Review copy was received from NetGalley. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.
A Catalogue of Catastrophe by Jodi Taylor Series: The Chronicles of St. Mary's #13
Published by Headline on April 14, 2022
Genres: Science Fiction Fantasy
Pages: 416
Format: eARC
Source: NetGalley
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Punching well above their weight, Max and Markham set out to bring down a sinister organisation whose roots might be firmly embedded in the future but whose focus is the past.
Max's focus is staying alive long enough to reunite with Leon and Matthew - alternately helped and hindered by St Mary's. Who aren't always the blessing they like to think they are.
A Catalogue of Catastrophe is the lucky 13 in The Chronicles of St Mary’s series. This is a set of books following historians as they travel to historical sites to study history in contemporary time. Some think of it as time travel but the members of St Mary’s would disagree with you emphatically and then someone from their R&D section would possibly accidentally blow something up in your near vicinity to prove their point. This is a series that builds on each book so you should start at book one to understand what is going on.
Max is our heroine and PoV. She isn’t your normal heroine as she is a middle-aged wife and mother who just happens to jump through time to various points in history to study them. Good thing history is on her side and jumps in to help here and there because believe me Max needs all the help she can get sometimes. She and bff Markham are currently in hiding and acting as recovery agents when someone tries to kill them. Not really a new thing, someone always seems to be trying to kill Max, but when they get a hint to who it might be, Max and Markham are off undercover to join a sinister organization to suss out what they are planning.
I really have loved these books. I’m generally not a fan of time travel books just because of the paradoxes and competing timelines etc but these where they are mostly studying history are much more fun. I do miss some of the St Mary’s crew being around more since Max is working with a new group as a recovery agent but we do run into them from time to time in unexpected places and that is always a good time because it never runs smoothly.
If you like quick wit, unlikely heroines, historical moments in time and just fun, then this could be a great series for you. Only a few books in the 13 were below a 4-5 star rating for me and even those were very fun overall.
About Jodi Taylor
Jodi Taylor is the author of the bestselling Chronicles of St Mary’s series, the story of a bunch of disaster-prone historians who investigate major historical events in contemporary time. Do NOT call it time travel!
Born in Bristol and educated 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 pick up a pen. She still has no idea what she wants to do when she grows up.
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This time travel/historical series sounds like fun. I’ll have to look for the first book. 🙂
I really like Jodi Taylor’s sense of humor. These have been a lot of fun.
What a fun series! Nice review, Robin
I’ve enjoyed all of the books and most of the cute little side jaunts too
This is a series that I really need to get busy reading. I think that I may have the first couple of books so I have no excuses.