I have read other accounts of the historical event of the Roman defeat at Tuetonborg forest in northern Germany by wild German tribes.

Amalia is a compelling character and all chapters involving her were well done, interesting and exciting.

What was overdone in my opinion was endless political maneuvering and discussion by various Roman soldiers and politicians in the army and Rome.
While some of this was necessary for setting the background of the story, I think it could have been done with about one-half as much detail.
I found myself skimming past these discussions until I got back to what was happening with Amalia.
The action and personal connections in these chapters were interesting and believable.

I enjoyed the story and look forward to the next book from this series and author.

The premise of the book is amazing and I so wanted to love it. I liked it well enough I just think the characters needed a little more.

The world building was great and the whole premise of our MC getting sucked into the past through a lake is so cool.

I was interested in this book because it was similar to Outlander. However, there seemed to be more about war than romance. Thus, this novel was not my cup of tea.

Not my usual read but I found this to be very enjoyable. Interestng plot and great characters. It did drag out for me however and I had issues with the era.

Thanks to NetGalley, the publisher and the author for providing an e-ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review. All the opinions expressed in this review are my own.
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As someone in love with unique concepts such as this (and more used to seeing such concepts in manga, anime and light novels rather than in western media), I was quite excited to read this one.

The story is definitely interesting and has a rich setting. However, there are several 'technical' aspects of the protagonist that I felt were not explored or explained sufficiently.

To start with, her knowledge of Latin seems like a deus ex machina maneuver to me. While she is shown to have difficulty communicating initially, she later speaks the language fluently. This does not make sense considering the timespan.

Additionally, she seems unconcerned about her family or even about the fact that she has time travelled. She should be at least a little afraid of the situation she finds herself in but that's not the case.

Overall, the story was good but I felt the reading experience was jarring due to the above inconsistencies.

Rating: 3/5 stars ⭐⭐⭐

The concept was awesome, and in theory this book had a lot of elements I always really enjoy and love reading about. But in the end, there were also some things I just didn't end up loving the way I was hoping to beforehand. I didn't really feel a connection with the MC, which is something that's important to me and how I experience a book. So that was quite off putting for me unfortunately.

I did really love the settings, the writing style itself and the story line elements about anything other than the MC really haha. There was quite some good and fun to be found in the book, but my overall 'dislike' of the MC, or more; the not being able to really connect and feel anything for the MC, just made this read not being anything other than a 3 star rating.

It's a book I'd definitely recommend to pick up though, if you're interested in it! My feelings towards this book are personal of course and other readers could experience this completely different from my experience.

I was very interested in reading this book for mainly two reasons.
I myself am from Germany and that‘s never really represented in fiction. Secondly, I love the time traveling trope.
Unfortunately, I was a bit let down by this book.
The main reason I had issues with it was that it was a bit hard to believe. I‘m not talking about the time traveling trope of course, but rather that the main character is able to adapt quite easily to Roman times. First of all, it doesn’t seem like she’s afraid or that she misses her family all that much. But most importantly, how is she able to speak Latin so fluently? She struggles with it a little bit in the beginning but later on has no issues whatsoever.
That's something that ruins the whole book for me, when I’m constantly questioning the probability of it all.
Unfortunately the whole book didn’t live up to my expectations.

"Echoes of Germania: Genesis" is the first part of a new time-travel historical series. Set in modern-day Germany and Roman Empire Europe (during the late rule of Caesar Augustus), the story covers about five years. I'm pretty sure the entire series will climax with the loss of Augustus's three legions at the battle of Teutoburg Forest.

The protagonist is modern-day Amalia Weber, a German judo champion who'd rather be an engineering nerd. Her borderline-abusive father won a bronze medal in the Olympics and is determined his daughter will do even better--whether she wants to or not. At nineteen, Amalia can hardly wait to get out from under her father's thumb so she can go full-time into engineering and leave judo behind. But first she has to go for her nightly run. This just happens to be the night of a monumental "Cherusci storm" (named for the legendary Germanic tribe that lived in that area 2000 years ago). Meanwhile, 2000 years in the past, the Cherusci tribe has been defeated by the Romans and the king's two sons reach adulthood as Roman hostages.

Somehow the storm causes the two time periods to come together and Amalia--sneakers, sweatsuit and all--becomes a Roman prisoner. Soon the Romans realize, however, that she is no ordinary prisoner. She first impresses them with her organization of shoe storage, and before long she has befriended young Arminius--the Roman-raised German who would go on to turn against Rome at Teutoburg. Right now he is a gawky teen, but he knows Amalia was sent to him by the gods for a special reason.

Despite her semi-agnosticism, Amalia also comes to believe she was brought to this place--and this time--for a reason. Was it to build a miraculous bridge so the Romans could put down another tribal rebellion? Or was it so she could fall in love with Marius Vincius, the honorable legate of two legions? Or was she destined for something greater still?

I won't give out spoilers, but I will say that while it is occasionally slow-moving, the book held my interest, and the climax--reached literally right before the book ends--is thrilling and moves at a literal gallop (you'll see). The story is generally well-told (I'm an editor myself, so I can be nitpicky), and it tickled all the right historical bones (yes, I'm an amateur historian too, with a focus on ancient Europe and the Middle East). The author did commit one sin serious enough with me to lose an entire star for it--she had a senator named Cicero as one of the characters. My first reaction was to assume this was Marcus Tullius Cicero, the famous philosopher-senator-conspirator who was in on Julius Caesar's death. If true, this would have been a major anachronism, since he died during the time of the triumvirate, some 40 or so years before the calendar changed from BC to AD. :) But it had to have been someone else, since Arminius wasn't even born for another 20 or so years after Cicero's death. Still, the only Cicero I can find in any history book is Marcus Tullius, so that's a point of confusion in an otherwise well-done story.

Note on the formatting: the drop caps at the beginning of each chapter don't really work. They're dropped so low as to look more as if they go with the second or third line than the first, and it can really throw off the reader's eye flow. Of course, at around chapter 22, the drop caps are eliminated--or at least the special font is no longer used, so what you have at the beginning of each chapter is just a capital letter separated from the rest of the word. Since I downloaded this book in January (it took me a while to get to reading it), I'm hoping this has been fixed by now. Anyway, I did enjoy the book enough that I'll be looking for the next book, "Song of Rome," which is due out later this year.

I really enjoyed this book!! I was really enjoying the character of Amalia and how she is ever the observer which helps the reader in my opinion to show what is happening within the story. 21st century woman pulled back in time to fulfill an ancient curse... More please... Ancient Rome, time travel, Germanic religion ( fascinating) and also mysticism!? I'm hooked. Details of the Roman times is still intriguing after all this time - Did we ever find out how they made such long lasting cement after all this time?!?! Maybe I am getting off topic here but I really enjoyed the book and will look forward to the rest of the series forthcoming.

Thank you to Netgalley and publishers for this free E-ARC in exchange for my honest review.

Those who have watched the Netflix series Barbarians will love this book! Loosely based on the true story story of a Arminius the Roman general of Germanic heritage and his revolt and political rise to Chieftain of the Germanic Cherusci tribe.

Amalia is a young German woman, and Judo expert. Pushed to excellence by her overbearing father, Amalia longs for escape from the life her father has designed for her. While training one day she is swept up in a freak storm that transport her into the past, to a different life. She is found by none other than infamous Arminius, who is curious about this Germanic woman who can speak Latin so fluently. He uses his influence to save her life, and keeps her prisoner.

This book is an exciting exploration of a fascinating time period. Ashman does well in his development of the time period that his characters inhabit, showing it's distinct features and how it differs from modern day Germany. The character's while being based in history are independent and artfully created.

The only draw back I found was that it was very slow and at times I was not sure how Amalia fit into the story. She spends a lot of the story observing and commenting, but not participating. She seemed out of place, which overall makes sense because... she is. For me it just didn't flow as well as I had hoped that it would. All that being said, I do think that this book was a fascinating read, and I look forward to subsequent books.

Some things just damn well intrigue me. History being one of them. The Roman Empire was always a dynasty that just got those creative juices flowing. The riches, the military prowess and the fantastical world of Ancient Rome. Echoes of Germania is that perfect blend of fiction and history. This book blew every expectation or preconceived idea I had clean out the water. The prose and the dialogue were swift and laser precise, it didn’t take any time at all to fall hard for this superbly ambitious tale of love and mythology. The novel has the beating heart of a warrior.

Picking up Echoes of Germania was a gamble as typically I struggle with historical fiction. The chance paid off and instantly you get a sense of the labour of love this story was for the author…research and passion surely screamed to me as much as a baby calls for its mother in the middle of the night. From this point forward I will trust Ashman with my heart and my imagination. One thing is for certain – you are in good hands. Every second spent in this world is never a wasted moment. Time is a fragile construct whilst reading this story.

The prologue really sets the scene. We are transported back to around 9 BC with the celebrated General Drusus reaping the benefits of a victory against the Germanic Suebi tribe. After a brutal act of killing the tribes Seer’ daughters he is cursed from that moment on, a moment that will have significance when he falls from his horse and becomes crushed, he perishes from his injuries. Just as easy as these characters live and breathe, I could feel myself in that moment and Ashman could bring any scene to life with a mere sentence, a fleeting moment captured for all of time to witness.

The Echoes of Germanica is centred around the main protagonist, a nineteen-year-old girl living in the present day. Her life is plagued by wanting to be in another place, her father is extremely archaic and is living vicariously through her talent as a Judo competitor, her love however, lies in becoming an engineer. Amalia has been given more than she bargained for however, when she is transported back in time after trying to save an apparent drowning woman in a lake. She slips under and awakes in 1 AD a world that is ruled by Emperor Augustus.

The Echoes of Germania was seamless – the transition from twenty first century to 1 AD was flawless. The detailed descriptions and action-packed battles had me racing on to find out what would happen. I could smell the countryside, imagine the putrid scent of decaying bodies, blood-soaked tunics and battle cries. The political intrigue felt very real for the times and the backstabbing and personal agendas again breathed life into the story.

The Echoes of Germania is delightfully dark and historically brilliant. You can really feel the drive to it, the gearstick is put into high and you immediately just want to go with it. Its not a flowery tale but one with brutality and heart. I’m going to struggle to wait for book two!

Thank you to Netgalley and to the author for letting me read Echoes of Germania.

I felt immersed in the story from the beginning and loved the way in which Amalia is sent back in time.

The historical accuracy wasn't always on point, but I don't feel like it took away from the overall plot. One thing worth mentioning that did "bother" me was how easy it was for her to go with the flow of being transported back in time. I, as I'm sure most, would be terrified and immediately trying to figure out how I could get back to my own time. This doesn't seem to bother Amalia too much. I guess I was hoping for a bit more emotion in that respect, but at the same time someone in this situation I suppose would have to be tough from the get-go to make it through.

Overall, I enjoyed the story and look forward to reading more from this author.

I had to let this sit for a bit because I had some trouble deciding how to rate it.

I liked the overall concept of the book. Young German woman from troubled family time travels 2000 years into the past. Amelia is a strong character, not only physical due to her being a judoka, but also emotionally. AND she's smart too - she's an engineer.

*SPOILER ALERT*

The problems I had with it was the complete lack of fear or anxiety and trying to get back to her family was maybe mentioned a couple of times and then she kind of forgets about it. The fact that she was having difficulties speaking Latin at the beginning and then one page later can speak it fluently was not believable. Also, everyone wants to get into her pants... toga?

I didn't mind the bridge construction so much, but the fact that I was completely thrown off when fast forward she's married and has a kid and was contempt with life as a Roman mistress. I was like WHAT?!
I didn't anticipate the story going into this direction and I'm still not sure if I personally enjoyed this development.

To sum it all up this was a mixed bag for me.

Echoes of Germania is part of a series and I can recommend this to readers who enjoy a historical romance with time travel. If you enjoyed Outlander, you might like this.

Thank you Timeless Papers and Netgalley for providing me with a free eARC in exchange for an honest review.

I thoroughly enjoyed this book. I can’t wait for the second one.. I thought the time travel concept was interesting and loved the judo skills added into the storyline. I thought the politics were intriguing but not so complex a person couldn’t follow. I didn’t care for the direction the author took in the middle of the book. The book fast forward into main character’s life and I would’ve wanted a bit more of her life between her relationship with Marius and the birth of her son Marcus ie: adjusting to her new life. However, the finale was amazing. The pacing was consistent for the most part. I give it a 4.5 out of 5. Thank you for allowing me to read and rate this book.

Echoes of Germania, H. B. Ashman

Review from Jeannie Zelos book reviews

Genre: Historical Fiction, Sci Fi & Fantasy, General Fiction (Adult)

Its always a gamble getting a book from a debut author, there's no past stories to give you a flavour of the writing style, so I went in to this somewhat dubiously. In fact I didn't start it til about three weeks after receiving it, not convinced from the blurb I was going to love it, and yet intrigued enough to request. And then....once I delved in I was gripped. What a fantastic read.
I really, really hope that H.B. sticks to the planned timetable of books two and three being out later this year. That would be fantastic!
From the authors website: Echoes of Germania I (2020), Songs of Rome II (2021), Drums of War III (2021)

I really liked Amalia, and as the story unfolded the relevance of her judo skills and engineering background became obvious, and were very important to the story and her place in it. I love that she's young, around 19 I think from memory, but strong in mind as well as body. She needs that when she finds herself not in some cosplay scene, but 2000 years into the past.
At first there did seem to be battle after battle, but once Amalia was drawn in as more than a captive, once she began to make her place I was totally fixed on her, and what could/would happen.
I loved the other characters too Arminius, who couldn't love him, Germanicus and of course Marius. I love when we have some not so nice characters too and of course here with Roman power plays they abound. Livia, Julia, Lucius, Gnaeus, all were deliciously manipulative.
I enjoyed reading the day to day stuff, and learned a lot as I was reading. Few books I've read cover this period and my knowledge of Rome, Romans and the soldiers are really limited to films my late husband was addicted to. Spartacus, 300 Spartans, Gladiator, Troy, The Robe ( seems that one was out every Easter...) I'm not a film watcher, preferring my books, but you kind of absorb elements when they're constantly in front of you.
There are useful additions about the Roman structures at the front of the book, and a glossary of main characters at the end and I found both of those very helpful.

Its an interesting story, bringing in the harshness of life, the strangeness of living in the past for Amalia. And of course the mystery of Seers, the white owl, superstitions and whether Amalia being there is just bad luck, predestined, or part of a plan formed by the Seer when past events occurred.

Its a great story, easy to read and yet complex enough to entertain and keep me reading. Some books are so light I end up flipping through, bored with the story. There's a romance here too, and I do love those, but its only a small part of the story, though becomes a strong core to later events.


Stars: Five, a gripping read, one that kept me reading “just that bit more” and up far too late into the early hours! I'm really eager for the next two parts, and know this will join my back to back reading fest favourites. I love to totally immerse myself in another world, reading stories like this right through when all parts are out.

ARC supplied by Netgalley and publishers

I requested a free copy of Echoes of Germania on Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. Many thanks to both Netgalley and the author.

Rating and reviewing Echoes of Germania is incredibly hard for me. I really, really wanted to like it, but I didn't. I've got so many thoughts about it, and sadly few are positive.

A young woman from Germany is sent back to ancient Roman times. She's captured and enslaved by a Roman legion, that is trying to put down a revolt of Germanic tribes. One of the main players turns out to be Arminius, the hero of the Teutoburg Forest.

While I did like the premise of the story, some things ruined it completely for me. One of them was historical accuracy: I'm certainly not an expert in Roman military history, but I had to raise an eyebrow at several points. Maybe I'm nitpicking, but I read historical fiction because I enjoy reading about history. Nobody is perfect, but obvious inaccuracies ruin the whole story for me.

I grew to hate the main character, Amalia. For a young woman from the 21st century, it is amazingly easy for her to adapt to ancient Roman life, especially during a military campaign! I'd expected her to be scared, even terrified (I would be), confused and desperate to get back. It gets mentioned a couple of time that she's scared and misses her family, but the way she acts made me feel, like she doesn't really care.
Her ability to speak (or learn how to speak) Latin is amazing. When she first encounters Roman soldiers she confuses basic verbs, but only a couple of pages later, she's completely fluent. On the one hand, she knows more about Latin than some modern scholars, but on the other hand, she's never heard of Germanic mythology. It doesn't make sense to me.
She manages to help the Romans with building, and even trains some of them in Judo. Again, it was just too much for me and hard to believe.

I was quite interested in the storylines that weren't about Amalia. But if I've got such huge problems with the main character, I can't really enjoy the story. It's a shame because I liked some of the authors, I liked their scheming, their personalities. Had Amalia been more convincing, I might have enjoyed reading Echoes of Germania.

I can’t wait to read book #2! This was a great read. The characters were complex (Arminius was my favorite and I really loved Amalia) and the plot line wasn’t rushed (even though a lot of stuff happens). The author did a great job of describing the Roman world leveraging history and some imagination. If you would like an Outlander & Game of Thrones mashup, then I believe you should give this a read!

I received this book for free through Netgalley.com in exchange for a review.

I am not a fan of historical fiction. I never felt comfortable trying to grasp the idea that a person would get transported through time to somewhere in the past (it never seems to be the future). Most instances, the character ends up trying to not mess up the 'time line continuum' or does, and just doesn't care. But mostly I don't care for these types of stories is it dwells on a time period that I obviously know nothing about, so the absurdity of somethings to me, might be a possibility then, and it distracts me from the story. That being said, I really enjoyed this book. Weird, right? I requested it (and received it) just on the description, even though it was describing something I normally do not like. I actually thought on it a couple days before even requesting.

Though the story seems to start off slow, you have to understand the main character. I felt it was pretty vague, and overboard in the abilities, but not unbelievable. The story quickly gets into the whole time displacement and how she gets transported back in time, to the Roman conquering days in the Germanic region of Europe, which is parallel to where she lived in modern-day Germany. Obviously the German of 2000 is different than that of the early A.D. period, and amazingly, our main character has taken Latin in school, though she is a bit rusty in speaking it, AND it happens to be 'High Latin' that usually only high ranking soldiers and politicians use, versus the common Latin used by the masses. Our main character is captured, and through strokes of luck, is able to impress enough of the senior officers that she is worth keeping alive, and off the slave market.

The romance part does enter into play, and there is a romance of a few years. This wasn't all sex scenes and 'oh what a hunk' type of writing, and covered a good four years. Our main character is now being escorted to Rome, from Germania, under the thumb of the death of her romantic interest and their son (though, we don't know they are dead yet, the story likes to make us think so). There she is imprisoned. I'm going to leave out the rest of the spoilers there.

The mix of the possible mystic use of 'magic' by the people in the Germanic region is played throughout this story. The use of Norse mythology is mixed in as well. Our character has at least a couple interactions with a 'witch-woman' that are beneficial to the story, and the choices made/taken by said character. The politics - oh! The politics! I hate them - with passion in a story. But here the author did a well done job of making them part of the story, and yet not so overbearing and controlling in the story, it feels like you are reading a modern-day law book. From my history classes, and a few books, I have always understood the basics of Roman politics, and the machinations of the Senate, and the family/families related to the current Caesar. It is all very slick and nasty.

I am definitely looking forward to the next book, as I would like to find out what happens next. I do not know for sure if this is the first work the author has done, but will be looking for him and possible other works as well. Though there is not much world-building in this story, because we know how the Earth is, and can relate to an early history Germany, I would like to see this author make a foray into a more fantasy world than one history based.

I'm only giving 4.5 stars, only because the start of the story was pretty vague, and the skills given to the main character were obviously in place to make some of the story possible, therefore, making it even harder for me to believe. Expert Judo? Okay... possible. Learned three languages, including not only written, but spoken Latin? Possible, but highly unlikely. And that it would be 'High Latin'? I don't know, but I think 2000 years difference would affect the speech there as well. But I am not a linguistic professor.

I was given the opportunity to read the book in advance and I do not regret it - I think that readers who are just starting it will like it.

The book has an interesting female character; the element of time travel is also interesting, as well as the description of Roman life - by the way, even in the first pages the book provides interesting facts about ancient Germanic and northern mythology.

Easy to read, the style is not burdensome - I will read more from the author.

<i>Echos of Germania</i> is a historical fiction / fantasy novel with plenty of action.
The Protagonist, Amelia, is a strong-minded German engineering student with an expertise in judo, both skills that serve her well in this story. <i>Echos of Germania</i> is the debut book in a series being written by historical buff, H. B. Ashman.

Amelia has a distinct talent in judo. She is out on a training run when she hears a mysterious voice in distress. She runs towards the voice and ends up travelling back in time to the Roman empire where she is taken on as a slave by a Roman Legion. Amelia manages to gain her freedom by using her engineering expertise and then continues to travel with the Legion hoping to find her way back home. Meanwhile the politics of the Roman empire play out in the background and eventually entangle Amelia and those she cares about in an increasing spiral of danger and intrigue.

Ashman is very true to the historical knowledge of the Roman empire. We learn a lot about the culture of that time. We see how they lived and how the efficiency of their armies made them one of the greatest world powers of all time. Amelia’s time travel is not a significant distraction for this primary storyline.

I find all of the characters truly compelling. We learn a lot about each person and what makes them act as they do. We seriously start to love the good guys and we begin to hate their enemies. The author makes us take sides.

The story itself is also very compelling. It is action packed and fast paced. There are exciting and intriguing subplots throughout, which keeps the reader enthralled. The book it is genuinely a real page turner and the ending is exciting.

This book is truly for those that like a good story grounded in historical fiction particularly during the Roman empire. I give it a five on five. I want to think NetGalley and Timeless Papers
for providing with a digital copy of this book. I have provided an honest review.