A book review: A Coin for the Ferryman
Title of the book: A Coin for the Ferryman
Author: Megan Edwards
Publisher: Imbrifex Books
Expected Publication Date: 1st of March 2022
Genre: Science Fiction, Historical Fiction
Why I picked up this book:
Letting the cat out of the bag immediately – yes this is an advanced reader copy. I thought with last week’s post still fresh in mind, that we’d go for another upcoming release. This one will very shortly follow the books coming out in February so it felt apt.
I originally picked this ARC because of the title, plain and simple. I don’t know if it’s just me but along with many other brief obsessions (murder mysteries, witchcraft and many other things teenage me got her hands on) Greek Mythology had and still has me in its grip to this day. Now the title is a little bit misleading here as this is not a story about Charon who ferries souls across the river Styx. However, a story about time travel and Julius Ceasar sounded interesting enough to keep me hooked all the same!
About the author:
Edwards holds a B.A. in classics from Scripps College and an M.A. from Claremont Graduate University. She has lived and travelled extensively in Europe and spent nearly seven years “on the road” all over North America. Now at home in Las Vegas, Nevada, she is working on her next book A Coin for the Ferryman. Her other books include the travel memoir Roads from the Ashes: An Odyssey in Real Life on the Virtual Frontier, the humour book Caution: Funny Signs Ahead, the award-winning Copper Black mystery novels Getting off on Frank Sinatra and Full Service Blonde, and the award-winning novel Strings: A Love Story.
Synopsis:
The story can now be told.
In 1999, an elite interdisciplinary team headed by Nobel laureate Andrew Danicek gathered in California to carry out a ground-breaking time-travel experiment. While the rest of the world remained unaware, Julius Caesar was successfully transported from the last day of his life to a specially-constructed covert facility. Four days of conversation with historians and Latin scholars were planned, followed by Caesar’s return to the moment from which he was extracted. But despite the team’s meticulous efforts to maintain secrecy and plan for all possible exigencies, a kidnap attempt plunges Caesar into peril. Fully aware that the future of civilization may hang in the balance, one team member must summon strength she didn’t know she possessed to return Caesar to the Ides of March.
The shocking details of Caesar's visit and its effect on subsequent events have been protected by draconian nondisclosure agreements....until now.
Review of the book:
My first impression of this book is that while it isn’t a piece of high literature it certainly is a relatively interesting read.
As for the issues that stand in the way of it being better? For me, first and foremost it was actually the characters. Running the risk of sounding hypocritical here, as I am often found clamouring about the need for fully fleshed-out backstories and personalities, I found there was actually way too much of it in Edwards’ work. There was so much time wasted, delving into the unnecessary backstory of side characters who scarcely make more than a few passing appearances. It detracted from the actual plot.
On top of that, the few characters that were instrumental to the plot were less likeable than some of the cast of supporting actors. Take Cassandra for example. She is teetering on the edge of being a Mary Sue no matter how you spin it. Sure we are told she has faced some hardships as a child, but we never actually see it. All we see now is a gorgeous, intelligent blonde woman, who obviously has no idea about how stunning she actually is but does get compared to the likes of Heidi Klum or some other supermodel.
Call me a bitter spinster all you like but it immediately grinds my gears. There is nothing wrong with a gorgeous protagonist, but please stop with the fake humbleness, it doesn’t look good on anyone. Pair that with the fact that she is immediately liked by most scholars for her unrivalled intellect, and a sugar daddy who is willing to pave the way for her – no string attached. A teacher who invites her to a high-end gala’s and dresses her in Gucci, Dior and other brand names and hey presto we have a boring woman dressed up as someone interesting.
Personally, I found the likes of Andrew Danicek far more interesting, admittedly there were parts of the story where he bordered on dull as well, but there was more meat on his bones, figuratively speaking. Considering he was the driving force for the plot, the reason why all of our characters lives’ intertwined in the first place, it was disappointing to see him cast aside at the end of the story in the way he was.
Another issue I personally found is the pacing and with that the building of suspense. The first 50 – 60% of the book is spent fleshing out characters and introducing us to the means of Time Travel. Which, aside from a panicked dog, doesn’t face any sort of setbacks – it all goes off without a hitch. Almost as if it is wearing its plot armour and desperately needs the time travel to work in order for the story to go anywhere. Simply put, this section of the book is calm & quiet.
The second portion of the book then dials up the action to 11! All of a sudden I found myself in the middle of an early 2000’s crime series, with high-speed car chases, secret agents (ok fine bodyguards but the comparison holds up) gorgeous hotel rooms only accessible to a select few, kidnapping plots and much, much more.
It created a dissonance that for me, was hard to overcome.
Now as I said, the book isn’t all bad. Not in the slightest! The premise of the story is very interesting, although it could be a little bit more fleshed out. The parts that delved further into Ancient Rome and Julius Ceasar felt well-researched and informative, as far as a complete novice like myself could judge. I was introduced to some exceptionally interesting characters, even if they didn’t always feature as heavily as I would have liked. The book was a quick and easy read, without being bogged down too much by detail.
So all in all, as I said, it’s not bad, it just could be better.
What are your thoughts? Are you putting it on your Amazon Wishlist right now, so you can celebrate the Ides of March by reading this book? Have you read any of Edwards’ earlier works and simply have to add this one to your collection? Is this particular blend of historical fiction and science fiction just not for you? Let me know in the comment section below, and until then - just one more page!
This review is also posted to Goodreads.