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.

Thank you to Imbrifex Books and Net Galley for access to an ARC copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

In theory, this book sounds like a fun and somewhat ridiculous science fiction book. In practice, it is a somewhat lacklustre attempt at a serious and emotional novel.

The concept for A Coin for the Ferryman intrigued me greatly as a classics student and lover of time travel and science fiction. Time travel is a device which few writers successfully use – and here it is under-explored. The narrative I was expecting was fun, irreverent – maybe even a comedy. What I got was a droll, lengthy book that wound around its point, and seemed not to find itself in the end. The character motivations seemed non-existent, and the plot itself relied on the characters not talking or thinking. The ending seemed to think itself emotional, but did not earn this payoff. I found myself waiting for this book to be over, and knowing exactly what was going to happen. Despite the female author, the plot fell into a distinctly misogynistic feel in its handling of relationships and female characters, which made it a fairly uncomfortable read.

The use of flashbacks was a nice reprieve as a device, if a little overused. The theme of lost classical knowledge and the lack of conversational Latin in classical teaching was, honestly, my favourite part of the book.

The narrator of the audiobook was dynamic, but his voice was easy to zone out, and I had to go back multiple times to listen to bits I missed.

2/5

2.5 ⭐️

I was very much hoping that this book would be for me, but unfortunately it was not. The premise of the book itself seemed really interesting. I loved the idea of the sci-fi time travel meeting romance history. However, it didn’t meet the expectations I created in my head.

Many of the characters were just boring and I found myself just wanting to get through chapters. I also do not like how they didn’t play into the morality of sending Caesar back just to get murdered.

Lastly, I did not like the narrator of the audio book at all. I feel as though I may have been able to enjoy it more if I liked the narrator.

Overall, this book may be for some people, but it was not for me.

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?

Many thanks to Netgalley, Imbrifex Books and the author for the ALC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

A coin for the ferryman follows the story of a time travelling experiment by Andrew Danicek and his multidisciplinary team, where they are trying to bring back people from history who are destined to die, so that the world can know firsthand what happened in the past. The persona they decide to bring back is none other than Julius Caesar. The story that follows is a mixed plot with mafia, science, history, classics, and love.

I am a sucker for historical fiction, especially, anything Greek or roman, but unfortunately this book was a big let down for me. The story plot was gripping and the journey was a bumpy ride but the over explanation of each characters pasts, the subtle (not-s0-subtle) sexism, misogyny, profiling, was absolutely frustrating.

When I started reading the book and was reading all these extended explanations of how hot the women are, I would go back to ensure that this book was not written by a man. Why? because the way the women here are portrayed, was in many ways worse that the so called 'male-gaze' (all women referred to here are scholars in their own right, however the only time their knowledge or talents are appreciated is in the form of backhanded compliments noting them as eye-candy). The age difference between couples was entirely a different topic of discussion, in short the profiling and cringey weird ass romance had me running the other way. I don't think I have rolled my eyes so much in disgust while reading a book. I understand the book being set in 1990's, there was a certain need for flair towards the women to denote the era, but considering the author themselves note that this book took 20 years to be completed and the story actively ends during the pandemic, a little more respect would have made the book bearable (come on, hundreds of years of fighting for respect and we are still written as 'she may be a researcher well-versed in Latin and history, but she sure does make good eye-candy so even if Caesar does not appreciate the knowledge, he will appreciate her body!! excuse me what?? and this coming from a Nobel laureate!! ughhhh)

Also the whole insistence in the beginning about Caesar being gay and then Caeser coming along and insisting he is straight with 4 wives was just....sorry...this book as you can see tested my patience.....

The narrator in my opinion did as much as he could!!

TW: misogyny, sexism, homophobia, death, blood, violence, 'instalove'😖😖🤢

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.

The premise for this book sounded very interesting. Perhaps it would be easier to follow being read rather than as an audiobook. The narrator was very flat, not much differentiation between characters or enthusiasm. The split timeline seemed well executed, but made it difficult to follow when listening.

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.

I never love DNFing a book, especially a review copy, but I wasn't able to separate myself enough from what I didn't like to try and get to something I would. Firstly, the narrator just wasn't for me. That's entirely a personal opinion and shouldn't reflect on the quality of the narration. Mostly, though, just about every character gave me The Ick. The uneven power dynamic between two scientists-turned-lovers made me uncomfortable, as did the exact same dynamic between a young student and her mysterious, older benefactor.

I made it 23% of the way through and threw in the towel. I love silly, goofy fantasy as much as the next gal, but this book and I just weren't connecting.

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 very interesting mythology meets sci-fi, the premise of 'A Coin for the Ferryman' is not just time travel, but time-transport.

Okay, I explained that weirdly, let me elaborate. The outline of the plot comprises of a project where they bend time to their will, allowing people, animals, items to be taken out of their time in the past. Talk about blast from the past... When they manage to bring Julius Caesar to our time (set in the 1990s), the plot thickens and things start to go... just a little wrong.

For the vast majority of this book, I was very hesitant. I thought that the idea was there, but the execution wasn't the greatest. I also have to say that the person reading the audiobook wasn't for me. I can't quite put my finger on it, but it didn't sit well with me. Anyway, back to the book. I really liked the main character Cassandra and her development throughout the book and throughout her acquaintance with Caesar. However, Caesar's character? Not for me. I loved the amount of linguistic detail that was added by the constant appearance of Latin and the language barrier was also an interesting aspect from my point of view.

I don't have that much to say, since this definitely wasn't my favourite book, as you can see from the ratings, but I definitely didn't hate it. I can confidently say that there is a very specific niche for whom this will be their most prized possession.

Regardless, thank you to Netgalley and Imbrifex Books for the Audio Copy in exchange for my review.

the premise of this book is really interesting - time travel mixed with Roman history? hell yes.
specifically, we're talking about time travel realised by bringing dead people to the present.
the first few chapters caught my interest pretty much right away, and I especially enjoyed the introduction of Cassandra's character - learning Latin from a teacher who can actually still converse in the language and invites his student to do the same is really cool.

after that it started to get a bit slow; lots of introductions of different characters but no storyline really until about the halfway point of the book.
also not a fan of the random romance between some of the characters; in my opinion, all the love stories seemed unnecessary as they added little to the actual plot and seemed more like fillers; I'd have preferred for this scientific project to be conducted more professionally.

I also wish the ethical implications of time travel had been discussed in-depth, especially since the way it happened in the book was by sending back the subjects within seconds of their deaths. obviously, <i>not</i> sending them back would have had even more severe ramifications, but it still should have been worth a discussion - none of the team members even tried to veto the whole project, they all seemed too smitten with the idea of time travel, which seems rather unrealistic. plus, for such a huge project, the preparations seemed shoddy and ill thought-out.
maybe my expectations were too high here; I just personally think that for such a long book, the characters and topics being discussed were too shallow.

2 stars because I really liked the idea of the book, and Mark Ashby did quite a good job narrating it.

Thanks to Imbrifex Books and Netgalley for providing me with a copy of the audiobook!

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.

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.