK. You can't win them all...
My thanks go to the Publisher and Netgalley for the chance to read this book.

Splinter Effect by Andrew Ludington was such a fun time-traveling science fiction story.
I was instantly sucked in by the atmosphere and writing style.
The characters were all very well developed .
The writing is exceptional and I was hooked after the first sentence.

I wasn’t sure what to make of this story in the beginning but it didn’t take long to get into it. The story & details of old Rome & Constantinople really draw you in. The characters are the best. I found the ending to be very satisfying. #SplinterEffect #NetGalley

would like to thank netgalley and the publisher for letting me read this book

a time traveller with hints of indiana jones escapades.... it should live up to its name but i found it so descriptive that it put me off a bit.... that being said if you jump over the bits that dont interest you its not a bad storyline....

Robert Ward is a time-traveling archeologist who gets a second chance to go back in time and find the menorah. But he has a rival who has making things difficult on him, especially on his last job. When Rabbit goes back in time to Constantinople, he meets a young soldier who helps him.

For me, the pace of the story was a little slow due to the amount of detail regarding the day-to-day life and politics of the time. I kept wanting the story to speed up to the point where Rabbit went after the menorah, and to learn more about his interactions with Helen and his mentee.

Thank you to NetGalley, St Martin's Press and the author for the opportunity to read this book for my honest review. All opinions expressed are my own.

This unusual novel starts right out with the premise that time travel is a well-known and universally accepted fact in a 2018 world quite different from ours. In fact, respected foundations sponsor the work of “chrono-archeologists” who comb through history looking for lost works and artifacts.

Splinter Effect is a first novel for Ludington and the beginning of a series. It becomes compelling soon after you start to read it. Will Robert “Rabbit” Ward find a new sponsor after a thief steals have of his most recent discovery? Will he catch and deal with the thief?

As the technology unfolds and another jump is engaged, it occasionally becomes daunting to follow. Nevertheless, the story is so good that, at least for me, I was willing to just take in the facts and not worry too much about the details. Ludington’s book is an entertaining read.

Thank you to NetGalley for an advanced digital copy of this book.

In 2018, time travel has been perfected and Rabbit Ward, a time traveler and archaeologist, routinely takes trips back in time to secure precious lost artifacts and hide them so that he can return in the current time and find them for the Smithsonian. There are a few rules to this time travel, and one of them is not to change history too much. Because if large changes are made to history, then times splinters and a Splinter Effect is formed, which may interfere with the return of the travelers, as they may actually have destroyed the science that allows them to travel.

But Rabbit's career was going well, and he was the most famous of these travelers, until a few years ago when he was coerced by wealthy patrons to include their 20-year-old son in one of these expeditions. The untrained young man got too involved with the locals. Rabbit was unable to intervene and young Aaron was killed. Rabbit's life and career have never recovered and Aaron's parents no longer sponsor his travels, blaming him for their son's death, as he also blames himself.

But now he has managed to get funding for what may well be his last trip and is, as always lately, closely monitored by rival traveler who too often seems to steal his treasures before he can retrieve them. When things go horribly wrong and a "splinter effect" is created, they are lucky to return alive. In fact, he is not sure she did survive, but is unable to contact the her rival organization to find out. But he is able finally to get in contact with them and offers to go back to around the time he lost Aaron and try again to retrieve this valuable artifact.

The story is very well written and seems plausible. The personal interactions could be at any time, either ancient Rome or Washington DC and the story is a good one. Made me wish time travel was real!!

Thankyou Minotaur St. Martin's Press for my #gifted copies. My opinions are my own.

The year is 2018 CE and archeologists can now travel through time to save precious artifacts before they are forever lost to history. Rabbit Ward is one such, and in his work for the Smithsonian he has never been able to shake his guilt over his failure to bring back the menorah of the second Jewish temple...or his mentee, Aaron. So when he finally gets on the track of the menorah's location in 6th Century (CE) Constantinople, he can't get back there fast enough. But from the moment he arrives, he can't shake the feeling that something is off. Even when he joins up with his competition--an unlicensed time traveler Helen who has beat him to the treasure more times than his reputation can withstand--it still feels like someone is setting them both up. As time runs out for the two of them, the problems get bigger, until it's not just a race against time, but also against a shadowy enemy that seems to know more about them than anyone in the 5th Century could.

Time travel! Action! Intrigue! And history--there is lots of historical detail about this period, which is one that I'd never even thought to look into before. After the Roman Empire became a Christian one and along it's slow decline, so much happened that my history classes seem to have all skipped over. First, there is a LOT of death, often in gory detail. But Ludington paints a picture of everyday life too, down to the clothes and the roles. The science-y bits mostly made sense to me as a lay reader, although there were some holes that I think can be attributed to "it's all theoretical anyway." The message I took away from this book--quite aside from the entertainment value--is that while things around us change, the human condition doesn't change all that much. And all culture is built on the one that came before--we want to eclipse the past but end up repeating it. We can choose to be bigots like those who came before us (to their own detriment) or we can see humans for who they are and try to make the best of our differences.

If Indiana Jones met Back to the Future, you’d get Andrew Ludington’s debut novel.

Splinter Effect is the story of Dr. Robert “Rabbit” Wars, a chronoarchaeologist, or a time traveling archaeologist who travels to the past to retrieve lost historical items for the Smithsonian. When a mission goes wrong, Rabbit is looking at forced retirement until an anonymous donor funds a trip for him to retrieve his white whale: the menorah of the second Jewish temple. But Rabbit senses something wrong in the past, and as his current mission continues to get stranger, Rabbit must decide if finding the menorah again is worth getting stuck in the past forever.

Splinter Effect is an action-packed, history nerd dream of a story. I loved the fast pace of the story, the random tidbits of history, the redemption story, and the detailed settings. The science behind time travel is pretty much skipped over aside from a few hard rules, and that helps keep the story from getting bogged down in details and just lets readers focus on the outcomes of such a fascinating discovery.

Rabbit is a somewhat unlikeable character, but he’s levelheaded, determined, and smart. He has trust issues, but he’s not mean, just serious and aware that, in the past, the outcomes of his actions aren’t really consequential. However, this changes as the story plays out and as Rabbit begins to uncover the terrible truth about who is pulling the strings in ancient Constantinople.

The other characters aren’t developed all that much, although I feel like this might change if this book is just the first in a series. However, this book feels a bit like James Bond, and sometimes a full background isn’t needed for every character, even the ones who show up in every movie. They’re there to do a job in helping the lead, and that’s it. PJ and Ian are this kind of character.

The legal vs illegal time traveling is a fun aspect, and this will certainly be a major topic moving forward assuming a series is in the works. Rabbit’s adversarial relationship with Helen, the “stringer” who is traveling illegally and stealing all Rabbit’s artifacts out from under him, is fun and will certainly develop into some sort of romance. Helen is a smart and capable woman, and I’d love to read her backstory.

Splinter Effect needs a bit more development in places but is overall a fun and fast read that will appeal to history nerds and sci-fi fans.

I love history. especially ancient history, so I was on board and excited about reading this book. I pictured Indiana Jones in the future - traveling through time, but we have Rabbit Ward. Which is fine - my only issue with him is the author described him too much, not letting me create the character in my head, not a big deal but .... The overall story was interesting, but full of info dumps - which is a huge pet peeve of mine and I couldn't get past it. I enjoyed Rabbit as a character, but several of the other characters were 2D. I think this author is on the right track, but needs more writing experience.

Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press | Minotaur Books for providing an eARC of this book. All opinions are my own.

The premise of this book really intrigued me - a time traveler working for the Smithsonian, who goes back through history to recover artifacts before they are lost.

Rabbit is one of those time travelers, and he's still reeling from losing his young partner Aaron on a previous trip to find the great Menorah, a trip that failed. During a recent trip he ran across a fellow time traveler Helen, who is working for a rival, and who is determined to prevent him returning with his finds.

After a few failed missions, he expects to be sidelined, before a benefactor offer to fund another trip to find the menorah. This trip is the focus of the book, as he and Helen form an unlikely partnership to try and retrieve the artifact while others are willing to kill for it. As neither trusts the other, they constantly try to outmaneuver each other.

There are a lot of characters, and a fair bit of action in the book. Lots of historical facts and figures are shared, which to be honest I found distracting. I started to struggle to keep everyone straight and sort out which information was important to the plot.

I loved the premise, but it didn't quite hit the mark for me.

A time traveling thriller about Rabbit who’s sent back in time to find a piece of history and bring it to the present. Meeting a rival time traveler, the two come across issue after issue in their journey to secure the artifact.

Splinter Effect by Andrew Ludington is an ARC I was able to read immersively. I need to thank Net Galley, MacMillan Audio, and St. Martin's Press (Minotaur Books) for my advance copies. The narration on the audio book is by Roger Wayne - and it is really well done. This is time travel and historical fiction. Rabbit Ward, our main male character, is saddled with a desperately terrible name. He is an archeologist and a time traveler. He travels back in time to ancient lands and times to retrieve artifacts that have been lost to time. Here is the key - he can't bring the artifact back with him - everything in the past must stay in the past - he has to hide the artifact in a location they can find and when Rabbit returns to the present, he lets them know the location and they dig and find the artifact. That's all well and good, but something terrible happened on one of his trips to ancient Rome, and, for his last few jumps, someone has known what he was going back to retrieve, and stolen the artifact from him. Now his funding is drying up and he needs to figure out how to turn this situation around. There is a lot of history in this story - traveling to save scrolls from the Library at Alexandria and a menorrah from Constantinople. It's a blend of historical fiction and science fiction, and I thoroughly enjoyed this read.

This book releases March 18, 2025

Splinter Effect is a time-traveling science fiction story. It reminded me of the short-lived (but great) TV show Timeless (after reading this book, I want to rewatch the show).

I was intrigued by the premise: an archeologist who can travel back in time. I'm sure there are archeology finds that we have gotten wrong as to its function or relevance (e,g, a priceless piece of pottery to us was the equivalent of Tupperware in its time). So it would be really cool to go back in time to understand the period. However, Rabbit Ward isn't just going back in time to understand the items found. No, he is going back in order to find the artifact.

If you are looking for an action-adventure story, then this is definitely a book to read.

I enjoyed the world-building in the story. There were enough details to understand it without feeling overwhelmed. Details are also sprinkled through and not just dumped all at once so that helps with the understanding. Ludington relied on some already known time travel rules that will be familiar to readers (I'm pretty sure Ludington watched Timeless too or at least the same materials in building his world). I liked how he handled changing to the future (or not) by traveling to the past.

There are two adventures in this book. One is the search for a menorah. Ancient history is not really my time period but I still enjoyed the story. I won't tell you about the second adventure as that is a bit of a surprise.

I enjoyed the narrator Roger Wayne. I did have some trouble with following the story. There are a lot of characters to meet both in present day and in the past so while it took me a bit to keep the characters straight it wasn't because of the narrator. He did a great job with all the voices. Listening to this book took a good bit of concentration.

I'm not sure if this is the start of a series. Everything is wrapped up in the end but there is some wiggle room at the end for a new adventure. I know if there is a sequel, I would read it as I think there is a lot more that can be explored with the characters.

My review will be published at Girl Who Reads on Saturday - https://www.girl-who-reads.com/2025/03/splinter-effect-by-andrew-ludington.html