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This is a standalone set some time after the First Law Trilogy there will be themes and characters you recognise, which is excellent, and also new characters. When Cantrell's raiders leave Shy South's farm in flames and her younger sister and brother missing Shy and Lamb – the next best thing she has to a stepfather – set off to follow the raiders and get the children back. Shy has a bloody past, but Lamb is an enigma. He's always appeared cowardly, never wanting to start a fight, but this time the big Northman with only nine fingers is determined to finish what Cantrell started. In the lawless Far Country, they meet up with a fellowship of hopeful individuals heading for goldfields, and Temple, a lawyer in search of redemption plus his previous employer the infamous Nicomo Cosca and his band of bloody mercenaries. No one writes grimdark quite like Abercrombie. There's blood a-plenty, and shit and mud, and individuals degraded to just about the lowest point they can sink to, but there are also people trying to be good. It doesn't have quite Though sometimes they go about it in a very weird way. It has a satisfactory ending with most people getting what they deserve, even though it might not be what they wanted. Recommended (for people with strong stomachs).Aug. 15th, 2020
This is a standalone set some time after the First Law Trilogy there will be themes and characters you recognise, which is excellent, and also new characters. When Cantrell's raiders leave Shy South's farm in flames and her younger sister and brother missing Shy and Lamb – the next best thing she has to a stepfather – set off to follow the raiders and get the children back. Shy has a bloody past, but Lamb is an enigma. He's always appeared cowardly, never wanting to start a fight, but this time the big Northman with only nine fingers is determined to finish what Cantrell started. In the lawless Far Country, they meet up with a fellowship of hopeful individuals heading for goldfields, and Temple, a lawyer in search of redemption plus his previous employer the infamous Nicomo Cosca and his band of bloody mercenaries. No one writes grimdark quite like Abercrombie. There's blood a-plenty, and shit and mud, and individuals degraded to just about the lowest point they can sink to, but there are also people trying to be good. It doesn't have quite Though sometimes they go about it in a very weird way. It has a satisfactory ending with most people getting what they deserve, even though it might not be what they wanted. Recommended (for people with strong stomachs).
I love Jodi Taylor's St Mary's books about a bunch of time travelling historians who are supposed to observe historic events in contemporary time, but being disaster magnets, their excellent plans rarely survive first contact with the locals. I read and reviewed the e-book back in 2016, so this is a re-read, or rather a re-listen via Audible.This really brings out the emotional roller coaster that Max and Leon are on. Max encounters an old enemy, takes a brief trip to the Cretaceous and actually manages to come out on top for a change, but then there's a long assignment in Troy, both before the long siege and then at its climax. I'm trying not to dump spoilers on you, so in vague terms, something dreadful happens as the time-travelling historians are about to leave Troy after a long period of observation which actually went rather well, considering. Then something even worse happens after they get home, followed by a calamitous event at Agincourt which propels Max in a direction she never expected.
It's all about 'voice'. Jodi Taylor narrated her books through Max's viewpoint, wry and funny and slightly offbeat, even when in mortal peril. Zara Ramm is a marvellous narrator. She's a perfect voice for Max, but she also manages to differentiate the other voices, Leon, Dr. Bairstow, Helen Foster, Peterson and even Markham (one of my favourite characters). She uses accents, but subtly, and manages a range of tones and speeds that work perfectly. I'm now working my way through the series again.
This is a paradigm shift to a parallel timeline. There's a St Mary's, complete with Peterson, Markham etc., but it's not Max's St Mary's and so there's an immediate disconnect. Max and Leon are back together, but this Leon is not her Leon and she is not Leon's Max. They truly were given a second chance in the previous book, but now they are back to the beginning of their relationship again, though they both bring their own baggage with them. Max has barely had the time to breathe and take stock of her new situation, familiar yet unfamiliar, when the Time Police show up and she and Leon are on the run up and down the timeline, looking for refuge, with the Time Police (and crocodiles) snapping at their heels. There's a particularly terrifying time in The Time Police offer a whole new element. Appearing out of nowhere (the future) they are trigger-happy thugs and need to be reined in. Apparently that's Max's job though she hasn't a clue how to go about it. This is a high stakes story and quite breathless at times, though the narrator, Zara Ramm, delivers it beautifully.
This is a reread in audiobook form. When I reviewed the Kindle book I said: It's the aftermath of the battle with the Time Police, but everything is settling down until Dr Bairstow announces that there's going to be a fundraising open day and St Mary's acquires a ghost that only Markham can see. Max confronts Isabella Barclay (almost disastrously) and finally makes a commitment. About time too. This was a very engaging book. I'm still loving the Chronicles of St Mary. It read a little more like a series of incidents rather than a complete novel, but even so it hung together well and delivered the usual mix of humour and mayhem.Audiobook read by Zara Ramm 15/08/2020
I'm really loving this re-read (via audiobook). Max and Leon are drawing closer, though still not living together. We visit St Mary's past, old St Paul's as it succumbs to the great fire of London, the Bonfire of the Vanities, Thermopylae, and, finally, St Mary's chapel for a happy event. Ronan and Isabella Bitch-face Barclay rock up to bring their own brand of deadly danger and destruction. This is light and frother (mostly) with a few very serious moments. Zara Ramm's reading is, as usual, very engaging. She brings out the gentle humour interspersed with occasional swathes of terror. I can't imagine anyone else reading Max's voice.