I love when stories are exactly what they say on the tin, but when the St. Mary's crew is involved, you know it's still going to outrageous. The Christmas story for 2018 features very little Christmas and a lot of planetary-hopping shenanigans. As someone who follows the current research into getting the first human to … Continue reading Review: “And Now For Something Completely Different” (Chronicles of St. Mary’s Short Story) by Jodi Taylor
Review: “The Steam Pump Jump” (Chronicles of St. Mary’s short) by Jodi Taylor
This short story very much needs the context of pretty much all of the novels in the Chronicles of St. Mary's series so far to understand the detail of what's going on. But otherwise, it's a "typical" St. Mary's lark, full of the usual shenanigans and mayhem (#disastermagnets). And as an added bonus, it's from … Continue reading Review: “The Steam Pump Jump” (Chronicles of St. Mary’s short) by Jodi Taylor
Review: “The Battersea Barricades” (Chronicles of St. Mary’s short story) by Jodi Taylor
Finally, some "history" of the world of St. Mary's! Taylor's authorial voice makes pages and pages of expository narrative delightful rather than boring. Even more fascinating, this time she's not talking about something "real" -- this time the historical events are all from her imagination. I loved every intricate detail of it. The more specific … Continue reading Review: “The Battersea Barricades” (Chronicles of St. Mary’s short story) by Jodi Taylor
Review: An Argumentation of Historians (Chronicles of St. Mary’s #9) by Jodi Taylor
Call me blasphemous, because I am a huge fan of this series...but I'm getting a bit bored with fighting Clive Ronan. I still enjoyed the hell out of this book, despite the slow start. One thing I did appreciate about it is seeing the evolution of St. Mary's relationship with the Time Police. They'll never … Continue reading Review: An Argumentation of Historians (Chronicles of St. Mary’s #9) by Jodi Taylor
Review: “Christmas Past” (Chronicles of St. Mary’s short story) by Jodi Taylor
Though this review won't get posted until after the holiday itself, this story was easily one of my favorite Christmas presents this year. Taylor blows me away with her ability to weave humor and heartbreak into the same passages. Though this story didn't have quite as much of the usual St. Mary's shenanigans, it was … Continue reading Review: “Christmas Past” (Chronicles of St. Mary’s short story) by Jodi Taylor
Review: AND THE REST IS HISTORY (Chronicles of St. Mary’s #8) by Jodi Taylor
I am finally caught up on everything in this series, and now I have to wait for the next installment! I picked up the first book just under a year ago, and I think that I'm thrilled to be up to book number 8 (plus all the short stories) in such a short period of … Continue reading Review: AND THE REST IS HISTORY (Chronicles of St. Mary’s #8) by Jodi Taylor
Review: “My Name is Markham” (A Chronicles of St. Mary’s Short Story” by Jodi Taylor
This short story is very different from anything else in the Chronicles of St. Mary's series specifically for what is says on the tin: The narrator of this story is security officer Markham rather than historian Max. Now, this isn't the first time this has happened (see "The Very First Damned Thing", narrated by none … Continue reading Review: “My Name is Markham” (A Chronicles of St. Mary’s Short Story” by Jodi Taylor
Review: “The Great St. Mary’s Day Out” (A Chronicles of St. Mary’s Short Story) by Jodi Taylor
While I have to wonder at the logic of involving time travel in a holiday for this lot of miscreants, considering all the things that go wrong normally, I have to admit that the story wouldn't really work, otherwise. (Though I do have faith that they'd get up to the same sort of trouble during … Continue reading Review: “The Great St. Mary’s Day Out” (A Chronicles of St. Mary’s Short Story) by Jodi Taylor
Review: “The Very First Damned Thing” (A Chronicles of St. Mary’s Short Story) by Jodi Taylor
It was very, very cool to not only get a glimpse of the origins St. Mary's but also a peek into Dr. Bairstow's head. At this point in the series, seeing his relationships with the people that he intentionally sought to staff St. Mary's was more interesting than the jump to Waterloo (despite the delightful … Continue reading Review: “The Very First Damned Thing” (A Chronicles of St. Mary’s Short Story) by Jodi Taylor
Review: “Christmas Present” (A Chronicles of St. Mary’s Short Story) by Jodi Taylor
How do you balance the heavy subject matter of lovers lost in time, potential suicide, and imminent attack by Boudicca's army? Add a giant pig, of course. This Chronicles of St. Mary's short story plugs a hole in the narrative that is touched upon in the main books, featuring our heroes (Max, Peterson, and Markham, … Continue reading Review: “Christmas Present” (A Chronicles of St. Mary’s Short Story) by Jodi Taylor
Review: “Ships and Stings and Wedding Rings” (A Chronicles of St. Mary’s Short Story) by Jodi Taylor
Taylor hooked me immediately with the problem that needed to be solved in this adventure. The rising sense of horror at what happened felt very visceral, and what's even better is that the threads that came about to create this situation were beautifully laid in previous installments of this series. The time travel adventure itself … Continue reading Review: “Ships and Stings and Wedding Rings” (A Chronicles of St. Mary’s Short Story) by Jodi Taylor
Review: “Roman Holiday” (Chronicles of St. Mary’s short story) by Jodi Taylor
One of the best things about these extra short stories that fit into the overall Chronicles of St. Mary's world is that you can enjoy them without worrying about where they fit into the larger context of the story. They're a short peek into the many, many other time travel trips that the historians have … Continue reading Review: “Roman Holiday” (Chronicles of St. Mary’s short story) by Jodi Taylor
Review: “When A Child is Born” (Chronicles of St. Mary’s #2.5) by Jodi Taylor
This short story set in the Chronicles of St. Mary's universe is a great way for a new reader to dip their toe into the series without committing to a full novel. It highlights my favorite trio of time travelers (Max, Peterson, and Markham -- with bonus Maj. Guthrie) on a relatively simple mission that … Continue reading Review: “When A Child is Born” (Chronicles of St. Mary’s #2.5) by Jodi Taylor
Review: LIES, DAMNED LIES, AND HISTORY (Chronicles of St. Mary’s #7) by Jodi Taylor
This novel was another strong installment in the Chronicles of St. Mary's time travel series, full of both laugh-out-loud and gasp-out-loud moments. I continue to love Max, Leon, Peterson, and the rest of the gang, and Taylor's glimpses into the past are realistic and tantalizing. I think we've established by this point that I adore … Continue reading Review: LIES, DAMNED LIES, AND HISTORY (Chronicles of St. Mary’s #7) by Jodi Taylor
Review: WHAT COULD POSSIBLY GO WRONG? (Chronicles of St. Mary’s #6) by Jodi Taylor
I find the title to this latest installment of my favorite time travel hijinks series highly amusing because I thought I already knew all the ways in which things would go wrong in this world. It turns out that I was tragically wrong, and I'm so thrilled that this author can keep surprising me. It seems … Continue reading Review: WHAT COULD POSSIBLY GO WRONG? (Chronicles of St. Mary’s #6) by Jodi Taylor
Review: NO TIME LIKE THE PAST (Chronicles of St. Mary’s #5) by Jodi Taylor
After devouring five books in this series, two things are fairly obvious to me at this point: Jodi Taylor is a hell of a researcher/historian. She has also embraced a major facet of writing time travel and run with it rather than fight against it -- Once again, this novel had two major climaxes. One … Continue reading Review: NO TIME LIKE THE PAST (Chronicles of St. Mary’s #5) by Jodi Taylor
Review: A TRAIL THROUGH TIME (Chronicles of St. Mary’s #4) by Jodi Taylor
It's hard to be a fan of time travel stories without also acquiring some familiarity of the alternate universe trope along the way. Jodi Taylor switches up her world a bit as Max receives the full effect of her second chance. But there are still enough similarities to our original St. Mary's Institute of Historical … Continue reading Review: A TRAIL THROUGH TIME (Chronicles of St. Mary’s #4) by Jodi Taylor
Review: A SECOND CHANCE (Chronicles of St. Mary’s #3) by Jodi Taylor
You could read this as another installment of a series that only brings you time travel adventure (and misadventure). And if you read the book that way, or if that was all you were looking for, you'd still be in for a great ride. On the surface, this book doesn't bring anything to the fuller … Continue reading Review: A SECOND CHANCE (Chronicles of St. Mary’s #3) by Jodi Taylor
Review: A SYMPHONY OF ECHOES (Chronicles of St. Mary’s #2) by Jodi Taylor
There’s always a vague worry when picking up the second book in a series that it won’t quite measure up. That the first amazing novel was a flash-in-the-pan fluke, sucking up all of the author’s creativity and leaving only the dregs of inspiration for future installments. Luckily, I loved A Symphony of Echoes at least … Continue reading Review: A SYMPHONY OF ECHOES (Chronicles of St. Mary’s #2) by Jodi Taylor
Review: JUST ONE DAMNED THING AFTER ANOTHER (The Chronicles of St. Mary’s #1) by Jodi Taylor
I stumbled across this book and picked it up on a whim, and I’m ever so glad that I did. While the concept of “secret organization that uses time travel for historical research purposes” isn’t new, Taylor manages to make this version her own with a number of subtle changes to the trope. One of … Continue reading Review: JUST ONE DAMNED THING AFTER ANOTHER (The Chronicles of St. Mary’s #1) by Jodi Taylor