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Far Edge of Darkness
Three individuals--including archaology student Sibyl Johnson, Miami cop Charlie Flynn, and former commando Logan McKee--are transported back in time to the height of the Roman empire. Original.
384 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published January 1, 1996
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About the author
Linda Evans
109 books21 followersFrom Wikipedia: Linda Evans (b. 1959) is an American science fiction writer from Archer, Florida.
See Wikipedia for more details.
See Wikipedia for more details.
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Displaying 1 - 12 of 12 reviews
September 14, 2014
This is an excellent time travel adventure. The pace is quick; the plot is good. So why is it not better known? Well, a second book was originally planned to tie up the loose ends but was never written--I hear because of health issues.
So it ends on a cliffhanger---literally, the truck they are driving goes over a cliff.....
Still, the first book is very good and the description of slavery in Ancient Rome is gripping. I was particular struck by the fact of how hungry slaves were--most lived on porridge and a few vegetables---three times a day. One of our enslaved time travelers sets snares to kill small animals for meat. Funny, I never thought of semi-starvation when I thought of slavery but most slaves were ill fed in addition to brutal treatment.
I enjoyed it and found it well worth reading though I surely wish somebody would do a sequel. But IF it won't drive you nuts not to know the fate of the characters, it is an enjoyable ready itself.. Recommended for time travel fans; action adventure fans; fans of historical novles set in Roman times.
So it ends on a cliffhanger---literally, the truck they are driving goes over a cliff.....
Still, the first book is very good and the description of slavery in Ancient Rome is gripping. I was particular struck by the fact of how hungry slaves were--most lived on porridge and a few vegetables---three times a day. One of our enslaved time travelers sets snares to kill small animals for meat. Funny, I never thought of semi-starvation when I thought of slavery but most slaves were ill fed in addition to brutal treatment.
I enjoyed it and found it well worth reading though I surely wish somebody would do a sequel. But IF it won't drive you nuts not to know the fate of the characters, it is an enjoyable ready itself.. Recommended for time travel fans; action adventure fans; fans of historical novles set in Roman times.
August 12, 2013
I loved (loved!) this vivid, fast-paced book but cannot give it five stars due to the total cliffhanger ending. It's a wonderful shiny book. And, it's like your favorite tv show getting cancelled and you don't know if the characters you love live or get eaten by a Sharknado. I suppose if I knew ahead of time about the cliffhanger and no sequel I could have just taken it for what was there and been happy. But no. It was a shock. And then I was waiting. I do understand Ms. Evans has health problems. So, not writing the sequel is understandable, but still a major disappointment for me.
I really, really wanted to find out what happens.
This book is the main reason that I don't start reading series' that are not either several books long or finished. Of course, at the time I didn't know this was going to at least have a sequel.
Other than the ending this book is terrific. It has excellent worldbuilding, vivid prose, great characters and a captivating plot.
Just watch out for the cliff.
I really, really wanted to find out what happens.
This book is the main reason that I don't start reading series' that are not either several books long or finished. Of course, at the time I didn't know this was going to at least have a sequel.
Other than the ending this book is terrific. It has excellent worldbuilding, vivid prose, great characters and a captivating plot.
Just watch out for the cliff.
April 2, 2012
I knew going into it that this was intended to be part of a larger work, which was never completed due to ill health. As someone with a chronic, disabling condition myself, I decided to take a chance on it, anyway. I'm glad I did.
For one thing, she really gives you the feel for the brutality of the institution of slavery, as practiced in the Roman Empire. Parts of it were so stark I had to put it down for quite some time.
For one thing, she really gives you the feel for the brutality of the institution of slavery, as practiced in the Roman Empire. Parts of it were so stark I had to put it down for quite some time.
June 16, 2019
As I try to do these days, I went into Far Edge of Darkness more-or-less blind. The front cover of a woman in an old car holding a pistol while what looks like Roman centurions gawk gave me the impression of a slightly goofy time-travel novel.
Far Edge of Darkness is a time-travel novel. It is not goofy. Also, the scene depicted by the cover art never happens in the book itself. Sadness.
The book opens well—you get to meet some characters and spend time in their very credible worlds before shit hits the fan. There’s a low, creeping sense of dread surrounding the time travel itself—who is pulling the strings, and why? What exactly is the motive? How on earth can the wronged characters fight back when they’re trapped in ancient Rome with slave collars around their throats?
So long as this creeping sense of dread stood, I was hooked. Though never particularly beautiful or clever, the writing is technically good, and in an action story like this, that’s all you want. The characters, though never particularly charming, were fleshed out and acted in line with their personal ideals. And while the world was brutal, it was displayed with such realism that it didn’t feel gratuitous.
(This is a good time to say that Far Edge of Darkness comes with serious trigger warnings for sexualized violence against men, women, and children. There are also depictions of domestic abuse. These moments are, of course, brutal, but they’re not written like torture porn. If you are like me and just squeamish and sensitive, they might not bother you too much. If you find depictions of these sorts of things to be legit triggers, I’d suggest staying away.)
Eventually, though, the villain must be made known. And while I continued to enjoy Far Edge of Darkness, I must admit that once the baddie stepped out of the shadows, my interest waned slightly. This is in part because I didn’t find the villain particularly interesting and in part, because the question of “Oh my cod, what’s the nefarious cause of all of this?”, at least in my mind, wasn’t replaced with a new, deeper question. It was just like ‘Oh, okay. Now we know who’s behind all this, and that’s that.’
After that, the focus of the book fell solely on survival, revenge, and getting back to the proper time/place. It was all well written with a solid pace and characters that made sense.
I dunno. I find Far Edge of Darkness to be especially hard to review because to me it’s good, but not amazing. There’s nothing specific for me to gush or gripe about. It’s just a solid action novel. I’m not an action novel expert, but this one reads much, much better than the others I’ve read, so if you are really into action novels, it might make you squeal with delight.
Fair warning, this is the first book in a series that never ended up happening. I was really worried the book would end without any sort of resolution, but thankfully Linda Evans did us a solid. Though the overarching plot continues, the emotional plots of this story feel pretty well wrapped up. Even if it literally ends with characters hanging off a cliff.
[I read old fantasy and sci-fi novels written by women authors in search of forgotten gems. See more at forfemfan.com]
Far Edge of Darkness is a time-travel novel. It is not goofy. Also, the scene depicted by the cover art never happens in the book itself. Sadness.
The book opens well—you get to meet some characters and spend time in their very credible worlds before shit hits the fan. There’s a low, creeping sense of dread surrounding the time travel itself—who is pulling the strings, and why? What exactly is the motive? How on earth can the wronged characters fight back when they’re trapped in ancient Rome with slave collars around their throats?
So long as this creeping sense of dread stood, I was hooked. Though never particularly beautiful or clever, the writing is technically good, and in an action story like this, that’s all you want. The characters, though never particularly charming, were fleshed out and acted in line with their personal ideals. And while the world was brutal, it was displayed with such realism that it didn’t feel gratuitous.
(This is a good time to say that Far Edge of Darkness comes with serious trigger warnings for sexualized violence against men, women, and children. There are also depictions of domestic abuse. These moments are, of course, brutal, but they’re not written like torture porn. If you are like me and just squeamish and sensitive, they might not bother you too much. If you find depictions of these sorts of things to be legit triggers, I’d suggest staying away.)
Eventually, though, the villain must be made known. And while I continued to enjoy Far Edge of Darkness, I must admit that once the baddie stepped out of the shadows, my interest waned slightly. This is in part because I didn’t find the villain particularly interesting and in part, because the question of “Oh my cod, what’s the nefarious cause of all of this?”, at least in my mind, wasn’t replaced with a new, deeper question. It was just like ‘Oh, okay. Now we know who’s behind all this, and that’s that.’
After that, the focus of the book fell solely on survival, revenge, and getting back to the proper time/place. It was all well written with a solid pace and characters that made sense.
I dunno. I find Far Edge of Darkness to be especially hard to review because to me it’s good, but not amazing. There’s nothing specific for me to gush or gripe about. It’s just a solid action novel. I’m not an action novel expert, but this one reads much, much better than the others I’ve read, so if you are really into action novels, it might make you squeal with delight.
Fair warning, this is the first book in a series that never ended up happening. I was really worried the book would end without any sort of resolution, but thankfully Linda Evans did us a solid. Though the overarching plot continues, the emotional plots of this story feel pretty well wrapped up. Even if it literally ends with characters hanging off a cliff.
[I read old fantasy and sci-fi novels written by women authors in search of forgotten gems. See more at forfemfan.com]
March 20, 2022
Historical time travel novels are likely one of the more difficult stories to write (at least in my opinion), as the author needs to do something called research. In "Far Edge of Darkness" Linda Evans comes through as a star in the field as her research is impeccable.
The story revolves around three main characters:
Sibyl, a PhD student in Classical Archaeology who had recently discovered a something while digging in Pompeii that shouldn't have been there. This one little thing changed her life dramatically as we next see her in ancient Rome where she is being sold as a slave.
The second, is Charlie a Miami Vice cop who was deep under cover, and is now a slave in the house of a cruel Roman master, after spending a few years in the Circus Maximus fighting for his life.
The third is Logan a psychiatric patient on day leave who disappears in a monstrous lightning storm in Florida and reappears five years later in Alaska.
These three characters, and many secondary ones interact in a truly believable way and I believe this is mainly due to the great job the author did in setting the stage, and painting the world of ancient Rome in a detail that will delight virtually all readers.
Ms. Evans has written a number of other books as well, which I will review, but this was the first of her I read (a number of years ago), and it is well worth it. She unfortunately hasn't written much lately, but hopefully this will be corrected in the near future.
Highly recommended.
The story revolves around three main characters:
Sibyl, a PhD student in Classical Archaeology who had recently discovered a something while digging in Pompeii that shouldn't have been there. This one little thing changed her life dramatically as we next see her in ancient Rome where she is being sold as a slave.
The second, is Charlie a Miami Vice cop who was deep under cover, and is now a slave in the house of a cruel Roman master, after spending a few years in the Circus Maximus fighting for his life.
The third is Logan a psychiatric patient on day leave who disappears in a monstrous lightning storm in Florida and reappears five years later in Alaska.
These three characters, and many secondary ones interact in a truly believable way and I believe this is mainly due to the great job the author did in setting the stage, and painting the world of ancient Rome in a detail that will delight virtually all readers.
Ms. Evans has written a number of other books as well, which I will review, but this was the first of her I read (a number of years ago), and it is well worth it. She unfortunately hasn't written much lately, but hopefully this will be corrected in the near future.
Highly recommended.
December 12, 2018
When is the next book coming out?
October 11, 2011
Rumor has it that she intended to do a 2nd book to finish this one off and tie up all the loose ends.
I would personally really like to see this one done, as I lived in Naples Italy and crawled around in Pompeii and Herculaneum many times, back in the early 70's back when I was 10, imagining what it would have been like.
She has tended to write as a co-author due to health reasons, i wish her the best.
More details at http://www.webscription.net/p-139-far...
I would personally really like to see this one done, as I lived in Naples Italy and crawled around in Pompeii and Herculaneum many times, back in the early 70's back when I was 10, imagining what it would have been like.
She has tended to write as a co-author due to health reasons, i wish her the best.
More details at http://www.webscription.net/p-139-far...
January 21, 2011
A great time travel story until the last page, then it just stops with much unresolved. I wonder if there is a short story or novella out there that finishes this up. She and John Ringo did almost the same thing in The Road to Damascus; it could have used one or two more chapters to feel complete.
March 25, 2012
the characters are well developed, the plot thickens, the action is heating up then there is the cliffhanger................. Unfortunately the next book hasn't been written. I hope that Linda Evans recovers well enough to finish her collaborative books with David Weber and that she can go back to the far edge of darkness and finish it off.
March 19, 2017
Really enjoyed this time travel book. If you are a stickler for wanting to find out the ending you better not read it yet.
March 31, 2017
Excellent, wish I had more of her books.
Displaying 1 - 12 of 12 reviews