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After Cilmeri #16

Outcasts in Time

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Join David and his friends and family for the next installment in the After Cilmeri series!

Last we heard from David, he'd allowed George to abduct him at the behest of the CIA, for the stated purpose of forcing him to time travel between Earth Two and Avalon. Meanwhile, Lili and the refugees from Paris were floating down the River Seine, making for the English Channel. And King Philippe was blithely reconstituting his government, unaware that the battle of wills between him and David hadn't really ended the way he thought. And that, in fact, it hadn't even ended.

David and his companions have pulled off the heist of the millennium. But as David encounters the unexpected in Avalon, and Lili and the refugees face danger at every bend in the river, they must face the hard truth that the best laid plans go awry at the moment of contact with the enemy. And no one ends up exactly where they intended, either in space ... or in time.

Outcasts in Time follows immediately after the previous book in the series, Unbroken in Time.

Complete Series reading order: Daughter of Time, Footsteps in Time, Winds of Time, Prince of Time, Crossroads in Time, Children of Time, Exiles in Time, Castaways in Time, Ashes of Time, Warden of Time, Guardians of Time, Masters of Time, Outpost in Time, Shades of Time, Champions of Time, Refuge in Time, Unbroken in Time, Outcasts in Time. Also, This Small Corner of Time: The After Cilmeri Series Companion.

350 pages, Paperback

First published March 20, 2021

108 people are currently reading
133 people want to read

About the author

Sarah Woodbury

165 books750 followers
With over a million books sold to date, Sarah Woodbury is the author of more than forty novels, all set in medieval Wales. Although an anthropologist by training, and then a full-time homeschooling mom for twenty years, she began writing fiction when the stories in her head overflowed and demanded that she let them out. While her ancestry is Welsh, she only visited Wales for the first time at university. She has been in love with the country, language, and people ever since. She even convinced her husband to give all four of their children Welsh names.

Sarah is a member of the Historical Authors Fiction Cooperative (HFAC), the Historical Novel Society, and Novelists, Inc. (NINC).


She makes her home in Oregon.

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5 stars
413 (72%)
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34 (6%)
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 37 reviews
Profile Image for Amber Gabriel.
Author 20 books79 followers
September 21, 2021
Wow!

By the nineteenth book in a time-travel adventure series, you'd think the author would run out of ideas, but this was one of the most exciting installments yet! Edge of your seat, page-turning excitement! I can always depend on Woodbury to deliver a thrilling plot with believable characters and heroes I can root for. David has to be one of my most favorite literary characters of all time. Loved it!
Profile Image for Emily.
355 reviews
April 23, 2021
Outcasts picks up immediately following the end of Unbroken. David and his friends are still trying to rescue Jews from France when David gets taken back to Avalon.

These books are becoming more action/adventure stories with less focus on character development and interaction, but I don’t mind. I especially love the detailed descriptions of all the places the characters visit. Sarah’s research on the settings for her books is impeccable.

Once again, there is no resolution to the events taking place in Avalon. The door is wide open in that part of the story. My one complaint would be that George’s change in attitude was so abrupt and without apparent reason that I didn’t buy into it. But he is clearly being set up as a main player in the future. I also missed Callum in this book. He is one of my favorite characters and he went through a lot in the last book. So his complete absence was a surprise.

That said I am a devoted fan of After Cilmeri and reread them regularly, though 19 books in, that’s getting harder to do. I selfishly and unrealistically wish this series would never end.
Profile Image for Melissa.
57 reviews4 followers
April 11, 2021
Outcasts in Time is the latest book in Sarah Woodbury's After Cilmeri series. This is one of my all-time favorite book series. If you enjoy time travel romance, speculative fiction that wonders how history might have changed if something had or had not been done differently, or just interesting stories about how people use or abuse power, you would enjoy this book (but you really need to read the whole series in order).

I've been addicted to this series for years, so it would be difficult for me not to like one of the books in it. This one focuses on the theme of the use and abuse of power. At the end of the previous novel, King David, ruler of the Confederated States of Britain, had been abducted by a CIA agent and taken to a secret facility in Oregon, 2023. This novel switches back and forth between the events going on in France in August of 1295 and the events at the secret facility in August of 2023. There are interesting comments on the character and history of the Knights Templar, church leaders, and Kings in the medieval world while examining power struggles amongst world powers and specifically the powers within secret agencies in the modern world. In both worlds the power struggles between men and women, and dominant vs marginalized people groups are also addressed.

Don't let labels deter you from considering this series. I've seen it listed as young adult fiction, but it really is a series for all ages. It does take a healthy knowledge/understanding of history and a willingness to view those in authority with a certain amount of skepticism. Ultimately, this book is hopeful but somewhat realistic. Leadership takes sacrifice and hard work. Change comes with a great deal of risk and the potential for a great deal of reward.
497 reviews18 followers
October 7, 2021
I found it enormously ironic that Woodbury uses the words-both actual and paraphrased—of the Declaration of Independence to end this novel after belaboring for most of it that the U. S. CIA is the ultimate irredeemable villain of the series, its actions approved at the highest levels. Woodbury begins this novel apologizing for the longer than usual wait because she wanted to get this one right. She had a Herculean task. The complexity of the plot had so many moving parts, and therein lies the problem. What her head wanted to accomplish and the story her heart told were not in agreement.

Half the book is David alone in the hands of the CIA, an intentional act to protect his family and Earth 2. His goal is to broker a deal with the governments that have pursued his family every time they return to Earth 1 (Avalon). To do that requires him to allow them to do harrowing things to prove that their plan to make him or his son a mule to takeover Earth 2 will not work. He succeeds at great cost until it doesn’t. What happens next happens at light speed leaving lots of questions and loose ends.

The other half is told from the view of several major and new characters covering the escape down the Seine from Paris with the Parisian Jewish population and most of David’s family and friends, as well as from the perspective of David’s guard as they move through France after discovering David gone, from the perspective of the various Templars’ actions in support and finally from the perspective of those in Rouen as Normandy rises up in protest to dictates from Paris.

There were many points that left me confused and several omissions I found odd, but the major problem was the ending. After telling in great, and at times tedious, detail what characters were thinking and doing and introducing several new likable characters I’d like more of but probably won’t get, the final actions are rushed and just don’t ring true.

The ending was clearly deeply important to Woodbury and her central character David, but it was not where the emotional weight of this story lay. Nor did she give me reason to care about what was happening in Rouen. This was a story about a man with a vision and a deep abiding love for his family and people acting to protect both and sacrificing much to do so. Though we get a quick hug from Lili in the final pages, we don’t get the reunions that both he and the reader have been longing for after all David has been through. Major characters from previous books who got no page time in this one are oddly ignored, or in the case of James Stewart, pulled out like the proverbial rabbit out of a hat to fill a plot point with no real emotional connection for the reader.

My writing teacher once said the ending is the thing. It’s what readers remember most. It’s the payoff. Does all this novel deserve only 3 stars? Probably not but the ending? That I’d give a two.
Profile Image for Cherylbestlife.
476 reviews8 followers
March 27, 2021
Good

It was good. I love these characters. I thought what David went through was emotional and unbelievable how far people will go to further their agenda.

I have to say though; that he never really accomplished what he set out to while in the future. Again it felt like he was a ping pong ball going back and forth with not much really moving the story forward. The travelers (the family and their companions) never get to really enjoy or experience the future world and the modern conveniences in any real way. Then the traveler(s) returns to the past just in time for a battle or political situation.

I miss the core characters that made me fall in love with this series being in the books. There used to be more interaction between Meg, David, Anna, Browen and their spouses. In recent books they rarely see each other or have more than a few lines of dialogue. Even David and Lili who live together hardly have more than a few lines of dialogue in the entire book. My love of the characters keep me sticking with the series. However, it seems the core characters hardly appear in any meaningful way or for any length of time. I hope that changes.
Author 3 books6 followers
March 21, 2021
Another thrilling episode in the After Cilmeri Series

Sarah Woodbury knows how to tell an amazing story, and the After Cilmeri Series is probably my all-time favorite series.
I don’t want to give away any spoilers, but she did it again. It just keeps getting better. Great plot, suspense, some amazing new twists, and maybe a few laugh out loud moments. But, you do need to read the other 18 books first, in order, to fully appreciate it. Each book builds on what went before. If you’re reading this, you probably already know all that.
649 reviews4 followers
March 23, 2021
At first I thought, ah well. But then, perfection.

It took a years wait. And it continued as if from one page turn to the next. But it had been a year! Who are all these people? What are they doing? Why? Maybe the series is petering out. Flowed its course. Then, about a third of the way in, I remembered why this is one of my most favorite series, period. The writing is excellent. The plot engrossing. Satisfying all around.
My two favorite genres are hysterical mystery and science fiction? I thought this was one. But this book made me understand it's really the other.
897 reviews7 followers
March 30, 2021
Like the idea

I like the idea but it’s become complicated. I’ve listened to and read this series for almost ten years . I reread the previous book because it was such a wait between books. There are just sooooo many characters that I’m supposed to remember from ten years ago. I don’t remember people I met last week. I can’t remember previous charactersthat suddenly reappear and pop in for part of a chapter eight years later. I couldn’t remember who Meg was because she’s become nothing in the series. I could handle the bouncing from character to character on the same days timeline but I didn’t think I would ever get out of day two. I found this frustrating and it’s a good thing the audible isn’t available because I wouldn’t have known who ANYONE was
Profile Image for Amie.
8 reviews
March 27, 2021
Another great book!

I could not put this book down. There are lots of characters to keep track of, but if you've kept up with the series, you know most of them. Reading this novel was like seeing old friends again, and becoming fascinated with what has happened since you last got together. David continues to be a great leader, and is surrounded by so many competent people. I can't wait for the next installment.
Profile Image for TXBRITGAL.
1,434 reviews33 followers
August 18, 2021
Craziest ride yet!!!! Brilliant!!!!💜

Wow!!!! I absolutely adore this series. When this book was released I went back and started back at the beginning straight through to this one. My word...I adore each and every one, but this one so far takes the cake! There is SOOOOO much craziness, excitement, intrigue, and just jaw dropping moments leaving you screaming for more more more. I can it wait to see what's next for King David and everyone he cares about.
131 reviews1 follower
March 13, 2022
review of “Outcasts in Time” book 19 of the After Cilmeri series

My compliments to the author for being able to continue this outstanding saga of a parallel earth in Medieval times linking it with present time and still keep it interesting. Many turns alone the way along with a study in human nature both good and bad. I’m really looking forward to the final pages of these novels.
11 reviews
March 20, 2021
I loved this book

The plot was simpler when the continuation of book 18. Poor David, he went though trails in this book. I was blown away with all the new twists and turns. Definitely unexpected. I couldn't put it down all night. I can't wait until the audio comes out and the next book in the series.
Profile Image for George Herbert.
21 reviews1 follower
March 27, 2021
The problem with this book and author is that because it and she is totally brilliant, you read it very quickly. Once you start you can not put it down. I am sure this creates pressure on Sarah Woodbury, because we want more of the same. So I look forward to the next book in the series. By the way I recommend her series of videos on YouTube that help fill in the background to her books.
Profile Image for Ditzzee.
19 reviews
March 31, 2021
I LOVE a series. I especially LOVE this series. The women are strong, smart and capable. The time traveling is a blast and you're kept on the edge of your seat. I couldn't put them down, the BEST description for this series is FUN FUN FUN!

I am dying over the fact that I will finish the series within the next week!

Profile Image for Susan Muegge.
8 reviews1 follower
Read
May 15, 2021
Great series

This is Volume 19. I am looking forward to Volume 99. Waiting, then reading the next in this series is like awaiting a letter from a family member you haven't seen in a long time and want to know how they are doing, that all is right in their life. So, when do we get #20?
18 reviews1 follower
October 1, 2021
Well worth your while

This is a amazing alternative Welsh history of medieval times. Creatively done by Ms Woodbury, it shows how a world can strive to be with the right people in charge. There's wonderful, fully fleshed characters, action, romantic leanings, historical references and ominous as well as altruistic intrigue. Bravo Sarah.
17 reviews
March 22, 2021
Worth the wait!

I have enjoyed all of the books in the Cilmeri series and marvel at the authors ability to come up with new and exciting twists and turns. I also love learning more about philosophy and government and history along the way. Can't wait fir the next one...
11 reviews
March 28, 2021
Always a wonderful adventure!!

I'm already wanting the next one!! Can't wait to see what is next for Earth 2. Is a wedding in the future for Christopher??? It would be good to get the gang all together!
261 reviews1 follower
April 7, 2021
Well done, great story

A interesting story wi tt h clever twists and turns.
David want to keep his family safe from he c i a.
George thinks he is maintaining his country's interest in world two.
He soon learns he has been had. David knows and it's hard work saving everyone
1,166 reviews4 followers
April 29, 2021
Yet another pleasant interlude that finishes with a cliffhanger.

Not quite sure what the extended stay in avalon accomplished. Maybe setup for latter books. No real character development. Fun to spend time in this world nevertheless.
11 reviews
May 9, 2022
Sarah scores again

This is actually my second read thru. I enjoy it more with each read.. Sarah doesn’t shy away from the ugly in life . Which makes the storyline as real as it is entertaining.
Profile Image for Leanne.
870 reviews15 followers
April 25, 2023
As always, these books pack a walloping good story filled with bad guys, good guys, twists, tension and alliances of all kinds. Bad actors get their comeuppance and the mix of medieval characters and 21st century characters just adds to the fun.
Profile Image for Jena Duffy.
62 reviews
March 20, 2021
Awesome

A rollercoaster ride for sure. From David's travels to Lilis escape from Paris. It is an awesome ride and well worth the wait.
8 reviews1 follower
March 22, 2021
Wow

Wow!! Great addition to the series!! I can't believe what David went through!! Read it in one day now can't wait for another one!
Love everything about Sarah Woodbury writes!!
Profile Image for Sandie Bell.
301 reviews3 followers
April 2, 2021
I have so enjoyed this entire "After Cilmeri" series...looking forward to more
Profile Image for Sandy McCulloch.
365 reviews
April 5, 2021
Outcasts in time

Wow. Fantastic, brilliant. Energetic I just couldn’t stop till I finished. Now I have to wait for the next book.😢
Profile Image for Henry Northcott.
176 reviews1 follower
May 2, 2021
Loved it

Can't wait for the next one. Remember read them in order cos that's important. I look forward to binging the other book series whilst I wait.
Profile Image for Judy.
10 reviews3 followers
May 4, 2021
Another great story!

The only problem is it ended. I have thoroughly loved the whole series and am hopeful more stories are coming.
5 reviews
May 30, 2021
Another great one !

It was so nice to pop into the world of this group of characters again. I have loved the entire series.


Displaying 1 - 30 of 37 reviews

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