Series: The Chronicles of St Mary's by Jodi Taylor ("Just One Damned Thing After Another")

[evofox]

forgot to post this earlier. buddy read for the first chronicles of st maries book, Just One Damned Thing After Another.

particip[ants:
bryce
ariana

start date: 7th june

[evofox]

should we set a reading schedule for this buddy read or read at our own pace and discuss as we go? fine either way but thought iw would ask

[Ariana]

I started the first one today, very pleasant so far! Reminds me a LOT of Connie Willis's Oxford Time Travel books on first glance (not a bad thing). Have you read any of those?

Not sure if I'll be able to stick to a schedule, so I think individual pacing makes the most sense.

[evofox]

have not read any of the oxford time travel books but heard there is some similarity between the two series. will probably start later but looking forward to rereading the book

[evofox]

how are you finding the book now? still reminding you of the oxford time travel series? gotten a way into it now and so far quite enjoying it so was curious what you were thinking/ thought of the book.

[Ariana]

I have quite a few thoughts! But I haven't been able to put it down long enough to comment :-) Over all, really fun! I should finish this evening, and then I'll try to organize my thoughts a little.

[evofox]

are you interested in continuing with the buddy read for the series. have yet to finish but should be done by Friday and open to continuing the buddy read if you are interested

[Ariana]

I usually like to spread series out (or else all the books run together in my head later on), so I'll probably be reading something else next. I definitely plan on continuing with the series though, just not sure exactly when.

[evofox]

dont mind holding off on reading the next book for a bit. generally prefer a break between books as well since i tend to forget details from one book or mix up when stuff happens. should we wait a month before starting on the next book possibly?

[Ariana]

I could see doing the next book mid-July. I'm not sure I can commit to all 10 plus the novellas, but I had enough fun with this one to sign up for book 2 :-)

[evofox]

sounds good. do not mind taking longer breaks between books since that is how i typically prefer to read series. for the most part the later books especially the three or four most recent flow into one another with very little gaps. the novellas are also for the most part skippable, there are only a few that are important for the actual plot/ characters or add something to characters background. from memory the novellas which meet the criteria are the very first damn thing (how st maries was founded in the first place as well as original crew), Christmas present (characters appear here and stuff happens which is referenced later on) and possibly when did you last see father (which is apparently more about max's past, yet to be released) . the other novella are fun side stories from what i remember and just add more time travel mischief in short form. also we can go slowly with the buddy read since it will probably be more enjoyable then reading the books quickly back to back

[Ariana]

Sounds good!

Okay, my thoughts: The blurb for the 2nd book uses the word "madcap", and this feels very apt. It is very fun, and fast-paced, so it was hard to put down. At the same time, I did feel a bit like a ping pong ball at times, bouncing from one major catastrophe to another without time for anything to sink in.

Quibbles:
- While you get to know the few main characters pretty well, the secondary characters felt very 1-dimensional to me, almost like Redshirts in Star Trek. Which hapless background historian character is going to bite it this mission?
- There were some plot points that were a little unsatisfying. (view spoiler)[How did the Bad Guys know to find our heroes in the desert near Alexandria? How did Barclay get there? I don't think we ever find out the extent/nature of the involvement Sussman and Barclay had with the Bad Guys, right? Maybe this becomes clear in a later book. (hide spoiler)]
- (view spoiler)[The deus ex machina of having the Mrs. Partridge = Clio was cute and also annoying. On the one hand, I like the idea of Clio watching over things, on the other I hate it when I don't know the rules. That is, if this powerful Clio can get involved, why doesn't she just fix things herself? And if she can't, how is she able to save Max? (hide spoiler)]
- I'm not a huge fan of the explicit foreshadowing, a la "I didn't know at the time that blah blah blah...."
- The villains felt very one-dimensional also. (view spoiler)[I know she tries to give Ronin and Barclay some backstory, but it still comes off as "I'm jealous, so now I'll become SUPER EVIL." (hide spoiler)]

Pros:
- Max is great! I loved the hybrid of hyper-competent badass/ emotionally stunted disaster machine.
- I hope the quibbles above don't make it sounds like I didn't enjoy this. It was so fun! I just have to remember not to think too hard about the internal logic, and then it's a blast.

[evofox]

Fair points, from memory later books fix a majority of these. Not finished yet but slightly surprised at how flat some characters are as well as the strange pacing which is different to what i remember from later books. Also slightly fun fact, this was initially meant to be a standalone but due to its popularity it got turned into a series. We will work out a date for book two earlyne t month but fine with any even midle or month after.

[Jacqueline]

Not a buddy read participant here because I can’t keep up the pace with later books (and I also suck at discussing books) but I found this on my computer and started reading it just for shiggles and I’m quite enjoying it so far. Haven’t been able to work out what I wanted to read next since I finished Mark Lawrence’s newie One Word Kill last week. This seems to fill the hole nicely.

[Ariana]

I just started A Symphony of Echoes. It's started off with all the fun and mildly annoying parts of the first book 😄

Ch. 5: (view spoiler)[I mean, in what type of logical system does it seem safe to go visit a notorious serial killer? Especially when everything always goes wrong?
(hide spoiler)]

Ch. 10: (view spoiler)[Oh man, and then we pinball into a whole 'nother plot line, with the Chief going missing and the rescue mission, AND THEN Max becomes the new director in the future... My head is spinning. (hide spoiler)]

The plot is moving so fast I can hardly list all the things that have happened so far, and I'm only ~1/3 of the way through. But the breakneck pace does make it super entertaining, and it's fun to be back in the company of Max, our hyper competent / reckless heroine.

[evofox]

starting book 2 today. from memory this book explains a few things better from the first book and the fast pace keeps up for the whole book