The Mongol Ascension

A Jump in Time #3

by Andrew Varga

MISSION: SAVE THE WORLD

DESTINATION: ANCIENT MONGOLIA

Seventeen-year-old Dan Renfrew leads a normal high school life full of all the usual challenges: homework, bullies, and the enigmatic world of dating. It would be enough for most teens, but Dan has a secret. He’s a time jumper, a member of a clandestine cadre tasked with journeying to the past to repair glitches in history that imperil subsequent events. This responsibility alone is daunting, but it’s even more crucial now. A band of rogue time jumpers is bent on taking over the world, and Dan can’t find any allies to join him in the fight to stop them.

In a last-ditch effort to foil the conspiracy, Dan and his partner Sam plunge into history together. Landing on the steppes of Mongolia in the year 1179, they meet a brave Mongol teen on a courageous quest to rescue his kidnapped wife. But Dan and Sam soon discover that there’s far more at stake than a stolen bride. They’re thrust into a desperate race against time to save the Mongol Empire—and the future of the entire world.

Genres: Young Adult, Historical Fiction

304 pages, Hardcover

First published September 3, 2024

About the author

I am a YA historical fiction author who takes great pains to ensure historical accuracy in my books, while still ensuring that I tell a great story. Although I enjoy reading and writing about all history, I have a particular fondness for European history from Greco-Roman times until the crusades.

I hope you enjoy my stories.

Reviews

[ItaPixie · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Mongol Ascension, third book in the A Jamp In Time series, is full of action, adventure, and a teen who desperatly tries to save the World.

Dan most of the time is clueless as what to do, both as a regular teen and as a time jumper. I have to concede him that he is getting better at looking for leads to expose the villain's plan, but he is still too impulsive and hasty.

Andrew Varga has the ability to make you curious and passionate about every historical time he writes. Before opening this book I've never heard about the Mongol history, other than the name of its most famous conqueror Gengis Khan, but now I crave to learn more.

I enjoyed this story, I recommend it. You won't want to put it down once you pick it up.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for kindly giving me an advanced copy of this book to read.

[Drakoulis · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Mongol Ascension is Andrew Varga's best book so far. The writing style is better, the characters have more personality (although Dan remains annoyingly thirsty) and the plot is moving quicker.

The departure from the familiar old England background also makes a difference versus the previous books, as well as the back and forth between past and present. This book is an "independent" adventure like the previous ones as but it's also where you feel that the bigger plot is moving and more pieces find their place in the board.

Andrew Varga succeeds once again into making the past feel unpleasant. Glory, nobility and heroics? No, because the truth is that you found yourself in medieval Mongolia, you would have to eat the (honestly disgusting) food of the Mongol horsemen, you could be attacked and killed at any moment, and if you're Sam you would be constantly ogled and harassed by thousands of men.

The bigger picture remains kind of vague: Victor is grandstanding and it's quite unclear how he plans to use the past to change the future yet.

One small remark, it's kind of strange that Dan didn't know who their 17-year old Mongol protector/protegee was, this name is quite known especially to history nerds. Like, I knew immediately.

Thank you NetGalley and Imbrifex Books for the ARC!

[Viking Jam · Rating 4 out of 5]

Review: Aw shucks, the reluctant hero with a heart of gold. At 17 YO can take out 5 guys with his martial arts skills and kill known criminals (in self-defense of course). All the girls want to bang him but he walks around clueless until they jump in his lap. His demeanor and abilities shift around to fit the current story line. When he needs information he is suddenly and easily kidnapped and acts like a whipped puppy. He either is a badass or not, but using the MC as a plot device is never a good way to write.

Despite the MC being written as a total asshat, the story line and movement are really good. The historical world building is, as far as my limited education in history allows, very expansive. I think the author does a great job with world building and SHE should be principle to the series. Just kill off dumbass and let her take over the MC role.

I still had a great time reading this.

Rating: 4.4/5

[Krissi · Rating 4 out of 5]

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.

[Elin Torres · Rating 5 out of 5]

I received this arc from Net Galley in exchange for my honest review.
The Mongol Ascension is the third installment in this time travel series. Best suited for middle grade to YA this series is packed with adventure and a little romance.
I enjoyed the characters Dan and Sam immensely and found the time travel parts interesting and well researched. I like Dan also learned something about himself and how to deal with the villain in the story.
I didn't know much about the Mongols before reading this book and I felt like I learned something too.
I'd like to get this series for my son in junior high as I think this would be right in his wheel house of interest.

[Deity World · Rating 5 out of 5]

This series just gets better and better as the books go on definitely my favourite of the three

[Stanley McShane · Rating 5 out of 5]

Read his full review on Rosepoint Publishing.

Dan is a young high school student with a strange ability. He belongs to a group that can skip back and forth in time with the use of a strange transmitter. His goal is to correct glitches in time that may alter the future by altering the past. He and his friend Sam (Samantha) have the same devices and travel together. The device also assists in adjusting speech and other communications into understandable language.

He learns to defend himself at the hands of Roman Gladiators.

A time glitch has occurred during the 5th to 7th centuries and he and Sam decide to go back to save humanity and fix the glitch. The issue is: will they die trying or will they actually meet the group they need to help?

This particular glitch centers around Genghis Khan! Gengis is considered one of the premier historical figures of all time. As history tells us, Genghis spent his life in battles; both in Asia and in Europe. Can a teenager from the 21st Century become one of the Khan’s trusted allies?

This book moves well and seems historically accurate. I warn every reader to be sure they have time to devote to the book. You won’t want to put it down! 4.5 stars – CE Williams

Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for providing me with the opportunity to read and review this book.

[M.E. · Rating 4 out of 5]

Thank you to NetGalley and Imbrifex Books for an Advanced Reader’s Copy in exchange for an honest review.

I went into this read blind, having not read the first two books in the series. I’m also a bit older than the intended audience. None the less, I had a great time reading about Dan and Sam’s adventures in Mongolia. Varga provides enough context for the earlier two books, so I didn’t feel as behind as I should have.

Dan’s adventures through time lead him to 1100s Mongolia, where he meets a young Genghis Khan – known then as Temujin – his group of loyal friends, and an army of thousands at their backs. Dan and Sam join the quest to recover Temujin’s kidnapped wife, Borte, from a rival tribe of Mongols, called the Merkits.

Dan and Sam’s relationship is complicated, and throughout the course of the novel takes multiple turns, realistic for a pair of teenagers in a difficult and isolating set of situations. In current times, Dan also navigates finding new friends in the time-jumping community after the death of his father, as well as a potential relationship with a girl from school. He also meets up with his father’s murderer, Victor, who is plotting to take over the world using his superior time-jumping knowledge, a plot thread that should lead toward a super exciting fourth installment.

The story is engaging, enjoyable, well researched, and realistic for a Middle Grade story about teenagers. Cheers to Varga!

[Sheila Lynn · Rating 4 out of 5]

Andrew Varga delivers another winner. I love this series, it's not only fun but makes the reader think about history. What were those characters like while history was being made. Fun and action filled. Thank you.

[Crystal · Rating 4 out of 5]

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

[Esrin · Rating 3 out of 5]

oh wow the MC is strong attractive and doesn't know that chicks are into him until they basically confess crazyily AND he took out multiple men at once wow.

Personally everything was hyperbolic and overdramatic. I want to focus on the story shorten the dialogue pleaseee

[Angel · Rating 4 out of 5]

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.

[Monika Caparelli-Hippert · Rating 5 out of 5]

Das hier ist nun der dritte Band um den 17jährigen Dan Renfrew, dem unfreiwilligem Time-Jumper, der gemeinsam mit seiner besten Freundin Sam immer wieder zurück in die Vergangenheit reist, um dort Störimpulse aufzuspüren und zu beseitigen, sodass die Geschichte sich so abspielen kann, wie wir sie aus unseren Geschichtsbüchern gewohnt sind. Das ist so der grobe Rahmen des Geschehens, und hier nun finden sich Dan und Sam in den mongolischen Steppen vor etwa 1000 Jahren wieder, gerade rechtzeitig, um den ebenfalls 17jährigen Temuzin bei einem Angriff zur Seite zu stehen und ihm das Leben zu retten. Als Dank dürfen sie ihn dann dabei begleiten, seine gekidnappte Frau aus den Klauen feindlicher Stämme zu befreien. Falls es irgendjemand jetzt schon vermutet: besagter mongolische Teenie soll später als Dschingis Khan ein Weltreich erobern, und wir haben nun als Leser das Vergnügen, gemeinsam mit Dan und Sam eine ganz neue Seite an dieser historischen Persönlichkeit zu entdecken 😊.
Zwischenzeitlich sind wir aber auch immer mal wieder mit Dan im hier und heute, und hier hat er mit ganz anderen Problemen zu kämpfen. Seit dem Tod seines Vaters lebt er alleine und geht seit neuem zur Schule - bislang hatte ihn sein Vater unterrichtet, und das vorwiegend in Geschichte und Martial Arts jeglicher Art. Dan ist ein wenig ein Sonderling auf seiner Schule, und hat so seine Schwierigkeiten mit den dortigen Maulhelden…. Allerdings gibt es auch positive Dinge, als er die hübsche Jenna kennenlernt und sich eine zarte Romanze anbahnt. Und wie passt Sam da jetzt rein? Dan muss einige Entscheidungen treffen….
Und nicht zu vergessen, Viktor, der große Feind, der nichts anderes als die Weltherrschaft im Sinn hat, ist auch noch da. Alle Time-Jumper fürchten ihn, und doch muss er gestoppt werden. Dan ist bereit, den Kampf aufzunehmen. Das ist hier die ganz große Storyline drumherum: egal in welches historische Abenteuer Dan sich auch stürzt, im Hintergrund ist immer die Bedrohung durch Viktor und dessen Gehilfen. Und kleiner Spoiler: das Buch endet mit einem üblen Cliffhanger, gerade als Dan gegen Viktor aufrüstet.
Mein Leseeindruck: Ich war wieder total begeistert 😊. Ich habe die beiden Vorgängerbände schon gefeiert, und das hier war wieder ein geniales Abenteuer. Richtig, richtig gut geschrieben, ich war von Seite 1 mitgerissen. Die Personen bekommen mittlerweile alle richtig Tiefe, und egal ob im Jetzt oder in der Vergangenheit, ich war gefesselt.
Was halt auch immer toll ist: der Autor ist Historiker und kennt sich in den jeweiligen Epochen sehr gut aus. Das war eine coole Geschichtsstunde, ich glaube, ich habe mit diesem Roman mehr über die Mongolen und Dschingis Khan gelernt, als je zuvor.
Wir haben hier ein permanent hohes Spannungslevel, plus viele authentische Dialoge, coole Charaktere, es passt alles, man kann durch den Roman fliegen.
Es war mir ein Vergnügen, und ich warte jetzt schon auf den nächsten Teil!
Vielen Dank an den Verlag und an Netgalley für das Rezensionsexemplar!

[Mary · Rating 4 out of 5]

Dan Renfrew is trying his best to live a normal life, but that is difficult as an orphaned teenager who must do everything for himself. Complicating matters is the fact that Dan is a time jumper, and he knows very little about what is expected from him in his job. Nobody seems willing to help Dan, however, and just as he starts falling for a girl in his class, time snatches Dan and his best friend Sam back into ancient Mongolia to repair a rift in the continuum of history. This jump is different than any they have yet faced, however, and as they work to reset history, they must also determine the truth of their relationship with one another.

This third in the Jump in Time book series continues Dan’s story after the exciting conclusion of book two. While formulaic in its design, the book educates readers about ancient Mongolia in a way that is fun and engaging within the framework of a story that revolves around teenagers. It is important to have read the first two books before reading this one, especially as the idea of time jumping and Dan’s unique situation are set up prior to this novel. Like the two stories before it, this book is well written and keeps readers involved throughout the challenges Dan and Sam face.

There is a bit more of a focus on the relationship between Dan and Sam in this book, and both have reasons to lean more on the other than they have in the past. This enhances their connection while giving them the opportunity to explore what their friendship truly means. Though it is not as strong as the first two novels, this one invites readers into a rarely discussed piece of human history, which makes it stand out as a unique contribution to the genre. At the end, historical notes give readers a sense of where the line between history and fiction resides. Built for a sequel, this book is a good addition to the series, and young adult readers who enjoy history, time travel, and adventure will find this to be an entertaining story.

[Susan]

Dan Renfrew is a teenage time jumper. It’s a secret. He is a member of a clandestine cadre tasked with journeying to the past to repair glitches in history that imperil subsequent events. This responsibility alone is daunting, but it’s even more crucial now. A band of rogue time jumpers is bent on taking over the world. Dan can’t find any allies to join him in the fight to stop them. Dan and Sam head for a millennium ago, back in the land of small hairy horses, recurve bows, leather armour, fermented milk drinks and sweat. He lands on the vast steppes of Mongolia in the year 1179. Dan’s task is to fix glitches in the fabric of history. that is at risk. He doesn’t know the first thing about it or how to save the present day. Luckily, he has a teammate, Samantha, or Sam, who is good at survival; they are aged seventeen years old. Dan and Sam have a time travel instrument which not only translates spoken words, and controls jumps, it tells them where the glitch will occur. Right now, it’s pointing to an injured teen Mongol called Temujin. The duo promptly helps him, and he invites them to join his army. They don’t have much choice, as the glitch is still glitching. Temujin is looking for his stolen bride Borte. He’s willing to go through an opposing army of the Merkits to rescue her. Dan was homeschooled until his father died a year ago. Dan leads a normal high school life full of all the usual challenges: homework, bullies, and dating. Will Dan find the murderer?

The author writes using historical detail that impressed me. He includes a herding family besides the warriors in Mongolia. The other part I liked that the author has bullying in the current occurring. The author shows how bullying is wrong.

Disclaimer: I received an arc of this book from the author/publisher from Netgalley. I wasn’t obligated to write a favorable review. The opinions expressed are strictly my own.

[M.J. Pankey · Rating 5 out of 5]

A thrilling jump into history where war and honor coelesce into a memorable, nail-biting narrative showcasing the brilliance and ruthlessness of the Mongol empire.

This was my first experience with the Jump in Time series and I wasn't lost at all. Varga did a fantastic job recapping the critical information from previous books in a way that flowed well and felt relevant for the plot of book 3. I personally hate when books spend a bunch of time recapping every detail from previous books. Varga's approach was masterful.

The character's Dan and Sam were multifaceted and interesting. They were easy to root for. I found Dan's awkwardness with dating relateable and his confusion about his feelings very realistic for his age, which is something I don't encounter often with YA books, which typically try too hard to create an adult minded teen so they can do cooler adult things. Dan and Sam's behaviors were very teenager-esk, but not in an annoying way. It was really easy to root for both of them.

Varga did an amazing job with the world building and culture details of the mongol empire, right down to clothing, hygiene, and fermented drinks. I felt like I was experiencing this world for the first time right alongside Dan.

I know very little about the Mongol Empire, most of which I learned from the Netflix series Marco Polo, so who knows if that's reliable, but I pleasantly surprised how much I learned from Mongol Ascension about Genghis Khan and the beginnings of his empire.

I highly recommend this novel for fans of ancient history and YA adventure novels. I listened to the audiobook, courtesy of Netgalley, and am leaving this review voluntarily.

I will be interviewing the author Andrew Varga to discuss his research for this novel in more depth through Save Ancient Studies Alliance. Join the livestream on SASA's website saveancientstudies.org or catch the recording on their youtube channel @SaveAncientStudiesAlliance.

[Kristine · Rating 4 out of 5]

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.

[Gabrielle · Rating 3 out of 5]

This series is generally lite and entertaining reading. I really liked the first two books because of the lesser known but true history lessons mixed in. This third installment though did not hold my interest. It was full of a lot more teenager emotional angst and surprisingly short amount of the book spent in history. Although the history lesson was a piece of the early life of Genghis Khan, it annoyed me how little the main characters knew about the Mongolian empire and the impacts of it to history. This was not a lesser known historical person, so it is not plausible they would know so little considering the widespread and long lasting impact of Genghis Khan’s empire.
It did not sit well with me that the massive amount of violence that the Mongolian empire inflicted was largely ignored, and the people who led and encouraged that violence were framed as honorable and wise. And Dan condemns Victor for his plans and ideals when all of it is essentially the same premise as the Mongolian empire. ‘Massive destruction and chaos leading to conquest and power.’ And Dan wants to use the lessons learned from Genghis Khan to fight Victor. It’s all quite contradictory.

I will still likely read any future installments of this series in hopes that later books capture the essence of the first two books in the series. While this third book did not hit the mark for me, the concept of the series is still interesting and I want to finish the main storyline, and this book will just have to to be a stepping stone needed to progress the story.

2.5 but rounding up to 3 stars

[The Rat's Attic · Rating 2 out of 5]

Two young time jumpers travel back to 13th century Mongolia and experience the rise of one of history's greatest conquerors and most fearsome characters.
I absolutely love the idea of this book and the series as a whole. Teenagers travelling to key moments in time and having to make sure history follows its course just works as an idea. We get action, we get adventure, and we expose a younger audience to moments in history in a way that feels more tangible than a school textbook.
Great stuff.
But....but.
Two things made me uneasy with reading this book - the main character is a bit of an ass, and the teenagers talk in a way which seems off?

Re the protagonist being an ass, it mainly comes out in the way he talks and reacts to everyone he meets in the past - "smelly Mongols", "filthy food", "rotten milk", and other not-charming descriptions of the Mongols litter the dialogue and inner thoughts, and I just found it really off-putting. Especially as someone who lives in a country with a similar cultural heritage to Mongolia, and who recognises a lot of the things described.
To be fair, there are a few moments where the main character is more approving, but it still left me feeling uncomfortable.

As to the dialogue, I get that writing dialogue for teenage characters is rough. But it just felt too "Hello, fellow youngsters" to me, and didn't flow well.

TLDR: always supportive of this kind of premise, not a fan of the character work.

[Shaina · Rating 5 out of 5]

Thank you so much to NetGalley and Andrew Vargas for providing me with a complimentary digital ARC for The Mongol Ascension coming out September 3, 2024. The honest opinions

Seventeen-year-old Dan Renfrew's life is anything but ordinary. In addition to facing the usual teenage challenges, he has a secret. He's a time jumper, a member of a clandestine group tasked with fixing glitches in history. When rogue jumpers threaten global chaos, Dan and his partner Sam embark on a perilous mission to Mongolia in the year 1179. There they encounter a brave teen fighting to save his kidnapped wife. They soon realize they're in a desperate race against time to save the Mongol Empire--and the future of the entire world.

I’ve read the first book in the series, but not the second one. So there might be some things I missed. There were definitely some changes since the first book. I love Dan’s character and the time jumping through history ability is so amazing. I’d love a superpower like that! I was a little confused with how things turned out at the end. I don’t want to give anything away, but I was thinking it would go a little differently. I’m glad Dan has some positive things to look forward to in his life though. I’d definitely read more books by this author!

I would recommend this book to anyone who enjoys time travel books!

[Read · Rating 4 out of 5]

- The Summary -
The Mongol Ascension is the third book in the A Jump in Time series, in this installment, we follow Dan and Sam to 1179 Mongolia. After landing in the Mongolian steppe, they save a young man named Temujin to rescue his wife. Hoping that this jump will help them understand what Victor Stahl's plans are and hopefully help them with a plan on how to stop them.
Outside of the time jump, Dan and Sam continue to dig to uncover Victor's plans in the present.

- The Review -
Another fantastic book, I love this series so much; I would have been more interested in history if I grew up with these books.
There's a really nice balance in this book, we get to see a bit more about Dan's life outside of the time jump which allows for a bit more character development. This is nicely balanced with the time jump and larger plots being developed as well. I'm excited to see more of Dan's experiments when traveling in the time stream.
Overall, a fantastic read, I binged the whole this in a few days and already I can't wait for the next one.

- The Acknowledgement -
Thank you to NetGalley, Andrew Varga, and Imbrifex Books for the ARC. I received an advanced copy for free, but my words and opinions are my own.

[Jordyn Strange · Rating 4 out of 5]

Thank you to Net Galley for the ARC

This was a very enjoyable historical fiction. I can see young readers enjoying this as an introduction to the Mongol empire. It is a great vessel to make people interested in history without being boring, and the author has done his homework. This was obviously very well researched from the historical characters, to the setting, to what Mongols liked to eat and drink. I appreciate the attention to detail and it makes the reader feel as though they are right there with our time traveling protagonist.
Speaking of, Dan is a great character to see this world through. I think that young readers in particular (but honestly everyone) will be able to identify with his struggle of having this huge responsibility and trying to be a normal teenager at the same time. It is a difficult thing to juggle. I have not read any of the other books in this series (I was unaware that it was a series when I requested it) but that did not hinder my enjoyment of the book. The basic premise and plot that seems to be present in all the books was very easy to pick up on in this one and I did not feel like I was behind at all.
Overall I thoroughly enjoyed this and will be recommending it to some family members who I also think would enjoy it.

[Laura · Rating 5 out of 5]

Another great young adult historical fiction title from Andrew Varga!

As a homeschool parent, I love the blend of time-traveling excitement with a glimpse of how life was for a particular time period. For this one, the reader meets the young (age 17) Temüjin when he has rallied an army to rescue his kidnapped wife Börte. Dan and his time jumper partner Sam become part of that campaign trying to fix whatever time glitch may be threatening Temüjin's transformation into Genghis Khan.

Along with this is time spent in the present as Dan learns what Victor's plan is for world domination and he makes new connections that may be the friends he'll need for his campaign against Victor. And, he gets another look at a city visible when traveling through time without holding the time jumper rod.

While this is the third book in a series (and I've read the previous ones), you could read it as a standalone. Enough details of his past adventures are mentioned that you can make sense of everything.

Having finished this, I'm passing my Kindle to my 14-year-old son who has been eagerly awaiting the next book in the series.

Thanks to NetGalley and Imbrifex Books for an advance reader copy of this title. All opinions are my own.

[Bogdan · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love Andrew Varga's creation.
I loved the start. It was very different to the previous two books. It held the same level of suspense, but in a different kind of scene. And the fact that the scene was mirrored at the end created a symmetry to which I am not used.

The story is mainly plot-driven, but that is OK. In fact, Dan and Sam follow the plot of history. And actually, they have a lot of agency to drive a few other sub-plots.

The side characters are lovely: well-rounded enough for us to know what their main traits are and to make us know what to expect.

The book stimulated an odd philosophical dilemma inside my head. I felt the book drew some parallels between the main antagonist of the series a great historical figure, violent, but also impressive in vision, strategy and accomplishments .

I predicted Dan's love life dilemma and it feels very realistic. Not necessarily because the characters are teenagers, but because I believe that is human nature.

I will say again what I said about the other two books. We cannot get time travel perfect because we have not achieved it! But Andrew Varga's imagination created a new and interesting take on something that has been a staple of literature and television for decades.

[Fedythereader · Rating 4 out of 5]

Thank you to the author and the publisher, Imbrifex Books, for sharing an ARC of this book with me on NetGalley !!!

“My stomach recoiled like I'd just been kicked in the gut. Sam and I were in the middle of a Mongol army heading for war.”

As always when I’m reading these books I find myself having fun and getting through another historical drama period where wars are threatening the little balance Dan has on his life. Dan and Sam are together again and they find themselves in the middle of a mongol war. More action, more history, more new characters, more truths about Victor and how he was involved in Dan’s father’s death. And I absolutely loved the relationship between Dan and Sam !!! Always have and always will and I’m pretty sure that it will continue to evolve in the next books. I loved that in this book there is even more of real life and time jump colliding in Dan’s existence and I was there for it. The way he tried to balance his regular life as a student with the possibility to get a girlfriend, and his life as a time traveller… it’s hard to get a normal life when you jump from one period to the other. But again I absolutely loved it !!! Quite excited for the future, especially after the events of the last chapters !!!

[Shandi · Rating 4 out of 5]

Dan is trying to rally help to foil Victor’s plot but has been so far unsuccessful. So if he can't find answers in the present he hopes he can find more in the past. When the time rod indicates a new glitch he and Sam jump back and find themselves in Mongolia. They meet a teenager on a mission to rescue his wife from a rival tribe. But so much more than a stolen bride is on the line here and it could put the entire Mongolian empire on a different path.

I am really enjoying this series despite Dan coming off a bit obnoxious in this book in particular. I can't really put my finger on it, he just seemed a bit all over the place. But the reason I enjoy these books so much is because of the historical aspect of them. While I do know of Genghis Khan, I didn't know much of his story so this peaked my interest. As a historical fiction I feel this would do a good job introducing people to the Mongolian Empire. As for the overarching story with Victor, I was a bit confused by his direction as well. Meeting with Dan and just revealing his plan came so out of left field for me. Like why. Guess will have to wait for the next book to see.

Rating 4 stars
*I received a review copy from NetGalley for my voluntary and honest review

[Bobbi-Jo Reads · Rating 2 out of 5]

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

[The Delulu Book · Rating 4 out of 5]

A young orphaned time traveler finds himself at the beginning of a Mongolian war, while trying to navigate teenage relationships and to cope with the loneliness due to the time traveling life of his father, all while mantaning historical accuracy.
it's not easy to be a time traveler nowadays apparently, but hey nobody said it was.
Now after introductions are made, we can get down to business.
The narrator, he's good, the voices, the emotions transmitted the general idea and I could absolutely imagine a young man, now I personally did not like him, since he sounds a bit annoying, but that's more on the character itself than the narrator.
Historically speaking, its accurate as I mentioned before, however I wanted more, history, adventure, time travel and less teenage drama.

It was a strong 8, like the kind of movies you watched at highschool, you enjoy it, maybe its not life changing but you learn something, have a nice time and move on with your life.
Something worth mentioning, I had not read the previous books, however enough context is provided, however if I can get ahold of them I will, I genuinely had a nice time listening to this.
Recommended for young readers and not overly complicated history fans.

I received this AAC in exchange for an honest review.

[Nancy · Rating 5 out of 5]

In this third instalment of the A Jump in Time series, Dan and Sam travel to Mongolia where they meet Temujin, a fellow teen who is gathering an army to rescue his wife. By saving his life, Dan and Sam are invited to join and are under his protection. Dan later discovers that Temujin will become Genghis Khan in the future. In this book, Dan learns about being a leader and also learns much more about fellow time travellers in his own time and Victor’s evil plans for the world. On top of all this, Dan struggles with his romantic feelings and with dating.

I really enjoyed this storyline, especially Dan’s voyage of learning more about other travellers and about how he can take steps to try defeat Victor. Dan ‘s relationships with Sam and Jenna are quite puzzling for him and reflect the typical struggles of teenage boys to understand girls’ emotions and the world of budding relationships. This is another great book for learning about historic events, while also following a teenage boy’s adventures and challenges. I highly recommend it to the Ya audience.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the opportunity to review this ARC.

[Bernie Cummins · Rating 5 out of 5]

My latest book review with thanks to NetGalley for the reading arc:

Andrew Varga brings us the third story of his Jump in Time series. It’s another engrossing tale set in the unusual location of ancient Mongolia, an unfamiliar place and culture for so many of us. Nevertheless we may expect Genghis Khan to make an appearance, one way or another. Does he or doesn’t he ? Read and see !

Naturally you get a better feel and resonance with the story, if you have the continuity of the different threads of the book series, with having read the prior books of the series. Nevertheless, the threads are easy to pick up, so you can soon enjoy the story, nearly just as much. As young adult fiction, it stands up very well on it’s own, as with when I read book two, prior to book one.

Andrew Varga out of enthusiasm for history and weapons of old, has written the Jump in Time series, for the educational pleasure of his own children and for that of young adults. Also it’s for those of us who are still young enough at heart, to enjoy a youthful adventure, set in and among well known or lesser known historical events.

If you’re up for some present time high school adventures with seventeen-year-old Dan Renfrew and teen partner Sam, plunging back in time, into situations where they have to work out, what they’re meant to be doing there, whilst combating the rogue time jumpers, then buy the book when it comes out on the 3rd September 2024 and enjoy the latest historical time adventure, from Andrew Varga.

Thanks to NetGalley for the reading arc.