This novella is entertaining and made me wish I could read the rest of the series soon. It's well plotted, gripping, and the idea is original.
Some editing would help as there's a lot of potential.
Recommended.
Many thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for this ARC, all opinions are mine

I loved this novella and can hardly wait to read the next installment in the series.
The premise of this story is fascinating. A Roman legion in a planned coma wakes up in the 21st century. They didn't intend to wait that long for revenge, but they initially do not know how much time has passed. Their perceptions of present-day Europe seem plausible and are extremely entertaining. They behaved as I would expect a group of Roman soldiers to behave, which was very satisfying. If a Roman legion waking up in the modern day can be believable, this story absolutely was. I especially enjoyed their near misses and encounters with modern locals. Every page built tension until they realized what had happened to them and where/when they were. Meanwhile, police investigators were trying to figure out how a series of crimes fit together including a couple of murders committed with what could have been reenactment weapons. A vintner discovered an ancient Roman cellar filled with curious evidence. All of this tied together perfectly.
This story is so well told, well-researched, and exciting; I did not want to put it down. When I did, I looked forward to picking it up again. That doesn't happen often enough. In fact, the intrigue started on the first page and never let go.
Some readers may be disappointed that the ending is not conclusive, but it is not supposed to be. This is just the first part of the story. Bring on book 2!
Thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for an ARC of this novel in exchange for an honest review.

Huge thanks to NetGalley, the author and the publisher for providing an e-ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review. All of the opinions expressed in this review are my own.
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This was a fun and engaging combination of historical events and high-rension action.

Although I don't see how the story would need 3 more books in order to be complete,I am still excited to read the next books in the series.

Overall rating: 4/5 stars

A new to me author and it's a bit of a mixed bag review from me. It had a great premise - a troop of Roman infantry awaking in the modern world and wreaking havoc as they try to avenge their fallen comrades.

I have a degree in ancient history and I did find it a bit...wordy in places. I know everyone may not know the epic battles, strategies used and setup of the Roman Army but I did find it a bit slow in places where the author was explaining things to the reader. My other peeve was the extreme lack of female characters - there were 2! The descriptions of said characters were also a bit misogynistic. It may not have been meant that way but there was a definite fascination with the boobage area!

There were other minor characters and plotlines included that didn't make sense to me but overal I thought it had promise.

Out of the Darkness reminds me of why I love reading books about the Ancient Peoples, let's say the Romans or Greeks specifically, that devise ways to enter into the 21st century. This is a time travel novel don't get me wrong. It's like Outlander but without the emphasis on too much romance. I just love reading books about the Ancient World interacting with the 21st century. Or with different time periods. Now imagine a Roman Legion arriving into the Napoleonic Period. It's like that, and I would seriously love to read a book like that. I can compare this to Baen Book's series of the Alexander Inheritance. In which a 21st-century cruiser is transported to the era of the Diadochi.

This novel had me hooked on every page, every word, and it was such a vivid description of how a Roman Legion, or well what a Roman Legion would do if they arrived in the 21st century. It's like a modern-day thriller novel. And these Romans are coming for revenge which I daresay...is a bit long gone. If you know the events of Teutoberg Forest in 9AD, it was one of the most monumental losses of Roman Military History that discouraged the Romans from expanding into Germania, but also, more importantly, the loss of Germanicus played a crucial role after he had defeated Arminius. Clearly, every aspect of this novel is well researched. I wish more mainstream publishers would tackle such subjects like this. I applaud Sunbury Press for not only taking this novel on, but they did a fantastic choice.

Mark mentioned that he was blind and that he wrote this novel using a wide variety of technologies while also receiving help from friends and experts. He also mentioned that this novel was 250k words and so was split up. I say to you, this novel will want to make you read more of it! It's that good. I too have a visual impairment and have glaucoma in my left eye since birth, so seeing this novel is not only an achievement, it is a great thing. I also wanted to say: The writing is solid. The prose is excellent. The characters are extremely well written though I did not buy some aspects of the novel when it comes to the old world diseases stuff that meets in the new world. Those are just my thoughts.

I give this book a 10/10 and must read!

I have posted my review on Amazon and will do so on Fanfiaddict for tomorrow.

I really want to read book 2 now! It's that great

I enjoyed this different take on Roman centurions. My only negative was the novelette was too short. Imagine being part of Rome's three elite legions and being massacred by Germans. The surviving 4800 centurions flee to France and take build a underground storage facility that they hibernate in, so they make take revenge on the Germans. Then a French vintner driving through his fields accidently breaks open the storage facility and the Romans awaken. So starts the story. Great plot!

I have mixed feelings about this book. I am a huge geek when it comes to ancient civilisations and I thought that the concept was fantastic, original and thought-provoking. However, I found the pacing, certainly for the first half of the book, to be slow. The author has clearly felt the need to educate the reader about the Romans and does this via a conversation between two characters - but I found it longwinded and off-putting (insofar as I didn't think it was needed and contributed nothing to the plot).

Not many women are in this story, which is not massively unexpected - however, when we're only introduced to two females within the first half of the book and both descriptions of them have made reference to their breasts - I just thought it was unnecessary. I also found the minor side story of underage sex (15yr old girl) equally unnecessary and irrelevant.

Honestly, this very nearly became a DNF for me - however, I persevered and found that it did pick up towards the end and I may be tempted to read the sequel (if not just because I'm intrigued to see where this goes).

I really enjoyed this book, it was well written with a slow burning but compelling storyline and well developed characters. The book had obviously been well researched so I felt lke I learnt something as well as enjoyed the story. I look forward to the next book

An intriguing and interesting book that combines a history lesson with action and excitement, I found the writing style abut stilted at first but soon immersed myself into the story, if I have a complaint it’s that there are 3 books before we get to the conclusion