Lies, Damned Lies and History

I love Jodi Taylor. I love Max. (I also love Zara Ramm.) (It's especially fun to hear her say "Caer Guorthigern".) But the premise of this installment in the Chronicles of St. Mary's is … not what it could be.

When Max's team brings back the location of an extraordinary artifact, the information is passed on to Thirsk, St. Mary's funding partner, who promptly and happily recovers it and locks it up for future study. And almost immediately terrible things begin happening to the area from which the artifact was taken, and a member of Max's team is certain that the run of bad luck is entirely due to the removal of that artifact. So they decide to put it back.

Technically, to steal it and put it back.

Aaaaaand of course things go show more pear–shaped. "I tied up my hair and surveyed my team: Marcus, Evans, Lingos, and me. What could possibly go wrong?"

And here's the thing. A couple of times in the planning phase someone says "couldn't we just ask them to put it back?" And as everyone in the book said "no" I was saying "but –" – because … couldn't they? Granted, having the artifact in storage is awesome – but I could completely see the whole "asking" thing working. If spun right it could have been a media bonanza.

But that's not the route the story took, and you know? As long as I get to hang out with Marcus and Evans and Lingos, Max and Leon and all the rest of the St. Mary's team; as long as the pods still smell of cabbage and now and then the world goes white, all is well. All is better than well – all is grand.

Welcome, Matthew Edward Farrell. Every child should have a bear to watch over them. You might need six or seven. (I make teddy bears, Max - *makes "call me" sign*)

Quotes that will probably work their way into my everyday speech, whether it makes sense or not:

…I was well down the road to self–recrimination and despondency and slightly miffed that no one was coming with me.

"You should employ more girls."
"We used to, but they made the boys cry."

And best of all: "Is it like terrapins?" – Markham show less

"Lies, Damned Lies and History" is one of the most accomplished books in the Chronicles of St. Mary's. This is Jodi Taylor at her best: perfect comic timing that highlights rather than hides the stresses, anxieties and evil intents that life keeps throwing at us.

As ever, the humour is based on a kind of compassionate fatalism that brings to mind almost outdated words like "Pluck" and "Gumption" and "Intrepidness" or even "Sang Froid" (although the last one is suspiciously French and may tend to take itself too seriously).

At St. Mary's, being in an apparently hopeless situation where your duty requires you to risk your life for others is no excuse for a lack of moral fortitude, which is best demonstrated by doing the right thing AND show more delivering a witty, self-deprecating remark while you do it.

"Lies, Damned Lies And History" has a mystical flavour to it than I didt seen in its predecessors. True, we've always has mysterious interventions from the History in the plot but this time we get a sense of the power of Animus Loci: an intense emotional reaction, evoked in us by a place and time. We visit post-Roman Britain and get remarkable Dark Ages scenes with warriors and magic swords that give a very pagan view of the Arthurian legend. We take a truly chilling trip to Stone Henge in the far distant past. Both these trips move beyond the realm of the purely rational without seeming any less credible.

There's also a threatening sense of finality to the book. Perhaps it's just Max, trying to squeeze in more jumps through time before she finally stops being a pregnant historian and becomes something she finds much harder to imagine: the mother of an infant child. Perhaps it's just that this is the seventh book and things keep getting worse. Perhaps it's the sense of dread from the visit to Stone Henge but there is a skilfully maintained deep tension in this book, like a very low note that you feel rather than hear.

Max has a new enemy: an arrogant, devious, administrator who is an anathema to the spirit of St Mary's. This gives us a reason to cheer as Max, simply by being Max, brings about his downfall.

Yet the real enemy, the one that low note resonating in my gut had been warning me about, only emerges in the final chapters of the book.

This enemy is ruthless, imaginative and driven by an implacable hatred of Max and St. Mary's. The plot that unfolds is truly evil and very plausible. The more I thought about it the more repulsive it became. I won't give away the idea or the outcome here but it is certainly one of the darkest passages in the Chronicles of St. Mary's.

All I can say is that I was relieved to find Jodi Taylor is part way through writing tBook 8 in the series. I need to know that I can visit St.Mary's again. I need a place where humour and courage and loyalty form an alloy that is almost impossible to bend of break. show less

Max is on light duties – on account of being pregnant – and therefore not allowed on the more interesting (i.e. dangerous) jumps, and so covers the coronation of George IV – or, more accurately, Queen Caroline being barred from the event – and is sent on what is supposed to be an uneventful survey in Bronze Age Wales. But, true to style, Max ends up getting herself, as well as Peterson, Markham, Sands and Roberts, into Trouble, with major repercussions for everyone involved.

I simply adore this series and always ask myself why I leave it so long between books when opening another Chronicle feels like being reunited with dear friends. There isn't as much history in this instalment as in some of the other volumes (though the team's show more jump to 1216 certainly packs a punch), since Max has to face the fallout from her actions and deal with matters at St Mary's, which, it turns out, are rather complex. I expect to see this particular plot thread rumble on in subsequent titles. show less

What? A total guilty pleasure that doesn't have much to do with romance, vampires, or werewolves? One that reads so easy and so effortlessly and so addictively you might want to classify this as a class A substance?

And OMG we're ALL able to abuse this shit?

Yeah, we are. Just for the price of a book or a whole damn series. Including short stories. We can GET OUR FIX.

What's even better? Oh yeah, it's SF, time travel, and SO MUCH HISTORY for all us history buffs. :) Total history-porn.

Oh, and of course we've still got our favorite characters just jumping blindly into the past where they're able to get into so much damn trouble just because history isn't safe. I mean, is *any* time safe? Of course not... but we have to sigh and reconcile show more ourselves to the fact that Historians are idiots.

Seriously. Idiots.

Fortunately, it's hard to stay angry at them, even when they jump into several English wars, get into serious trouble with Arthur, become a pawn in Dr. Bairstow's games, even having Max think her last jump before maternity leave would be an easy Stonehenge reveal, but no. Of course, no. Any fan of this series is going to be sitting on the edge of his or her seat and wondering what dire and/or absolutely horrible event is going to happen next, and while I might be a pussycat in real life and wish to tell you what horrors await you in order to steel yourself to the tragedy... well, I won't. I'm mean on occasion. Or often. Who knows?

But this is where the tears start falling... or do they? This author is really, really mean. :)

And AWESOME. This is some great storytelling with really dry humor and great history and great characters and really mean and fast plots. :) Why aren't more people reading this? It's totally entertaining as hell. :) show less

Possibly the best and fortunately not the last book in this very enjoyable series. Max doing "Who's on First" with the twirp from Thirsk would make a great UTube flic. She and her happy band of mayhemics visit a battle, a coronation and meet Arthur Pendragon. They find artifacts, donate the same and then have to steal and return them; to right the world order. Much good fun, many perils and creative solutions as one expects from Jodi Taylor.

I love this series. It is such a mix of everything... humour, science fiction, history, horror, romance, and just general quirkiness! I never know what to expect. It's completely unpredictable, and the banter between the charcters, as well as the characters themselves has me giggling aloud as I fly through the pages. I find it no problem at all to suspend disbelief because it's just so much damn fun to read these books! I'm already looking forward to the next book!

Man this one had me on the edge of my seat and I am not going to lie at one point I was in tears because I thought something else was going to happen. I am grateful everyday that Jen introduced me to this series. The characters -- the dialogue -- the -- EVERYTHING! At times like this I feel unworthy to even review creations of perfection like this. I don't have the words to articulate that you just NEED this series to make your life worth living. IF you are feeling down, just download an audible copy of any of the St Mary's Chronicles series & you will feel so much better. This installment is a hell of a rollercoaster. Don't even try to make plans while reading, you are not going to want to put it down. I do have to say I might need to show more take a quarter star off the review for the less than stellar comments about Librarians. Oh, never mind, the rest of the awesomeness outweighs the little piece of stereotypical Librarian oversight.

Favourite Quotes

"Librarians are always convinced that everyone finds old books as fascinating at they do themselves and, in an environments that frowns on even heavy breathing, silent twitching is excitement made manifest."

"The really big downside to being married concerns the inexplicable need of half of a married couple to know, at all times, exactly where the other one is. I mean -- what is that all about?" show less