Neither here nor there

This is a tricky book to review and I’m not even very clear how I feel about it. I actually admire an author who tries to do something different and, with the moral overtones being quite unsubtle, Ian Mortimer has been brave in producing an unfashionable novel.

I THINK he was going for a kind of Pilgrim’s Progress type structure although, in this book, the pilgrimage is through time, several centuries, in fact. What confuses me is that the motivation is not always clear and the philosophical messages, if I’m honest, aren’t very weighty. Ultimately, the authorial directive seems to be that we can all achieve grace through trying to do good deeds for one's fellow humans - hardly revelatory. So, as an historian, was Mortimer actually attempting to be instructive? If so it wasn't very successful. The narrative comes across as rather formulaic and repetitive and focusses on trivialities. That is why the writer’s motivation is confusing - if the moral message is secondary then is this novel just a descriptive lecture about the changing nature of our country, along the lines of the docu-dramas that seem to be quite popular on our screens? I am not sure.

The narrator did a pretty good job in jollying us along, by the way.

In the end, I had to think hard about why I didn’t love this novel. It is not because I do not like hearing sermons - I am always open to hearing philosophical or theological lessons providing it is robust and convincing. Neither is it because I don’t need to know what undergarments or washing implements my forbears used. I am open to new learning provided it is more than I already know or can imagine. Then I had my answer: my indifference to this book was because Mortimer just didn’t challenge me: He didn’t enlighten me, he didn’t teach me, he didn’t motivate or inspire me. Not remotely.

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32 people found this helpful

Loved this book, a really interesting idea...

...and one I would return to again and again. A devoutely religious man and his flawed brother travel through time to avoid a 14th Century death at the hands of the plague in and around Exeter. Thought provoking and fascinating in equal measure. Very much recommended.

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14 people found this helpful

The best time travel story I have ever read .

This story includes a religious moral , plenty of activities and is well worth listing.

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2 people found this helpful

Moving story and excellent performance!

I found this story to be very moving, and the performance was excellent! I was drawn right into what was happening, and the various accents helped enormously! I wholeheartedly enjoyed this.

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1 person found this helpful

Time travel with a difference

Here’s a very different time-travel story if you fancy something rather different/deeper for a change...light-hearted St Mary’s it is not. Part history, part time travel (inasmuch as the main character travels forwards from the medieval era to the 1940s). I enjoyed it because it was particularly thoughtful/thought provoking. I have given it five stars....and I would have given the excellent narrator 6 or 7 if I could have done so.

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1 person found this helpful

A great companion to Ian's Time Travellers Guide

A fascinating concept and beautifully executed. I only wish our heroes could have spent a week rather than a day in their new times.

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1 person found this helpful

Bit disappointing

This had so much potential, the theme I thought was really interesting and I was looking forward to listening to the book. It starts off slowly and opens when the plague had England in its grip which was quite interesting, but then it loses itself as the story progresses and it became quite tedious, the characters were also quite dry and the narration lacked animation. I only carried on listening to it because I don’t like not finishing things. However I’m glad I persevered as it does pick up again. I liked the morality of the tale which is disclosed at the end of the book and the time line and descriptions of the eras that the characters find themselves in does get better.

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Would like 12 hours of my life back,

Would you recommend this book to a friend? Why or why not?

Not unless you want a history lesson on clothing and buildings then no, the story is dreadful the plot dreadful

What could Ian Mortimer have done to make this a more enjoyable book for you?

Made the story a story. The idea I loved, however the author never made it work.

To compare Mortimer to Kate Mosses was a reason I bought the book, other than the concept of the book, it has not got a handle on Mosses

What did you like about the performance? What did you dislike?

Nothing to much about the performance to dislike you can only narrate whats in front of you

Was The Outcasts of Time worth the listening time?

As per my title, there were bits in it I found interesting.

The first chapter did not really set the story, I had no idea why the characters were where they were and why.
Second Chapter I thought "ah here we go something to look forward to"
Third Chapter, now the story opens up.
Then it lost its way.
The ending was meant to have been clever and it would have been had the middle not been such rubbish and never really related to the end.

Without giving anything away I have no idea how the characters got away with what they did, and it was obvious the author was going to tell the story whatever it took to make it work no matter how unbelievable.

Any additional comments?

There was some very informative stuff in this book, and in parts clever,

Descriptions were not great

And I like the use of "Eye Windows" Specs, until the author forgot the characters had never heard the word Spectacles, then used it and reverted back to Eye Windows.

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an unusual but fascinating story

The narrator was perfect! A voice that I just wanted to listen to all day..he brought each character alive…and everyone was believable.
It’s not usually the type of book I’d read but I thought I’d take a chance and it was perfection!
Take a chance…open your mind and you will enjoy this engaging story..

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Unusual

There were a few small historical mistakes but generally it was very well written. An unusual novel. I can't say I enjoyed it particularly, but the narration was excellent. I don't think I should review the story as it wasn't my kind of thing, but that doesn't make it bad, so read other reviews to make your mind up on that score. Just know that if you do decide to listen to it, I would score more than five stars for the narration if I could; it was truly perfect.

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