A Coin for the Ferryman

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.

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.

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!

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

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.

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.

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 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.

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.

An elite team of scientists and a young woman who can speak Latin are gathered to in a secret laboratory where they have been working on a time travel experiment. Nobel laureate Andrew Danicek, who heads the team, wants to make sure the experiment is a success. He doesn't want to just bring anyone into the present from the past. He would like to bring a historical figure. One that they can bring to the present for four days, learn what they can from this individual and send back. They decide upon a historical figure and *poof* Julius Caesar is standing in front of them. What will they make of him, more importantly what will he make of them?

They need to be careful; they don't want to change history - it needs to remain the same! But will it?

Cassandra speaks Latin so naturally she is the interpreter, but things don't quite go so smoothly at first...

No one knows Caesar is there but then things change, and the plan goes out the window....

I enjoyed this book, and this take on time travel. The Ides of March is an important date on the Roman Calendar, and it also marks the assignation of Julius Caesar. How does it change things when you know someone's history? How does it change you? Will it change your history? This was a nice audiobook to listen to as I am often driving her and there for work. I enjoyed the narrator and the story.

It may not appeal to some as it does take on a thriller feel around the middle. But I did find one thing in the book to be very clever. Pay attention to the beginning and ending is all I have to say - No spoiler but if you pay attention, you may be thinking "oh how clever!" as I did.

Thank you to Imbrifex Books and NetGalley who provided me with a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. All the thoughts and opinions are my own.

Thank you NetGalley for a pre-release copy of this book.

This review supersedes my previous review of this book. I originally tried reading this book as an ebook, and I just couldn't get through it. The start was slow, confusing, etc. However, based on the description, I knew it should be right up my alley. I got a copy of the audiobook, and it made all the difference. Overall, I really enjoyed the book once it got to the premise. If you like Michael Crichton's book Timeline, you'll like this book. Only it's the reverse, what if someone from the past comes to the future. As complex as the story was, changing character viewpoints, plot lines and such, it really added to the richness of the story. I didn't see the ending coming! I highly recommend this book!

In 1999, an elite team of scientists and classicists worked on a top-secret project. They were able to pull Julius Caesar from moments before his murder into the present with the plan to interview him and see what knowledge than can gain during the next 4 days, before they have to return him to the exact time and location from which he was plucked to avoid changing the future. Despite their strict security and preparations, someone has learned of Caesar’s visit to the future and attempts to kidnap him. It is up to Cassandra Fleury, the youngest member of the team, to keep Caesar safe and ensure he can be returned to the Ides of March at the designated time.

This was an intriguing read. The whole time, I couldn’t help but wonder how it would all work out. I would have loved to know about the science behind their project, but the book does not delve into it. While the science is not covered, the story does take the time to get into the background of the main players in the book, and I enjoyed getting to know something of their past and mindset they were coming into the project with. The concept that the team members were pulling someone forward from the past rather than time travelling themselves was unique. Overall, I enjoyed this story; it was engaging. Mark Ashby did a nice job with the narration.

Many thanks to NetGalley for providing me an audio ARC of this book.

I loved this audiobook! What an amazingly interesting story. Every person who has studied history contemplates which historic personality he or she would like to meet assuming a time machine were available. In this novel, a time machine has been invented for the purpose of precisely dating artifacts.
The author does not bore the reader with the physics of time travel or create silly pseudoscience. I really appreciated that. However, details about the restrictions involved in time travel are presented and all make sense. I found myself not needing to suspend disbelief.
This book caught my attention from the first pages when we meet Julius Caesar in his own time. The book did not let me go until the very end. Julius Caesar was transported to the present day in the first experiment on a living human being. Caesar's character was absolutely believable! He behaved the way one would expect Caesar to behave. The plot was fascinating. Caesar interacting with modern people and the modern world was beautifully done. All of this was enormously satisfying.
All of the present-day characters were well developed. There relationships to each other and Caesar were well developed. Dialogue was well-written and believable.
I had never read this author before, but I would seek out her books and read her work again.
This one is a winner! Recommended for those who enjoy Ancient Rome fiction, time travel, and historic fiction in general. If you like a good story with a complex, engrossing plot; this one is for you!
Thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for an ARC of this audiobook in exchange for an honest review.

Thank you NetGalley for a free copy in exchange for an honest review.
I really enjoyed this, the beginning is a slow burn introducing us to all the characters. Once the second half starts the story gets much faster and becomes hard to put down. I thoroughly enjoyed it.

A very unique take on a time-traveling narrative. Lots of hidden "Easter eggs" both in "present day" and in the past.
We all know what happened on the Ides of March - now meet the team of the IDES lab who plan to take the opportunity of that day to bring Caesar - briefly - into our own time! The plan is laid out, the team assembled, and the day arrives. - all will go according to plan, right....?
As I began reading this book, I was definitely taken with the range of characters, their backgrounds, and how they would play into the climax we all knew was coming - Julius Caesar brought to our time, thus the second half of this book threw me for a loop. Out of all the characters, the core of the story is Cassandra and Julius. In many way, this book has something for everyone - drama, sci-fi, historical fiction, action, mystery, and romance. You'll even learn some Latin along the way. A good book that you could easily recommend to anyone.

3.5

First thank you to #Netgalley and the publisher for the opportunity to listen to this book in exchange for an honest review.

For those that are looking to DNF this book- keep reading as it is worthwhile.

Time Machine = find an amazing historical character to bring to the future = wow Ceasar is the craziest and best idea = find someone that can speak Latin = basis of this book.

Regarding the narrator - Rod Sterling. That is who I thought of. The gentleman focusses on documentaries and I am sure I would enjoy those readings. In this case - it was distracting.

I really enjoyed the story. I believe a reviewer / editor / friend / said "expand on the characters" and that is why the beginning is filled with just a tad too much detail. I was getting lost. I really had a difficult time moving from detailed historical fiction to action packed thriller. I am not even sure that makes sense and maybe I just need to think about it for a few days. (I am sure I will be updating this review).

So WITHOUT spoilers, I move to the last third of the book. There is so much going on it kept me extremely engaged. The author did a great job of tying the questions in the beginning with answers in the end (sorry but you just have to read it) and without that "corny factor".

So to finish - this has the potential for a great book - and geez I hate to say I think it just needs a bit more work to tie it together. Keep in mind I listened to this and it may have been a different experience if I read it.

Pretty low-brow writing with caricature-like characters of little depth, but the story was certainly original and it did keep me wanting to know how it would all turn out. The ending was a fun twist, too.

To be honest, I nearly didn't listen to the whole book. The first 3 chapters came across as juvenile and uneloquent. I'm not sure if it was the actual words "crappy room...crappy trailer...crappy bookshelf", or if it was the narrator's failed attempts at a British accent and what he thought ancient Roman translated into English would sound like.

I persevered and was rewarded with an interesting, if implausible, story and the vast improvement of the narrator.

The story is told from many different perspectives of a team who brings Julius Caesar to the year 1999. We learn pertinent backstories, and follow them from team formation, to planning the transport, and finally a chaotic 4 day visit where nothing goes as planned.

Surprisingly, a Vegas "almost callgirl", a fast food millionaire, a rare coins dealer, a medical doctor, and an adult's childhood pet all make it into this book.

It is a rough start, but worth the listen if you enjoy history.

Time travel and Julius Caeser? Sign me up.

2.5 stars, rounded up to 3. I have a lot of mixed feelings on this one. Ultimately, it reads like a first draft. There's lots of bumbling around and it's hard to say what exactly the plot was. There are characters that could've been cut, scenes that could've been shortened (or sometimes extended), and the pacing was strange. However, with that being said, I'm absolutely thrilled with the ending. Since the very beginning of the book I was rooting for the author to really commit and not shy away from whatever story she wanted to tell. SHE DID IT. And for that alone I would recommend this book. The author had a goal in mind and she made it happen and I loved that.

A novel combining ancient Roman figures AND time travel? Yes, please! Love the creativity of the story. Sure, it lacks scientific explanation and I would have liked more character development beyond the two main characters, but it was a pleasure to read. I did not care for the narration, which did not reflect the excitement of the action scenes, so I recommend reading the print version instead.

I am a library paraprofessional and received an advance copy from #NetGalley. Opinions are my own.

A Coin For The Ferryman
by: Megan Edwards
Pub. date: March 1, 2022
Audiobook Review date: January 16, 2022

Many thanks to Megan Edwards, Imbrifex Books & NetGalley, for allowing me to listen to this audiobook. I’m leaving this review voluntarily…
A Coin For The Ferryman is one of the Best books I read in 2021.. It was a must that I request the audiobook version so I could hear Mark Ashby tell the story. I think he did an Amazing job, btw.
I gave 4.5 stars to this magnificent book/audiobook & I Highly recommend. I Can’t Wait to see what Megan Edwards comes up with next!
#ACoinForTheFerryman #NetGalley #MeganEdwards #ImbrifexBooks

I received this audiobook as an advanced readers copy and the following review is soley my own. A Coin for the Ferryman is about a group of elite scientists and scholars working together on a secret time travel project. The team successfully transports the famous Julius Caesar to modern day California where they plan to have historians interact with him for a period of 4 days. Andrew and his team think they have a failsafe plan and will return Caesar safely to the past, but an attempted kidnapping is not the only thing working against the team. A major detour is taken that may change not only history, but the present.
I enjoyed this story. I thought the author did a good job of bringing in all the different characters and giving small back stories on each so you knew why and how they got to where they were in the story. I did feel the story bounced around a little bit to the large # of characters. This may only be because I was listening to an audio version and may not be as confusing while reading the physical book. I really enjoyed the ending of the book, but only wished there would have been a follow up/resolution with Pippa. During the 2nd half of the book the story and excitement really picked up.
Also, I know Caesar wasn't truely convinced he had been transported to the future and he was also trying to put on that "tough guy facade" but there were several situations where I thought, there is no way he would react like that!
I don't think the cover of the book, does the story justice.
Overall, I did enjoy this audiobook and I thank NetGalley, Megan Edwards and the publisher for giving me the opportunity to listen and review it. I give the story 3.5 stars and would recommend you give it a try..

What would Julius Caesar do? An amusing science fiction what-if interwoven with drama, romance, and humor. Be patient with the multiple storylines early on as they quickly come together in the main story. Chapter 3 reads like it belongs in Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy and pulled me in so I would finish this book. Well-narrated (an especially big challenge with the different accents and languages peppered throughout the story).

While I ultimately thought this was an OK audiobook, I did think several times about not finishing it. The narrator has a tone in his voice similar to narrator Kirt Graves which I don't find appealing. he also didn't put any emotion into it to help the story 'live".

I thought this was going to be heavy on the scifi and historical stuff, but Caesar is almost forgotten in the pages upon pages of detail about the less exciting secondary characters and their backstory and current actions. We don't get any detail, certainly not from Caesar's POV in the first few hours of him being in the 20th century (story takes place in the late 90's). That's the most interesting part, how he would feel and respond to things. There are a few instances of that and a couple of flashbacks to his life, but they weren't the best choice in my opinion to add anything meaningful to the story.

There was a lot of misogyny in this story by the male and female characters. The main character has a rare skill which should have been stressed in this situation in particular, not her looks, over and over.

The action and narration did pick up towards the end and finally got me wrapped up in the story. I also appreciate the few moments of humor in how Caesar responded to the doctor. Since we got so much backstory the epilogue at the end was a nice touch too.

I received a copy of the audiobook from Netgalley in exchange for my honest review.

Very interesting look at what might happen if Julius Caesar could be transported to modern times for a few days. I really enjoyed the insights into what made him a great leader and strategist. 3.5 rounded up to 4 stars.

Thanks to NetGalley for the chance to review this advance copy of the audiobook in exchange for my honest review.

This was such an incredibly fun romp! A Coin for the Ferryman is an action packed genre mash-up of sci-fi caper and contemporary fiction which really hit the spot for me.

The story follows a group of multi-disciplinary experts as they build a time machine in the year 1999 with the goal to test bringing a human from the past to the present. They decide on Julius Caesar, planning to scoop him up right before he meets his infamous demise on the ides of March, bring him to 1999 for just under a minute and then pop him back to meet his fate. Of course something goes wrong and it sets off a chain of events that scatters the crew and makes ripples across time.

It takes about 40% to get to the rising action but in the meantime we meet several players including a glimpse of Caesar himself on the morning of his death. I enjoyed how Edwards wove everyone's story together so that by the time we get Caesar to the year 1999 it's fun to watch everyone's reactions to him and how their plans begin to scatter. Some might find the middle a little slow but I enjoyed watching Caesar react to people, places, and things. By the end I was along for the ride and committed to the relationships that develop.

Overall, really cool idea with an amusing execution and heartfelt conclusion.

I really enjoyed this story, the cast of characters, the twists and turns it took throughout. 3.5 stars.

The story centers around a group of elite scientists and classicists at the Ides Lab working to bring Julius Caesar to present day. With the way the Ides Lab is structured, it was interesting to consider how different disciplines would consider the possibility of bringing someone forward from the past - from the changing of the course of time to health considerations.

I liked the narrator’s voice and narration of the story.

The story did drag at some points and Caesar’s lack of reaction to modern day technology (TV, cars, the Vegas Strip) made it hard to suspend disbelief.

However, the characters were great! And the ending and how it connected back to the start was clever.

I’d recommend it to friends who like both historical fiction and sci-fi.

Thank you to NetGalley for providing a free audiobook review copy in exchange for my fair and honest review.

I'm so very glad I went into this book blind and didn't have any idea what it was about or what to expect. In A Coin for the Ferryman, we follow a team that has built a machine that can transport things through time. They need to know exactly when and where people are about to die in order to do that, as they snag them just before the moment they would die, to lessen the impact on history, and then return them just in time to die. The assembled team is a rag tag bunch of characters that I thoroughly enjoyed, and their interactions were hilarious to witness.

So, when you can bring someone forward in time and you need to know exactly when and where they will be, who do you choose? Caesar, of course! I loved seeing the modern world through his eyes and being along for the ride that was this book! It was a wonderful surprise and I loved every moment of the journey!

The narration is great! I loved the voice acting and the inflection the narrator used, along with the pauses and tone that truly added to the performance. The pacing was great!

A Coin for the Ferryman finally answers the age-old question: "What would Julius Caesar think of Las Vegas?". Actually, that never question occurred to me until I started reading this book, but it is an interesting one!

The novel follows a team of brilliant minds (including a Nobel prize winning physicist, several classicists, a doctor, and a really cool undergraduate student who knows how to speak fluent Latin) who embark on a mission to bring Julius Caesar to the United States just before the year 2000 starts. In addition to being a blast to read, the book also touches on the culture of academia and the role of wealth in intellectual pursuits, especially with ancient fields of study. I think anyone who has an interest in classic Rome history and or time travel would enjoy this book. A book club would likely have fun discussing the ethics of time travel, and perhaps who they would choose to transport to their time. The best word to describe it is a romp!

That being said, I noticed a few minor issues that might deter another reader from finishing this. On the big-picture level, the beginning started quite slowly, with introductions to a large cast of characters taking up the first half of the book. A die-hard science fiction fan would likely note the lack of intense scientific terms and explanations (however, someone who enjoys the historical aspect of time travel narratives, like me, appreciates that!).

A few more granular details: Though this is even acknowledged by the book, the time travel project team completely forgot that Caesar was a tactical mastermind. While this led to some interesting hijinks, I found really implausible that all of the bright minds who can make time travel happen forgot such an important part of Caesar's identity. There was also some uncomfortable sexist language towards the protagonist, Cassandra, actually on the part of another female academic. I would've enjoyed the book a lot more if this was left out entirely.

Finally, as I switched off reading in between the audiobook and ebook, I wanted to briefly review the audio version in particular. I personally did not enjoy the narrator, I found the voices he used for certain female characters to come across as mocking and sexist. Though he read Cassandra, the protagonist, in his natural range, the other female characters were given a falsetto voice for no apparent reason.

However, if anyone is willing to put those issues aside like I did, I think they would enjoy this book greatly. I've certainly never read anything like it!

Thank you, Imbrifex Books and NetGalley, for the early release of this book!

From Goodreads: "In 1999, an elite interdisciplinary team headed by Nobel laureate Andrew Danicek gathered in California to carry out a ground-breaking time-travel experiment. While the rest of the world remained unaware, Julius Caesar was successfully transported from the last day of his life to a specially-constructed covert facility. Four days of conversation with historians and Latin scholars were planned, followed by Caesar’s return to the moment from which he was extracted. But despite the team’s meticulous efforts to maintain secrecy and plan for all possible exigencies, a kidnap attempt plunges Caesar into peril. Fully aware that the future of civilization may hang in the balance, one team member must summon strength she didn’t know she possessed to return Caesar to the Ides of March.

The shocking details of Caesar's visit and its effect on subsequent events have been protected by draconian nondisclosure agreements....until now."

My Opinion: I love books about time travel and books about Julius Caesar and ancient Rome, so I figured I couldn't go wrong with this book, and boy was I right! First off, the narrator did an excellent job with the voices and tone of the different characters. It was easy to switch back and forth between them without being yanked from the story, which is a pet peeve of mine.

As for the story, and I never thought I'd say this, but there was just a bit too much back story for me. Not enough to dislike the book, but enough that I felt sort of bogged down by it. But the characters were written well, so this wasn't a huge problem. The setting was well described and the pacing was good. I absolutely loved Julius Caesar in all of his arrogance because you just have to figure that if you ever met him, that's exactly how he would be! Nice twist at the end, too, although I'll leave it at that.

In summary, I enjoyed this book very much and can definitely recommend it, especially the audiobook version.

5/5 stars.

I received a copy of this audiobook free of charge through NetGalley in exchange for my honest opinion.

I requested this because I was intrigued by the concept of this book and it did not disappoint! I enjoyed the storytelling by the narrator and I liked that although majority of the story was told via main character, there were multiple POVs happening too. With a background in Science myself, I was particularly interested in seeing how the project was going to work and definitely curious to see if the team would be able to pull it off. And again, it did not disappoint! I assumed that the account that we got was from Cassandra, the main character, in real time but by the end of the book it's revealed that she wrote a book. So now I don't know if it's her book that I read or her actual account. I guess that's up to the reader to decide.

I wasn't entirely sure what to expect going into this. A plot to bring Julius Caesar to the future to learn from him? Very strange. But the way this was written -- I absolutely loved this book. It took a little while to get going. We see Caesar for a second in the very beginning, then it moves to present-day and introduces the modern characters. At first, I was impatient for Caesar to come fully into the narrative, but once we got to Cassandra's backstory I was sucked right in. She is such a wonderful character, and following her story was engrossing. I liked the way Edwards weaves all the modern characters together so we get the full picture of how this whole wacky project came to be, and then we add in Julius Caesar and it becomes a ride.

I think if you are going into this book looking for a serious, literary take on what Julius Caesar thinks about the modern world, this book will not be for you. If you go into it to see the absolute chaos that unfolds if you bring a famous general from 2000 years ago to modern LA/Las Vegas, then you will enjoy this book.

The audio narration was very well done, with only a dew places that I could tell had been weirdly spliced together. The voice actor does a great job of bringing these characters to life, which is no mean feat when one of them is literally Julius Caesar. I sometimes had trouble distinguishing his voices for the different male characters, but I made it though okay.

I am so glad I listened to this book -- I finished it in one day and it made my trips to and from work (as well as one grocery shopping trip) very delightful. There are some laugh-out-loud (and maybe worry some other grocery shoppers whoops) moments, which is just the icing on the cake for me. Highly recommend.

Historical fiction meets scifi. It's the late 90s, and a team of scientists has developed a time machine with the intent of bringing Julius Caesar to the present for a few days, moments before his death on the Ides of March. I really enjoyed the concept and the second half of the book when there plot moves a bit quicker. The first half of the book felt a little bogged down with unnecessary side characters' back stories and relationships. There were also a couple plot points that didn't feel realistic to me (even within the novel's world, accepting time travel). Overall I liked this book and would recommend it to someone who likes both history and science fiction.

Thanks to NetGalley for this Advance Reader Copy.

“He Came. He Saw. She Conquered.” Call me a geek, but I think Latin could make a comeback.

Special Thanks to Imbrifex Books and NetGalley for this little gem. An ARC for a review? I’ll take it!
*disclaimer*
I am a reader. Not a writer. So keep your expectations low here.

Let’s get the trigger warnings out of the way: all super benign but they were there…prostitution, gambling, abduction, mild violence.

I had no idea what I was getting into. I was in a reading slump and decided to randomly pic an ARC. This book completely caught me off guard.

A couple things about me that may have played a large role in my appreciation for this book…I took Latin in HS and have always been obsessed with Roman culture. As a whovian, I’m a sucker for time travel. And as a woman married to a silver Fox, I dig the older man trope. So when it came to a story about scientists who travel back in time to ‘borrow’ Julius Caesar for a few days who in the process falls in love with his much younger translator…did I mention it was a slow burn? yea. I see you Megan Edwards.

This book was very well written and I adored the use of an classical language in a sci fi novel. I wasn’t a huge fan of all the characters backstories nor did I think all of them were necessary. However they were secondary characters, so it didn’t take too much away.

Aside from a brief moment when I actually jotted down “stop being so soft” in my notebook, I loved Cassandra and her journey. Underestimated and understated yet brilliant she went through some serious phases in the book. I loved her approach to relationships and her attitude toward life.

My favorite character, hands down, was Caesar. His inner monologues were amazing. He strategically didn’t speak much so I found myself anxiously waiting for the next time the book switched to his POV so I could hear what he really felt about what was happening to him. I know the exact moment when I fell in love…When he was complaining about Cassandra’s incessant need to fill moments of silence. A close second was when he banished Faith from breakfast for being a harlot. He was great.

This would be a great Book Club read. So many questions to discuss like knowing about how we’re going to die. If you could kidnap one historical figure who would be? What would you ask? If you had a choice would you have stayed?

I can’t give it 5 stars because it wasn’t perfect, but I did thoroughly enjoy it. So 4.5 stars feels right. Give it a whirl!

If you could pick anyone dead or alive to have dinner with, who would it be? In A Coin for the Ferryman, that person is Julius Caesar.

This is a time travel novel that takes place in the recent past – 1999. A Nobel laureate physicist has cracked time travel, the only catch is they must know the exact time and place the person they want to bring to the future has died. There are quite a few options that would make sense, JFK, Lincoln, but none spark the same fascination as Julius Caesar. This novel tells the story of Caesar’s travel to 1999 for 4 days, and as one would expect, things don’t go to plan.

This is an interesting novel to review, because it has a lot going for it, but it does have its pitfalls. First, I could tell a lot of time, effort, and research went into this novel, and upon my own curiosity I found out the author has a degree in classics and has been working on this book for 20 years. The love and passion shows, and I’m very happy for this author getting her novel published.

With that being said, I think the novel is a bit too long. It’s 540 pages and I think it could be edited down, maybe taken 100 pages out. There are a lot of POVs – essentially every character we see had at least 1 POV chapter, but I don’t think it was all necessary. I will say, Edwards ties each character up in the end, but I didn’t think it all impacted to the primary arch of the story. There was a large section in the beginning of the novel that gives backstory to the physicist Andrew Danicek and team members with smaller roles, but it took a while for me to figure out how it connected to the larger story and I almost DNF’d it if I’m being honest. I’m very glad I continued reading this story, but I wish some of that would have been taken out. I did feel some satisfaction once I got to the end, but again it would not have missed it if it had not been there in the first place.

Once we get into the meat of the novel and encounter our main character, Cassandra, and Caesar I was really into this book and got through it so quickly. It reads very cinematically, and I could see it easily being adapted into a movie – think the likes of Angels and Demons or The Da Vinci Code. We have a fun historical character, an attempted kidnapping, romance – it has a lot going on, but I ate it up and would LOVE to see it on screen!

Another thing I loved is the chapters are really short. This novel is long, but the short chapters make it move pretty quick. I’ll also say this is 100% a plot driven novel. That isn’t normally my cup of tea, but again, I was into it, and it’s probably because I’m interested in ancient Greece and Rome. If you’re looking for huge character development, or not interested in Caesar, move along.

This novel sits somewhere between a 3.5-4 star for me. It originally was more like DNF-2 star, but it got a lot better as it went and I can appreciate the way the author ended it. If you can suspend your disbelief, hang with a little corniness in the ending, and like a lot of plot, this novel could be for you!

I wasn't sure about the narrator at first, but his performance grew on me and I really enjoyed it by the end. I think since our main character was a woman, I would have enjoyed a female narrator in addition or instead though.

Thank you to NetGalley and Imbrifex Books for the advance copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

I really liked this book. There were a lot of connections that were nice and added a lot of layers to the story. However, because it was so long, and it's hard to go back and find places again with an audiobook, some of the early details are forgotten by the time they are relevant again. I liked the multiple perspectives, but would have liked to see more of Faith's perspective as the book went along. I think she had a lot of good points about time travel but was pushed to the side after the fallout with Andrew.
I really liked how much thought was put into how time travel would work, with people speaking different languages, having different immune systems,, different ways of life, etc. In a lot of scifi that's not the important part, which can lead to plot holes, but that was avoided very skillfully in this book.
Overall, 4 out of 5 stars.

I am so delighted that my request to listen to this book was granted! It might be one of the best books I’ve ever read. I do not say that lightly. I honestly didn’t have much of a thought about this title other than, that premise seems cool.
If you could bring back any historical figure, would you? And who would it be? Apparently the space/time continuum was cracked in 1999 w/ The IDES project. And Julius Caesar visited the modern world for 4 days. This novel is an account of those 4 days and the events leading up to those 4 days. But is it actually a work of fiction or could this have happened? Has Megan Edwards let us in on an amazing scientific & historical secret OR has she just crafted one of the most brilliant works of fiction to date? Full of heart, history and humor, I cannot recommend A Coin for the Ferryman enough. An absolute pleasure to read.

*Special thanks to Imbrifex Books and NetGalley for this early audio version.*

I am not generally a fan of books on time travel; I find them so steeped in science and theory that it’s hard for me to appreciate the rest of the book. Not so with A Coin for the Ferryman, an enjoyable story that focuses more on the characters and events across time than on the scientific aspects of getting Julius Caesar to the present day and then back to the Ides of March.

The story built slowly, and for a while I wondered if A Coin for the Ferryman would live up to my expectations. There are a lot of characters introduced at the beginning of the book, which was somewhat difficult for me to keep track of with the audio version. While I don’t mind solo audiobook narrators, I think this one could benefit from a cast. I did go back and listen again, to help me remember each character’s story (this is the only point where I found myself thinking that print would be better, but it’s an important one). Getting to know more of Cassandra’s story was a turning point for me, then I became invested in the rest of the book and eager for any opportunity to listen. There was some general explanation of the development of the IDES program, how time travel would work, and why Julius Caesar was chosen, but again it was not so heavy on the theory that it was inaccessible. Overall, I chose not to question any of that for my own enjoyment of the story.

I was disappointed to initially find Caesar an easy character to dislike. There are other unlikeable characters, but I really wanted more from Caesar. There were also seemingly eccentric characters, of course the super intelligent ones, and the kind characters it is easy to adore. Some of them, like Caesar, earn multiple of those distinctions.

The story is helped along by telling parts of each character’s history, mostly in the recent past, that link to the “present day” part of the story as well as a good dose of action and suspense. The brain tingles really begin as the story nears its conclusion and the disparate parts start to come together and reveal some surprises. I started a second listen almost immediately and discovered even more details that I missed the first time through. It is definitely an enjoyable listen, and I will be interested to pick it up in print, as well.

Many thanks to NetGalley and Imbrifex Books for this audiobook in exchange for an honest review.

I love anything ancient Greece or ancient Rome. A Coin for the Ferryman's premise appealed to me. The beginning of the book was slow. You're getting to know the members of the group that is trying to bring Julius Caesar to contemporary times. Some of them were interesting, the rest were uninteresting. After character introductions and setting up the project, the pace quickened. The focus on the cast of characters dwindles down to a handful then really focuses on Caesar and his translator, Cassandra. The second half of the book hooked me and I had to see it to the end. Cassandra was an intriguing character and glad that she played a prominent part of the book.

It has always been intriguing for me to imagine having the opportunity to meet and talk to anyone from the past. How would all the parties act? How would the interaction go? Megan Edwards clearly thought about when writing this novel. Caesar was very similar to how history has depicted him, which in turns makes the whole situation quite plausible. I liked that Edwards sprinkled Caesar's thoughts and memories throughout the story. It was an adventure like if one would take Caesar out for the day, weaving past and with the present. The action made the story more interactive then just having Caesar over for dinner and talking to him. I appreciated the smaller details Edwards incorporated like using roman numerals for labeling the chapters and Caesar saying phrases that were eventually associated with him.

All those classicists and Julius Caesar buffs, who enjoy sci-fi and fantasy books, this is the book for you. The audiobook narrator, Mark Ashby, did a fantastic job too.

The story A Coin for the Ferryman by Megan Edwards took place in 1999. Scientist Andrew Danicheck created a way to bring things through time. He selected a team of the top minds to run his program. After success with non-living and animal subjects, they moved on to a human subject. Their human subject was Julius Caesar. They reached back to that fateful day on the Ides of March and pulled him into the present. With a small team that studied Latin and ancient Rome, they hoped to gain some insight into these times and the famous man. However not everything goes as planned, things quickly spiral out of control. They are left wondering what will happen if Caesar doesn't return to the past?
This is a very character driven book. Almost the first half of the book is background on the characters and the project. However, once Caesar arrives Megan Edwards does not disappoint. She finds a way to bring him to life in a simple and believable manner. She presents him as highly intelligent, confident, and bold. However, as the story progresses, we see other sides as well, playful and inquisitive. The man she builds encourages readers to both hate and love him and feel a whole gambit of emotions along the way!
A Coin for the Ferryman also addressed the implications of changes in the past and their effects in the future. Edward finds a way to make this heavy topic intriguing. She places little nuggets in the story and implies these situations only happened because of the project. Leaving readers to wonder what would have happened if the project never existed.
I really enjoyed this book. It was a refreshing take on time travel. Her choice of Julius Caesar really added an interesting spin to the book. The characters were well developed, so readers could understand all their actions. The merger of facts and opinions of Caesar's character was both thought provoking and entertaining.
My only dislike of the book was that the first half dragged for me. I felt like some of the character background stories could have been left out without really taking away substance from the book. There were a few backstories of characters which did lead to an understanding of their present actions, but they were often drawn out, uneventful and ultimately unnecessary. I really felt like the book would have been better off shortened with less backstory. Despite being a book about time travel, the science is not there. The focus is on the characters and history. It would have been nice to have some type of weak scientific explanation for time travel.
Mark Ashby narrated the book. His voice sounded professional and brisk like a journalist exposing a story, which was perfect considering the premise is that the book was written as a true story released as fiction for legal reasons. He does a great job bringing out the various characters in the book. His pace is steady, and his tone and inflection only add to the feelings brought out by the characters dialog in the book.
I would rate this book 4 out of 5 stars. It is well written and highly engaging. However, as I mentioned previously, part of the book seems to drag. I would highly recommend this book to fans of historical fiction and time travel.

Wow I liked this book way more than I thought I would. I don't know anything about Julius Caesar other than what I learned from watching HBO Rome. This was a great sci-fi story, history lesson, thriller, and a little bit of romance all wrapped up in one great story. I really felt by the end that Caesar was actually brought to life in the story. The Ides of March definitely hit differently now.

My real criticism of this book is how long it takes to really take off. For me, the first half was a 3/5 and the 2nd half a 5/5, hence my final rating of 4/5. It was very frustrating listening to hours of set-up for the event we all knew was coming.

But overall I would definitely recommend this. I actually already recommended it to someone before I even finished it.

Thank you netgalley and Imbrifex Books for giving me an advanced review copy of this audiobook in exchange for an honest review.

My thanks to Imbrifex Books Audio for a review copy via NetGalley of the unabridged audiobook edition of ‘A Coin for the Ferryman’ by Megan Edwards in exchange for an honest review. The audiobook was narrated by Mark Ashby.

I read this book without prior knowledge and was surprised when it opened with Julius Caesar waking on the morning of the Ides of March 44BC and being warned frantically by his wife, Calpurnia, of danger.

He reaches the Theatre of Pompey and is approached by someone who begins to speak then nothing “not only silent, but gone—along with the stench of garum and garlic. In his place was Venus, gazing into Caesar’s eyes and reaching her hands toward him.” Definitely an intriguing start.

In 1999, 26-year old classics student Cassandra Fleury is plucked from her life in Las Vegas to become the youngest member of the IDES Project, an interdisciplinary team engaged in a groundbreaking experiment involving time-travel.

Their plan is to snatch Julius Caesar moments prior to his assassination, hold him in seclusion and involve him in discussions with historians and Latin scholars. Cassandra, who is fluid in Latin, is to serve both as the translator and as hostess. Indeed, Caesar initially mistakes her for Venus. After four days they will return him to the moment he was extracted in order to preserve the timeline.

What could possibly go wrong? These folk have clearly not encountered any time travel fiction! No further details to avoid spoilers but it certainly proved an interesting plot with some great action sequences, twists, a compelling lead in Cassandra and a fascinating portrayal of Caesar.

‘A Coin for the Ferryman’ was clearly a labour of love as Megan Edwards writes in her Acknowledgements that this novel has taken twenty years to write. In addition, she was a Classics major and had taught Latin for many years so knows her subject.

With respect to the audiobook, while Mark Ashby is an experienced voice actor, I initially found his American accent jarring. This faded once I got further into the story though on occasion it still felt out of place.

Overall, I found this an enjoyable ‘what if’ time travel novel with an informed portrayal of Julius Caesar at its heart and some fascinating ideas throughout. I definitely will be interested in reading more of her writings.

Definitely recommended for readers seeking something a little different.

Thanks to the publisher - Imbifrex Books for providing ARC in exchange for an honest review via NetGalley.

3/5 stars

A Coin for the Ferryman by Megan Edwards is a time travel story. The plot of the story goes like this: there is this scientist who invents the machine that can bring back a living thing from the past to our present-day for a specified period of time, the only catch being that the person must be seconds from death and be returned to that very moment so as to not upset the history that comes after. They decide to bring in Julius Caesar from the past. Now, the question is - will they be able to return him back to his time successfully without altering the future? You have to read to find out for yourselves.

I liked the various characters in the story, in particular, I loved reading about Cassandra. I was impressed with the use of Latin phrases in the texts inside the story. I listened to the audiobook narration of the book which was amazing as it brought all the more feel to the adventure that was needed for the setting.

There were unnecessary details that were irrelevant. There were too many descriptions of the things I was least interested in. The story was uselessly dragged to a thick book that could have been cut to a short and crisp one.

It was a fun, light, thrilling, and adventurous read and I would recommend this to SciFi junkies out there
Release Date: 01 Mar 2022.

Review Posted: 13 Mar 2022.

I absolutely loved this book. I enjoyed the narration, the story, the things I learned and the ending. Cannot stop talking about it to everyone.

A Coin For The Ferryman by Megan Edwards is a wild out there time travel story that involves an archeological dig, Latin translator, Roman Emperor, and Las Vegas chips.

The one rule of time traveling is don't change history but when Julius Caesar is involved all bets are off.

I thoroughly enjoyed this action packed very clever story brought to life by narrator Mark Ashby. Pay careful attention to the first chapter because it comes full circle at the end and always Beware The Ides of March

I received a free copy of this audiobook from the publisher via #NetGalley for a fair and honest review. All opinions are my own.

A Coin for the Ferryman by Megan Edwards, narrated by Mark Ashby

Thank you to NetGalley and Imbrifex Books Audio for an ARC for my honest review.

I absolutely loved this time travel book! I found the characters were well-developed and quite interesting. Who wouldn’t want to ask questions of someone from the past. The first part was a bit slow while developing the characters and then the action really took off with the arrival of the first human time traveller.

A very enjoyable book!

#NetGalley #ACoinForTheFerryman

Written by Megan Edwards, this novel dares to answer “What would you ask Julius Ceasar if you could talk to him?” by bringing him to our time, right before he is murdered.

This is a long novel, but the narrator kept me engaged throughout the whole story. This is a long novel, for anyone who isn’t prepared, but it has a good pace and I think explores something that we have all been asked ‘what would you ask a person from history’?

And they do just that. Personally, I have no idea what kind of person Julius Ceasar was, but I think the author really captured what someone in his position could have been like. Someone who was always having to look to the future and make very big decisions and take others into consideration.

Overall, for a history nut, this was a really fun and interesting book. And I really like the premise of who/when/how/why they are able to do this form of time travel.

I 100% recommend this to anyone who is thinking of reading this book.

A Coin for the Ferryman is a thoroughly enjoyable read! Megan Edwards delivers an imaginative and engaging novel, full of unexpected twists and turns. Some adult topics, but without gratuitous sex and profanity.

This book was one of the best books I read in a long time. The characters’ backstories at the beginning of the book made me fall in love with all the characters in different ways. Cassandra is one of my favorite female protagonists in a while. She’s smart and beautiful but will work hard for every thing she has. Her and Caesar’s adventure keeps me listening to this fantastic book and waiting to see what will happen next for the due. The set up for the book is a bit longer than necessary but it was fun and entertaining so it was worth the long wait to finally meet Caesar.

Are you ready to time travel with Julius Cesar? I wasn't either, but Megan Edwards makes it worth your while in her new novel, A Coin for the Ferryman.
I have been here for all of the recent books that have come out with a nod towards ancient Greek or Latin history. Edwards nods at Julius Cesar and then teleports him into a modern day science lab. What could go wrong?
We are served fancy dinner parties, car chases, and rides across the sky on spiral wings... and i didn't roll my eyes once. There are a few distracting side stories and unnecessary romances, but I was impressed with Edwards ability to keep me believing in this ridiculous story. Classic literature this is not, but if you want to time travel with a hero from the classics, buckle up and don't forget your coin!

Thanks to NetGalley and Imbrifex Books for the opportunity to read A Coin for the Ferryman by Megan Edwards and narrated by Mark Ashby in exchange for an honest review.

A Coin For The Ferryman combines a visceral love of history, time travel moral questions, and "like ,what do you think Caesar would make of Las Vegas?"

When Cassandra, a borderline prodigy in Latin, hits her version of rock bottom after discovering the guy of her dreams is actually happily married and lets her friend talk her into taking a paid date at a Vegas casino – her whole life changes. One benevolent billionaire later Cassandra finds herself involved in quite possibly the biggest scientific discovery ever – time travel.

As you can, probably guess - things do not go as planned.

With a premise like “bringing Caesar through time a few minutes before he dies just to see what happens”, expectations are high.

But is it good?

Primarily yes… but a few ‘no’s.

There’s a lot to love about A Coin For The Ferryman – it’s genuinely funny. Like laugh out loud on the bus funny, especially for classicists and ancient historians.

Megan Edwards does a really good job of discussing the moral issues around time travel, live experimentation, the human propensity to act first think later, and the fact that every historical figure is actually a person.
The most central ‘no’s for me are a few practicalities that can largely be excused by the fact that it is, after all, fiction.
- An astonishing number of people are told time travel is real and Caesar is either here or coming, and their response is, “Whaaat? No… Really? You know what, actually, I totally believe you and don’t think you’re having some kind of crisis.”
- That *time travel* is solved scientifically from zero to a hundred in one lifetime, and the hardware is so successfully built that you can go from proof of concept to moving a coin, a dog, and a whole person so quickly.

I don’t have major issues about the 48 hour love that develops between Cassandra and Caesar. Cassandra might be a Latin Genius TM but she’s not exactly street smart. Not to mention that the heady cocktail of trauma bonding, guilt, rebound romance, and overt daddy issues make for a – in my opinion – pretty realistic representation of a person blindly thinking they’re in love.

Similarly, I’m on Faith’s side. Her concerns are legitimate and her treatment as the company villain is bullshit. What I hate more though, is that it makes perfect sense. New female colleague has relationship with powerful project director, he’s an ass, relationship over, she’s treated like shit by everyone while boss man gets an eyeroll and the same level of respect as before.

The writing itself is clean and engaging, I liked the various characters – even the ones I wanted to punch, and I read it in one day because I couldn’t put it down. There is a lot of detail, backstories and context and foreshadowing – it’s an immersive story. I did enjoy the audiobook, the narration was a little slow for me but that’s what playback speed is for.

I did enjoy this book. To start there were one or two points that threw me off the journey, but it is worth listening to.

Through Cassandra's interest in the Classics and her gift in linguistics, she leaves her childhood home and enters a world of power, money and living history. Whilst attempting to earn enough money to go through college she makes contacts that rocket her into a world of intellectual intrigue, science fiction and romance.

The book starts slowly with an interesting pre-story that introduces the motives of one of the main protagonists. The story wanders a little at the beginning introducing some of the other actors in the story but persevere because it becomes more interesting. Although the ending isn't completely unpredictable, the journey there is full of action and interesting historical facts.

Initially, the narration felt robotic but it grows on you.

This book was fantastic

I was unsure on whether it was for me but as soon as I started it I was hooked, the time travel, the science, the drama and the history. So so good. I also loved the little twist at the end.

This book is the story of a group of classics researchers who manage to bring Julius Caesar to modern day just moments before he is meant to be killed on the Ides of March. In fact, they refer to it as the Ides Project. Anyway, they snatch him and he does not react well to it. He spits at the people he encounters on our end and passes out. Once he gets his feet under him, they all end up on an adventure together.

I really enjoyed this story. It was fun that they brought him here and he was unwilling to ask questions about what was going on. He just acted like cars were a normal thing for a while, which was charming, I thought. There was a lot of stuff here that would definitely appeal to someone who really enjoyed ancient Rome, Caesar, Cleopatra, even. There were a lot of interesting tidbits about the ancient times.

I did not like the narrator for the audiobook. He was a bit monotone and I didn't like that a male voice read parts that were written as a female character. That was odd at times. I would not recommend listening to this one.

I'm happy to finally report that the NetGalley audio app is improving! It's a tiny bit distorted as the speed increases but not like previous reads.

This novel starts with an appropriately vague framing narrative and inexplicably ends by going back to it. The premise is fun - move someone (dead) from a known moment in history, hang out for a few days, and send them back to their imminent death none the wiser. It's a historical heist set in modern times with a very exciting glimpse into Caesar's political strategy. Maybe it's just my cynicism, but a lot of the plot could have been avoided by involving someone with any knowledge of psychology in the Ides Lab. Instead, awkward circumstance after awkward circumstance led to misunderstandings and high speed chases. The book unraveled pleasantly, like an episode of Seinfeld, where Caesar is George Costanza. It was fun escape reading.

I have to say, I caught the major spoiler about halfway through when I remembered that the first of the book spoke about someone's family in the current day. This book had an interesting enough premise, though there was a lot more exposition than was necessary.

Thanks to NetGalley for the audiobook ARC.

Let me preface this review: I have read a lot of time travel books, and most of them drive me crazy. I still can't even talk about how much I disliked 'Timeline' by Michael Crichton...(shudder)...

Anyway, I make that point to emphasize how much I loved A Coin for the Ferryman. This was truly one of the best books I've read in a long time. I loved how the author dispensed with all the scientific pitfalls of time travel and focused on the characters and the story. And the characters and story were top-notch. I would highly recommend this to anyone who enjoys a good story, especially if you hate time travel books.

I was intrigued by the synopsis for this novel, but I was wholly unprepared for what exactly lays within this book.

The audiobook gives vibes like reading any nonfiction which adds to the scientific and historical themes of the story, I really liked that! It took itself seriously in a very fun way. I enjoyed the cast of characters, their differences, and the realistic interactions and relationships between them.

While I agree with others criticism that the beginning could be much more concise than it is, I really liked how the story explores both the scientific possibility and the ethics of what they are attempting to do with Julius Caesar.

Once the action gets going, I found this book unputdownable! I was totally enchanted with the action and exploring the mind of such a figure of history! I wanted to jump in and live it, I wanted to throw the book at the TV as if that would bring it to life as something I could watch before my eyes. It's definitely a visual book with its descriptions of the scenery, technology, clothing, and very natural observations of human behavior like body language that were all necessary for the storyline.

For me personally, this was also one of those books that just went the way I wanted it to. There's no other way to say it, lol. I enjoyed the turns of action and relationships, and I loved the ending.

On the one hand, this isn't going to be for everybody. But on the other, a book like this can appeal to those who like history, historical fiction, or science fiction. My taste and my husband's very rarely overlap, but this is one he could enjoy too.

The narration was easy to listen to and well done even with the large cast of characters.

Thank you net galley and publisher for an audio copy to read and review

"A Coin for the Ferryman" hooked me immediately with its new twist on time travel and I appreciated that at the beginning I could tell that the majority of the story was going to take place in the early 2000s/late 1990s which the author was very versed in bringing to life.

From the first half of the book, I got "Goldfinch" meets "Sleeping Giants" vibes and I really appreciated the delicate and intricate backstories that accompanied the introduction of each main character. Because the author was smart enough to have started with a mini-time jump, the energy of the first half was exciting, if a bit ominous, a feeling that made me keep reading to find out what could possibly have happened.

Unfortunately, as soon as the "big event" happened in the middle of the book, I feel like it lost all of its propulsion, and the character's intentions and dimension were lost, too. This was coupled with some truly bizarre character choices that felt all at once flummoxing and too convenient. Then pair that with the strangeness of breaking chapters in the middle of scenes with no reason. Because I read the audiobook, I found this particularly jarring and a few times had to check my phone to see if the book had paused because of a glitch, when in fact it was a chapter break.

If I could rate this book more accurately I would say the first half 5/5, the second half 1/5.

Thank you to NetGalley for the audiobook in exchange for my honest opinion.

This audiobook was so good! Everything was well executed….the flow of the story, the details, the narrator and the plot. Very well written piece of historical fiction. I was concerned that i didn’t know much about Julius Caesar going into the story, turns out my worries were for nothing. The author tied in enough historical facts to keep me interested but not enough to bore me. Five stars. Very impressed!

Thank you, Megan Edwards, narrator Mark Ashby, Imbrifex Books, and Netgalley for this audiobook ARC in exchange for an honest review!

I want to start this off by saying that I will consume any and every form of media that features things relating to Ancient Greece and Rome! Historical knowledge about Rome or Julius Caesar is not really necessary to enjoy this book (but it may be beneficial).

A Coin for the Ferryman follows a team of researchers (and eventually Julius Caesar himself) as they plot to transport Caesar to their lab right before the dictator was set to be stabbed 23 times. While I was expecting the story to be more historically driven, I was pleasantly surprised to see that plot veer off into something different. I would categorize this book as more of a historian's guilty pleasure adventure novel.

Stories involving the use of time travel are always so interesting, as there are so many ways to go about explaining the science of it all. While I did wish that they touched upon the dynamics of time travel a bit more, its relevance to the plot eventually diminished until Caesar had to return. It does feel a bit as if some portions of the story were cut out or scrapped, as it seemed like there were hints that were dropped about the biological impact of time travel on the body (with Caesar's aching body and the dog's wide eyes/scared reaction).

Overall It was interesting watching the story unfold. At first, I was a bit worried, as it seemingly took very long for Julius Caesar to actually appear. However, the "pre-Caesar" portion of the novel served as a means to set the plot in motion and put all plot threads into place.

Another thing that stood out to me was that the female characters were often written and described in a more negative manner than the men. I had to double-check to make sure that this book was in fact written by a woman rather than a man. About halfway through the novel, I believe there is a line where one female character judges another female character for trying to compete with men in the STEM field. Even if the character is unlikeable, it's a bit of a low blow to criticize characters for the work that they are doing, and how they go about doing it. It was also odd how the appearances or beauty of a female character was constantly brought up, but the appearances of the men are never really mentioned.

Just as a final thought: I do wish that the romance between Julius Caesar and Cassandra would have been left out of the book, as I was quite enjoying the story up until the point when they got together. I do understand that it was needed in order to explain one of the final chapters, however, the relationship evolved so fast that it threw me for a loop. Up until this point, I sort of viewed Cassandra as Caesar's equal; a trusted guide of sorts. She is quite literally the only person that is able to understand him, so she is really the only person that he can truly rely on. While Cassandra is similar to her mythological namesake in that she has a story to tell that no one will believe, I viewed her more as a take on the titular Ferryman that is tasked with guiding Caesar through the adventure and joys of the modern world and eventually to his death.

This was... a journey. I honestly had a lot more expectations from this book and while I did enjoy it as an audiobook, some things were just ridiculous.
First of all, this book has too many characters, so it's quite difficult for the reader to keep track of each and every one. Secondly, the 'love story' is too much to bear, I couldn't digest it and thought the main female character was pretty weak and a little disoriented with regard to what she wanted to do with her life.
The rest of the characters were more or less cringey and even Julius Caesar himself was strange... I really don't think he would have reacted in the way the author chose to describe it if he were to have been transported from his time to ours (or the 90s, anyway). I don't necessarily think he would have been scared, but he definitely wouldn't have adapted so easily to the future as it is suggested in this book.
I'm pretty disappointed that this book could have been much better but just isn't.

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for giving me the opportunity to listen to this audiobook.

I dont typically do audio, but I REALLY wanted to read this book, so now I have a new obsession - Megan Edwards delivers a GRAND novel, truly unique AND audio books! Thank you NetGalley!

This one was hard for me to get into, but once it got going a few chapters in, I was hooked. Thoroughly confused as all get out, but hooked. It was a weird, delightful, tense, upsetting, entertaining, thought provoking ride and I'm definitely still digesting all of it!

I really liked the concept of this book! The tie in of the ancient and the present is something I was immediately drawn to.

Cassandra was my favorite character in the book. But I really enjoyed the look at ancient characters like Caesar.

This could just be a me thing, but I wish I read the book instead of listening to it on audio. The narration was very monotone and at times I thought very robotic. That took me out of the story. But the writing itself is engaging! I'd would recommend reading this book instead of listening, though!

This was an amazing book. I must admit it did take me a chapter or two to get into but when I did it had me hooked. This book was very different to the types of books that I normally read but I am so glad that I did get it because the journey it took me on was brilliant. I listened to the audiobook and loved the narrator he added enjoyment and great atmosphere to the story. I loved all the different characters the author created and I really started to will them on especially the main characters. There were plenty of times I ended up speaking out loud as I got emotional attached to the story. It was so full of unexpected twists and turns that I just couldn't put it down. I really enjoyed this book and definitely recommend it to those who love time travel books. I will definitely be looking out for more books by this fantastic author. 

So much praise goes out to the author and publishers for creating such a unique and wonderful story that took me on a exciting journey that I could really lose myself in. 
The above review has already been placed on goodreads,waterstones, Google books, Barnes&noble, kobo, amazon UK where found and my blog https://ladyreading365.wixsite.com/website/post/a-coin-for-the-ferryman-by-megan-edwards-imbrifex-books-4-star either under my name or ladyreading365 or lady Reading365 or ladyc reading

AS FOR THE AUDIOBOOK

The audiobook experience was enjoyable since the same narrator took charge of the whole thing. It makes you wonder why is it narrated by a masculine voice sisnce the story is written as if a woman (our main character, that is) is the one sharing the story, but by the end of the book you realize who is actually telling most of the story and that a plottwist on itself that you may only experience with the audiobook.

(same review as for the read book)
Earlier this year I read this novel and well it was a surprise.

I'm not specially attached to Greek or Roman mythos/history, so definetely the time travelling portion of the synopsis is what caught me. The plot involves Julius Caesar, time travelling, culture clash and a possible affair somewhere in the timeline that may lead to a continuation of this story.

In a once in a lifetime opportunity our main character starts working with a group of hella smart people super interested in proving that they've found THE way to time travel, as with anything in life, there are some conditions that need to be met so the course of life as we know it won't change after the completion of this challenge. Obviously many go wrong (or as wrong as they could) and some loose strings remain, what will happen with those? (not sure, but I don't think this'll lead to a sequel, to be honest).

This was entertaining to read and it may be a reason for me to start diving back into Greek/Roman mythos. We'll see.

Have you ever wanted to get horizontal with a historical figure and have a whirlwind romance as you’re getting chased by money-hungry goons?!?! But gosh Darnet you weren’t born in the same era?! At the risk of a spoiler alert that’s no problem for our team of kooky historians, linguists, and archeologists that make up the idea project because they’re bringing back a Roman beefcake!! But I won’t say who it is!! For historical accuracy, I would give a 6/10 but since Megan threw in time travel, a mad scientist, several love stories, and a TWIST ending that would make M. Night Shyamalan get whiplash, I’m giving the book as a whole an 8/10! It would have been higher but the tropes were a troping hard!! But if that’s your thing a coin for the ferryman may be a 9-10/10. Bonus points for two title drops in the book's dialogue! Chefs kiss!
So would I recommend this book to you my history BFF?! Uhm yes, yes I totally would!

The concept was good, but it never came together for me. The biggest struggle was determining which time period we were in. I thought that his could have been a little more clear. The concept of time travel was cool, but I thought it's connections to the ferryman and coin collecting were weak. The author tried to do too many things at once. I am curious to see where she goes from here.

Really enjoyed this audiobook! It was such a creative and interesting story, great for those who are fans of Ancient Rome & the Classics. I've already recommended this to several friends and will be picking up a copy.

What if we could bring back people from the past? What could you ask them? How could they illuminate history? This is the question at the heart of Megan Edward’s brilliantly bonkers book. A gaggle of somewhat mismatched and deeply flawed scientists, historians and classicists gather at a facility near UCLA to attempt the unthinkable. The stakes are enormous, tempers and emotions run high and in a way that would be unimaginable to their patrician target capitalism rears its ugly head!

I won’t spoil who the target is or how their arrival transports the action from a contemplation on the elasticity of time to a chase caper through the gridlocked freeways of LA, but it’s a helluva ride!

Edward’s tale is entertaining enough to be gripping and thoughtful enough to be a brain teaser. It’s great fun, Cassandra is a great protagonist and as a more esoteric take on a beach read I couldn’t recommend it more!

I was so excited by the premise of this book, but I had difficulty following the thread of the story because of the audiobook narrator's style. I probably should have given it more time, but this may be a case "right book, wrong format" for me. I plan to read some of the author's earlier works and revisit this novel later.

Thank you Netgalley and Inbrifex Publishing for this advance listener copy in exchange for my honest review.

I liked this book a whole lot more than I expected to. It was fun and fast paced and unlike anything else I've ever read. What a ride. Julius Caesar? Time travel? Count me in.

First I want to say that this was one of the most unique stories I've had the pleasure of reading in the past couple of decades. The writing style was average, but the story was great. It might have been a little bit too long, but I never lost interest. There were a weird subplot with Cassandra and Julius Caesar that really didn't make a lot of sense to me and seemed to break all of the Back to the Future time travel laws, but it was still a good story. The audio wasn't the best, so I'm glad the story moved along quickly. I would have DNFd a more character driven story if he was narrating. 3.75 stars. It was a fun read for any fans of time travel.

A Coin for the Ferryman (Hardcover)
by Megan Edwards

Expanding the idea of time travel. This book shows the relationship between people, and personal connections are more important than the events of the past. After phenomenal scientific capability of time travel, the one question is what would you do? Who would you like to meet? Even with the restriction that it has to be a person who is dead, unnaturally dead. It brings an intellectual debate, that may be more remarkable than anything. The author choose one of the most renown and known historical generals. His entrance into modern times is not easy, nor following the plan of the scientist. Its a great adventure, and remarkable humanistic story.
the audio book is well read, and the voice of the reader add to the literary language, and intrigue of the book.

This is a time travel story and even though I don’t particularly like to read sci-fi, the author won me over by throwing me a “history bone” 😂 Basically, a scientist invents a machine that can bring back a living thing from the past to our present-day for a specified period of time. The catch? The person must be seconds from death and be returned to that very moment so as to not interfere with History. The longer you go back, the longer the person gets to stay in the present, and since they really need to know the exact timeline from which to take the person, they decide to bring Julius Caesar from the past. Now, the question is - will they be able to return him back to his time successfully without altering the future?

As I said, I’m not big on sci-fi and was worried the story would lean a lot into the scientific specifics of the experiment, and not a lot on the experiment itself. Fortunately, it leaned way more in History and even Latin, than in any scientific stuff. The silver linings of this book for me were for sure the fact that they chose Julius Caesar and that I liked Cassandra’s character so much. The other characters felt oftentimes basic and flat, and we also got a lot of unnecessary backstory that occupied space that could’ve been better used to enrich the storyline. I appreciated the fact that the author stayed true to what we know about Julius Caesar personality, but I’d have enjoyed if he was a little more reactive to the situation he was in - I understand he’s a very tactical person, but we’re talking about a 21 centuries jump… no one, not even JC would stay that calm and collected.

If you like time-travel and ancient history, I believe it’s a book you could enjoy, specially the audiobook, since the narrator definitely adds a nuance to the story.

Thank you to Imbrifex Books and NetGalley who provided me with a copy of this audiobook in exchange for an honest review.

A Coin For The Ferryman seemed right down my alley. Ancient Rome, time travel, adventure and drama!? Yes please!

It started off a bit more slowly than I like and there seemed to be gratuitous characters that were hard to keep straight. However, it does set the reader up for the rest of the book so if you are like me, keep on going, the adventure is about to start!

There is a development towards the end of the book that felt out of place, rushed and really unneeded. I don't want to say more because of spoilers and there is a reason for it in the end.

I do have to add that I listened to the audiobook and felt that I would have enjoyed the novel more if I had physically read it. I know this is totally subjective but I struggled to get through it as an audio as I found it to be very bland.

Despite those two blips, I enjoyed the ride with Cassandra and Caesar and the situations they found themselves in. The idea of bringing back a historical figure for a couple of days is exciting and thought provoking. Who would you bring back?

I really enjoy novels about time traveling so I was excited to get to review this audiobook. A COIN FOR THE FERRYMAN by Megan Edwards and narrated by Mark Ashby.

In 1999, an elite interdisciplinary team gathered to carry out a time travel experience. Instead of them traveling to the past, they bring someone from the past to them. While the rest of the world remained unaware, they successfully bring Julius Caesar to their covert facility. The plan is to have four days with him before they have to send him back, but things rarely go to plan. Since everyone involved had to sign an extensive Non-Disclosure Agreement, none of what actually happened has been able to shared. Until now.

This kept my interest but I felt there were places that could have used more information, like how the time machine actually worked, and places that could have used less, like a latte that was a bit over described. I give it 3 stars.

An advanced copy of this audiobook was provided for review purposes courtesy of Imbrifex Books, NetGalley, and the author Megan Edwards. Book publish date is March 1, 2022. Audiobook was narrated by Mark Ashby. Thank you for an opportunity to review this book.

A Coin for the Ferryman is a mix of historical fiction and fantasy of time travel. What happens if Julius Caesar time travels to Ceasar's Palace in Las Vegas in 1999? It's an interesting concept, and plenty of interesting characters appear, including a group of scholars who are involved in the time travel projects However, execution has much more to be desired for.
The story is told in over 100 short chapters, of 35 could be edited out. Details of each characters are interesting, but many episodes are unnecessary to the main theme and meandering the reader's attention away. Also, the last chapter really made no sense to me.
Also, this audiobook narration was so monotonous and mechanical that I ended up waiting for the book to be published and obtained a copy of Ebook to read. I am generally a big fan of audiobooks, but not for this narration. This is no fault of the author, and I would highly recommend to avoid the audiobook.
Lastly, the cover - this is a personal taste, but I didn't think it was attractive.

Overall, the writing and concept was nice, and it could be significantly improved with a better editing, narration for an audiobook as well as book cover. I might try her next book.

Thank you to Megan Edwards and Imbrifex publishers for the Opportunity to listen to this unabridged audiobook. I’ll be honest I almost gave up. I started this a few weeks ago and could not get into it at all. I didn’t feel for the story, the characters and it just didn’t capture me. Last week however I put this back on during a long drive and something, or more specifically Cassandra hooked me in and I couldn’t wait to listen to more. This is a huge story, with hours and hours of listening time but I enjoyed it all. The storyline is not my usual go to with time travelling often being a little to unbelievable for me but on this occasion it worked. This book my me laugh and cry out loud which are testament to a good story. I will definitely pick up another by Megan Edwards. The narrator worked nicely for me too. Persevere if you have started it…it honestly is worth it.

The title and book blurb were intriguing, so I requested a copy from netgalley and was lucky to get one.

It is a slow start; for a long time, nothing much is happening, yet I listened with bated breath -- after all, it is about time travel, and who isn't intrigued by time travel?
Add to that the very intriguing title...
We get to know the main characters and their background stories, and slowly, the story unfolds.
Once the first part of the time travel has been successfully accomplished, the speed picks up, and our heroine has her hands full if she wants to save the day.

There are very good observations of how people behave under which circumstances, which, to me, added to the story, even though it slowed it down.
There are some nice twists and turns, and the plot kept me listening until the ending, with only brief breaks for sleep.

The narrator's enunciation was perfect, although I think he might be better suited to read non-fiction -- but of course that is subjective, and he did a good job.

#ACoinforTheFerryman #MeganEdwards #ImbrifexBooks #NetGalley

An intriguing and fantastical premise involving time travel and a historical figure. What would it be like to bring back Julius Caesar to life from just four days prior to his death on the Ides of March? That is the vision of the Ides Project conceived by Andrew Danicek and his team comprising of scientists, historians, and scholars in Latin. To not interfere with the time-space continuum, Caesar is to be returned to the past after four days, to meet his destiny. Cassandra, the youngest member of the team, plays a decisive and vital role in the story. What follows is an interesting blend of action and adventure with a touch of romance. In a nutshell, “He came. He saw. She conquered”.

I enjoyed this ALC. Mark Ashby does a fine job of bringing the characters to life through his narration.

This book drew me in I really loved this audiobook alot. It was shocking and had me on the edge of my seat while listening to it. I really liked the narrator also he was really good.

It's very rare that a book stays with me... haunts me... and makes me want to reread it. This is one of the few novels that I didn't expect to make my top 10 list, but it has. I always LOVED teaching Julius Caesar with my 10th graders. It's always fun and exciting. I feel like if I were given the chance to go back in time and talk to Caesar - I totally would. So some really smart and powerful people team up to conquer time travel. The parameters of the experiment are limited to people on the verge of death so they wouldn't be able to talk about the time travel and it would have limited affects on the current timeline. Having to know exactly when and where they would die was a must and narrowed down the potentials for this experiment. The first test with a living being was on the doctor's dog. She brought her dog back for a few minutes before it was hit by a car in the past... but it's not so easy to let go of the past. And Faith isn't the same after the experiments success. Can the team successfully pull off the biggest kidnapping ever? What will Caesar think of Caesar's Palace in Vegas? Can the past truly stay just in the past? Read on to find out!

The first half of the book is a slow build, but it's worth it for the second half. Trust me. I was disconnected for part of the first half and confused - but it does all come together.

Also - some of the book takes place in Vegas and specifically mentions the high school I used to teach for. So that was awesome!

I enjoyed this audiobook. The narrator had a very engaging speaking voice. Early in the story, he pronounced a word strangely—just a single word. Otherwise, I was able to sink into the world of the Ides project without much protest.

Thank you for giving me the opportunity to review this audiobook! Since it was 16+ hours, it took me a long time to complete it. I apologize for the delay. I would definitely recommend this story to my students as they express an interest in time travel, Rome, or any of the novel’s other unique topics.

A Coin for the Ferryman is a heaping helping of time travel and romance with a side of car chases and nefarious henchmen with guns. But most importantly it’s got Julius Caesar.

In 1999 Nobel winner Andrew Danicek assembles a team of elite scientists and researchers, all sworn to secrecy, for a daring project. Danicek has successfully engineered a time travel machine. He intends to establish its abilities, and demonstrate its usefulness by snatching Julius Caesar right before his betrayal on the Ides of March in 44 BC and transporting him to his lab in modern day Los Angeles.

The predecessors of this time machine allowed the user to dial in a specific time and place in the past and be able to view what happened there. Now, at the start of the book, the latest machine has successfully transported an inanimate object from, and returned it to, the past. The first half of the book takes us through the assembly of the team and the successful transportation of a living being - a dog that had once belonged to the medical doctor on the team.

I found the first half of the book to be a slow build, with lots more backstory than was really necessary to establish the book’s plot points. While the plot does move slowly in the first half, Edwards balances it with her ability to convey her characters and their surroundings. She is skillful at setting mood and painting pictures of the people in her stories.

I found the backstory on the time travel tech to be a bit sketchy. For reasons not fully fleshed out, once Julius Caesar was here in the present there were only two points in time where he could be sent back to the past - once very shortly after he arrived, and once again four days later. For such an important plot point I was disappointed that there wasn’t more to establish why these constraints existed.

Anyway, once Julius Caesar is transported, the pace of the book really takes off. The team had choreographed four days of scientific activity and researcher questioning for the Roman emperor. But Caesar suffers no fools, and quickly establishes his own agenda, escaping from what he perceives to be a kidnapping. He takes Cassandra, the young linguist from the team, with him.

What follows includes mad car chases, a plane ride forced down by bullet holes, and a hideout in, of all places, Caesar’s Palace in Las Vegas. There Cassandra and Caesar establish a real bond and a romance begins to blossom. Meanwhile the pair are being hunted by the dark suited henchman of the husband of one of the scientists. He’s in debt up to his eyeballs to the Russian Mob, and thinks Caesar is the way out of his problems. (If it’s ever explained why or how having Caesar will solve his problems I missed that part.) The rest of the book is a race against time and the bad guys to get Caesar back to the time machine so he can return to 44 BC at the four day deadline.

When I say the book is a heaping helping, I mean it. In book form it weighs in at 540 pages. In the audiobook version I listened to, it's over 13 hours long. So it’s an investment of your time. But if you can get through the slow build in the first half, and forgive the few plot holes, the second half of the book pays off - it might not be quite Dan-Brown-thriller level, but it is really good.

RATING: Three Stars ⭐⭐⭐

NOTE: I received a review copy of this audiobook from NetGalley and Imbrifex Books. I am voluntarily providing this review.

The premise of this book was interesting, but the focus on Caesar did not hold my attention and I felt my interest waning throughout the story. I would have preferred more of the time travel and less of the historical/mythological elements!

This is one of those books that I just stumbled across on NetGalley. I’ve heard nothing about this A Coin for the Ferryman, even though it was published in March of this year. I was intrigued by the title and the premise and requested the audiobook earlier this month, and started listening as soon as I was approved. While not a perfect book, it was a lot of fun!

The premise here is kind of wacky: time travel has been privately discovered, and a tentative plan to build a team and “borrow” Julius Caesar from the moments before his death on this Ides of March. Because of the distance from the event, they’ll be able to host and interview Caesar over the course of 4 days before returning him to the exact moment from which he was extracted. The dream team to be compiled must include: a couple of engineers to run the technology, a doctor to ensure that Caesar doesn’t croak before his historically appointed death, and a couple of classicists with whom Caesar can actually converse. Because, you know, Latin. As luck would have it, the person best at conversational Latin happens to be a young, beautiful college student named Cassandra. In hopes that her beauty will draw Caesar in and that her grasp of the language will make him more compliant, she is drafted to become the final member of the team.

I really like the story itself. However, the first half, over 250 pages of this book, is just the preparation for Caesar’s arrival. This felt like an excessive amount of build-up. The book is 540 pages, and I feel like it would have been a much stronger, tighter story if edited down to under 400 pages. It just felt unnecessarily bloated. Secondly, I feel like with a book of this length, the characters should have been more multifaceted. While I liked our main perspective character, Cassandra, she came across as almost flawless. The rest of the characters could almost seem like caricatures in various portions of the story. I didn’t find them unlikeable, per se, but they felt oddly flat for how long was spent laying out the details of each. I also found some of the interpersonal relationships unbelievable. Chemistry that was implied between various members of the cast felt a bit forced and unlikely.

But again, the story itself was a lot of fun. I really enjoyed the concept, and the appearance of Julius Caesar really spiced everything up. He was definitely the star of the show, along with Cassandra. There were some truly funny moments, and quite a few madcap scenes that kept me on the edge of my seat. Even if there were a few things I didn’t love about the execution, I found the idea so wonderfully original that I would absolutely recommend it to others.

I am someone who studied history in college- with an emphasis on greek history and this book just was so beautiful. I am someone that usually reads romance or fantasy... or honestly complete smut. Then I decide I need to use my brain and give it a break and boy was this a beautiful one. I think from start to finish this was such a genius book and I enjoyed it immensely. I definitely plan on reading more by this author.

As a former Latin scholar, I was deeply intrigued by the concept of this book - Julius Caesar and time travel? Why not? And, that was the mindset I kept for most of the book. It's a bit of a wild ride and one for fans of speculative fiction.

Many thanks to the author, publisher, and NetGalley for sharing this one with me. All thoughts are my own.

Struggling to make ends meet in Las Vegas, with a mother who is a teacher and a gambling and always-broke stepfather, Cassandra loves Latin and the classics and only wants to go to college to study more. But, her earnings as a waiter aren't going to cover her desired education. Encouraged by her friend, Cassandra finally agrees to be an 'escort'. Her first client turns out to be a lonely millionaire missing his deceased wife and daughter. Alexander Hunt and Cassandra learn they have a shared passion for the Latin language and antiquities. As a result, Alex offers to pay Cassandra's way through college, no strings attached.

In California, Cassandra finds a lovely landlord and accepts a part time job as a Latin translator with a Nobel winning scientist. The job requires that she sign all kinds of nondisclosure agreements. The scientist, Andrew Danicek, has built a machine he thinks can transport people through time. But, they need to know exactly where someone was at a specific time. Because the death of Julius Caesar was so well documented, Danicek's team decides to bring Caesar to the year 1999, with Cassandra as translator. The plot becomes more involved, with an attempt to kidnap Caesar, Danicek's backstory, as well as Caesar's skepticism at the whole story. He could only be returned at a specific time, four days later, and the race is on to get him back to Rome in time to be assassinated.

Cassandra needs help to return Caesar to the facility so he can be sent back to Rome, and she works with Alexander Hunt to get Caesar back in time.

Mark Ashby has recorded over 500 books and been nominated for awards for his work.

This book is recommended for readers who enjoy science fiction, action, and for those who like stories about ancient Rome.

The question posed by a scholar was, "What would Julius Caesar do?" Caesar was a genius and brilliant at the art of politics and war; based on his brilliance, an interdisciplinary team decided to set up a secret project to bring Caesar to the present via time travel.
Caesar is brought to the future, and during his short stay, he experiences quite the adventure with Cassandra, the Latin scholar on the team. He goes to Vegas, runs from individuals that want to benefit from the secret project, and learns of his fate.
A Coin for the Ferryman is a slow-paced book, at least in the first half, where readers will learn about the time travel project, and a great deal of character development is made regarding Cassandra, our lead character.
Once Julius Caesar travels to the present, the story picks up the pace significantly, which engrossed this reader. It was a curious read, and I kept reading to learn what would happen to Caesar in the present day and if his fate would remain the same.
Overall, A Coin for the Ferryman was compelling in premise, but the pacing was troublesome for me. The story was flat with Caesar's experiences; much of the story could have been dedicated to this portion of the story.
I recommend this book to readers that enjoy time travel and unevenly-paced novels.

I read this for NetGalley for an honest review.

A Coin for the Ferryman was an interesting, fun book to read. This book was hard to put down at times.
The author did a good job of introducing the characters and giving you enough background on each one to make them interesting. The time travel part of the story was interesting and had some catches to it that definitely had a down side.
It was funny that they decided to go after Julius Caesar, to bring him forward to the current time. Caesar was quite a character when he arrived. So you learn about his life and loves.
Then once they have to go on the run with Caesar to keep him safe, the book gets really really good. Hard to put down.
I listened to the audiobook and the narrator was good.

I enjoyed this story. I liked the twist of having the past brought into the future rather than taking the story to the past. There are a lot of characters to keep track of and they have complex back stories. I thought some of them were overly complex for the overall plot.

The only reason I am not giving this book 5 stars is the audio narrator. He was awful. He has strange inflection pattern while also maintaining a drone like quality. At times, I felt like it was being read by a computer from the 90s. I wish I had read this rather than listening to it.

I was gifted a copied of the audio book in exchange for my review. My opinions are my own.

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.

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!

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.

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.

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.

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.

"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.

DNF'd. The story didn't grab me in the way I wanted it to, despite having a very promising and interesting premise. I might try it again just to see if I wasn't in the right headspace on my first read through

I wanted to read A Coin for the Ferryman as soon as I read the synopsis. I love odd books with very specific details, I was ready!

So we start off with Philippa finding a coin in ancient strata that ALSO dates twenty five years in the future. Fascinating! Welp, turns out she's not actually very important to the story, so we skip over to Faith, our intrepid scientist who immediately begins an affair with her boss, who is several decades older than her. ... Only to find out that she is also, actually, not particularly important to this story. She gets sidelined and is just repeatedly referred to as a cranky bitch for the rest of the book. Huh, oooookay.

Onto the third genius female, our main star, Cassandra! She is gorgeous. Knock out. Amazingly beautiful. You will know this because the book will remind you. CONSTANTLY. In addition to being so gorgeous she's literally mistaken for the goddess Venus, she is also brilliant (as a college student, she speaks multiple languages, including Latin that is even better than her professors). She's even a champion driver (did we mention the cranky bitch gets a whole scene about how she can't drive the stick shift that Cassandra can? It's in there only to showcase how cool Cassandra is).

Everything works out perfectly for Cassandra. Immediately. It's... honestly pretty ridiculous, but as stated above, she is GORGEOUS so, y'know.

Honestly, overall this was a fun romp that read quickly, and I'm glad they didn't get bogged down too much in the time travel details. Caesar is an interesting character (although he shows up late and is quiet for longer than I'd like), and despite being the most perfect person to ever exist, Cassandra is fairly interesting as well. I would say the story was predictable but fun. Like an action movie.

I guess that's my review - this would be a good action movie.

I enjoyed some aspects of this book. The time travel element was intriguing and I enjoyed the scientific aspects.

However the plot is were this story really feel short or rather long. The story really started to drag especially around the middle with tangent plot lines. The characters seemed to do anything the scene required regardless of if it remained in character from the previous scene. Side characters became confusing, introduced and then mentioned chapters later, such as her landlord and her neighbour.

I also found myself many times questioning that this book was written by a WOMEN as some of the descriptions and even the perspectives of women were highly sexualised in such a sexist fashion that I found it quite unbelievable.

I was impressed however with the Latin used within the book, the audiobook made this even more accessible and a unique aspect to the read.

I really wanted to enjoy this book more as the idea of Caesar in the modern world sounded so interesting but from the prologue I immediately guessed? the twist? ending.

I wish the ending had been kept as more of a twist as the ‘reveal’ at the end was rather lackluster as it just confirmed what I had known for almost 600 pages.

While I am happy I finished it - the ending didn’t feel like much pay off.

However I would like to thank NetGalley and the publisher for gifting me this ARC.

This was a good book and I enjoyed the audio version and thought the narrator did a great job. I loved the idea of time travel which is why I asked for this book specifically. I did think it was a little long and there were so many details that I didn’t think were needed, but overall an enjoyable book!

I enjoyed this! I think I definitely prefer listening to the audiobook of this over reading a physical copy. I found it more approachable and enjoyable.

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.

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.

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.

This book has been a great listening experience. Thanks to the author and the publisher for bringing this book to life.