Review: Just One Damned Thing After Another

Series: The Chronicles of Saint Mary's

Author: Jodi Taylor

I'm a big fan of Time Travel stories, so it's nice to encounter a new series, especially one with the potential of "The Chronicles of Saint Mary's.

"Just One Damned Thing After Another" is set in a historical research institute with a difference, because they don't just read about the past at Saint Mary's: they actually go there. Historians don't tend to last long at the institute, as the past tends to be messy, disease-ridden and not a little bloody. The only people willing to risk the trips are the out-and-out mavericks and crazies recruited by Saint Mary's.

The thing that marks Jodi Taylor's writing as special, is that she concentrates on the characters rather than on the paradoxes. Her hero Max is a marvellous protagonist, and despite the outragously strange world she lives in, she's utterly and completely believable. By the end of the story, you genuinely care what happens to her and you're desperate to read more of her adventures. This is excellent news for me, as I discovered this series late, and there are six sequels for me to enjoy.

"The Chronicles of Saint Mary's" is as different from Doctor Who as you can get, but it's clever, funny and wonderfully inventive.

A real find, I think!