What Could Possibly Go Wrong?

As a result of events in No Time Like the Past, Max has been given light duties and she and Dr Peterson have swapped roles, meaning that Max is now in charge of five shiny new trainees. As with everything St Mary's does, the training programme is straightforward in theory only ...

Every time I pick up one of the Chronicles of St Mary's, I'm reminded why I love this series so much. What may superficially appear like popcorn fiction is actually a piece of tremendously accomplished writing. In no other series have I cared so deeply for the characters and and laughed so much, nor been reduced to tears so often, and the history is always enlightening. What could easily become farce in the hands of less-skilled authors is never short of show more entertaining, and provides much-needed comic relief when everything goes disastrously wrong, as it so frequently does when the historians of St Mary's are involved. This book in particular acts as a reminder that the majority of history is actually quite horrible, and that a historian's job is to watch people die in endlessly varied (and usually painful) ways. Some part of me wishes this marvellous series will never end. show less

What Could Possibly Go Wrong.jpg"What Could Possibly Go Wrong" was a refreshing return to kind of St.Mary's Mayhem that go me hooked on the series in the first place.

Max is on light duties and has become the Training Officer, responsible for shaping five new recruits into Historians. It should be a safe, straight-forward job. How could anyone get into trouble while their the Training Officer? Silly question really, this is St. Mary's, nothing ever goes according to plan.

Max has revamped the training program to give recruits early exposure to actually going back in time so we pack in a lot of training trips in this novel. Most of them are chaotic fun - what's not to like about wooly mammoths, even if they are stampeding towards you? show more Wh0'd miss a trip to the Valley of the Kings - a simple observe and record, at least it was before it all went wrong.

I enjoy these high-spirited romps through history, but what keeps me coming back to St. Mary's is the way Jodi Taylor offsets the chaotic with jumps to times and places that are fundamentally unpleasant. This time we get to watch Joan of Arc burn. No punches are pulled. The full brutality of the day is made very clear. It was emotionally draining.

In Max's world, behind the flippancy and the insane experiments that usually result in things going bang unexpectedly, there is always an external threat and the possibility of betrayal. This time the betrayals are from surprising sources and, in once case, for unique and very original reasons.

I think this is one of the best books in the series. It gave me all the enjoyment I expected and a few surprises along the way.

I listened to the audiobook, narrated by Zara Ramm. She has become the voice of St. Mary's for me. Actually, she's ALL the voices of St.Mary's and she does them very well. I think this is the best way to experience St. Mary's. show less

From the mouths of the denizens of St. Mary's, "What Could Possibly Go Wrong?" sounds like famous last words indeed. Maxwell is still recovering from a knee injury sustained at the end of the prior book and thus relegated to training the latest crop of historian trainees. Her plan is to front load some easy time travel jumps to hasten their training. What could possibly go wrong? quite a it actually. The Fields of Bosworth, the Burning of Joan of Arc are visited. Woolly mammoths and a dead pig make memorable appearances (if dodos should come to mind ...)

I adore this crew of kick butt time traveling historians, who raise hell, but believe in the healing powers of a good cup of tea. Taylor's prose delights with its wry tongue-in-cheek show more humor reminiscent of P.G. Wodehouse. I recommend. show less

Oooooh kids... you gotta place nice or someone's gonna lose an eye or an arm. Play by Hoyle's Rules, at least! Oh gosh. I guess something went wrong.

This book had a whole bunch of great time-travel locations, some of which I'd give an arm to visit, too. To see the Neanderthals and Modern Humans coexisting and working together? See the harsh conditions and the Mammoths? Maybe sneak one back to the future? No, no, we wouldn't do that. Certainly not. That's against regs and watch your feet... it looks like someone left us a little present in the hallway... Markham???? Is this your work???

Of course, there were a whole bunch of other great locations, and who would have believed that someone might have signed off for a bunch of stupid kids to show more be dropped in the middle of the battle where Richard the Third bit it. Not me!

I'm really loving this series. I think it might possibly go on forever, if only we could keep some of these poor recruits and old-timers alive. Yeah. There's more death. Two, this time. This is getting hard on my poor heart.

At least there's a really, really good surprise at the very end of the book. I mean, at first glance, it could be sooo great, right? And then there was that bit of foreshadowing after a certain nailed-it exercise of Max's and no.... that couldn't be, could it???

Well, Max will go down as a legend and a... no, no spoilers. This series is just too good to miss. :) Perfect voice, perfect speed, and perfect locations. :) show less

Another outstanding installment of the crazy adventures of my favourite time travelers --- oops I mean Historians. I knew it was going to be fabulous just by the title alone & if you have read any other book in this brilliant series, you know, things ALWAYS go horribly wrong. I have mentioned before that the highlight of this series is the characters and the quick wit and this one does not disappoint. Oh yeah and truly enjoyed the little quip about the Canadian border and umm a Baby Mammoth - no I will not discuss further - all you need to know is -- Baby Mammoth

“Will he be able to understand us, sir? It’s a foreign language over there. I’ve heard they spell plough with a “w”?’ ‘I share your horror,’ he said, ‘but show more since I have the strongest doubts that anyone in the History Department can spell the word plough in any language, I do not feel this is an insurmountable barrier to admission at St Mary’s.” show less

What Could Possibly Go Wrong? - Taylor
Audio performance by Zara Ramm
4 stars

This one balances out as more fun that tragic. I especially enjoyed the baby mammoth and the bombed rats, and some heavy-handed British jokes at the expense of Americans. (Why would anyone spell plow with an ‘ough’ ?) It does seem that St. Mary’s security department needs to do a better job on their background checks. But, the series would lag without a good supply of bad guys.

.How do you train an historian at Saint Mary's? Join a mammoth hunt, attend a saint''s martyrdom and watching the end of the Plantagenet line are all part of the curriculum as Max takes over the Training Department. Interesting twists of our past create a fertile arena for Jodi Taylor to explore; often with startling results.