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The Chronicles of St Mary's #2
A Symphony of Echoes
Book Two in the madcap time-travel series based at the St Mary's Institute of Historical Research that seems to be everyone's cup of tea.
In the second book in the Chronicles of St Mary's series, Max and the team visit Victorian London in search of Jack the Ripper, witness the murder of Archbishop Thomas a Becket in Canterbury Cathedral, and discover that dodos make a grockling noise when eating cucumber sandwiches.
But they must also confront an enemy intent on destroying St Mary's - an enemy willing, if necessary, to destroy History itself to do it.
In the second book in the Chronicles of St Mary's series, Max and the team visit Victorian London in search of Jack the Ripper, witness the murder of Archbishop Thomas a Becket in Canterbury Cathedral, and discover that dodos make a grockling noise when eating cucumber sandwiches.
But they must also confront an enemy intent on destroying St Mary's - an enemy willing, if necessary, to destroy History itself to do it.
235 pages, Paperback
First published October 22, 2013
About the author
Jodi Taylor
76 books4,961 followersJodi Taylor is the internationally bestselling author of the Chronicles of St Mary's series, the story of a bunch of disaster prone individuals who investigate major historical events in contemporary time. Do NOT call it time travel! She is also the author of the Time Police series - a St Mary's spinoff and gateway into the world of an all-powerful, international organisation who are NOTHING like St Mary's. Except, when they are.
Alongside these, Jodi is known for her gripping supernatural thrillers featuring Elizabeth Cage together with the enchanting Frogmorton Farm series - a fairy story for adults.
Born in Bristol and now living in Gloucester (facts both cities vigorously deny), she spent many years with her head somewhere else, much to the dismay of family, teachers and employers, before finally deciding to put all that daydreaming to good use and write a novel. Over twenty books later, she still has no idea what she wants to do when she grows up.
Alongside these, Jodi is known for her gripping supernatural thrillers featuring Elizabeth Cage together with the enchanting Frogmorton Farm series - a fairy story for adults.
Born in Bristol and now living in Gloucester (facts both cities vigorously deny), she spent many years with her head somewhere else, much to the dismay of family, teachers and employers, before finally deciding to put all that daydreaming to good use and write a novel. Over twenty books later, she still has no idea what she wants to do when she grows up.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 1,717 reviews
June 9, 2022
*** 4.25 ***
Second read and I actually enjoyed it even better!!! The Dodos still win the day though 😊😊😊
*** 3.75 ***
A buddy read with the MacHalo Freaks! Let's go back in History!!!
"...“In this century, as in any other, men wore the comfortable, practical stuff, and the women wandered round expiring underneath over-decorated tea-cosies and with inadequate footwear.”..."
I enjoyed the book. Mostly, I love the quirky humor and wacky time jumps. I enjoy the writing style, but there is something missing. I wish I could put my finger on it, but I can't... Max is a very likable character, but something is not quite right with her love interest and second book in a row him freezing her out with no explanation nor discussion. If it happens once, you can talk it out and learn from the mistake. If it happens twice, there is something wrong and you might want to start rethinking the relationship for real... Chief is cool, but I don't like this bipolar personality of his...
"...“She picked up a slice of Victoria Sponge, broke it into large pieces and tossed them in their direction. I hadn’t had any yet, and could not suppress a small whimper. ‘It’s for science, Director,’ she said. ‘We must all make sacrifices.”..."
Loved the different jumps in history and the Dodo birds capture was pure comedic gold! Overall, I am a fan, but not blind to the weaker points to the series. Once again, I am not a Time Traveller's fiction fan to begin with and that might be one of the reasons I am not swooning over the books, but the vignettes when the teams are in the historical locations are my favorite here. It is something to do with the structure of the story that feels off, but it is fascinating and exciting, so I am sticking with Saint Mary's ❤!
"...“I made a mental note never, ever to set foot in the backyard privy. Or even the backyard itself. I could feel my colon assuming a defensive posture.”..."
Now I wish you all Happy Reading and many more wonderful books to come!
Second read and I actually enjoyed it even better!!! The Dodos still win the day though 😊😊😊
*** 3.75 ***
A buddy read with the MacHalo Freaks! Let's go back in History!!!
"...“In this century, as in any other, men wore the comfortable, practical stuff, and the women wandered round expiring underneath over-decorated tea-cosies and with inadequate footwear.”..."
I enjoyed the book. Mostly, I love the quirky humor and wacky time jumps. I enjoy the writing style, but there is something missing. I wish I could put my finger on it, but I can't... Max is a very likable character, but something is not quite right with her love interest and second book in a row him freezing her out with no explanation nor discussion. If it happens once, you can talk it out and learn from the mistake. If it happens twice, there is something wrong and you might want to start rethinking the relationship for real... Chief is cool, but I don't like this bipolar personality of his...
"...“She picked up a slice of Victoria Sponge, broke it into large pieces and tossed them in their direction. I hadn’t had any yet, and could not suppress a small whimper. ‘It’s for science, Director,’ she said. ‘We must all make sacrifices.”..."
Loved the different jumps in history and the Dodo birds capture was pure comedic gold! Overall, I am a fan, but not blind to the weaker points to the series. Once again, I am not a Time Traveller's fiction fan to begin with and that might be one of the reasons I am not swooning over the books, but the vignettes when the teams are in the historical locations are my favorite here. It is something to do with the structure of the story that feels off, but it is fascinating and exciting, so I am sticking with Saint Mary's ❤!
"...“I made a mental note never, ever to set foot in the backyard privy. Or even the backyard itself. I could feel my colon assuming a defensive posture.”..."
Now I wish you all Happy Reading and many more wonderful books to come!
February 10, 2017
This second book still reads like an amazingly light-voiced opera of death, time-mystery, and casual sex... in other words, a great time-travel SF. :)
Seriously though, her treatment of cars makes me wonder if they'll wind up going the way of the Dodos. Minus the Cucumber Sandwiches. :)
I preferred this one a lot over the first book for once reason: It stayed in known-history for the majority of the book rather than with the dinos. I'm a sucker for historical mysteries and I'm even more of a sucker for why Shakespeare wrote a play where the Other Mary took over when Elisabeth died. Woooooo the lead up in the first novel was perfect and I'm super satisfied by seeing a lot more of it here. Jack the Ripper was a treat, of course, and wow was he different from most of the rip-offs, but more than anything, I loved seeing our MC get promoted to her level of incompetence.
It was all too funny. :)
Seriously? A team building exercise of capturing dodos? Seriously?
The dark stuff is also very dark, of course, and I can't quite say whether so much casual death among the Historians ramps up the tension or minimizes it. Maybe in some backwards way it does both, but either way, it really fills the pages. Scarily so. Oh yeah, and time unravelling. That might be bad. But anyway!
This is some very fun stuff, ya'll. Time travel can be clever and wild and fast, yo!
Seriously though, her treatment of cars makes me wonder if they'll wind up going the way of the Dodos. Minus the Cucumber Sandwiches. :)
I preferred this one a lot over the first book for once reason: It stayed in known-history for the majority of the book rather than with the dinos. I'm a sucker for historical mysteries and I'm even more of a sucker for why Shakespeare wrote a play where the Other Mary took over when Elisabeth died. Woooooo the lead up in the first novel was perfect and I'm super satisfied by seeing a lot more of it here. Jack the Ripper was a treat, of course, and wow was he different from most of the rip-offs, but more than anything, I loved seeing our MC get promoted to her level of incompetence.
It was all too funny. :)
Seriously? A team building exercise of capturing dodos? Seriously?
The dark stuff is also very dark, of course, and I can't quite say whether so much casual death among the Historians ramps up the tension or minimizes it. Maybe in some backwards way it does both, but either way, it really fills the pages. Scarily so. Oh yeah, and time unravelling. That might be bad. But anyway!
This is some very fun stuff, ya'll. Time travel can be clever and wild and fast, yo!
April 12, 2014
Rating: 4* of five
The Publisher Says: Book Two in the madcap time-travel series based at the St Mary's Institute of Historical Research that seems to be everyone's cup of tea.
In the second book in the Chronicles of St Mary's series, Max and the team visit Victorian London in search of Jack the Ripper, withess the murder of Archbishop Thomas a Becket in Canterbury Cathedral, and discover that dodos make a grockling noise when eating cucumber sandwiches.
But they must also confront an enemy intent on destroying St Mary's - an enemy willing, if necessary, to destroy History itself to do it.
My Review: You know how, as you're watching Star Trek in any of its incarnations, you end up wondering pretty darn quick what the heck they keep talking about this Prime Directive for since they seem not to have any intention of following it? Yeah, that. The whole book is that. The St Mary's tea-soppers are set the one really big intervention that will make History match itself. It is a matter of the survival of St Mary's, so we're told, so it's okay to monkey with History. Kleio will approve.
Getting to the magic moment is, however, quite entertaining, and the key discovery made at the end of the first book is called into play very frequently. Pay attention to the details in this book, and I assume you'll want to read it after the delirious romp of #1, because some things are larded in to the chat and background that will cause a veritable street light to go on over your head when you read #3. Which I also assume you'll want to read after the sobering and still very fun events of this book.
So you've read #1, have you? Then click here: Needless to say, the task is accomplished, but it brought up two issues for me. One I dealt with in the opener. The other is the nagging problem of all time-travel books, to wit the competing and mutually exclusive notions of A History, one divinely ordained way for Kleio to design and her sisters the Fates to weave; the other is the Eastern philosophical and string theory-supported proposition that we live in a many-dimensioned multiverse where all things that can happen have happened are happening will happen. (English is a titanically flexible tool, and ever willing to bow to Queen Norma Loquendi, but time travel is gonna bugger the prescriptive grammarians HARD. Come to think of it, Douglas Adams mined that vein for some laughs in Hitchhiker's Guide, didn't he.)
It would seem Ma Taylor plumped for the "One True History" solution, based on the events in this book. The Timeline must be restored!
Go with it. Even if you don't think that's the case, go with it. I promise you it will pay off.
And why the hell should dodos say "grockle"? Well, why the hell not.
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License.
The Publisher Says: Book Two in the madcap time-travel series based at the St Mary's Institute of Historical Research that seems to be everyone's cup of tea.
In the second book in the Chronicles of St Mary's series, Max and the team visit Victorian London in search of Jack the Ripper, withess the murder of Archbishop Thomas a Becket in Canterbury Cathedral, and discover that dodos make a grockling noise when eating cucumber sandwiches.
But they must also confront an enemy intent on destroying St Mary's - an enemy willing, if necessary, to destroy History itself to do it.
My Review: You know how, as you're watching Star Trek in any of its incarnations, you end up wondering pretty darn quick what the heck they keep talking about this Prime Directive for since they seem not to have any intention of following it? Yeah, that. The whole book is that. The St Mary's tea-soppers are set the one really big intervention that will make History match itself. It is a matter of the survival of St Mary's, so we're told, so it's okay to monkey with History. Kleio will approve.
Getting to the magic moment is, however, quite entertaining, and the key discovery made at the end of the first book is called into play very frequently. Pay attention to the details in this book, and I assume you'll want to read it after the delirious romp of #1, because some things are larded in to the chat and background that will cause a veritable street light to go on over your head when you read #3. Which I also assume you'll want to read after the sobering and still very fun events of this book.
So you've read #1, have you? Then click here: Needless to say, the task is accomplished, but it brought up two issues for me. One I dealt with in the opener. The other is the nagging problem of all time-travel books, to wit the competing and mutually exclusive notions of A History, one divinely ordained way for Kleio to design and her sisters the Fates to weave; the other is the Eastern philosophical and string theory-supported proposition that we live in a many-dimensioned multiverse where all things that can happen have happened are happening will happen. (English is a titanically flexible tool, and ever willing to bow to Queen Norma Loquendi, but time travel is gonna bugger the prescriptive grammarians HARD. Come to think of it, Douglas Adams mined that vein for some laughs in Hitchhiker's Guide, didn't he.)
It would seem Ma Taylor plumped for the "One True History" solution, based on the events in this book. The Timeline must be restored!
Go with it. Even if you don't think that's the case, go with it. I promise you it will pay off.
And why the hell should dodos say "grockle"? Well, why the hell not.
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License.
September 30, 2017
So after a good night's sleep and a big hot mug of tea (yeah, I prefer mugs to St. Mary's typical nice and flowery china), I have now sorted my thoughts. This second volume was very interesting and fast-paced again, the characters amicable as ever and the events laced with wonderful historical tidbits. However, it did not get me to care as much as the first.
The first volume was a rollercoaster that jerked me this way and that way and left me completely breathless. This second one? Not so much.
The central question of the series? If you had the technology to jump through time, what would you do?!
Thankfully, the people in this story (well, not all of them but "our" St. Mary's anyway) are sensible enough to only use this technology for historical research. It does help that any historian trying to change history usually gets crushed by "accidentally" falling heavy objects. History protects itself.
However, there are loopholes and although I usually don't like that, Jodi Taylor manages to once again make it plausible and explain it in a logic science-like way.
There are many open issues from book 1 that get addressed in this one, like Ronan who got away with Bitchface Barclay and the fact that he must have some sort of plan (it is revealed here and actually quite cunning). So I was quite surprised that our first time-jump (apart from Kal's farewell assignment) was not into the past but into the future, but what are you gonna do if one of the team is snatched?!
This book started off very strong with a unique view of Jack the Ripper, what he was and why he disappeared when he did. There were several very strong moments throughout the book and much hilarity but even the jokes were not as funny as in the first book. For a moment I was afraid the author had already given us all there was until I discovered a pattern: Max is a funny / sarcastic person and it shows. However, the true hilarity only ensues whenever St. Mary's is its quirky self, blundering through the ages, blowing things up accidentally, drinking tea every 5 seconds, catching Dodos as a team-building event (or failing to do so, rather), ... The characters are the main strength of the author and the story, which is why I'm sad Kal left at the beginning.
Or like Mrs. Clio Partridge. Boy, this woman is definitely the true MC of the series and I caught myself hooting several times when she saved the day - and with style! :D Unfortunately, she was alone this time, her sister (Mrs. deWinter) not being present because of "Bolivia". *grins*
Negative was that an old pattern occurred once again: That was a bit too obvious and reminded me too much of the first book. On the other hand, that might just be the modus operandi of the bad guys and them sticking to it could be seen as being consistant.
But then we also had and it was beyond stupid. I completely understand Max in this situation and LOVE her creative reaction to it, but the reason for the whole catastrophe happening was unbelievably dumb. After all the massive heartbreak in book 1 and what Max had to go through, this was (to me) just a poor way of hooking the reader that fell completely flat for me.
The historical bits, like Mary Stewart's Scotland were fantastic and it was quite impactful how Just think about that for a second. Watching history, being unable to do anything (like seeing a good monarch getting killed by his beloved children for whatever reason), is one thing - THIS was plain awful (emotionally; the author did a wonderful job writing that sequence).
Moreover, the places the historians went to were wonderfully vivid and realistic and the reader learns quite a lot without realising it at first. In case anyone was wondering: so far, all the historical details that were worked in were accurate (the corner stones I mean, since we always only know a bit).
Last but not least I'd like to address the fact that although I have the ebooks of the entire series, I started listening to the audio version and LOVED what the narrator, Zara Ramm, did with the story. Her British accent was sure to get me hooked anyway, but the way she slightly differentiated in accents between the characters (Clio being relatively bland so as not to give anything away, Max with a "normal" British accent, Dr. Bairstow and Schiller with a more unique accent, ...) was great and I'll make sure to listen to rather than read the rest of the series.
Edit:
I almost forgot: the best passage in the entire book was when the author/Max mentioned that the truly irreplacable person actually running any institution is not the director but the director's PA! Yay! :D
The first volume was a rollercoaster that jerked me this way and that way and left me completely breathless. This second one? Not so much.
The central question of the series? If you had the technology to jump through time, what would you do?!
Thankfully, the people in this story (well, not all of them but "our" St. Mary's anyway) are sensible enough to only use this technology for historical research. It does help that any historian trying to change history usually gets crushed by "accidentally" falling heavy objects. History protects itself.
However, there are loopholes and although I usually don't like that, Jodi Taylor manages to once again make it plausible and explain it in a logic science-like way.
There are many open issues from book 1 that get addressed in this one, like Ronan who got away with Bitchface Barclay and the fact that he must have some sort of plan (it is revealed here and actually quite cunning). So I was quite surprised that our first time-jump (apart from Kal's farewell assignment) was not into the past but into the future, but what are you gonna do if one of the team is snatched?!
This book started off very strong with a unique view of Jack the Ripper, what he was and why he disappeared when he did. There were several very strong moments throughout the book and much hilarity but even the jokes were not as funny as in the first book. For a moment I was afraid the author had already given us all there was until I discovered a pattern: Max is a funny / sarcastic person and it shows. However, the true hilarity only ensues whenever St. Mary's is its quirky self, blundering through the ages, blowing things up accidentally, drinking tea every 5 seconds, catching Dodos as a team-building event (or failing to do so, rather), ... The characters are the main strength of the author and the story, which is why I'm sad Kal left at the beginning.
Or like Mrs. Clio Partridge. Boy, this woman is definitely the true MC of the series and I caught myself hooting several times when she saved the day - and with style! :D Unfortunately, she was alone this time, her sister (Mrs. deWinter) not being present because of "Bolivia". *grins*
Negative was that an old pattern occurred once again: That was a bit too obvious and reminded me too much of the first book. On the other hand, that might just be the modus operandi of the bad guys and them sticking to it could be seen as being consistant.
But then we also had and it was beyond stupid. I completely understand Max in this situation and LOVE her creative reaction to it, but the reason for the whole catastrophe happening was unbelievably dumb. After all the massive heartbreak in book 1 and what Max had to go through, this was (to me) just a poor way of hooking the reader that fell completely flat for me.
The historical bits, like Mary Stewart's Scotland were fantastic and it was quite impactful how Just think about that for a second. Watching history, being unable to do anything (like seeing a good monarch getting killed by his beloved children for whatever reason), is one thing - THIS was plain awful (emotionally; the author did a wonderful job writing that sequence).
Moreover, the places the historians went to were wonderfully vivid and realistic and the reader learns quite a lot without realising it at first. In case anyone was wondering: so far, all the historical details that were worked in were accurate (the corner stones I mean, since we always only know a bit).
Last but not least I'd like to address the fact that although I have the ebooks of the entire series, I started listening to the audio version and LOVED what the narrator, Zara Ramm, did with the story. Her British accent was sure to get me hooked anyway, but the way she slightly differentiated in accents between the characters (Clio being relatively bland so as not to give anything away, Max with a "normal" British accent, Dr. Bairstow and Schiller with a more unique accent, ...) was great and I'll make sure to listen to rather than read the rest of the series.
Edit:
I almost forgot: the best passage in the entire book was when the author/Max mentioned that the truly irreplacable person actually running any institution is not the director but the director's PA! Yay! :D
June 4, 2016
Also fun for most of the proceedings. I liked the back 40% or so the best. It's sort of clear that partly the issue Taylor's plotting is kind of just happening as the story happens and things occur to her. Which makes everything feel fairly gloriously spontaneous, but also means she doesn't consider things until she does because she's distracted by some other shiny thing she's interested in at the moment and we've all already thought of the thing because we're not quite as distracted with her obsession, so we're skeptical. I felt like my reading experience was fairly give and take- going great- then issues- then great again- then more issues, etc. I was surprised into laughing several times because Taylor does throwaway dialogue better than most, but I was also disappointed because the book regularly skips over the sort of human moments that make us all attach to characters or goes at them at such a high volume that it renders them unbelievable, particularly after she's sounded that note a few times. She's great at thinking of wonderful scenarios at which to point her characters, and does it with the childlike glee that only someone with a truly deep passion for a subject would be capable for evoking. But the game and individual fun scenes can sometimes come at the expense of plot coherence. It's good episodic fare (right down to the "Curses, foiled again!" movie of the week end set up), but can't really rise above that.
Oh also, I'm sorry but the romantic interest has gone over the line into piece of shit/abusive relationship territory to me with no adequate explanation. Their weirdly distant, not-like-actual people relationship was odd enough to begin with- partially a function of Taylor deciding to foreground their relationship only when it suits her, partially due to the fact that some of her characters gain and lose character traits as she finds useful for a scene. I would like to think Taylor is playing a long game to have Max figure this out, but I very much doubt it.
Overall a fun sandbox, still, though. Mostly great energy, enjoyable scenarios to geek out at and pretend you're a part of. I think I'll save the rest of the series for the next time I'm sick, though. I'd have wound up watching a bunch of Friends reruns anyway. Might as well do it with a version with more explosions and historical wish fulfillment.
Oh also, I'm sorry but the romantic interest has gone over the line into piece of shit/abusive relationship territory to me with no adequate explanation. Their weirdly distant, not-like-actual people relationship was odd enough to begin with- partially a function of Taylor deciding to foreground their relationship only when it suits her, partially due to the fact that some of her characters gain and lose character traits as she finds useful for a scene. I would like to think Taylor is playing a long game to have Max figure this out, but I very much doubt it.
Overall a fun sandbox, still, though. Mostly great energy, enjoyable scenarios to geek out at and pretend you're a part of. I think I'll save the rest of the series for the next time I'm sick, though. I'd have wound up watching a bunch of Friends reruns anyway. Might as well do it with a version with more explosions and historical wish fulfillment.
January 20, 2021
"A Symphony of Echoes" is the sequel to "Just One Damned Thing After Another", the second book starring Madeleine Maxwell, aka Max. I liked the first book a lot (if you want, you can see my review) and so I wanted to read this second book as well. They are books that I would define as History-Fiction, rather than Science-Fiction, since the historians of St. Mary's have found a way to travel in time, to witness historical facts firsthand, as they really happened. These historians, all very eclectic, equip themselves with the clothes of the time and with their capsules "jump" into the past, with the task of resolving any doubts about dates, facts and details of the most important events in known History. Max and her colleagues have to face the most diverse enterprises, often risking their lives, and always trying in every possible way not to interact with History which, if challenged, can punish the time travelers. This time our protagonists take us to the England of Jack the Ripper, then to the Hanging Gardens of Nineveh (and not Babylon!), to Mauritius to save the dodos from extinction, to England in the time of Mary Queen of Scots and at the end of the book Max announces the next trip to her friends: Troy! Obviously we will see it in the third book .... I found this book better than the previous one; it is more balanced between adventure, irony, comedy and historical accuracy. In fact it can be considered an improved version of the first book, where the author still seemed uncertain about which aspects of the plot were the ones on which to focus more; and in fact the book left a little unfinished, it was slow and with some facts that bordered on the absurd, which made me turn up my nose a little. Here, on the other hand, Jodi Taylor seems to have found the right key and all the elements are well defined, balanced and engaging. The protagonists are still all there, both the good ones (Max, Farrell, Guthrie, Randall, Mrs. Partridge etc.) and the bad ones (Ronan and his acolytes) and this time they are more credible, although obviously the beauty of this book is precisely that tells of incredible things. It is a very pleasant book to read, because it combines different literary fields and it is truly fun. Basically it is a new style, a little crazy, but full of plausible facts, so that it makes you really want to travel into the past, to be there when the described facts happen and see if they have really gone as they tell us from centuries and centuries. Four stars; and I wait for the trip to Troy .......
May 10, 2019
Ms. Taylor, I’d like to buy you a pint.
And please keep writing these stories and I’ll keep reading them.
The publisher uses the term “madcap” to describe these and I’ve never liked the term, seems akin to “zany” and whimsical and absurd and – just no.
Fast paced – yes.
Well written by a witty and engaging, talented writer – yes.
Featuring well researched and fun snippets of historical anecdotes and scenes – yes.
Madcap? Eh.
Following up on the heels of her 2013 debut to the series, Taylor describes the ongoing adventures of Dr. “Max” Maxwell and her team of St. Mary’s time travelers. We visit several moments in time including 1890s London, 1500s Scotland and ancient Nineveh to name a few. We also are still on the search for the nefarious Clive Ronan.
This series and the ideas behind it, are fecund with opportunity; essentially thousands of years of history are ripe for a visit from our crew. Taylor’s writing is light and easy to follow and her humor is never far from the surface.
Comedy aside, this has some dark undertones and some scary scenes. Taylor also throws in some romance, some drama and – dodos, yes, spoiler alert – we have dodo birds.
Good fun.
And please keep writing these stories and I’ll keep reading them.
The publisher uses the term “madcap” to describe these and I’ve never liked the term, seems akin to “zany” and whimsical and absurd and – just no.
Fast paced – yes.
Well written by a witty and engaging, talented writer – yes.
Featuring well researched and fun snippets of historical anecdotes and scenes – yes.
Madcap? Eh.
Following up on the heels of her 2013 debut to the series, Taylor describes the ongoing adventures of Dr. “Max” Maxwell and her team of St. Mary’s time travelers. We visit several moments in time including 1890s London, 1500s Scotland and ancient Nineveh to name a few. We also are still on the search for the nefarious Clive Ronan.
This series and the ideas behind it, are fecund with opportunity; essentially thousands of years of history are ripe for a visit from our crew. Taylor’s writing is light and easy to follow and her humor is never far from the surface.
Comedy aside, this has some dark undertones and some scary scenes. Taylor also throws in some romance, some drama and – dodos, yes, spoiler alert – we have dodo birds.
Good fun.
November 25, 2022
I've read/listened to 3 of these books now (the prequel and 1 and 2) and I have to say I am really enjoying them. I know I am late to the party in terms of discovering them but now i have, ha ha , try and stop me.
But seriously I think this is a 4.5 rounded up, so 5 ⭐️ it is.
I am beginning to recognise some of the characters and what their character traits are, so the books are becoming more enjoyable.
In this book we see Max experiencing highs and lows as she's chased by Jack the Ripper ( Victorian London murderer), sees the murder of Thomas a Beckett , and then has to chase St Mary's biggest enemy to pre Elizabethan Scotland.
A great romp through time with some wonderful adventures. Looking forward to the next episode.
But seriously I think this is a 4.5 rounded up, so 5 ⭐️ it is.
I am beginning to recognise some of the characters and what their character traits are, so the books are becoming more enjoyable.
In this book we see Max experiencing highs and lows as she's chased by Jack the Ripper ( Victorian London murderer), sees the murder of Thomas a Beckett , and then has to chase St Mary's biggest enemy to pre Elizabethan Scotland.
A great romp through time with some wonderful adventures. Looking forward to the next episode.
February 1, 2018
History is A Symphony of Echoes. Every little action has huge consequences.
This series is a little bit on the sporadic side. I’m quite a linear thinker and so jumping about in time can be a little discombobulating at times. To jump around from London in the days of Jack the Ripper to sometime in the future and then back to hang out with Mary Queen of Scots, well it seems so patched together sometimes.
I very much enjoy the time jumps and seeing different time periods and how much trouble the historians can get into within them. Whenever you think it is going to be a quick and easy jump to check out some gardens something completely horrible goes wrong and you end up running for your lives in this series.
I’m enjoying all of the different jaunts into history. I like the time traveling bad guys who are working for their own means to and end. I like that being a historian now seems like the most dangerous job one could ever have. But……the part that is keeping from really loving this is that some time in the book you know the drama llama is going to show up
I hate that dude. Max and her lovely fellow seems to have some sort of catastrophic misunderstanding that basically breaks them up for a part of time and then at some point just as quickly as they were ripped apart they are flung back together. It just seems so completely unnecessary.
There is also something that happened at the end that really made me feel awkward towards the MC. I don’t care that history had already happened and that is the way it went down. It is one thing to know the history and another to think that the MC help facilitate in anyway what happened especially when it involved It really made me dislike Max and the choices she is making ‘for the greater good/history’
For the most part it is funny and fun and I really do love the dialogue and how quick on her feet snarky Max is.
“Dr Maxwell. Why are you wearing a red snake in my office?’
‘Sorry, sir. Whose office should I be wearing it in?”
Things like this crack me up throughout the book. But the story is just missing something I can’t really put my finger on to but it from okay to really great.
Still there is Troy to explore in the next book so I’ll tag along on another adventure.
April 12, 2014
I didn't like this one half as much as the one before. It was just so disjointed and ... meh. It actually left me not really wanting to read book three.
The issues here are mostly the plot and all the filler stuff that happens for no reason. And there are some underlying world building problems.
It starts out good but after that, it really, really slows down. That first part seemed to mainly be one example of a later "problem" but it really didn't make sense. I actually forgot about that, which should tell you how important the beginning is to this book (that it's the best part of the book and one is apt to forget it because it has nothing to do with the book afterward.)
There are a bunch of characters that pop up for no real reason. They just pop up, run a tiny muck (or, hell, don't run amok at all), and then are either gone or die. The doctor that shows up and does a little damage, then he's dispatched quickly (this after touting the doctor up as being ubber evil.) One of the villains from book 1 reappears (when she's supposedly dead) and does absolutely nothing except die. Seriously. She just stands there with her back to the MC. Ronan isn't just in this book at all. Her partner, whom seemed so angsty and stuff, goes away rather sooner than later.
All these people have very little to do with this actual "plot" of this book. It was more filler. The author knew she had to write a certain amount of words and so she filled the book with all these stupid, boring scenes.
Hell, I have no idea why she went to Elizabethan England. Or maybe that's better put that I don't think the reason why was all that good and there was no real climax to it.
Paradox is a term used in this book every other paragraph yet I find the excuse the author gives for why History hasn't slapped Ronan down is extremely weak and ridiculous. If History can materialize a huge rock out of the sky, and most of the people working at St. Mary's die horrifying deaths because they try to push a child out of the way, I have an incredibly hard time with the idea that History just can't handle Ronan so she's letting St. Mary's deal with it.
Seriously. That's the reason the author gives for letting Ronan goes run amok. It's because History needs Max to fix it. It apparently can't do anything.
I mean, really? That's the shittiest excuse I've heard.
The issues here are mostly the plot and all the filler stuff that happens for no reason. And there are some underlying world building problems.
It starts out good but after that, it really, really slows down. That first part seemed to mainly be one example of a later "problem" but it really didn't make sense. I actually forgot about that, which should tell you how important the beginning is to this book (that it's the best part of the book and one is apt to forget it because it has nothing to do with the book afterward.)
There are a bunch of characters that pop up for no real reason. They just pop up, run a tiny muck (or, hell, don't run amok at all), and then are either gone or die. The doctor that shows up and does a little damage, then he's dispatched quickly (this after touting the doctor up as being ubber evil.) One of the villains from book 1 reappears (when she's supposedly dead) and does absolutely nothing except die. Seriously. She just stands there with her back to the MC. Ronan isn't just in this book at all. Her partner, whom seemed so angsty and stuff, goes away rather sooner than later.
All these people have very little to do with this actual "plot" of this book. It was more filler. The author knew she had to write a certain amount of words and so she filled the book with all these stupid, boring scenes.
Hell, I have no idea why she went to Elizabethan England. Or maybe that's better put that I don't think the reason why was all that good and there was no real climax to it.
Paradox is a term used in this book every other paragraph yet I find the excuse the author gives for why History hasn't slapped Ronan down is extremely weak and ridiculous. If History can materialize a huge rock out of the sky, and most of the people working at St. Mary's die horrifying deaths because they try to push a child out of the way, I have an incredibly hard time with the idea that History just can't handle Ronan so she's letting St. Mary's deal with it.
Seriously. That's the reason the author gives for letting Ronan goes run amok. It's because History needs Max to fix it. It apparently can't do anything.
I mean, really? That's the shittiest excuse I've heard.
April 8, 2020
Part of my 2020 Social Distancing Read-a-thon
Did anyone else notice that Max shoots a woman called Isabella Barclay (Isabella Bitchface Barclay to be exact) and that is a pseudonym of the author's? It amused me quite a bit. I really appreciate these books, as I understand the author's sense of humour, something that I sometimes struggle with. I do much better with audio versions of humour, it computes better for me in that form.
I loved the dodo hunt that occurs early in the book, although I have to wonder if those poor birds were as ugly & stupid as they get portrayed. If time travel ever becomes available to me, this is an issue that I would enjoy clearing up. Dodos seem to feature in quite a number of fantasy books, so I assume that others share my views.
I love St Mary's—where it's natural that things go horribly wrong but everything is saved at the last moment. I'll look forward to my next jump into the past with this gang of lovable historians.
Did anyone else notice that Max shoots a woman called Isabella Barclay (Isabella Bitchface Barclay to be exact) and that is a pseudonym of the author's? It amused me quite a bit. I really appreciate these books, as I understand the author's sense of humour, something that I sometimes struggle with. I do much better with audio versions of humour, it computes better for me in that form.
I loved the dodo hunt that occurs early in the book, although I have to wonder if those poor birds were as ugly & stupid as they get portrayed. If time travel ever becomes available to me, this is an issue that I would enjoy clearing up. Dodos seem to feature in quite a number of fantasy books, so I assume that others share my views.
I love St Mary's—where it's natural that things go horribly wrong but everything is saved at the last moment. I'll look forward to my next jump into the past with this gang of lovable historians.
May 3, 2024
3.5
So I'm not quite as converted as I'd like but perhaps reading book two so soon after one was a mistake.
I like the wandering about in other times but would it kill them to get one thing right just one time.
I was also a bit put off in book one by the sex scenes. I can cope with a bit of banter but I'm not mad about soft porn chucked in all over the place. We get it, Max and Leon are all over each other. I don't need a (pardon this please) a blow by blow account.
I still liked the book but I think I'll leave number three for a little while. I fear the books might blend into one if they're binge read. Plus, the funny bits are something to look forward to after a lot of heavy lit fiction.
So I'm not quite as converted as I'd like but perhaps reading book two so soon after one was a mistake.
I like the wandering about in other times but would it kill them to get one thing right just one time.
I was also a bit put off in book one by the sex scenes. I can cope with a bit of banter but I'm not mad about soft porn chucked in all over the place. We get it, Max and Leon are all over each other. I don't need a (pardon this please) a blow by blow account.
I still liked the book but I think I'll leave number three for a little while. I fear the books might blend into one if they're binge read. Plus, the funny bits are something to look forward to after a lot of heavy lit fiction.
November 10, 2017
3.5 stars. This was madcap fun as usual, but with a plot that I found a little too all over the place and an unsettling incident and attitude towards the end around sexual violence that prevented me from rounding up.
April 26, 2019
I received a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.
The second St. Mary’s book has a lot of what I loved from the first book - lots of skipping about through time, trying not to die in the process, with maverick historians. It’s almost like a good night out with your friends, but instead of going down the pub you’re nipping to 17th century Scotland.
As always, I love these characters. They are the heart and soul of the novels, the biggest ups and downs come from reading about their lives rather than the lives they’re ‘time travelling’ (sorry Dr Bairstow!) for. Max and Leon aren’t a perfect couple, but it makes them all the more believable. Both have a chequered past, marred with not enough love and too much mistrust, and I enjoy seeing how their time together plays out. They’re well matched, and Max doesn’t take the things Leon says to her lying down this time around. I admire that tenacity. As before, Jodi also has a knack for making you fall in love with the underrated characters too, and has no issues with completely ripping your heart out by taking them away at short notice. That’s actually one of things I really like about this series. You genuinely don’t know, and expect it, when someone dies. And it could be anyone.
I feel like quite a bit of this book is Jodi experimenting with the genre. The plot flits about, bouncing Max and co. from one end of the timeline to the other, with elements of the supernatural thrown in for good measure. Stories have a quick turn around, often ending quite abruptly and never mentioned again, and some are left quite open ended. I felt this was more Jodi playing around, and getting a feel for her characters and settings over a more structured, methodical approach. This is just the way Jodi writes it and as I mentioned in the previous book review, it’s all very chaotic and unplanned. But I’m ok with this, partially because it’s just St. Mary’s way, but also as Jodi emerges as a more confident writer this settles down in subsequent novels. Already I can see an improvement in the writing from the previous novel, with timescales and the passing of contemporary time passing in a more realistic way. Yet again, Jodi is also able to get me excited and interested in area of history I never would have thought twice about. Her passion for the subject shines through, and I love the amount of research and detail that goes into the descriptions of their journey’s through time.
The St. Mary’s crew feel like family, and St. Mary’s feels like a home from home. To return to these books is like a giant comfort blanket for me (one that sometimes delivers awful death blows), and I will continue to enjoy the stories for many years to come. There’s always more history to explore.
The second St. Mary’s book has a lot of what I loved from the first book - lots of skipping about through time, trying not to die in the process, with maverick historians. It’s almost like a good night out with your friends, but instead of going down the pub you’re nipping to 17th century Scotland.
As always, I love these characters. They are the heart and soul of the novels, the biggest ups and downs come from reading about their lives rather than the lives they’re ‘time travelling’ (sorry Dr Bairstow!) for. Max and Leon aren’t a perfect couple, but it makes them all the more believable. Both have a chequered past, marred with not enough love and too much mistrust, and I enjoy seeing how their time together plays out. They’re well matched, and Max doesn’t take the things Leon says to her lying down this time around. I admire that tenacity. As before, Jodi also has a knack for making you fall in love with the underrated characters too, and has no issues with completely ripping your heart out by taking them away at short notice. That’s actually one of things I really like about this series. You genuinely don’t know, and expect it, when someone dies. And it could be anyone.
I feel like quite a bit of this book is Jodi experimenting with the genre. The plot flits about, bouncing Max and co. from one end of the timeline to the other, with elements of the supernatural thrown in for good measure. Stories have a quick turn around, often ending quite abruptly and never mentioned again, and some are left quite open ended. I felt this was more Jodi playing around, and getting a feel for her characters and settings over a more structured, methodical approach. This is just the way Jodi writes it and as I mentioned in the previous book review, it’s all very chaotic and unplanned. But I’m ok with this, partially because it’s just St. Mary’s way, but also as Jodi emerges as a more confident writer this settles down in subsequent novels. Already I can see an improvement in the writing from the previous novel, with timescales and the passing of contemporary time passing in a more realistic way. Yet again, Jodi is also able to get me excited and interested in area of history I never would have thought twice about. Her passion for the subject shines through, and I love the amount of research and detail that goes into the descriptions of their journey’s through time.
The St. Mary’s crew feel like family, and St. Mary’s feels like a home from home. To return to these books is like a giant comfort blanket for me (one that sometimes delivers awful death blows), and I will continue to enjoy the stories for many years to come. There’s always more history to explore.
July 22, 2017
This series is very funny and often a literal riot! They are cleverly plotted and the world of St Mary's is well conceived. In fact for me, St Mary's is the main character. In fact I think I want to live and work there. It seems like a cross between Hogwarts, Mallory Towers, and barrack life circa WWII variety. You could even add Carry On films to the mix.
Very much enjoyed this. Looking forward to the next. This isn't the place to start with this series. Read the first one before attempting this!
Very much enjoyed this. Looking forward to the next. This isn't the place to start with this series. Read the first one before attempting this!
July 7, 2024
"Fancy checking it out?’ ‘Yes,’ I said, enthusiastic at the opportunity. And even more enthusiastic at the thought of leaving my emotionally tangled life behind me for a while, and enjoying something as simple and straightforward as running for my life while being pursued by a blood-crazed mob, or succumbing to some deadly plague in the dim and distant past."
Those who are part of St. Mary’s Institute of Historical Research are either time travelers or support that effort. We see everything from Max’s perspective (Dr. Madeleine Maxwell only when she is in trouble with the authorities) and she is a “hot mess” who hasn’t recovered from what happened in Book 1, Just One Damned Thing After Another. https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
We see everything from Max’s point of view.
"The Chief said, ‘What is it? What’s the matter?’ Kal looked too tired to speak, so I said flatly, ‘It’s not gone. It’s still here. There’s something left.’ He didn’t argue. He didn’t laugh. He sat down beside me. ‘What makes you say that?’ ‘It’s here. We can sense it. I’m sorry, Chief, but somehow you missed something.’"
We bounce from crisis to crisis and around history from 3000 years ago to only a future place not quite identified. It’s only after about three-quarters of the book is read that we come to this: "‘Initially, we thought this mission would be fairly straightforward, but things have moved on and we now have two mission objectives. The first, as you know, is to ascertain whether Mary Stuart, Queen of Scotland is married to, or about to marry, James Hepburn, Earl of Bothwell. If not, one of our objectives is to insinuate ourselves into her court and – nudge – events back into line. This is high-profile stuff. There will be no question of us working quietly in the background. For the first time ever we’ll be looking to interact with the major players of their age. And we don’t have long."
And when they arrive: "Farrell assumed charge of the cooking and I was relegated to unskilled labour – chopping, peeling and, occasionally, stuffing. It all took hours. As did the clearing away afterwards. Then there was the house to tidy, fires to lay, buckets (!) to empty – it just went on and on. How the hell did these people ever find the time for war, adultery, cattle-rustling, sheep-shagging, and all the other traditional pastimes of a bygone age?"
Is it just a coincidence that there is a character called “The Chief” and another called “Max?” Or am I a victim of too many episodes of Get Smart?
And at the end we can be assured that St. Mary’s will prevail: "‘We’ll think of something,’ said Peterson. ‘We’re St Mary’s.’ The magic words. Everyone cheered up."
3.5
Those who are part of St. Mary’s Institute of Historical Research are either time travelers or support that effort. We see everything from Max’s perspective (Dr. Madeleine Maxwell only when she is in trouble with the authorities) and she is a “hot mess” who hasn’t recovered from what happened in Book 1, Just One Damned Thing After Another. https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
We see everything from Max’s point of view.
"The Chief said, ‘What is it? What’s the matter?’ Kal looked too tired to speak, so I said flatly, ‘It’s not gone. It’s still here. There’s something left.’ He didn’t argue. He didn’t laugh. He sat down beside me. ‘What makes you say that?’ ‘It’s here. We can sense it. I’m sorry, Chief, but somehow you missed something.’"
We bounce from crisis to crisis and around history from 3000 years ago to only a future place not quite identified. It’s only after about three-quarters of the book is read that we come to this: "‘Initially, we thought this mission would be fairly straightforward, but things have moved on and we now have two mission objectives. The first, as you know, is to ascertain whether Mary Stuart, Queen of Scotland is married to, or about to marry, James Hepburn, Earl of Bothwell. If not, one of our objectives is to insinuate ourselves into her court and – nudge – events back into line. This is high-profile stuff. There will be no question of us working quietly in the background. For the first time ever we’ll be looking to interact with the major players of their age. And we don’t have long."
And when they arrive: "Farrell assumed charge of the cooking and I was relegated to unskilled labour – chopping, peeling and, occasionally, stuffing. It all took hours. As did the clearing away afterwards. Then there was the house to tidy, fires to lay, buckets (!) to empty – it just went on and on. How the hell did these people ever find the time for war, adultery, cattle-rustling, sheep-shagging, and all the other traditional pastimes of a bygone age?"
Is it just a coincidence that there is a character called “The Chief” and another called “Max?” Or am I a victim of too many episodes of Get Smart?
And at the end we can be assured that St. Mary’s will prevail: "‘We’ll think of something,’ said Peterson. ‘We’re St Mary’s.’ The magic words. Everyone cheered up."
3.5
December 2, 2020
My complaint about Just One Damned Thing After Another was that there was very little real history in that one despite the time travel, is dispelled in this one. The crazy crew goes back in time to deal with a bad guy from the future and clarify one tiny issue: did Mary Stuart die or did Elizabeth I? To paraphrase Hans Solo, It’s a big deal. For once, the historians are aware they may have to change history.
So we get to meet the rather flirtatious Mary Stewart and her future date-rapist husband, the Earl of Bothwell, who puts the moves on Max. Needless to say, Max puts her own moves on him back. The episode is interesting as the St. Mary gang actually engage as contemporaries of the time.
It’s only the second book and I love this series! Taylor’s voice for Max, the narrator, is acerbic, witty, and dry but doesn’t fall into the crutch that wit is all that is needed. There is s
If you can, go for the audio as the narrator is absolutely perfect for Max.
As for the romance, as much as I like a good romance, this is not it. Despite the intensity that Max and Leon have their emotional and physical interaction is so sporadic it’s more distracting.
I’m having a hard time understanding why this series isn’t more popular. One of the few series that I think would translate to a great series with the right cast.
So we get to meet the rather flirtatious Mary Stewart and her future date-rapist husband, the Earl of Bothwell, who puts the moves on Max. Needless to say, Max puts her own moves on him back. The episode is interesting as the St. Mary gang actually engage as contemporaries of the time.
It’s only the second book and I love this series! Taylor’s voice for Max, the narrator, is acerbic, witty, and dry but doesn’t fall into the crutch that wit is all that is needed. There is s
If you can, go for the audio as the narrator is absolutely perfect for Max.
As for the romance, as much as I like a good romance, this is not it. Despite the intensity that Max and Leon have their emotional and physical interaction is so sporadic it’s more distracting.
I’m having a hard time understanding why this series isn’t more popular. One of the few series that I think would translate to a great series with the right cast.
December 28, 2013
I found this St Mary's instalment as compellingly readable as 'One Damned Thing After Another'. And like that book, it also needs an editor's hand. Actually there are probably fewer of the sentence structure/punctuation issues in this one, but I sometimes had the feeling that I'd missed something - that something had been rushed or glossed over or not explained properly. There is also a sense of disjointedness about the plot. The first bit of plot concerns Jack the Ripper and this was far more creepy and disturbing than I expected. That part of the plot was resolved, but, coming as it did right at the beginning, I kept waiting for it to come up again and become part of a larger plot arc. It never did. It will be interesting to see if it appears in a later book - I would be really surprised if it doesn't - but as it is, it was left dangling a bit, unconnected to the rest of the plot.
Max is as semi-insane and funny as ever, and despite its glitches and imperfections I found it thoroughly enjoyable and extremely difficult to put down.
Max is as semi-insane and funny as ever, and despite its glitches and imperfections I found it thoroughly enjoyable and extremely difficult to put down.
January 21, 2014
After surviving numerous murder attempts, foiling a coup, and dropping T Rexes on her enemies' heads (literally), Max has been promoted to Chief Operations Officer at St.Mary's. Using time travel pods, she and her colleagues can actually visit the periods they study, making them the luckiest historians ever. Of course, they also have a much higher mortality rate than most historians...
The book begins with a truly creepy investigation into Jack the Ripper--I actually shuddered at my desk while reading. After barely scraping away from that misadventure, her partner leaves St Mary's but Max remains, devoted to history and her service to it. This particular volume of her adventures includes a visit to the Hanging Gardens and an interview with Mary Queen of Scots herself! Lest my excited punctuation mislead you, let me mention that this series is not as inherently sweet as, say, Connie Willis's time traveling Oxford stories. The characters swear a great deal, and several of them go through torture, rape, severe bodily harm, or death. Max is a wonderfully drawn main character, unique and precise in her bloody-minded, stubborn, off-kilter mindset and methods, but she's gone through a great deal and her mind isn't always a pleasant place to be. The dangers aren't gratuitous, however, but feel like a part of seeing gone-by wonders and being the nearly sole-owners of coveted advanced tech. And the grasp of history is good--I totally bought Queen Mary's court, and the details Max notices while there were exactly what I'd have wanted to figure out, where I there myself.
I can't wait for the next installment of Max's adventures through time and space!
The book begins with a truly creepy investigation into Jack the Ripper--I actually shuddered at my desk while reading. After barely scraping away from that misadventure, her partner leaves St Mary's but Max remains, devoted to history and her service to it. This particular volume of her adventures includes a visit to the Hanging Gardens and an interview with Mary Queen of Scots herself! Lest my excited punctuation mislead you, let me mention that this series is not as inherently sweet as, say, Connie Willis's time traveling Oxford stories. The characters swear a great deal, and several of them go through torture, rape, severe bodily harm, or death. Max is a wonderfully drawn main character, unique and precise in her bloody-minded, stubborn, off-kilter mindset and methods, but she's gone through a great deal and her mind isn't always a pleasant place to be. The dangers aren't gratuitous, however, but feel like a part of seeing gone-by wonders and being the nearly sole-owners of coveted advanced tech. And the grasp of history is good--I totally bought Queen Mary's court, and the details Max notices while there were exactly what I'd have wanted to figure out, where I there myself.
I can't wait for the next installment of Max's adventures through time and space!
September 4, 2020
This was great fun, I absolutely loved it. The audio narration was fantastic too.
September 3, 2024
DNF at about 65%.
I read the first book in the series and was quite torn about how to rate it. I have it a 4, rounding from a hesitant 3.5.
This one is either not even as good, or I'm just extra weary of the unsatisfactory features of the series. I'm giving this a solid 3 for having potential and because I can see the strong appeal of this series for a different type of reader--one with a broader sense of humor than mine, and a love of high energy adventure and hijinks without being curmudgeonly about a lack of depth or focus in their genre reading.
One could use these words to describe the first two books of the series and not be wrong: fun, action-packed, clever, witty. Except for me, each of these falls on the wrong side of satisfying in total.
The idea for episodic time travel with a communal home base, a cast of "characters" somewhat at odds with each other, and missions to right a few elements of a several low-to-mid-level wrongs in history is interesting.
The product quality, though, is disappointingly and distractingly inconsistent throughout.
I'm distracted and quickly worn down by all the "witty" repartee, odd jokes, sophomoric rejoinders, and bawdy quips. Occasionally one will strike me as actually humorous or clever AND delivered at a point in the romp and drama that it adds to the reading experience and makes sense in the story and character presentation. Mostly, it feels like I'm reading an interesting passage or potentially significant development while babysitting a crowd of smart but boffo-hyper pre-adolescents. I'm taken out of the story every little bit by look-at-me humor-that-often-isn't, or isn't worth the irrelevant distraction from the story. I continually wondered if I was in a serious (not grave or heavy, just take-me-seriously-as-a-story) story, or in a cartoon, or at a high school cocktail party if there were such a thing (the sometimes rapid-fire humor attempts wavering as they do from road-runner to weird locker room to smart adult).
The plot itself is watery despite the action, or is it because of all the action? It begins to feel like a writer beginning with the bones of a novel idea and structure and then filling it in with whatever energetic, dramatic, oddish ideas pop up while at the keyboard. It ends up a series of loosely-related, scrabbled-together, danger-and-injury packed mad-energy romps back in time, and with each romp I feel less attached and invested to the overall idea and novel plot.
The characters in general had potential, but over time became more flat or predictable and less compelling as people who seem real enough to want to follow. I'm easily captured by characters and will continue a series with plenty of needs-redeeming elements. But these don't do it for me, or not enough.
So the plot and characters aren't enough to hold me through the overly generic while also over-the-top writing. But the idea, the series, the characters, the adventures, the forays into moments in history (which I expected to be somewhat redeeming of the book's flaws but weren't) truly could have added up to an enjoyable series.
I think my rating reflects that. What felt more 3ish got a 4 from me in book one because of that potential, and for the stretches of more satisfying story elements.
This one is possibly a 3, for me, but I'm so worn down and disappointed by both books in total at this point that it feels more like 2--but I'm saying 3 because that seems to be fair play.
I do see where a lot of folks with different reading personalities than mine could find it engaging and rewarding.
I read the first book in the series and was quite torn about how to rate it. I have it a 4, rounding from a hesitant 3.5.
This one is either not even as good, or I'm just extra weary of the unsatisfactory features of the series. I'm giving this a solid 3 for having potential and because I can see the strong appeal of this series for a different type of reader--one with a broader sense of humor than mine, and a love of high energy adventure and hijinks without being curmudgeonly about a lack of depth or focus in their genre reading.
One could use these words to describe the first two books of the series and not be wrong: fun, action-packed, clever, witty. Except for me, each of these falls on the wrong side of satisfying in total.
The idea for episodic time travel with a communal home base, a cast of "characters" somewhat at odds with each other, and missions to right a few elements of a several low-to-mid-level wrongs in history is interesting.
The product quality, though, is disappointingly and distractingly inconsistent throughout.
I'm distracted and quickly worn down by all the "witty" repartee, odd jokes, sophomoric rejoinders, and bawdy quips. Occasionally one will strike me as actually humorous or clever AND delivered at a point in the romp and drama that it adds to the reading experience and makes sense in the story and character presentation. Mostly, it feels like I'm reading an interesting passage or potentially significant development while babysitting a crowd of smart but boffo-hyper pre-adolescents. I'm taken out of the story every little bit by look-at-me humor-that-often-isn't, or isn't worth the irrelevant distraction from the story. I continually wondered if I was in a serious (not grave or heavy, just take-me-seriously-as-a-story) story, or in a cartoon, or at a high school cocktail party if there were such a thing (the sometimes rapid-fire humor attempts wavering as they do from road-runner to weird locker room to smart adult).
The plot itself is watery despite the action, or is it because of all the action? It begins to feel like a writer beginning with the bones of a novel idea and structure and then filling it in with whatever energetic, dramatic, oddish ideas pop up while at the keyboard. It ends up a series of loosely-related, scrabbled-together, danger-and-injury packed mad-energy romps back in time, and with each romp I feel less attached and invested to the overall idea and novel plot.
The characters in general had potential, but over time became more flat or predictable and less compelling as people who seem real enough to want to follow. I'm easily captured by characters and will continue a series with plenty of needs-redeeming elements. But these don't do it for me, or not enough.
So the plot and characters aren't enough to hold me through the overly generic while also over-the-top writing. But the idea, the series, the characters, the adventures, the forays into moments in history (which I expected to be somewhat redeeming of the book's flaws but weren't) truly could have added up to an enjoyable series.
I think my rating reflects that. What felt more 3ish got a 4 from me in book one because of that potential, and for the stretches of more satisfying story elements.
This one is possibly a 3, for me, but I'm so worn down and disappointed by both books in total at this point that it feels more like 2--but I'm saying 3 because that seems to be fair play.
I do see where a lot of folks with different reading personalities than mine could find it engaging and rewarding.
July 13, 2016
This is book #2 in the series and it's just as bonkers as the first one, but equally just as amusing. We once more follow the St. Mary's organisation of Historians who travel through time to see 'what really happened?' Our main character is called Max, and she's one of the less conventional people in the organisation who always seems to be getting into trouble somehow. Her adventures are often risky, but rewarding, and this book is no exception.
The true British humour of this series really tickles me as I read it and makes me genuinely smile or giggle along. I constantly find myself getting drawn into the story, and then I have moments of rolling my eyes or smiling, along with the characters. It really is so fast-moving and alarming at times that you have to be on the ball and absorbed, and I think Taylor has a great balance here.
In this book we see our brave adventurers facing off against someone who is trying to disrupt St. Mary's and History itself. We follow them back to the time of the Dodo, to a meeting with a Queen (although you'll have to read it to see which one), to discover a dubious Shakespeare play, and to see Thomas Becket. Amongst all the traveling and adventure you wouldn't think there was time for Tea, but in a British Time-Travel company Tea is always the priority :)
Highly recommend this wacky little series. I would give this a 3.5*s overall, and I will for sure continue on with book number 3.
The true British humour of this series really tickles me as I read it and makes me genuinely smile or giggle along. I constantly find myself getting drawn into the story, and then I have moments of rolling my eyes or smiling, along with the characters. It really is so fast-moving and alarming at times that you have to be on the ball and absorbed, and I think Taylor has a great balance here.
In this book we see our brave adventurers facing off against someone who is trying to disrupt St. Mary's and History itself. We follow them back to the time of the Dodo, to a meeting with a Queen (although you'll have to read it to see which one), to discover a dubious Shakespeare play, and to see Thomas Becket. Amongst all the traveling and adventure you wouldn't think there was time for Tea, but in a British Time-Travel company Tea is always the priority :)
Highly recommend this wacky little series. I would give this a 3.5*s overall, and I will for sure continue on with book number 3.
March 4, 2021
I really enjoyed the first book, and found it a super easy read that I just breezed through. I don’t usually read ‘time travel’ stuff so it was a different kind of book for me! However, this second book has really made me question as to whether I’ll finish the entire series.
The biggest issue that I have with it is the sporadic plot. It often feels very convoluted and I don’t really understand why the characters are doing what they’re doing. Max as a character loses quite a bit of her appeal as her actions fee a bit too spontaneous, also the way she speaks doesn’t feel representative of her age group (an issue I noticed in the first book also). Coupled with this issue is the relationship between Max and Farrell - what on earth is that about? I liked when they got together in the first book but their interactions here are so confusing! It is like Taylor doesn’t know whether to have romance in the book or not, so it kind of arises whenever she feels like it (which isn’t often). I think Taylor’s overall plotting of the story and characters is where the book struggles. It’s almost too much story, whereas the first book focused on more of a central narrative and then expanded towards the end in preparation for the second book.
It definitely wasn’t awful, but I’m not sure whether to read the next one now, maybe I just need a break before moving on.
The biggest issue that I have with it is the sporadic plot. It often feels very convoluted and I don’t really understand why the characters are doing what they’re doing. Max as a character loses quite a bit of her appeal as her actions fee a bit too spontaneous, also the way she speaks doesn’t feel representative of her age group (an issue I noticed in the first book also). Coupled with this issue is the relationship between Max and Farrell - what on earth is that about? I liked when they got together in the first book but their interactions here are so confusing! It is like Taylor doesn’t know whether to have romance in the book or not, so it kind of arises whenever she feels like it (which isn’t often). I think Taylor’s overall plotting of the story and characters is where the book struggles. It’s almost too much story, whereas the first book focused on more of a central narrative and then expanded towards the end in preparation for the second book.
It definitely wasn’t awful, but I’m not sure whether to read the next one now, maybe I just need a break before moving on.
September 7, 2016
This second in the series was not quite as good for me. I found myself being a little pickier and thinking it was chaotic at times. At one point I actually said "What just happened?"....out loud. I was getting annoyed with the main character Max. That being said, this is a fun series and no one told me to look for inaccuracies and the like. So why should I? That makes it not as fun! By the end, I was happy again and looking forward to the next one which I will definitely read!
May 24, 2017
More time travel shenanigans - 2nd in the series and I did enjoy it...
...PAUSE FOR VERY MILD SPOILERS...
...but the novelty has worn off a bit and the 'romance' bit was extremely tiresome imo.
I'll have a break and then see if I want to carry on with the series - I'm very torn - it's 50/50 on things I love and things I don't like but I do like the concept and main character so maybe the odds will improve in next one?!?
...PAUSE FOR VERY MILD SPOILERS...
...but the novelty has worn off a bit and the 'romance' bit was extremely tiresome imo.
I'll have a break and then see if I want to carry on with the series - I'm very torn - it's 50/50 on things I love and things I don't like but I do like the concept and main character so maybe the odds will improve in next one?!?
February 11, 2018
Buddy read with the Wednesday Group of BB&B.
This had so much potential. If one can ignore the sporadic immaturity of some of the cast, especially when dealing with emotions, the story is a solid 4 star read. You get to enjoy different time periods and to experience history in a whole new way. In fact if JT abandons the romantic relationship between Max and Leon things will greatly improve.
This had so much potential. If one can ignore the sporadic immaturity of some of the cast, especially when dealing with emotions, the story is a solid 4 star read. You get to enjoy different time periods and to experience history in a whole new way. In fact if JT abandons the romantic relationship between Max and Leon things will greatly improve.
June 26, 2017
Now that I have the characters established in my mind, I am feeling like the story is just mediocre. There are some good bits of dialogue and dropping in a reference to "The Big Bang Theory" characters had me smiling.
The issue I have is the protagonist's supposed intelligence. She has a doctorate! It comes through in her plots & schemes at times. At other times, I feel like Stephanie Plum has been plucked from Janet Evanovich.
I am hoping that the underlying theme and the fight against the antagonist will keep me interested. The setting for book #3 is dropped right at the end which is another factor in bringing me back.
As with the first book, adult language and material keeps this out of the YA category. However, the storyline feels a bit soft for what I would consider a mature audience.
The issue I have is the protagonist's supposed intelligence. She has a doctorate! It comes through in her plots & schemes at times. At other times, I feel like Stephanie Plum has been plucked from Janet Evanovich.
I am hoping that the underlying theme and the fight against the antagonist will keep me interested. The setting for book #3 is dropped right at the end which is another factor in bringing me back.
As with the first book, adult language and material keeps this out of the YA category. However, the storyline feels a bit soft for what I would consider a mature audience.
January 23, 2017
Hilarious. Smart. Action-packed. Highly recommended.
February 13, 2017
So far this series is just so much fun!
July 10, 2022
More of the usual entertaining and addictive mix of mayhem, hilarity, tragedy, tea drinking, high jinks, and danger that characterizes the entire The Chronicles of St. Mary’s series.
All of this is relayed in Jodi Taylor’s inimitable style, rich with humor and historical detail.
St. Mary’s is a British organization dedicated to time travel (although its time travelers would say, “We’re not time travellers, we’re historians”). As they would be the first to admit, they’re also disaster magnets.
In this volume, our main character and narrator, red headed, feisty historian Madeleine “Max” Maxwell has been promoted to Chief Operations Officer.
She acquires a new assistant, the very capable David Sands, who’s been injured in the line of duty and loves knock-knock jokes.
Max and her coworker Kal have a terrifying encounter with Jack the Ripper.
Max and Chief Technical Officer Leon Farrell have a huge falling out.
Several of the historians inadvertently witness the assassination of an important leader in ancient Nineveh.
For a “team building exercise”, Max takes her team dodo hunting in 17th century Mauritius. It turns out the stupid, ugly, but elusive dodos love the smell of British afternoon tea (Victoria sponge, etc.). This episode is hilarious.
Finally, there’s a huge and important assignment for the entire crew at the court of Mary Queen of Scots in 16th century Edinburgh.
These are only a few of the multiple happenings in this novel. It’s great fun, as is this entire series. I find these books quite entertaining. Plus I learn lots about history from them.
Zara Ramm does a great job as the audio reader for this entire series.
All of this is relayed in Jodi Taylor’s inimitable style, rich with humor and historical detail.
St. Mary’s is a British organization dedicated to time travel (although its time travelers would say, “We’re not time travellers, we’re historians”). As they would be the first to admit, they’re also disaster magnets.
In this volume, our main character and narrator, red headed, feisty historian Madeleine “Max” Maxwell has been promoted to Chief Operations Officer.
She acquires a new assistant, the very capable David Sands, who’s been injured in the line of duty and loves knock-knock jokes.
Max and her coworker Kal have a terrifying encounter with Jack the Ripper.
Max and Chief Technical Officer Leon Farrell have a huge falling out.
Several of the historians inadvertently witness the assassination of an important leader in ancient Nineveh.
For a “team building exercise”, Max takes her team dodo hunting in 17th century Mauritius. It turns out the stupid, ugly, but elusive dodos love the smell of British afternoon tea (Victoria sponge, etc.). This episode is hilarious.
Finally, there’s a huge and important assignment for the entire crew at the court of Mary Queen of Scots in 16th century Edinburgh.
These are only a few of the multiple happenings in this novel. It’s great fun, as is this entire series. I find these books quite entertaining. Plus I learn lots about history from them.
Zara Ramm does a great job as the audio reader for this entire series.
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