I absolutely LOVE this series! This book was SO good! Not as good as the 1st two, but I was still hooked to the world of time jumpers and the action and mystery about the people after the MCs.
I was obsessed with Mongolian history in middle school and college so I was excited to see what the author did with it, and I felt he did Genghis Khan justice.
As far as my research showed me, Genghis was a pretty fair ruler. He gave women more equality and freedoms, allowed his subjects their own language and worship, started trade routes etc, all while, yes being a a hard warrior that was feared and admired.
Dan meets a young Mongol and gets thrown into early Mongol history before Genghis's rule. He seemed to befriend and admire his companions. I saw the surprise coming and when it did Dan's own research led him to doubt the honor of his Mongol companions but Im glad the author didn't make it a black and white issue but that there were different sides to the Mongol's ways. I thought it was all very well done.
Only downside for me was the romance lol
Here I thought Dan and Sam were going to step it up but then we get a love triangle out of nowhere and Sam became unreasonable and harsh, which irritated me. That's the only reason for the one star demotion 😅
Otherwise, great read and cant wait to see where Dan's adventures take him next 😃

From the moment I started The Mongol Ascension, I was completely captivated. The blend of gripping historical adventure and subtle time travel made for an unforgettable listening experience. The vivid portrayal of ancient Mongolia, combined with complex, well-drawn characters, drew me in deeply—this is exactly the kind of story I crave. It’s rare to find a book that balances thrilling action, emotional depth, and thoughtful moral questions so effortlessly. I was hooked from start to finish and can’t recommend it highly enough!

Cover & Atmosphere
The cover perfectly captures the essence of the story—a bold Mongol warrior riding into battle—which set the tone right from the start. It’s professional, eye-catching, and true to the spirit of the narrative.

Characters
The protagonist, Dan Renfrew, is refreshingly well-developed. Beginning as a confused and frightened teenager caught in the chaos of accidental time travel, Dan’s growth into a strategic, brave leader feels natural and compelling. His grounded, realistic personality—with thoughtful internal monologues—makes him incredibly relatable. I especially appreciated how he balanced his mission with his feelings for Sam, his long-time crush. Their unresolved tension adds emotional depth without overshadowing the main storyline.

Genghis Khan appears as a powerful side character, bringing authentic historical gravitas to the story. The author’s portrayal of Khan is nuanced, showing both his ruthlessness and inspiring leadership, which made me want to learn more about the real historical figure.

Plot & Themes
The plot is engaging and steadily paced, narrated wonderfully by Mark Sanderlin, whose calm voice perfectly suits the story’s tone. While there aren’t dramatic twists, the characters’ choices often surprised me, keeping me hooked.

What really stood out was the moral complexity surrounding Genghis Khan’s legacy. The book thoughtfully explores the dilemma of aiding a man known for brutal conquest—highlighting that history’s shaping is as much about those who witness and remember as about the actions themselves. This adds a layer of emotional and philosophical weight that elevates the story beyond a simple adventure.

Writing Style & World-Building
Andrew Varga’s writing is vivid and immersive without overwhelming the reader with heavy exposition. His descriptions bring ancient Mongolia to life—the sights, sounds, and culture feel tangible and real. The time-travel element is handled with just enough detail to support the story while keeping the focus on character development and historical immersion. The subtle fantastical aspect blends smoothly with the historical setting, adding intrigue without confusion.

Final Thoughts
The Mongol Ascension pulled me in from the first chapter and held my attention throughout. It’s a thoughtful, well-balanced blend of history, adventure, and moral complexity. Dan’s journey from lost teenager to confident leader is inspiring, and the story’s exploration of history’s ambiguity is both poignant and thought-provoking.

If you enjoy historical fiction with a twist of time travel—and stories that challenge you to think deeply about the past and its legacy—this book is definitely worth a listen.

This was an audio ARC that I received and unfortunately I did not realize until after I had already started that it was the third book in a series. That is a big pet peeve of mine - starting a book in the middle of an existing series..... Luckily, it was one of those series that made it fairly easy to jump right in without feeling like you were missing too much.

Since it was book 3, I'm not really sure about the setup - how and why the two MC's are in the situation that they are in - but basically the storyline revolves around two teenagers who are descendants of a "time jumping family", The two teens have apparently gotten involved because each of their separate time jumping parents has been killed. There is an overarching storyline that is running throughout the books about a "bad guy" Victor who is deliberately threatening time jumpers and giving them the ultimatum to either join his cause, or to give up the time jumping rod (the tool that lets them jump), or he kills them. He has absolutely no problem with the killing part.

The fun part of this particular book was when the two MC's actually went on a jump and the adventures that they had. The main jump was....you guessed it...to the Steppes of Mongolia and involved a 17 year old clan leader who would eventually become Genghis Khan. There was some fascinating history thrown into the plot and then at the end of the book there was an author note that went into detail about which parts of the story were actually true, with some more background information for those readers who might be interested.

The narration was done by Mark Sanderlin and he did a pretty good job. I would definitely be interested in going back and starting with the audio for book 1 and moving through the series.

Thank you to NetGalley and Imbrifex Audio for the opportunity to listen to and review this audio ARC. This book will be out for publication on June 17, 2025.

After finishing The Mongol Ascension, I decided I needed to go back and reread the first book in the series, The Last Saxon King. My initial thought when I finished this book was, "Is this my favorite series?" It very well may be, but if it’s not, it’s definitely at least in the conversation.

We again follow Dan, who, from the opening few chapters, seems to have transformed from a brave 16-year-old to a 17-year-old superhero with how he handles a bully at school. He trash talks while effortlessly defending himself, which was amazing.

After the slight deviation from the plot and showing us Dan's regular life, we go back to the grind of trying to find out what the big bad Victor has in store for them and get revenge for his dad's murder.

Dan is again joined by Sam, and their emotions are at an all-time high. They both know they love each other, but Sam is at least afraid to show it and let go of everything. I love their relationship, and I’m rooting for them to figure it out.

If the name didn’t give it away, this time, we jump to the Mongol Empire and see a young man who may or may not turn out to be a brutal ruler. Dan and Sam must protect him and ensure history repeats itself to keep the present day safe. While doing this, they continue trying to find more of Victor's men to flush out more of his plan.

I really love how Dan tackles everything head-on in his book, even Victor. I loved every part of this story and can't wait for the next one.

A great escapist story with a blend of mystery, sci fi and historical fiction keeping you entertained. Well worth a read.

I had the chance to listen to the advance copy of the audiobook being released on May 13, 2025 for this book. The timing, voice, and clarity of the audio recording itself were all great. The paper and e-reader editions are already available, published September 2024. Thank you to Netgalley and Imbrifex for the free copy.

The Mongol Ascension is a young adult historical fiction from a series where a teenage boy named Dan goes back in time to a different historical period and place in each book and has to find a glitch to help save history. The Mongol Ascension is about exactly what it sounds like - the rise of the Mongolian Empire, but the experience for the reader is more personal following the activities of this teenager as he has to figure out where and when he is. It was exciting, with plenty of action and interpersonal dynamics without being too heavy, gory, or adult. In addition to the time-jump arc there's a larger story developing across the series highlighting a division between at least two factions of people who can time travel. That has the promise to become very action-packed in future books and added just the right level of tension/danger to the chapters that happened in the present time while Dan is going to school and doing other sorts of research.

As historical fiction I thought it was good, well researched, and not too heavy on any academic style of historical knowledge - kids would read it without feeling it was for school - but at the end there is an epilogue with more historical data. It's a perfect introduction to dip your toes into the early days of the Mongolian Empire and gives you plenty of interesting leads on other things you might want to read about in the future.

More generally, as YA fiction, I appreciated that there was teen dating drama without anything inappropriate for younger teens. I WILL happily hand this book to children who would find this interesting. It would even be a great read aloud for a younger audience, though the relationship between Dan, Sam, and Jenna. The main character is well developed with some of the mixed up thinking you'd expect from a teen boy. I feel like with at least two other time jumps under his belt (from books one and two), the gear that he had, his jump-partner, and some good luck most of what he did was possible, even if a couple of things skirted the line of implausibility. The story developing between the two factions of time jumpers was prevalent enough in the book to hook me, and I will definitely grab the next book to see what happens next.

To be fair to a young adult novel I am rating it 4 stars based on how relatable and engaging this book is for young readers. I know the teens in my life will like it (I am going to gift it to two kids this summer, and the series to my son) and I feel like it's a safe bet for any parent. There's nothing lurid, obscene, or grotesque. Varga manages to cover battle scenes that would have had a lot of carnage without the imagery becoming problematic for young readers but not so watered down you'd lose the teens - this was not an easy feat!

If I was rating this book for myself it would have been a solid 3-star book that I am glad I read, keeping my attention, getting a chuckle out of me, and immersing me in an interesting story with a setting I've never experienced. I would have liked to see a little more depth in the Mongolian characters, a little more historical focus, and a little more plausibility in one scene where he meets with some other time jumpers near the end of the book. I will not read it again, it wasn't life changing, but it was fun and I want to read the next one.

ARC from NetGalley
Thank you to the author and publisher.
Publish Date: Jun 17 2025

Rating: 2/5

Thoughts: Although this book was part of a series (I hadn't noticed initially) I was able to glean enough that it could stand alone. However, I still had difficultly not DNFing the book. I felt ok with proceeding to the end as the action was well paced.

Plot:
The main character, Dan, is struggling with the regular aspects of being seventeen. He is having to navigate school bullies, dating and homework with time-travelling on the side. He and his time-travelling friend/partner are going back in time to the Mongols in order to repair glitches in history. This is while he contends with an organization that wants to use the time-jumping to take over the world.

Praise:
- Action was paced well.
- Humour was added.

Critiques:
- Between dialogue the narrator seemed to speak in bullet points. The reading wasn't smooth in my opinion. There was an abrupt stop after each sentence or two.
- I'm sure there was character development in earlier books, but more could have been done in this one. Even if the reader read the entire series.
- Simplistic writing style

Would I recommend it to a friend?
Unlikely

This was so good a mix of history and fantasy books like this amaze me and I enjoy them alot every time the one thing I will say is I did not realise it ended when it did as it was a little abrupt

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for a copy of this audiobook in exchange for an honest review.

This was a fun time jumping novel. I really enjoyed the next installment in this series and am loving how the overall plot of the series is coming together. I am looking forward to seeing what happens next and if Dan and Sam will be able to stop Victor’s plot for world domination by messing with history. The historical elements in this book were, once again, well done and fascinating. I am loving this series.

This series gets more enjoyable with each installment. I especially enjoy that each book showcases a different historical era. I didn’t know that much about the Mongols so I learned something during this book. I thought this story was different in that it was more focused on Dan and Sam was more of a side character in this one. Dan is a great character & he keeps a great attitude even though he has had so many challenges in his life I love time travel books and this book is a great addition to the genre. By the end of the book things were looking up for Dan, I’ll be looking forward to the next book.

The narrator is wonderful & I enjoyed listening to them read this story.

Thanks to NetGalley and Imberfex Books for a copy of this audio book.

Dan Renfrew is just 17 years old and finding high school a challenge after being home schooled by his father who died a year ago. But he has a secret I
Life as a time jumper to repair glitches in history that could alter its course. Dan and Sam travel together to ancient Mongolia in 1179 meeting a Mongol teen determined to rescue his wife. Can they help to ensure the future of Ghengis Khan?

Very well written and well narrated novel (I listened to the audiobook). Good characters in this well paced, action packed novel. Enjoyed the location of this time travelling adventure.

Thank you to Netgalley, the publisher, and the author for providing a free audio arc of this book in exchange for an honest review.

This series has been fun so far! This is the third in the A Jump in Time series where we follow a couple of teenagers Dan and Sam as they go back to different time periods to find out more about the secret time jumping society Dan's Father was apart of while also learning from the past, but not altering it.

I don't want to go too much into detail as it is the third book in the series. You could read the book as a standalone, but I think you get more from it by reading it in order. It has a 90s feel to it, and a "Where in Time is Carmen Sandiago" kind of vibe to it. It is marketed as YA and appropriately so, but still a fun adventure for adults as well.

I definitely recommend, especially if you're a 90s kid, as it will bring back some nostalgic feelings.