A Coin for the Ferryman: A Novel

Thank you to Edelweiss for providing an ARC copy of this novel.A Coin for the Ferryman has all the makings of what could be a fantastic novel. However, it needs a heavy-handed editor to make it into such a book. A Coin For the Ferryman is a novel about time-travel in the veins of [b:The Rise and Fall of D.O.D.O. 32075825 The Rise and Fall of D.O.D.O. (D.O.D.O. #1) Neal Stephenson https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1486520624l/32075825.SX50.jpg 52724049]. There's a heavy scientific lean, though not much description is actually given of how anything works. (Which is fair bc time-travel isn't real!) But despite that, there could have been slightly more time spent on the mechanics, rather than describing all the women characters eight million times. BUT I DIGRESS. [b:The Rise and Fall of D.O.D.O. 32075825 The Rise and Fall of D.O.D.O. (D.O.D.O. #1) Neal Stephenson https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1486520624l/32075825.SX50.jpg 52724049]'s faults were that too much of the novel was taken up working up TO the time-travel, and unfortunately, the same thing happens in A Coin for the Ferryman. I don't think anything really interesting happens until maybe 40% of the way into the novel. I actually debating DNF-ing the book a couple times. The first half of the book is basically spent setting up the characters, when it really, really didn't need to. The best parts of the book were when Caesar was on page. I had a hard time putting the book down at that point – I really, really wanted to find out if anything was going to go wrong with the mechanics there. I won't spoil, of course, but it is definitely worth reading. In the end, the book is decent, it just needs more polishing, in my personal opinion. In the first 40% of the book, the time jumps around and it is confusing as hell. It needs to be more obvious what's in the present and what's in the past. The ‘notes' at the end of the book are unnecessary as well. They didn't add anything to the novel.HAIL CAESAR.