A Coin for the Ferryman

3.5 stars
Clever, intriguing, great potential sometimes fulfilled.
A wonderful well drawn character drama with a background element of time travel. The plot is actually a simple one: a scientist invents a machine that can transport a person or an object from ancient times to the future for a limited time and the problems that ensue. The one caveat is that the person must be seconds from their death and returned to that moment in order to not upset the history that comes after. The person that is chosen for the first trial experiment is Jules Cesar.

That is it in a nut shell but there is so much more. It is the much more that I loved and so much of the set up of the experiment and the background of the characters involved that I found clunky and over explained. At times I felt like an archeologist on a prolonged dig finding such worthy treasures after much toil. It is not the way I like to feel after reading a good book. Yes it takes some work especially at first but by the end I was highlighting and bookmarking passages and admiring more if not quite appreciated the work that came before. The author does an excellent job of showing through a creative written tale how power is used, what history can tell us and not tell us, and how small individuals can play a role that history never records.

The things I loved were the use of Latin phrases in the text. I love how this ancient language and how it is translated in English was used so well in a purportedly science fiction book. For someone unfamiliar with the language it was a real bonus. I felt the author did a wonderful job with this. The other thing I admired and at times drove me crazy was the author’s work at making all the puzzle pieces fit. The good part of this was that at the end I had few questions about how this time travel worked and who the characters were and how this fitted into their reaction to each crisis (and there were many). The bad part of this was as a reader I did not feel that the author trusted me to make any intellectual leaps—that every move, character trait, or flaw was so explained that it took me out of the story. Much of this was in the form of individual history, that at times went on for pages and just felt unneeded, upsetting the pacing and my engagement with the story.
Yet by the end when the pieces came together I could see the author’s work, yes at times it felt clumsy and just plain wordy, a cup of coffee was never just a cup of coffee but a light latte with an infinity sign swirled in. I too often wished she would just get on with the telling rather than all the showing. Too much description of non essential elements that got in the way of a ripping good yarn was the just of it for me.

I’m not familiar enough with Netgalley Arcs to know if this will disappear from my Kindle after a while but I hope it does not. I do believe it is a story I will revisit and think about. Especially the last third was well worth the time it took me to get there. I think this is a book that will gain stars with time. My 3.5 may well edge up to 4 and perhaps even higher. One does tend to forget the stuff that got in the way and all the wonderful bits will shine through. I felt towards the end that this author was beginning to realize the power of her writing, was finding the beauty in her craft and using that understanding to convey it. I would definitely be interested to see what she does next.

The book has an interesting premise and I was excited to read it before it's release this March.
The story dragged and was bogged down with both too much detail and not enough. As I mentioned before I was intrigued by the book and the idea of time travel and bringing someone from the past to our present time (1999 in this book,) especially someone like Julius Caesar.

I will admit the book has piqued my interest in Latin,and Greek languages, as well as the historical surroundings of Caesar. I do enjoy when a book has me researching more into a subject. Thanks M.E., and thank you to NetGallery for giving me an advance copy of this book to review.

Thank you Netgalley for providing an ARC in exchange for a review.

A Coin for the Ferryman is a time travel historical fiction with the premise, what would Caesar do in our modern society. We met a lot of characters in this book, but the main one is Cassandra and Caesar, of course :) Maybe would be better to have less point of views, which were in my opinion redundant in the beginning.
Cassandra is as beautiful as intelligent, what we got reminded whole book, however some of her decisions are not that smart. Caesar shows up much later, what is a shame, it would be more interesting spend more time with this character. His reactions to the modern world inventions felt though a bit unrealistic.
Despite all this I enjoyed myself by reading this book, so 3,5 stars :)

This was an interesting story filled with a lot of superstition. It packed a lot of history which I enjoyed very much. I find when you are learning from a story things you had no idea about it is quite enjoyable.

As someone who loves history, I was pretty excited to read this. A Coin for the Ferryman is about scientists, who have managed to make a time machine, enlisting the help of academics to achieve Phase 3 of their plan: to bring Julius Caesar into the present day (which for them is 1999) just before he is stabbed to death.

This seemed like a pretty solid plot to me, but when I actually read it, I wish the execution had been a bit more exciting. Our characters faced pretty much no challenges for over half of the book - so the first 50% of the novel was just them managing to accomplish literal time travel with no hiccups and a very vague and confusing explanation for how it even worked. There were also a lot of pages wasted with random backstories about how people met and that was kind of boring because I didn't even like most of the characters. Even when our characters started to face more obstacles, which took the form of rich people being their usual rich and morally bankrupt selves, it still wasn't all that suspenseful - regardless, I still found the last portion easy and entertaining enough to read quite quickly.

As aforementioned, I didn't like most of the characters - of our mains, Cassandra was the only tolerable one. Caesar was also quite interesting, but I do think that his actions were a little unrealistic given the circumstances. I also think he was under-utilised as a character - I wish we learnt more about him, and maybe spent more time with him in the present day. As for the other characters, I think they could have been more well-developed. One-dimensional or not, they were rude, stubborn, irritating and, despite being among the top of their fields, quite stupid. A lot of the issues that we did have to overcome in this book can be attributed to people not using their brains.

Similarly, in regard to the romantic relationships, the main two that were introduced were also extremely underdeveloped and came out of nowhere (one of them ended almost as quickly as it started, which made me wonder why it was even included in the first place). I honestly think that both of these relationships added nothing to the story - a bold statement, considering the "reveal" relevant to the relationship introduced later on the story, but I still think that making that particular relationship romantic in nature wasn't necessary. Both of the relationships had a significant age gap, which I did not like - this is just a personal preference, but the age gap trope in general tends to make me uncomfortable. I do think that the other relationships that weren't romantic in nature, specifically the ones that Cassandra had with her "mentor" figures, were done well.

Another issue I had with this book was that the characters were kind of sexist. We were constantly reminded - in every single chapter - how beautiful our main character, Cassandra, is. That in itself isn't necessarily problematic, it was just annoying - it was more of an issue because her beauty was often the thing remarked upon before anything else. For example, she was supposed to have been chosen to be a part of this time-travelling project because of her exceptional ability to speak Latin - and yet, her good looks were considered "almost as valuable as her language skills". Why?? They tried to say that Caesar would feel more comfortable because of her looks, but I don't think that THE Julius Caesar, one of the most renowned military figures in history, is going to be intimidated by a strange ugly girl any more than he would a pretty one. Even one of the female professors found it difficult to believe that a woman as beautiful as Cassandra could possibly be as fluent in Latin as others had claimed. The physical appearances of the female characters were almost always remarked upon, even when it wasn't even relevant. The way that the male characters viewed female characters in general also just didn't sit right with me. One female character was labelled as "emotionally damaged" after having an understandable reaction to something that was upsetting and, afterwards, her valid concerns were ignored because she was "ridiculous". Additionally, one male character remarked how impressive it was that Cassandra, a young woman, could drive a manual car. I realise that this book is set in 1999, but quite frankly, I don't care - the blatant misogyny wasn't necessary. Not even Caesar, who lived over 2 millennia ago, was not as incessantly demeaning.

The book also needed a little bit of polishing with the actual writing. A lot of sentences didn't include all the necessary details to make sense. Sometimes, I would use the previous sentences to fill in the gaps, but it would turn out that these sentences were unrelated. I realise that this may be a personal comprehension issue, but what cannot be disputed is that there were some continuity errors. On three separate occasions, I noticed that it would say one thing initially, but it would say something completely different the next time. For example, it had originally said that a character had injured their left leg - but then it suddenly said it was their right leg. Although such mistakes don't greatly affect the plot, they were a little bothersome to read.

Overall, this was a flawed book, but it can still be enjoyable to read if you enjoy history.

I couldn't wait to read a fresh take on the time travel trope. History, science, and just a bit of outlandishness. A fresh and unique take. I really enjoyed it, and would definitely recommend this to anyone looking to read something outside the box. Just don't take the subject matter too seriously. Embrace the story for what it is, and enjoy all the absurdity it contains.

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.

3.5/5 stars ⭐️⭐️⭐️

The premise of A COIN FOR THE FERRYMAN is a real bomb. A team of scientists uses revolutionary time-travel technology to bring Julius Ceasar into the future, snatching him from the past moments before his death. They are supposed to bring him back to ancient Rome, but plans like this are supposed to go wrong in sci-fi novels, aren't they?

This book is so much fun that I breezed through all 500 pages of it in a heartbeat. Ceasar, in particular, is well-written, the epitome of a charismatic, calculating politician.

I wish I could say the same about the other characters in the book, but I found them a bit flat, and I questioned half the choices they made throughout the story.

I highly recommend this book for fans of Michael Crichton and Blake Crouch.

Thank you NetGalley and the publisher for allowing me to read an ARC of A Coin for the Ferryman!!

In a Coin for the Ferryman, Julius Caesar is brought to the future for four days so he can be studied, but as kidnap attempt through everything into chaos.

I really wanted to love this book. Everything about it from the time travel to historical characters really spoke to me, but this book just didn’t do it for me. Caesar has no reaction to time travel and I honestly could not get over that fact. The story is a bit in the long side and drags on. There are a ton of characters to try to keep track of.

I liked this book okay. Maybe I set myself up for disappointment because the description sounded so exciting. I was able to finish it, so it gets three stars automatically.

The premise was so good.

For a novel that's been twenty years in the making, it sure could have benefited from more editing. The ensemble of characters is huge. The book could have done without some of them, and definitely without the, irrelevant to the plot, backstories. Why the detailed descriptions of female clothes; why are we told that women looking really good for their age; why is it still shocking that women can be sexy AND intelligent. The casual sexism is annoying.

Caesar, by the way, is as cool as a cucumber. He was time travelled to the late 20th century and didn't blink an eye at modern technology, cars (horseless carriages), planes, the bright lights of Las Vegas, TV,...

The kidnapping plot was weird. Those goons were like the bottom of the barrel minions of a rather pasty Bond villain. The chase, the hiding in Las Vegas, the escape back to Pasadena... It just got from bad to worse.

The romance was unbelievable. It feels added on.

Actually, a lot feels jumbled together and added on. I still can't believe the words of the author, this doesn't read like a book that's taken twenty years to write.

Some reviewers compared this book to The Rise and Fall of D.O.D.O. Let me just say, I really liked DODO and I would not put it on the same shelf as A Coin for the Ferryman, they are like chalk and cheese.

This wasn't what I was expecting when I got the book but I am very glad to have read it. It was actually a very enjoyable read.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for this ARC which I received in return for an honest review.

This was such an interesting read, and tackled time travel in a clever, new way. I really enjoyed the layout of the chapters and how short and easy to read they were. I loved the inclusion of classics and academia into the science world, and how all the different arcs came together. The multiple perspectives and timeline was confusing at first but once i got deeper into the book it was easy to follow. The science and idea of time used by the author made sense, and was easy to follow. This was a really creative story, and I am so glad I read it!

3/5 stars

Thank you to Netgalley, Edelweiss+, and Imbrifex Books for the opportunity to read and review this novel.

A Coin for the Ferryman by Megan Edwards seemed like an interesting, light read that would have me learning more about mythology and Roman History. For these reasons, I decided to pick up the novel, interested to read it. And for that, I have many thoughts on the book.

Story: I have to say, the beginning of the book was confusing for me. I felt as though the different characters and actions were oddly introduced, and I was quite bored. For this reason, it took me quite a bit to pick this book back up after I read the first couple of chapters. To put it earnestly, I was bored and did not feel as though putting in effort towards the book.

But as I picked it up again, I became more and more intrigued within the plot and the framework for A Coin for the Ferryman. The mysteries of the story became fascinating and I was really enjoying the book now.

The story was okay, if I am entirely honest. It was light and pretty easy to follow once you got more into it, but I have to say, there were moments where it dragged or went off course. I wish that the story and plot was excecuted better, because I feel as though the premise was very interesting and could have been amazing. Overall, I do not have very strong feelings about the story for A Coin for the Ferryman.

Writing: Megan Edwards' writing was splendid. I was really happy with her style, it would make beautiful poetry, I believe. Coming from a logical standpoint, the writing was well done and nicely edited, made for nice reading. Within voice and style, I really did find her writing lovely.

Characters: The complexities of the characters within the book were half baked, it felt like. There was so much that could have been done, but I was still bored with the characters at many points throughout the novel. I think the story would have also been much better if the author incorporated character sub-plots. It just felt lacking.

To conclude, this book was okay. A Coin for the Ferryman could have been great; the beginning aspects were all there, it was just lacking in some ways. I think the writing was beautiful, which made up for some of my disappointment. Overall, I think this was very interesting, but needed to go in different directions. A solid 3/5 stars.

Thank you again for supplying me this novel and giving me the chance to read and review it, Netgalley, Edelweiss+, and Imbrifex publishing!

ARC provided by NetGalley and the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

Let me first preface my review by I was really excited to have the opportunity to read this book. The premise sucked me right in. Time travel? Check. Historical figure? Check. Kidnapping and a bit of a thrill? Check. Multiple timelines? Check. So, the premise was intriguing. The main focus took place in 1999 wherein a team in California successfully transports Julius Caesar into the present. Despite the team’s best efforts to maintain secrecy, a kidnap attempt of Caesar rocks their foundation and threatens the future for the whole of civilization.

As I said, the premise was intriguing. As the book begins, the reader is presented with events from the past that don’t really have much of an effect on the present, thereby relegating the events to useless filer. Then the characters are slowly revealed, and there are a lot of them. The introductions to each character were expansive, but a fairly large part of those introductions has no bearing on the subsequent events in the book. It all boils down to the fact that the book had too much useless filler that took away from the core story. Then the romance happens. On top of all the preceding issues, the romantic storyline is unbelievable and feels like an afterthought. Essentially, to me this book seems to have been comprised of a core story that could have been fantastic except the author added so much useless filler (maybe to meet a minimum page count?) it took away from the core story and fell flat.

Overall, I sadly would not recommend this book. It just doesn’t work for me on many levels. I know other reviewers enjoyed this book, but I don’t understand why. I may be the odd person out with this review, and I hate to give bad reviews. Unfortunately, I just can’t give a positive review on this book. This may work for young adult readers, but as an adult it just doesn’t resonate.

I was pretty excited to read this book, it hit all my sci-fi/fantasy interest—time travel, archaeology, history, secret offices dedicated to time travel, unnecessary acronyms....but, it just fell really, really flat for me. The story was so imaginative and the idea really creative, but the execution was not what I was expecting or what I wanted to read.

I had trouble connecting with the characters, (So. Many. Characters.) They also seemed very one dimensional. The casual sexism. I found all the obsession on how beautiful Cassandra was...weird. She's a Latin expert and a member of a research team and all anyone can think is that she's beautiful (so beautiful!) like a goddess. Oh, and that her past cocktail waitress experience will come in handy to make Caesar feel at home.

"Your role in this experiment is crucial, Miss Fleury. Your fluency in Latin, combined with your experience in the hospitality industry, provide you with an ideal combination of skills.”

Most of the characters were supposed to be smart and professional and they really weren't. There are some comparisons to The Rise and Fall of D.O.D.O in other reviews, and it's weird because people who seemed to not like that book loved this one. That seems to hold true because I LOVED Dodo and had so many issues with this book.

Also, #TeamFaith.

I wish I liked this more. Thank you NetGalley for the ARC!

A captivating historical fiction. A team of scientists time travel Julius Caesar before his assassination. Bringing him into the 21st century. I’ve never read anything quite like this novel.

The characters were fleshed out and the story was imaginative.

Cassandra was a showgirl in Vegas who was chosen to study Latin, the idea of the sketchy lab room was not what I was expecting, but none the less it was enjoyable. She was a good fit to be the heroine.

It took me a while to completely finish this novel as the beginning is slow and when I say beginning - basically the first half of the book. Also the lack of emotional depth of Caesar was a bit too well done. He’s never seen the technology in the 21st century and it didn’t give him a big “wow” that I would expect he would have.

Overall, I would give this 4 stars. It was interesting, kept me captivated for the most part and I love the concept of how time travel is used in this book.

Thank you NetGalley for providing the story arc for an honest review.

Note: Thank you to Netgalley & the publishers for allowing me access to this arc!

My review
Overall, this is a good read. I may not have loved it, but you might! I think it is important to say this because the author clearly worked hard on this book, which shows in writing.
However, after reading the intriguing premise, I really wanted this book to be great as a history major. Unfortunately, I was a tad disappointed. It was good, but it didn't blow me out of the water as I had hoped! The book's first half was good, but the second half, not so much. I've read many books that are the opposite, so I was surprised that I was forcing my way through it.

The Good Things
1. The title: talk about CATCHY!
2. The premise is extremely creative and has the potential to be a FANTASTIC story once edited to avoid over-bloating.
3. I tend to be picky about writing styles, and the author is skilled. The book was devoid of any clear writing errors.
4. The climactic event - I don't want to go into too much detail and end up spoiling anything- is great! If the rest of the book read in the same manner, I'd have given it 4-5 stars! 


The Bad Things
1. I feel like there were things at the start of the book that sort of, spurted out?
2. There are many parts of the book that are SLOW. And I have both a history and an English degree, so I've taken part in many slow reads.
3. It COULD use a better cover. I only say this because I have many friends who refuse to read books that don't have a great cover.
4. The climactic event I mentioned above was GREAT, but following it? Not so much. It was a tad too underwhelming for my taste.
5. I feel like Caesar's reaction -or lack thereof- to time traveling isn't as realistic as I would have liked. Obviously, this is a work of fiction, but I would have preferred the character's reaction differently.
6. Around halfway through, I started getting a little bit confused. I feel like the author was almost trying too hard to push an exciting story without focusing on things that don't necessarily help the story. 


My Final Rating:
☆☆☆ (Goodreads)
☆☆☆ (Blog)
☆☆☆ (Amazon - will post the review as soon as the novel is released)

Like many, I was intrigued by the premise of A Coin for the Ferryman. The idea of time travel to interview a historical figure - it's the age-old question of "if you could have dinner with anyone living or dead, who would it be?" I'm sure a lot of people choose Caesar.

I tried to get through this, but for me, it seemed like there was too much build-up at the beginning. I struggled to power through the initial chapters of scene-setting and character development that only scratched the surface. There just wasn't enough emotional depth to them for me to get invested.

DNF at 17%. Thanks to Imbrifex Books for the free eARC in exchange for an honest review.

What a great premise! I wanted to love this book - the story of a group of scientists transporting Julius Caesar to the present for 4 days only, and a beautiful Latin-speaking coed brought in to speak with him/translate. Unfortunately, it didn't quite hit that mark for me. The beginning was quite slow, as all the characters were introduced, and it seemed to take forever to get to the part where Julius Caesar was transported. Parts of this book were very entertaining and parts were just a little too far-fetched. And I wanted to hear more about ancient Rome. For the most part, though, this was a very interesting and entertaining read. Many thanks to NetGalley and Imbrifex Books for the e-arc - a solid 3.5 stars.

What would Julius Caesar, one of the most famous ancient Romans, think about modern society? A Coin for the Ferryman is a creative and entertaining mingle of Greco-Roman History and science fiction that will delight any fan of both. Pinky swear. But, don’t worry, I will explain further.

The narrative involves nearly a dozen characters whose lives intersect because of the dream and will of one determined scientist. Nobel laureate Andrew Danicek hires an elite team of academics, plus Cassandra, a young woman who can speak Latin, to work on a time travel experiment. But he doesn’t want to just bring anyone into the present from the past. He would like to meet Julius Caesar right before his death in the Ides of March.

The start was slow-paced but enjoyable, with fleshed-out characters and interesting backstories. One of the introductory chapters might feel unnecessary, but everything will make sense in the end. We just have to wait for the bigger picture. And, personally, I really liked to see all the little pieces getting together as the story progressed.

When things were established, it read like an action movie, with plenty of suspense and, more or less after 60% of the book, even the blossom of a romance. Most of the story takes place in 1999 and is set between California and Las Vegas. There’s a lot of different POVs, which I thought it was cool and well-executed. I didn’t dislike any character in particular; Faith seemed insufferable for most of the book, but there are actually a lot of good reasons for it. My favourite chapters were probably the ones that focused on Cassandra and Julius Caesar. And, I really have to say it, Caesar was endearing as hell. I loved his cunning side.

About the sci-fi part, I didn’t expect the author to show us all the intricacies of a time travel experiment, but I would have liked to know more about the science behind the project. Despite that, the characters were vividly drawn, as I already have highlighted, and it was a fun adventure. There were enough twists, double-crosses and secret agendas (though I would have liked to know more about people's intentions behind it).

The conundrum about the moral and ethical problems involved in disrupting a life was probably one of the key themes of the story. And I think Caesar's last scenes with Cassandra and the rest of the IDES team give us a lot of food for thought on that matter. But I was also expecting a lot more focus on it. I really wouldn’t mind if Megan Edwards wrote another hundred or two hundred pages.

Thank you to NetGalley and Imbrifex Books for providing me with an eARC in exchange for an honest review.