Just One Damned Thing After Another by Jodi Taylor

Just One Damned Thing After Another (Chronicles of St Mary's, #1)

by Jodi Taylor

“History is just one damned thing after another” - Arnold Toynbee

A madcap new slant on history that seems to be everyone's cup of tea...

Behind the seemingly innocuous façade of St Mary's, a different kind of historical research is taking place. They don't do 'time-travel' - they 'investigate major historical events in contemporary time'. Maintaining the appearance of harmless eccentrics is not always within their power - especially given their propensity for causing loud explosions when things get too quiet.

Meet the disaster-magnets of St Mary's Institute of Historical Research as they ricochet around History. Their aim is to observe and document - to try and find the answers to many of History's unanswered questions...and not to die in the process.

But one wrong move and History will fight back - to the death. And, as they soon discover - it's not just History they're fighting.

Follow the catastrophe curve from eleventh-century London to World War I, and from the Cretaceous Period to the destruction of the Great Library at Alexandria. For wherever Historians go, chaos is sure to follow in their wake ...

Reviewed by ayla_abbott on

4 of 5 stars

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The Oxford Time Travel series by Connie Willis has long been one of my absolute favorite uses of time travel. I don't know if this author was aware of that series when she started out, but either way, Taylor either had, or took, a great idea, put a different spin on it, gave the travel some different rules, injected a lot more levity, added a conspiracy, and uh-- well no I suppose the level of tragic death is about the same-- and created a great read. The punching is really good and cathartic, too. Good touch, that.

I look forward to reading what comes next!

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Reading updates

  • Started reading
  • 16 November, 2016: Finished reading
  • 16 November, 2016: Reviewed