The Outcasts of Time

By: Ian Mortimer

Narrated by: James Cameron Stewart

December 1348. What if you had just six days to save your soul?

With the country in the grip of the Black Death, brothers John and William fear that they will shortly die and suffer in the afterlife. But as the end draws near, they are given an unexpected choice: either to go home and spend their last six days in their familiar world, or to search for salvation across the forthcoming centuries - living each one of their remaining days 99 years after the last.

John and William choose the future and find themselves in 1447, ignorant of almost everything going on around them. The year 1546 brings no more comfort, and 1645 challenges them in further unexpected ways. It is not just that technology is changing: things they have taken for granted all their lives prove to be short-lived.

As they find themselves in stranger and stranger times, the listener travels with them, seeing the world through their eyes as it shifts through disease, progress, enlightenment, and war. But their time is running out - can they do something to redeem themselves before the six days are up?

©2017 Ian Mortimer (P)2018 Tantor

Critic reviews

"It's an incredible tour de force, a vivid...evocation of an age that is long-gone yet has been brought to life again in vibrant and robust fashion thanks to Ian Mortimer's impeccable scholarship and pacy writing." (Alison Weir, New York Times best-selling author)

Fascinating

I loved every moment of this book. I could have been walking through history right with them.

Interesting and Compelling

I truly enjoyed this unique book. It was hard to turn off. Well done.

So much better than I expected!

Inspiring, comforting, intriguing… it seems like a story based on a contrivance, put that in itself becomes part of the theme. I’m still surprised both that I liked it so much and that it is so good. I thought it was just going to be a type of sci-fi, time-traveler historical romance novel, but that’s just the lyrics. The story becomes a song where the melody is most important, and most moving. Entertaining, beautiful, and meaningful. Thanks, Ian!

Excellent historical hop

I enjoyed this book. It’s thoughtful and kind, written from the perspective of a caring and wise character. The time travel aspect is unique and the detail rich. Excellent narration, to boot.

what happened to his brother??

The book was very well written but the book never says what happened to his brother when he died.